Simple Pleasures ❅ The Sweetness of a First Birthday

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My second granddaughter, affectionately known as The Littler Miss, turned one last week. Is there anything sweeter than a first birthday? A more special event than family gathering to celebrate our first year of getting to know this unique little person who has blessed our lives?

Of course Nana (that’s me!) took the day off work to prepare for the birthday party in the evening, an extravaganza of pink (well, not really an extravaganza but I like saying that). There was pink vanilla cake and cupcakes and lots and lots of pink frosting, a raspberry coulis-kissed Swiss Meringue Buttercream (my first SMB, but I’ll save that for another post). For those looking for something non-vanilla there were chocolate cupcakes topped by, you guessed it, more pink frosting.

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And balloons! My, how our guest of honour liked tugging on the strings, making those balloons bounce up and down, bopping Nana in the head. Great fun! And then presents, followed by the presentation of the cake, the ceremonial wish and blowing out of the first birthday candle by Mum, and then that little hand stretching out, grabbing a handful of frosting. Oh yes, she liked it!

At the end of the evening, the family scattered to their respective homes, leftover cake and cupcakes in tow, and I was left to happily sort through the evening’s collection of photos that we’ll look at for years, entertaining our Littler Miss with stories about how much she enjoyed this special evening with the people who love her most.

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24 comments

    • It’s so sweet to hear that my post moved you. Being Nana is a wonderful role indeed. I’ve often said having grandchildren is a gift of all the joy of children without the work – truly a special relationship that I treasure. I’m looking forward to being able to bake with these little ones before long!

  1. A wonderful post, Mar, befitting of such a special celebration. You had me smiling throughout. And, of course, your cakes and cupcakes look fantastic! I bet her pretty little face lit up with her first taste of that pink frosting. 🙂

    • It’s so nice to hear this post made you smile; it was a special one for me to write, a bit of a recipe for love, I suppose. Little Miss certainly did like that frosting! She also seemed to like the sound of her cake splatting onto the floor 😊.

    • Thank you! I used about a half cup of raspberry puree into 10 cups of Swiss Meringue Buttercream to get that shade of pink (just in case you were wondering 😊 ).

    • What an honour! Thank you very much, Rebecca. You’ve been so generous to me in your positive feedback and sharing my posts. I’m very touched. There are so many incredible bloggers that I admire and it’s wonderful to hear that my blog provides inspiration to others as well.

      I’m getting ready for a Christmas Open House on the 16th (look for some holiday baking posts!), so it may be some time before I can pass this award along, but I will try. I’d like to share this with others.

      And, congratulations to you on your much-deserved recognition for your own blogging and unstinting support of others in our community!

      • No need to post any time soon or at all, my dear friend. I just wanted you to know how special you were to me!! Merry Christmas! And we have a whole New Year to continue our dialogue…let’s see where the wind takes us…

  2. […] The chocolate in this cupcake is mild, so the taste of the strawberry puree still comes through in the cake. The melange of strawberry and cocoa resulted in a taupe colour with just a whisper of pink undertone. This recipe makes 15 medium-sized cupcakes, which rise up nicely and are moist. Since the buttercream is so sweet, I used less sugar than usual in the cupcake batter and found the final result still a flavourful treat, even without the frosting. If you prefer a less sweet frosting, I suggest you make a Swiss meringue buttercream, as I did for Littler Miss’s first birthday cake. […]

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