cake(s) for Earth Day celebration

[bavila]

Ooooo... I really should start reading the fine print. Daughter's preschool is having an Earth Day celebration on Sunday, and the organizer asked for a volunteer to bake a cake. "Sure!" I said. Then I found out there would be about 60 people expected, and that there is a suggested globe design.

I don't have any professional gear, so I'm just going to run with the idea of a 2-dimensional globe (or other motif, suggest away), and maybe cupcakes rather than one large or several 8-9" layer cakes.

Ideas, please! What kind of batter would be "earthy" and preschool friendly? Any ideas for decorating? I'm thinking a leaf stencil, maybe?

[tejon]

I'd go with carrot cake. Most people like it, it's pretty child friendly, and technically there are nutritious, healthy things in there somewhere .

[chefpeon]

This may be cheesy and cliche, but I think the PERFECT earth day dessert that pre-school kids would LOVE is one of those dirt cakes!!!!

You know, the ones that are made with gummi worms and put in plastic flowerpots.....

Like the one right here.

I mean, c'mon.....is that EARTHY or what???

[srhcb]

I was going to sugest the Dirt Cake too.

Maybe you could make them as cupcakes?

SB

[chefpeon]

Maybe you could make them as cupcakes?

Dirt cake is "too loose" to be eaten as a cupcake, but can be served in little individual plastic flowerpots! They are cheap!

[Trishiad]

For one of Aldens' birthdays we did a traditional 9 inch round decorated to look like a map. For another, we made cupcakes with plastic animals on the top. Desert animals were on cupcakes coated in crushed graham crackers, swimmers on blue iced cakes, land mammals on green coconut covered cakes, you get the idea.

[bavila]

To add a wrinkle, parents have been asked to bring foods that are "organic or local". I'm guessing that excludes food coloring. My latest thought is to make cupcakes iced in vanilla and chocolate frosting and arranging them to look like a globe/map. Am I insane?

I also thought about doing something with the four elements, but that may be a bit too abstract for 3-4 year olds.

[chefpeon]

When it comes to little kids, keep it simple. Save the big effort for when they're older and will appreciate it more (hopefully, anyway). Trishiad's idea for the cupcakes with animals was great....kids love yummy things and stuff with toys....they're also into instant gratification in a big way. They just don't appreciate the nuances and work that goes into a decorated cake like adults do.

As a pastry chef, I think it's a blast to do stuff for little kids. I can let my hair down and do fun kid things with candies and wild colors and plastic toys, which is so unlike the adult cakes I do. The BEST part about little kids though is the appreciation they show towards those fun little simple things....also so unlike adults.......sigh.