Alright this post is going to be a little different from my typical recipe sharing. I just survived throwing my son’s ‘Wild One’ Woodland themed birthday party, and I wanted to share some the ideas and recipes I found. Admittedly, I probably went a little overboard with the party, especially when it came to his cake, but I was really excited! If there is anyone else out there considering a woodland themed party, hopefully this post can give you some ideas.
Owl Fruit Tray with Dip
One of the things I did to pull in the woodland wild one theme was turn a watermelon into an owl fruit dip holder. When I was a kid I remember my mom turning radishes into mice and carrots and peppers into palm trees for a class party, and sitting on a counter watching my uncle carve vegetables into beautiful flowers for my Aunt’s baby shower. I was completely amazed at their ability. In those moments I thought fruits and vegetables were the coolest things ever. Remembering this I really wanted to do something cute with either the vegetable tray or the fruit tray for my son’s birthday. I also knew that I needed something easy. I had a lot of cooking and cleaning to do and I knew I couldn’t spend too much time on this project, so I turned to Pinterest for inspiration.
How to Make it:
- Take a slice off the bottom of the watermelon so that it stands straight and doesn’t move while working with it.
- Using the tip of a small paring knife draw/score the line for the head and “ears.”
- Using a larger knife carefully carve along the line and remove the top.
- Hollow out the inside using a melon-baller so that a dip container would fit inside.
- Using toothpicks attach lemon slices for the eyes, covering the exposed point with grapes to be the pupils.
- Take a bit of cantaloupe rind and cut it into a triangle. Attach it between the eyes using a toothpick to be the beak.
- Carve out triangles for the owl’s “ears” using a paring knife and make some v’s on the owl’s stomach.
- cut two pieces of pineapple skin to similar wing shapes and attach to each side of the body using toothpicks.
I made this up the day before the party then on the day of I just popped the container of fluff dip in and arranged cut up fruit around it on a serving tray.
S’mores Marshmallows and Birch Twig Chocolate Pretzels
These easy candies were another cute idea that I found on Pinterest. I thought it would be a yummy alternative to a traditional goody bag. It was another way to work in the woodland theme. Plus, I could make them several days ahead of the party so it didn’t add to my last minute to-do list.
Here’s how I made them:
For the s’mores marshmallows, I carefully melted some milk chocolate. While the chocolate was melting I put an entire sleeve of graham crackers in a one gallon zip-loc bag, crushed them and poured them out onto a plate. Then I just dipped each marshmallow in the chocolate, rolled it in the crumbs and set it on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper to dry.
With the birch twig chocolate pretzels. I just dipped pretzel rods in melted white chocolate and set them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet to set up. Then I melted some dark chocolate and put it in a silicone decorating bottle and drizzled it over the pretzels.
Hedgehog Cheese Ball
Another really cute idea that I found from Pinterest was this hedgehog cheese ball. It was just one more easy and adorable way that I could carry over the woodland theme with the food. Plus, I love hedgehogs. I was mildly obsessed with these prickly cuties as a kid. So an excuse to combine cheese and one of my favorite animals just seemed like a fun idea. The pictures on Pinterest that gave me the inspiration, however, did not come with recipes. Believe it or not, I’ve never made a cheese ball, so I had to look at a couple of recipes. In the end I got inspiration from the recipes I read but ended up doing my own thing. The end result was an appetizer that my guests really enjoyed, that is once my uncle destroyed the face so that everyone didn’t feel guilty eating it.
Easy Party Cheese Ball
Equipment
- Stand or hand mixer
- Plastic wrap
Ingredients
- 2 8 oz bricks cream cheese softened
- 1½ tbsp ranch dressing mix
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup scallions finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 cup almonds sliced
Instructions
- In a large bowl add your cream cheese, ranch dressing mix and worcestershire sauce. Mix with a stand or hand mixer until smooth.
- Add the cheddar cheese, scallions, and garlic. Mix until well combined.
- Scrape the cheese mixture onto the plastic wrap and form into a ball and refrigerate until solid again, at least 30 minutes.
- Roll the ball in the almonds pressing slightly with your hands so that they stick.
- Serve with crackers and enjoy!
Notes
- Can be made 3-4 days ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator as long as it is wrapped well in saran wrap.
Birch Log Birthday Smash Cake
All the other cutesy woodland food items were all pretty quick and easy to throw together, this cake was not. This was my challenge. My mom always made these amazing birthday cakes for us each year. She made teddy bears, baseball diamonds, Barbie doll, mermaid wonderland cakes and even a pizza cake once. Whatever the theme she managed to make a cake for it. I remember being really excited about helping her plan the birthday cakes, even the ones that weren’t mine. It was important for me to keep the tradition alive with my son.
My Cake Criteria
I had some criteria with this cake. First of all I knew that it couldn’t be chocolate. This cake was going to get everywhere and I knew my dog would be glued to the side of my son’s highchair while he was smashing it. Since I didn’t want a sick dog I opted for all vanilla. Second, it had to taste good, which for me meant no fondant. Fondant is beautiful and you can do so much with it, but in my opinion it tastes horrible. With this in mind I knew buttercream frosting was probably the ticket. Last, it had to be something that I could realistically pull off. I’m not bad with a piping bag, but I am by no means an expert. So to keep myself from crying the night before the party I knew I had to keep my own limitations in mind.
Creating the Plan
So with my criteria in mind I took to the internet. I ended up finding this woodland birch bark cake tutorial from Sarah Hardy Makes, another food blog site, and used that for the basic blueprints of the cake.
I then started researching different buttercream frosting recipes. I’ve made standard American butter cream frostings before, but I wasn’t convinced that it was exactly what I wanted. I ended up stumbling across this really good post “Comparing Types of Buttercream Frosting” from Baker Betty, a baking blog/website. In her article Betty goes over the major differences between the three most popular types of buttercream: American buttercream, Swiss meringue butter cream and Italian butter cream. I ended up opting for the Swiss meringue butter cream because it was more stable then the American but still easy enough to make. I used her recipe for the Swiss meringue buttercream as well, and loved it. It was so much better then the American version, I don’t know if I’ll ever go back.
I also knew I wanted to add a little something extra to it. A decoration of some sort when my mom gave me the idea for meringue mushrooms. So back to the internet I went to look for tutorials. I ended up finding this recipe from Fine Cooking and was very happy with it. I couldn’t believe how realistic they came out! They were the perfect thing to add around the bottom of the cake with a little pipped buttercream grass.
The End Result
In the end I was able to make a cute theme orientated cake that tasted good and wouldn’t make my dog sick. I was very proud of the thing and learned some new baking tricks along the way. I enjoyed the challenge and was glad I could carry a tradition from my childhood onto the next generation. And as you can see from the pictures the cake was a “smash” hit with my son.
This is absolutely gorgeous!!!!! PERFECT! Folk should hire you to do their
parties….(: What a memorable 1st birthday!!!!!!
Awww ☺️ thanks Dee!!! What a nice compliment.