Hello Kitty is Back!

I remember being about 10 years old and going to San Francisco with my mom. I still remember walking into the Sanrio store-- a Hello Kitty wonderland--my favorite thing was picking the grab bag. It had a surprise item in it. Little did I know 23 years later my daughter would be in love with Hello Kitty. Around five your children become acutely aware of their birthdays--Payton wanted to go bowling and have a Hello Kitty cake.

Up until this point I have either my a cake that looked great, but she couldn't eat and served her a separate cupcake or purchased a small vegan cake (i did this once--it was gross). I was on a mission this year. I wanted Payton for the first time in her life to be like every other kid--blow out the candles, cut the cake and get the first piece of cake. I never understood how important inclusion was to a child until one family birthday party when my daughter burst into tears because she couldn't eat the cake because it had dairy. She walked across the lawn, sat by herself and began to cry. She got it--she was different! But that it why we love her.

I was going to go big-- a sculpted Hello Kitty out of cereal treats-- of course I asked Payton what type of cake she wanted-- pink-- so I did a strawberry dairy free cake with tofu cream cheese Tahitian vanilla bean frosting.

I marched forward with no drawings or plans-- free form sculpting inspired by my daughter's favorite doll and a small picture of Hello Kitty. I had never mold or sculpted before. But I was free--I used my favorite casserole pot as a mold for the head and carefully carved the head. The Hello Kitty was covered in fondant. Payton carefully directly the colors of the dress--how many flowers. I free formed the body, arms, ears and legs. It took about 4 days working at night--it became a sick obsession. The "kitty" sat staring at my family on the counter--"my ears could be better" "my arm is going to fall off" My husband finally said, "you have to let it go" I was like a crazed artist. When my family walked in and saw they could not believe it. The entire cake was entirely edible. The cake was amazing, I loved it because my daughter loved. Better yet--it tasted great. Yes I said-- I love this cake--to date this is still one of my favorite cakes.

The look on my daughters face when she got the first slice was amazing-- she was included with her friends. Hello Kitty was back in a big way!