This is the 3rd year in a row we made a skate park cake for our son ( 7 this year). It’s always a joint effort. Taste is important even if the cake looks great it’s got to taste good too. I always use the basic butter cake recipe (in most cake books, ) and I ice with good old butter icing because everyone likes the taste. I bake the cake in a roasting dish, to get a good sizes rectangle cake.
My husband cuts the shape, this years was based on the local skate park, where the party was held. The kids even recognised the park. I think the key is to be brave and creative when cutting , you can easily build the shapes you want with off cuts of cake and icing to glue it together. We used waffer biscuits to get a flat shape for the stairs, I won’t try that again as they went soggy overnight (not that the kids noticed!).
Once you’ve got the basic shape, ice it roughly and then pop in the freezer to firm up a bit, then you can add more icing and smooth it into the shape you want. You can use a flat knife, and I found spoons useful for getting the curves in the ramps. I dip the utensils in a cup of boiling water to help smooth the icing. The grey concrete can look a bit plain so jazz it up with colourful lollies, and use toy skateboards and bikes to decorate, we had a toy rubbish bin and filled it with lollies. Straws make good hand rails.
And just when you think you’ve got it looking perfect, Mr 7 decides it needs a few more skateboards strategically placed. That’s when you need to remember, that as much fun as it is making the cake, it’s not your birthday, it’s his and if he wants the skateboard there, it’s not the end of the world! I hope this might give someone a few ideas. Have fun!
