When a former coworker of mine asked if I'd be interested in making some treats for her grandson's first birthday, I jumped at the chance to work on a project that didn't entail pastel colors and flowers (not because I don't love them, but because it's just what I usually gravitate toward).
Construction-themed smash cake & sugar cookies
Everyone's inspired by Pinterest, right? But the problem with a lot of "pinned" cakes, especially themed-cakes, is that they're made of fondant -- not exactly great for a little boy's smash cake. So instead we focused on making the cake as editable as possible for a toddler while still encompassing the road construction-based party theme.
What one-year old can resist a triple chocolate smash cake?
I found a great, simple cake on Pinterest (courtesy of The Celebration Shoppe) and recreated it with dark chocolate buttercream frosting and crumbled chocolate pie crust "dirt". I found the CAT mini machines and construction cone candles on Amazon (links below).
Close-up on the chocolate pie crust "dirt"
For the cookies, I wanted to have a few different varieties to make the platter interesting, but stick to simple colors and designs. I decided to play up the yellow and orange from the cake decorations and made hard hats, dump trucks, and construction cones. I also wanted to make it clear that this was a first birthday celebration, so I made a bunch of number one cookies (some with polka dots to keep it fun).
Construction-themed sugar cookies
I really love the chocolate sprinkle "dirt" on the dump truck:
If only real dirt tasted like chocolate sprinkles...
Thank you for letting me be part of your day, Noah! Happy birthday!
Other notes:
- I ordered the CAT Mini Machine 5-pack and Construction Cone Candles from Amazon, but I've also seen them at party supply stores.
- I found the number one and construction-themed cookie cutters at CheapCookieCutters.com.
- To tint the royal icing, I used AmeriColor gel paste colors Egg Yellow and Lemon Yellow (for the construction yellow) and a combination of Orange and Tulip Red for the vibrant orange shade.