At the beginning of this month my baby girl turned one. After losing our first son to a stillbirth, first birthdays are a big deal at our house. When we threw our first vegan birthday party for my son Elliott I was overwhelmed with determining what to serve for food.
I baked three practice cakes to find a recipe I felt was delicious enough to represent vegan food. Prior to that my cake baking experience comprised of veganizing the cake recipe on the back of Hershey's Cocoa Powder.
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting, topped with chocolate fondant -and-
Until my kids came along, I never really decorated cakes other than the simple frosting and adding the obligatory "Happy Birthday" writing. At the parties there were a lot of people who thought the cakes were store bought. Personally I think they were just being kind, but for a novice I think they turned out pretty good. My ideas were gleaned from a birthday cake site, where people submit their homemade cakes with instruction on how to do them. The ladybug and digger cake were a combination of ideas, but it is a great place to get inspiration.
I baked three practice cakes to find a recipe I felt was delicious enough to represent vegan food. Prior to that my cake baking experience comprised of veganizing the cake recipe on the back of Hershey's Cocoa Powder.
Below is more detail on what food we served for the various birthday parties we've hosted if you are looking for ideas. We chose simple food since we have two little ones to keep up with while cooking.
Food
PB & J sandwiches shaped like dinosaurs
Hummus & pita chips
Veggie tray with onion dip
Fruit Salad
Vegan potato salad (recipe from here)
Chips & Salsa or Guacamole
Pretzels
Spring rolls
Veggie Nuggets
Sloppy Joes
Warm 3 Bean Dip
Drinks
Lemonade
Tea
Juice Boxes
Favor Boxes
Ritz Mini Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Annie's Fruit Snacks
Skittles (check for gelatin free there are still ones with gelatin out there)
Temporary Tattoos
Stickers
Birthday Cakes & Cupcakes
Classic Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Vanilla Cake with Almond Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting, topped with chocolate fondant -and-
Almond Cake with Almond Buttercream Frosting, topped with vanilla fondant
Until my kids came along, I never really decorated cakes other than the simple frosting and adding the obligatory "Happy Birthday" writing. At the parties there were a lot of people who thought the cakes were store bought. Personally I think they were just being kind, but for a novice I think they turned out pretty good. My ideas were gleaned from a birthday cake site, where people submit their homemade cakes with instruction on how to do them. The ladybug and digger cake were a combination of ideas, but it is a great place to get inspiration.