5 year old birthday party...the natural way

[queen b]

wondering what others do for their kids parties that don't involve a lot of sugar and junk. any good cake recipes? particularly trying to get ideas for how to decorate a cake without the use of food coloring based icings. also looking for good, creative things to put inside a pinata. 

thanks!

[jessemoon]

Make a cream cheese frosting or stabilized whipped cream.  Then use edible flowers  and fruit to decorate it.   My son can't eat food dyes and he either requests chocolate frosting or whipped cream on his cakes..both of which I can control the sugar content of and both of which make him happy.  I sometimes make cupcakes instead of a big cake and then make cupcake picks (I print out the images) to stick in the top of each one.  That avoids colored frosting or plastic stuff.  I've done airplanes, fairies and dinosaurs.  You can find templates for free online and then you print them, cut them out and stick them to the top of skewers.  Ta-da!   Portion control is easier with cupcakes as well.

Pinata....small art supplies (erasers, pens, stickers etc.) or little packages of crackers etc.  Bouncy balls, small matchbox cars....hmmm

[greenemami]

I dye my icings with fruit coloring, usually strawberry or blueberry so we like the taste too :) Put some sliced fruit in a pan with a little bit of water and cook until the juices seep out and you are left with brightly colored "dye".  Just replace some of the liquid in the icing with this and keep in mind it doesn't dye as brightly as a normal one would.  You can probably google better directions than this!  Also, I think whole foods makes cakes with natural food colorings. There are some good carrot/banana cake recipes for healthier options as well.

[anj_rn]

We always do cupcakes.  Eliminates cake cutting and controls portions.  We do a fresh whipping cream for icing, and then I do a little toy on top (which serves as a party favor).  This year I am doing these cute rings that look like crowns (with raspberry whipped cream) for the princesses, and these little plastic swords (with blackberry & raspberry cream - to turn grey) for the princes (i.e the sword in the stone) for my dd's party.  For my son we will be doing blueberry cream (for water) with a little alligator toy on top for our alligator themed party.  You can also either buy or make your own picks (picture on a toothpick) to stick in the top of a white whipped cream cupcake.

For the pinata - bouncy balls, toy cars, stickers, rub on tattoos, erasers (for the end of  pencil) fake gold coins...

[Snowflake777]

I do a banana bread in a round pan, then frost it with a cream-cheese frosting (adjusted to not have tons of sugar) and decorate with fruit.

[kcparker]

You can also just dust the top with powdered sugar, even cut a stencil (or use a paper doily) so it makes some kind of design on the top.

I used thin slices of fresh fruit on a cream cheese frosting last year for DS's cake.