Miles' Birthday Dinner

There was some debate this year as to what to do for Miles' 2nd birthday. I didn't really think he needed a friend party but a family dinner party would be nice. Unfortunately all of Taylor's family, including himself, was going to be out of town. We almost did nothing but since I took my cake class this summer I wanted to make a cake with fondant and I didn't want him to be the 3rd child who gets twinkies with candles for a birthday cake (not that he would have noticed or minded :) And since my mother and grandparents were all in town, we have a small-ish dinner party.
Complete with bringing grandma-great a basketball hoop and telling her to "hoed it".

Yep, we're all about the self-celebration in this house!

So here's the cake. Miles has been IN LOVE with "a-panes" since we visited Hill AFB this summer. It helps that the Salt Lake airport is close to town and we see planes almost every day while we're driving around.

Can I just say that I LOVE fondant! So easy! Miles is currently standing by my computer chair while I type and pointing at the screen and saying "birf-day cake, a-pane". It truly is just like playdough. Cookie cutter for the letters/numbers/clouds/airplanes and that's about it. I did learn a few things. I will take a tiered cake class before I attempt a 2 layer cake again, and I will make sure to bake the cakes in the morning so I can decorate during nap time. It was kind of a nightmare to keep the fondant out of Miles' mouth while I was working. At one point he grabbed a large piece of chocolate fondant and ran away with it in his hand and mouth. It may have looked like a large, um, ahem, you get the point.

And once I added the toy airplanes on toothpicks, he just couldn't leave the cake alone.

Even when I tried covering it he got his hand caught with in the proverbial cookie jar.

Until finally it was time to actually eat the cake. Notice how several of the airplanes have disappeared. And that can't all be blamed on Miles either. Apparently toys on a cake are too hard for little boys to resist.

So the picture didn't turn out very pretty but I have to tell you about this cake. It's just a normal chocolate box cake but instead of adding oil like the box says, you substitute in pureed black beans. Seriously, you just throw the beans and liquid in a blender and then trade out the exact amount of oil for beans. And it makes the cake more moist than you can believe- plus a little protein and fiber. You can't taste the difference and it was REALLY GOOD! I used regular whipped cream for the filling and it was divine. Didn't even need the ice cream.

Miles gave his full approval! That's his this-cake-is-too-good-to-stop-for-a-picture smile.

Ethan and Isaac made a great pair. Ethan ate his cake and Isaac ate his ice cream- and then they traded bowls and finished each others.

Too good to let any crumbs fall out of our mouths.

And we couldn't forget one picture with grandpa-great who also loves airplanes!