Birthday Party Success!

My little darling blowing out the candle on her
princess castle cake.

My Darling Daughter recently turned 2. I think she and her sister were counting down her birthday for months! When it came time to pick out the invitations, DD really wanted Barney. You know, the singing purple dinosaur who terrorizes parents' dreams... lucky for us (er, I mean sadly for her), they just don't sell Barney stuff anymore.

So, she settled on a princess party. Her sister loves everything princess. In fact, earlier this summer, we had a perfectly pink princess party for her 3rd birthday. I was a little sad my now 2 year old wanted a princess party, too, for no other reason than the hubby and I feel she hasn't had time to figure out what she likes because she likes everything her sister likes.

Anyway, we picked out some darling invitations for a purple princess party. DD's favorite color has been purple ... from the moment she popped out of the womb.

Then a few weeks before the party, DD no longer wanted a purple princess party. She wanted a pink princess party. Say, what??! Pink?

Distraught, I asked her over and over. "What kind of party do you want?"
"Pink princess," she'd say very sing songy.

I had to figure out a way to make her party unique from her sister's. I scoured online to find cake ideas, and came across the perfect one: a princess castle.

A few days before the party, DD emphatically declared she wanted a pink AND purple princess party. She wanted crowns, and dresses, and princesses, and shoes and a purple and pink cake. Yay! Individuality! (Well, kind of...)

On the morning of her birthday, she got just that. She was so excited when she saw her purple and pink cake for the first time, and the second and every time after that. At one point, she and her sister declared that they wanted to live in the cake. 

I take that as a birthday success!

~ ~ ~

Assembly of my DD's perfectly delightful purple and pink princess cake:

Every princess cake needs turrets. And what's more suitablethan purple and pink ... with sparkles? (Love thepurple and pink sugar crystals!)

Nothing better than hot pink and bright purple buttercream! 

Starting the assembly. 

Since DD's birthday is in December, I did the trim in "snowy" white.

Thank goodness for candied pearls. Added a nice
touch for the windows and doors.

Adding the final turret and the last bit of "snow."

The final product. Happy birthday baby girl!

The bottom tier was "manilla" for my birthday girl. I added a
berry compote in between layers. The top tier was a
dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream.