In December I manage to dodge her repeated requests for a hand-made doll bed and instead end up buying her off at Christmas with an IMAX dinosaur DVD. She was happy. I was happy. But when my 4 (soon to be 5) year old niece starts going on and on about how she wants a dino cake for her birthday (which is at that time still a month away) I fold like so much eggs in batter.
Forget the fact that although I can make a mean cookie I'm not much of a cake-maker. Never mind that my cake decorating repertoire consists of what I learned about a hundred years ago when I worked at the local DQ. I'm inspired to take on the challenge. My niece's unwavering confidence is evident when she asks for a brontosaurus cake. A brontosaurus that's standing up. With it's baby. Oh, and they should both be eating out of a tree.
It says something that I actually considered the feasibility of attempting such an outrageous feat. I'm not sure exactly what it says about me, but it sure says something.
I returned myself and my niece back to reality. Mike's Amazing Cakes I am not. Gently I explained the laws of physics (just you try it with a 4 year old!) and guided her towards a more cake-friendly dino. We settled on triceratops. Sans baby.
I'll spare you the long and sticky details, which involve a couple boxes of cake mix, a sickening amount of frosting, some ready-make cookie dough, and a bunch of broken sugar cones. Suffice to say it came together eventually.
The incredible, edible dinosaur!
Overall I'm pretty happy with it. The frosting might not be completely smooth and the cookie ruff might be more frosting than cookie, but its all worth it for my niece. Although I have to admit that deep down I'm somehow I'm a little offended that my boxed cake mix and Pillsbury frosting doesn't end up looking like something out of Mike's Amazing Cakes. I guess there's always next year... -Lyzard
