Partymakers on TV Land's Best Night In

If you missed the Ultimate Children's Birthday Party on Best Night in, look no further! We have a clip to share with you with Linda Kaye and Pastry Chef Sara Pereira on how to decorate and bake some of the delicious treats on Linda Kaye's Bake-a-Cake Party Book.

Decorate-a-Cake with Rainbow Colors

We just had a beautiful nostalgic moment this past weekend. One of our clients who had a Bake a Cake Party for her 9th birthday hosted a Decorate a Cake party for her 6th year old daughter at the NY Harmonie Club.
With 45 children, we needed to come up with a great idea so that the kids could be entertained and participating during the cake decorating component of the party. We decided on a rainbow theme where the 7 colors of the rainbow represented different decorating teams. And to enhance the excitement, we created the Ultimate Birthday Cake Challenge where each team had a leader that would teach them how to use a pastry bag and how to decorate with it.

The Harmonie Club has beautiful regal-looking rooms that are perfect for special events, but when you are throwing a 6 year-old's birthday party you need to make it more fun and colorful. That's why we brought in a lot of color and balloons.

We loved the balloon trees and flower pods that brightened up the room. Each cake decorating table was also covered with a tablecloth that represented the colors of the rainbow.

Besides the decorating, there was also a face painter that dazzled all the little girls with her magical designs...

... and the most fabulous balloon artist who created custom jewelry, wands, dogs and other unimaginable creatures out of balloons.

You could see how impressed the party guests were when they entered the colorful room full of balloons and birthday cheer! While waiting for all the guests to arrive they accessorized their outfits with balloons and face painting. They also personalized their chef hat, a very important component that they would later need for decorating the birthday cake.

When the guests had all arrived they gathered in a circle and were told about their very important mission. They were going to be part of the Ultimate Birthday Cake Challenge, because the Pastry Chef didn't have time to finish The Birthday Cake!

In order to start on this mission they had to be sorted into their teams, so they picked a colored paper out of a chef's hat that corresponded to the color of their team. They dawned their aprons and met with their group and group leader around their respective tables. The tables were all set and ready for them. They had a multitude of pastry tips and practice paper, as well as a colored cake and cupcakes that they would decorate individually and take home.


The guests learned how to color frosting and how to fill pastry bags, they then learned how to make a multitude of flowers, and last but not least, their favorite, the clown!

All the while as the children were decorating, a mock TV crew and reporter interviewed the children as they happily decorated away and sneakily tasted a few frosted fingers.

After perfecting their skills on their individual cupcakes, it was then time to decide on how to decorate the team's cake that they would then present to the birthday girl. The children chose their favorite flowers that they had made and transferred them over to the team's cake.

The cakes looked beautiful and so original! The teams were called up in order of their rainbow color and presented their cake to a gleaming birthday girl. The combined cakes made for a beautiful rainbow. The children were thrilled to have taken part in such an important component of the birthday girl's party.

25 punds of buttercream later, it was time for the guests to eat a few savoury nibbles. A beautiful buffet filled with kid-friendly foods, including ice cream, was a great hunger buster for all 45 kids. They all sat down to eat as they viewed the video of their cake decorating that was now broadcasting in the room's TV.

And after all the hard work and creativity that went into this party the final note was singing happy birthday and eating the cakes that the children decorated themselves.  What a celebration it was, and a great big surprise when they saw the rainbow battered cake lying beneath all the buttercream!

It was a memorable party for the birthday girl and a nostalgic moment for the mother, who had once, many years ago also been in her daughter's shoes.

Linda Kaye's Partymakers Talented Team

Mother's Day Cake Decorating Event

You and your child* are invited to a Mother's Day Cake Decorating Event al Linda Kaye's Partymakers. 

Talented Pastry Chef Sara Pereira, owner of Stardust Cakes, teaches you piping and cake decorating skills from Linda Kaye's Bake-a-Cake Party Book!

All skill  levels welcome!! 

Space is limited so sign up now

April 29th from  3:30-5:30p  at 195 East 76 Street.

*Children ages 4 and up

 The Bake-a-Cake Party Book will be the workbook for this class. Purchase can be made on day of event or on Amazon.

Book Your Spot Now:
Phone: 212 288 7112  Email: partymakers@partymakers.com 

Watch the Bake a Cake Video here

Book Feature: Ice Cream Cupcakes

We are very excited at Partymakers since we will be featured in a TV Land Segment of the 'Ultimate Birthday Party'. Linda Kaye will be talking about how to plan the best Children's Birthday Party and demonstrating a few items from her Bake a Cake Party Book. In the book there are many creative ways to design your own cake to cater to your specific party theme, we decided to feature the Ice Cream Cupcakes and give you the sneak peak on our blog to show you how easy they really are to make!

The Bake a Cake Party Book features one easy recipe that you can use for all the cake ideas.

Make sure to beat the ingredients well with a mixer to avoid any lumps.

Prep all your empty ice cream cones (note these have to be flat bottomed cones, not the waffle or sugar cones) and place them on a muffin tin. This holds them in shape without risk of toppling over and baking into each other. If you don't have a muffin tin, use a cake pan but be gentle when moving it into the oven so the cones don't tilt.

You can fill the cones with a pastry bag for a clean rim, or you can use an ice cream scoop or spoon.

You don't want to fill the cones up too much or the batter will overflow. Allow half an inch on top.

When baked, the cupcakes will not all be perfectly smooth, they will be uniquely cracked, which is fine since we want to frost them and that way it gives them a more unique ice cream look! If you are a stickler for perfection and want perfectly round tops, don't fill the cups as much, allow 3/4 of an inch of space, and don't bake as many cupcakes at once. Spread them out more in the muffin tin so they aren't close together, this will alow the heat to reach all of them more evenly.

When the cupcakes have cooled (you can cool them in the fridge or freezer) make your frosting and color it with as many or as few colors as you want!

When your army of frosted ice cream cupcakes is done, you can chose to decorate the top. You can write letters as we show in the Bake a Cake Party Book, or you can add sprinkles, flowers, whatever you wish.

Buy the Bake a Cake Party Book Here for more great and fun ideas for party cakes by Linda Kaye's Partymakers.

Decorate-a-Cake Parties

Children decorating their Chef Hats before they start.

You all know we are famous for our Bake-a-Cake Parties, but now we are also launching our Decorate-a-Cake parties. This party is fully dedicated to decorating cakes and cupcakes. This party concept works great with children 4 and older. In the party they learn to make buttercream, flowers, basket weaves, grass, and every body's favorite, the buttercream clown!

Some of the children's masterpieces.

We just hosted one decorate a cake party this weekend and the 10 year olds loved it. They were excited from the moment they saw their unfrosted tye died cupcakes to the moment they took a bite out of the cake they decorated all by themselves.

The sense of accomplishment after the party was tremendous. And every little chef received their very own Bake-a-Cake Party Book by Linda Kaye.

Linda Kaye's Partymakers hires professional Pastry Chefs to teach at these parties, so the children are learning from the best! They also ask them questions about their profession and become intrigued with the art of Pastry in a brand new level.

In the Decorate-a-Cake parties, children can decorate cupcakes with the flavor of their choice, and in the end they help the Pastry Chef decorate the final birthday cake, using all the techniques they learned during the party.

The Party Planner to the Stars is in the News!

This morning we were featured in two newspapers about our famous Bake-a-Cake parties!

Take a look:

Herald Online, March 21, 2011

Party planner to the stars offers 'bake-a-cake party' tips

ANDREA PYROS - http://www.retailmenot.com/

 

When Linda Kaye's two children were young, she was like any other mother: busy, sometimes harried, and always short on time. One day she looked at the calendar and realized her daughter was turning six in a few weeks, and she hadn't planned anything for the party: no location, no invites, no entertainer. Nothing. "I'd been doing a lot of volunteering at my son's school and didn't realize my daughter's birthday was two weeks away. I thought, 'What am I going to do?' Then I thought, 'What about baking a cake with the kids?'"

Kaye's first-ever Bake-A-Cake Party was held: Her daughter and her friends made a cake from scratch, and the experience was such a hit that Kaye launched a successful business from the idea. Kaye and her staff would go to clients' homes, bringing everything necessary (save for a few eggs) to help them have a simple, successful, hands-on party. Ultimately, the New York-based party planner, who's thrown major events at FAO Schwartz and the Central Park Zoo and claimed Madonna, Kelly Ripa, and Chris Rock as clients, decided to write the "Bake-A-Cake Party Book," so any parent could plan and host their own baking bash on their own. "I think that the simplicity of this is a fantastic thing. People worry it might be a mess, but it's not. It's a great bonding experience for the children, and a bonding experience for the mother with the child." It's also a unique way to entertain your guests - without having to spend a small fortune.

Want to make baking a cake the party itself? Kaye says keep the following in mind:

- Guests should be a minimum of 4 years old. For this age group, pre-measure all ingredients before the kids arrive.
- Shop ahead of time so you don't realize you're missing an ingredient the morning of, and make the frosting ahead of time, too. Let guests add food coloring to it at the party.
- Set up the workspace with your birthday child the morning of their event as a nice way to spend time together one-on-one.
- A total of eight children works best. Break the groups into two so that each group is charged with making one layer of a two-layer cake. If your child wants more guests, think about having another adult or two on hand to help, and making a second cake.
- Where there's one job to do, make it for two! Have one child hold a bowl while the other whisks, and then switch roles so each kid gets a turn.
- No toothpick? Use a raw strand of spaghetti to test doneness.
- Give your pint-sized bakers pastry bags (or freezer-weight zippered plastic bags) to make decorative flowers and other pretty designs. They can do their creations on parchment rounds while the cake is baking (Kaye suggests cooling it in the freezer for faster results). Once the cake is frosted and ready, help the kids slide their edible artwork onto the cake with a small spatula.
- All oven activities are strictly for adults.

For more tips, yummy recipes, and 12 adorable, easy-to-do design ideas (like a Fourth of July pinwheel cake to a rainy day cake), pick up Kaye's book or visit her website, partymakers.com. Andrea Pyros lives in New York's Hudson Valley, where she raises her two kids and writes for http://www.retailmenot.com/, the No. 1 coupon site in the world.

Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/03/21/2924780/party-planner-to-the-stars-offers.html##ixzz1HGBfpMie

Race Car Birthday Party

Linda Kaye's Partymakers just had a fun filled weekend hosting many children's Birthday Parties. Here is a highlight of one of the birthday parties, the Race Car Birthday Party for a 3 year old.

Race-Car-Themed party goods and festive bouquets of helium balloons greeted the guests as 21 three-year-olds entered a gym filled with fun filled activities. There was a large personalized Race Car banner  displayed prominently just above the birthday table to highlight the birthday child.

 

 

Popover cupcakes in race car cupcake holders awaited the children to try their hands at  a cupcake decorating station. Children added sugar cars,  traffic light colored candies and sprinkles to make their individual cupcakes a masterpiece.. The children loved this activity because it meant they could eat cake just after breakfast! The parents would have loved for the kids to wait to eat their cupcakes later but they gave in when they saw how much fun they were having.

A  facepainter granted the wishes of each child for a special design to wear, including a very special unicorn princess and a spiderman. Even the grown ups loved having their faces and hands painted with colorful designs.

And there was no physical activity lacking either, between the toddler tumbler and a VW car filled with balls. the children couldn't have asked for a better way to spend their sunday!  They were also thrilled with the carnival games which offered them a multitude of prizes- no winning necessary!

The children also received a very fun surprise visit from a Race Car Driver (Entertainer) who led them through a series of physical activities such as the limbo, tube crawling and even showed them how to make balloon figures! After having completed all the race car tasks the children 'graduated' from Race Car training with their very own Race Car Cap.

The afternoon continued delicious refreshments and a fabulous race car cake designed by Chef Sara Pereira for Partymakers.  The color of the car reflected the birthday child's favorite color: green. 

And of course no birthday party is complete without a few goodie bags given out at the end of the party for each child:  toys, stickers and their individual personalized place mat!

This was a fantastic party, lots of fun and play, the happiest birthday a child could ask for, and that's all Partymakers asks for!

Pirate Party

If you think Pirate parties are just for boys, think again. We recently threw a party for one of our clients who wanted a Pirate themed party for her little girl. It was a Bake-a-Cake party that incorporated a Pirate theme into it. Take a look at the beautiful party supplies. The room and table were decorated by Devinn Bruce. He did a fantastic job, it was very girly and pirate-y. There were even paper parrots flying around the room! You can find the pirate paper goods here.

A little dab of pink with the pirate theme gives it an immediate girly feel. We love the sparkles in the centre of the table too. And you can't forget the treat boxes filled with piratey treasures.

And we had our own Bake-a Cake table set up with all the ingredients ready to go for the children to bake the very special birthday cake.

The children also colored buttercream and made decorations to go on top of the cake.

There was a very special visit from a Pirate from a far off land who told the little bakers a great story about a baker named Mickey.

The children loved their pirate hats as they enjoyed a slice of pizza.

And last but not least the Magical Jewel birthday cake that the children baked and helped decorate.

Watch The Bake-A-Cake Party Book Video

If you want a DIY party, take a look at our Bake-A-Cake Party Book Video! It will give you tips on making the best Birthday Cakes with your children, as well as throwing a one of a kind birthday Party. We love to hear from you so share your comments!