Thursday, 07 April 2016 16:44

How to make a tugboat cake for a kid’s party

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How to make a tugboat cake for a kid's (beach) party.

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Tonight I want to show you another birthday cake idea that I also mentioned in the beach party post, namely that of a tugboat.

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Once again I found this idea/image and instructions in what must be one of my favourite children's birthday cake books. Although this cake is made from the traditional baked cake, or for that matter, two cakes, you can easily turn it into an ice cream cake by following the instructions in the ice cream ship cake post.

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Before I tell you how to make this cute tugboat, I first have to tell you that I had a comment from a reader who outright told me that the ice cream ship cake post was not at all interesting. Coming from somebody who has a childbirth and pregnancy site, it made me chuckle. Pregnancy and childbirth inevitably lead to kids and kids lead to parties, right? And we all know that there must be a birthday cake at a kid's party...

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While we are on the subject of comments, why don't you leave a comment and tell me if you like the cake idea posts? If not, what other kid's birthday party topics would you like me to cover... more party theme ideas, ideas on what to put into a favour bag, decoration ideas, party activities/games and entertainment, invitations and thank you notes, party crafts or anything else you want to know about birthday parties.

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You, the reader of this site, are in a way my guideline for the ideas I post here and if you have a specific question or query about planning a birthday party, let me know (either by leaving a comment or using the contact form in the navigation bar) and I will do my best to find an answer for you, even if it means I have to do some research if I don't know the answer!

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With that out of the way, let me tell you how to make the tugboat.

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You will need two cakes (either baked from your own favourite recipe or with 2 packet cake mixes). Bake in 28cm x 18cm (11in x 7in) lamington pans. You will also need 1 and a half quantity butter cream icing. See recipe for butter cream icing here

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Store left over icing in the fridge or you can even freeze it successfully until you need it for some cupcakes. On the day you want to use it, take it out of the freezer and leave to thaw at room temperature.

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Other things you will need for the tugboat cake:

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Sweets/candy for decoration

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licorice allsorts
tubular licorice
1 licorice bullet
white Lifesavers
toy flag
coloured popcorn
pipe cleaners

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Following the diagrams, cut the one cake as shown, to form the base layer of the tug boat.

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shaping-the-tugboat-cake-300x300Cut the other cake, as shown, to form the middle and top layers. Assemble the cake in layers, as shown.

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Tip: Use the left over cake pieces to make chocolate truffles for the adults at the party.

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Divide the butter cream in half, tint one half with yellow food colouring; halve the other portion and tint one quantity with green food colouring. Tint the other half with orange or apricot food colouring. (or colours of choice)

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Cover the base of the tug boat smoothly with the yellow butter icing, cover middle layer with green and the top layer with the orange.

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Cut licorice allsorts lengthwise into four, arrange around edge of boat as shown.

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Press lifesavers on to middle layer to represent portholes.

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Cut tubular licorice into small rounds, arrange around top layer of boat (see image).

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Twist thin licorice in coil shape to represent a rope and place in the corner of the bottom layer.

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Wrap thin licorice twice around a finger to represent tyres, twist pieces of pipe cleaner around tops of tyres and push the ends of the pipe cleaners into the edge of the boat as shown.

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Make a flag with a piece of paper and a toothpick and position it as shown or where ever you feel the flag should be.

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Make small holes in the popcorn, thread on to a pipe cleaner, insert the pipe cleaner in the licorice "funnel" to represent smoke.

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Make a wheel from a thin strip of licorice, form it into a circle, make spokes with toothpicks pressed firmly into the licorice. If necessary, trim the toothpicks, depending on the size of the circle.

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Position the wheel in the top layer as shown.

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Idea: You can pipe the name of the birthday child on the side of the base layer and even print a small face photo to use for the flag.

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As with the ice cream ship cake, arrange some chopped blue jello around the tugboat cake to resemble the ocean. Hmm, I'm thinking of small marshmallow fish amongst the jello cubes for a real ocean look too.

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As always, have fun when you plan your child's birthday party!

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- See more at: http://www.kids-theme-parties.com/how-to-make-a-tugboat-cake-for-a-kids-beach-party/#sthash.gsUSoagC.dpuf