We went to a super fun party to celebrate the BAKED: Amazing Bakes to Create with your Child, book launch in Shoreditch the other week. If you haven't heard of this baking book by Adelle Smith then check it out - it's got tonnes of modern ideas for creating and styling children's parties and some inspiring ideas for cakes, biscuits and decorating. We always had a super retro kids birthday cakes book in our family when I was younger, me and my sisters were obsessed with it. This is the kind of book Finn is going to be obsessed with as he really does just love looking at pictures of cakes and treats. We got to try out some of the creations and Finn was totally in his element!!
We've blogged about BKD before here - as they make fun baking kits for kids (which we reviewed) and Finn is obsessed with them, they also make brilliant presents. We love them for their playful, creative and original ideas and are as much fun for the adults as they are for the kids. The book is a contemporary anti-kitsch baking book created by award winning founder of BKD, Adelle Smith. She's a bit of a pro at hosting children's parties and this one was superb! Treats, cakes, balloons, face painting, crafting, cake making and a photo booth - what more could you ask for?!
Our favourite recipes in the book we are keen to try (not quite got round to it yet!) are the Unicorn cupcakes, Ice cream sundae cake pops and Oreo Easter Chick Pops. There are loads of great ideas for party themes with step by step instructions and useful stockists and suppliers. This is the perfect modern bake book with inspiring lifestyle photography and creations that are achievable in your own kitchen.
The centre piece of the table at the BAKED party was this show stopper Rainbow Funfetti Piñata cake (recipe also in the book). Such a good idea - open the cake and sweets pour out of the middle! The unicorn topper is by our favourite cake topper maker Lola Beau. This cake really evokes childhood memories - piñatas, fun and rainbow sprinkles...
We also ate mini BAKED book biscuits, meringues by the meringue girls and cake pop ice cream cones from the BAKED book. Mini burgers, guacamole and classic ham sandwiches made it the perfect party spread, yummy yummy. Held at the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch the party was laid out over a few rooms with eating, baking, drawing and crafting all going on. Every childs dream.
Finn got to make the Happy Burger cupcakes (also from the book) which he had great fun assembling the bun, cheese, lettuce, ketchup and little eyes. They even came with mini burger boxes (available from souschef.co.uk) so we could easily take it home to eat, it was delicious!
Crafty activities were provided by Studio NL, Donna Wilson and BKD and kept all the kids busy. The Donna Wilson felt mat where you could create cakes and donuts out of cut out felt pieces were a real party highlight. If they sold these as kits I would definitely buy one - crafting without messy glue! Making crowns and glasses and colouring in BKD treat images all went down well with Finn too.
There was also a Photo Booth (see image at top for our pic) provided by boxlessbooths.com with 3D fruits and ice-cream props from Moon Picnic. I would definitely buy these for a themed party, great fun for pics and playing.
Confetti filled balloons and partywear were provided by Meri Meri and Bubblegum Balloons. There was also face painting by Terri @ FacepaintFX and nail art by DinkyDohDah.
Thanks for having us BKD! Congratulations on the book Adelle, it's fab! We can't wait for Finn's Birthday next year to try some ideas out properly. In fact we may have to make the Spooky cupcakes for Halloween.
Here are a few pics from inside the book to tempt you....
To win a signed copy of BAKED: Amazing Bakes to Try With Your Child, leave your name and email address below in the comments box and also check out our Instagram feed for extra entries. Competition UK only and one winner will be picked at random 9pm on Sunday 4th September.
The book is available to buy from all good retailers but click to buy from Amazon here or the BKD shop here.