Free Cake For Kids

Happy Thursday Everyone, the weekend is in sight! Woooo!

Today's post is a bit of a diversion from sewing but I just wanted to share a lovely little charity I have been working with, with hope that you may want to get involved too!

The charity is called Free Cakes For Kids UK

The idea is simple and will take a direct quote from their website (as they explain it better than I could!)

'' The idea behind Free Cakes for Kids is simple: we bake for families, who find it difficult to provide a birthday cake for their child. All cakes are baked 100% by volunteers, who operate locally and independently in their own private kitchens.''

I found a local co-ordinator through their website, contacted them with my details and I  I had to fill in a form to say I will work cleanly and never have any nut products in my cakes and then I was added to the mailing list.

I get an email pretty regular with available cakes and it is on a first reply basis as to who gets to bake them! 

I have decided I will do one a month and I have just completed my second.

When you hear about these little children's lives (is this the correct grammar? Apologies if it isn't!) and how their situation just doesn't allow their parents to bake them a birthday cake it really spurs you on to do the best job you can! Every kid deserves a birthday cake don't they????

The first cake I baked was a little 4 year old girl that loved chocolate cake, rainbows and pink and ballerinas - not the easiest of briefs! I rummaged through Pinterest for some inspiration AKA my favourite pastime and came up with these two images:

Pinterest link

Pinterest Link

I made my own topper (cut around a silhouette from google onto glitter card and stuck it to a lollipop stick) to mainly save money as on Etsy they were about £6 each inc. postage from UK sellers. And I have zero idea how to get the colours of buttercream so bright, I really struggled with this part! I think you must be able to buy really intense food colouring if don't get it from Morrisons! But all in all I was really happy:

My first ever attempt at using a piping bag! 

And more importantly, so was the recipient, I got a lovely text off of her mum afterwards. 

And the second one is currently sat at my desk for me to deliver on my lunch break.

Omar is two today and loves cars, trains and any other forms of transportation. With a little help of eBay sellers and their fondant cutters, YouTube tutorials and some pre-bought icing this is what I created:

My first attempt at icing a cake!

Plunge cutters are BRILLIANT!!!

I have tried my best to keep the costs to a minimum on these cakes, I used the same cake recipe (thank you Mary Berry) for both, so I had the main ingredients in the second time around. I would say these cost about £10 each and then I have bought lots of fondant cutters but they will keep forever!

If you like baking, you don't even have to be any good at it (see above!) then please contact this charity, its a lovely thing to give a child a birthday cake! Every kid should get a cake on their birthday shouldn't they????

Thanks for reading :)

Kristy xxx