Cookbook Review: Birthday Cakes For Kids By Pogo on Aug 01, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

My kids love to help in the kitchen, especially when we are baking. At a garage sale I found Birthday Cakes for Kids which turned out to be a great find.

Since the kids always want to participate as much as possible, simplicity is essential. Birthday Cakes for Kids laid out really well with each cake shown on a full page with the easy to follow instructions on the page next to it. This is GREAT as it makes it easy to view the final product as you are putting it together, making sure it turns out like it should.

My kids and I have made several of these cakes and they have all turned out really cute. The instructions are basic enough for older children to prepare on their own with plenty of things for younger kids to do as well.

The Cake Designs

There are 19 different cake designs with only four to seven easy step by step instructions per cake. Most of them use standard size cake pans but if there is any cutting to be done, there is a clearly marked, easy to follow diagram.

We have made the cakes in Birthday Cakes for Kids for other things than just birthdays. So of the ones the kids enjoyed making were the Crayon Craze (a giant pack of crayons), Fun & Games (big Game boy) and One Scoop or Two which is a fun sundae with a cherry on top. A really cute one for the first day of school is School Daze: aschool bus with teddy grahams in windows. Batter Up is a wonderful choice for a little league party. There are cakes for everyone from UFO's to flowers to snakes to a race car and more! ALL of the cakes except Buzz (a bee) are made using easy, basic frosting: no special skill or equipment is needed.

Along with the cakes, there are pages of basic cooking and frosting tips - complete with pictures. There are also three frosting, one jam glaze and a chocolate cake recipes. Add in that the recipes include little tips and this cookbook is a wonderful choice!