Diaper Cake

So it's not edible, but it is a cake!

I've made a few diaper cakes for friends' baby showers as both a decoration and a present. They are fun to decorate and usually are a hit with parents and guests. Here is a final result.

The basis for my diaper cakes is from this video which also shows how to make rose decorations out of washcloths but this is a better overall cake video with the same basics.

The cake "ingredients" includes ribbons, rubber bands, double sided tape, a tray, cake pans in three sizes, and diapers. For the diapers I usually use a small bag of each of N, 1, and 2 sizes for a 4 layer cake, or a small bag each of 1 and 2 sizes for a 3 layer cake.

For the cake "filling" you can go simple and just use more diapers and a paper towel roll like in the videos, but I like to put more gifts in the middle which requires cloth filling materials such as burp cloths, swaddles, onesies, hats, bibs and a tall item such as a large baby shampoo, lotion, bottle of alcohol, diaper wipes.

For the cake "icing" and "garnish" you will need a bunch of small items that can be tucked in between the diapers and fit on the cake layers such as socks, shoes, pacifiers, mittens, and washcloths. And lastly you need a larger toy or item for the cake topper.

I highly recommend looking through the parent's baby registry to select what items you use as this way you know you are adding things they want. If they have a theme you can try to match the cake to that theme. My friends S&S had a fox theme so I ended up venturing onto Etsy for fox themed items.

Basic ingredients

To make each of the layers, place the diapers into the pan, layering them so each one sticks out from the previous one by a little bit. Use the largest size diapers for the largest layer, the smallest for the smallest. Place a rubber band around the diapers.

Middle layer still in the cake pan

The bottom layers will be a little bit looser and have a hole in the middle. This is where your cloth filling and tall item comes in (or more diapers and paper towel roll). You might have to experiment a little with items, but the goal is to have at least a tall item in the center so your layers stay centered and have some stability and to fill around the tall item with the cloth items. For the fox cake I started with a toy and some cloth items and was going to put a baby powder bottle on top of the toy, but that wasn't stable enough, so in the end I just went with a champagne bottle. Another thing that works great is two diaper wipes wrapped with swaddles.

The various layers

Champagne bottle center

Two Diaper wipes with swaddles center

Stack the layers up and then wrap ribbon around the rubber bands using some double sided tape for the ends (or glue or safety pin). Another option is to wrap cloth items around the layers which allows you to emphasize a theme or add some variety. However I would not recommend doing all the layers this way as the fact the cake is made of diapers would be lost.

Then you decorate! I find easy items to tuck into the cake are socks and mittens (which can be tucked into the ribbon), pacifiers, and then the washcloth roses made by just rolling a washcloth up. You can also hang things off the ribbon such as toys or shoes or stuffed animals. See my below cakes for ideas.

Pacifier and socks

Washcloth rose

My diaper cake creations:

J&J

A&S

S&S

F&J



There is also lots of other fun diaper creations out there on the internet. Have fun!

Diaper Daisies	Diaper Roses
Diaper Stroller	Diaper Castle

Breakfast

Yogurt, granola, and fruit on a porch with a view. Awesome.

China Wok's Peking Duck

China Wok, random Chinese restaurant in the Tyson's area with good Peking duck and best of all the chef comes out to carve it at your table!

Birthday Desserts

Ice Cream Sandwiches!

And Lemon Cake! Yum.

Disposable travel mug

Borrowed this from my sister. I saw her use a jar as a travel mug substitute which I found odd though interesting. But then one day when I was trying to figure out how to transport liquid but didn't want to carry the travel mug around afterwards (my most common scenario being to bring a smoothie to drink on the way to the airport) I remembered this tidbit. Genius! Reuse and recycle those jars! :)

Aureole New York

My first Michelin starred restaurant! I didn't even know it when I made the reservation. I did dinner and a show with my friend Joanna up in NYC. We went to Aureole "the flagship showcase for Charlie Palmer's unabashed, energetic signature Progressive American cuisine". They apparently received a Michelin star this year!

Dinner stared with a complementary bite. I didn't quite catch what it was, but it was delicious.

My 1st course: Wagyu Beef Carpaccio - Endive, Caramelized Onion, Blue Cheese, Buckwheat Cracker

Main course: Alaskan Black Cod - Bok Choy, Baby Turnip, Pickled Pearl Onion, Yuzu Dashi Vinaigrette

Beautiful dessert: Wild Strawberry Mille-Feuille - Vanilla Mousseline, Lemon Confit, Poached Rhubarb

Joanna's beautiful dessert: Raspberry Chocolate Sacher Cake - “Nyangbo” Chocolate Mousse, Toasted Almond Ice Cream

Everything was delicious and we took our time savoring each bite, so much so that we ended up being late for our show. I do have to say though the Black Cod was tasty, it was not as good as the Black Cod I had at The Publican in Chicago about a month ago. Jonathan caught me nodding with approval with each bite of that one. :p

Random Pizza

Next time I make a batch of dough I'll do a making of the pizza post. Just the end product this time.

Sort of a jambalaya pizza. Cut too many peppers, onions, celery for jambalaya so threw them on this pizza with some andouille sausage and a kale and spinach mix.

Hula Girl Bar & Grill

I'm always up for trying out new restaurants, so jumped at the chance to check out Hula Girl Bar and Grill located in Shirlington. Hula Girl features traditional Hawaiian dishes and a modern Hawaiian cocktail list. They started as a food truck and now have their own brick and mortar store.

I ordered Today's Catch because the catch of the day was ... shark! The waitress said the shark is similar to swordfish. Dinner dishes come with two sides so I got the Mac Salad and the Kitchen Sink Fried Rice with Char Sui & Spam.

I didn't love the shark, but as I ate it I also remembered that I'm not a huge fan of swordfish. So if you like swordfish you would probably like this dish. The sides were good, nothing amazing but I did finish them all. We also ordered as appetizers the Lomi Salmon Poke and the Waialua Root Beer Sticky Ribs (which can also be ordered as an entree). The ribs were good, but the Lomi Salmon Poke was delicious. I want a plate of that to myself.


They also have an interesting cocktail menu. I had a sip of the Say Pineapple 5x Fast which was delicious. Pineapple infused rum, roasted pineapple puree, sparkling pineapple wine, pineapple-sugar rim, pineapple air. N thought the drink was advertising it would make you 5 times as fast, but depending on the amount of alcohol in it, it might easily make you 5 times slower. :) Aloha!

Dumplings

Dumpling making time! Stocking up the freezer. I love freezers.


Dumpling Dough - Made from just flour and water, amazing! When the dough is ready, take some of the dough and roll it into about a 1 in wide log and then cut into even sized pieces. I find it best to make a small batch of wrappers and then fill and wrap them one by one. Laying them out like I did in the above left pictures dried out the wrappers and made them harder to seal. I learned that is not the best way to do it. Also use flour to keep the wrappers from sticking to each other and place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and wrappers to keep them from drying out.

Wrapper rolling - Roll out a basic circle shape then hold the wrapper in one hand and with the other hand roll the rolling pin from edge to center rotating the wrapper after each roll. This helps make wrappers that are thicker in the center and thinner at the edges.

Pork Dumpling filling - I like this recipe, though I didn't add the cilantro or ginger as I'm not a fan of either. I also made a second batch where I used chicken and shrimp instead of pork. Experiment and make your own filling! I had a few extra wrappers at the end so I rummaged in my fridge and made a few grilled chicken and hot habanero cheese dumplings.

Dumpling folding - This is a classic way to seal the dumplings. You can fold them in any manner that works for you, just make sure that the edges are sealed so the juices don't come out when you cook them. Also if you make different fillings you could use a different fold for each filling to differentiate them.

Mac and Cheese stuffed Chicken!

Deeeelicious special from Matchbox Gallery Place. Chicken stuffed with .... MAC AND CHEESE! It was served over braised collard green with bacon and polenta (it might have been grits, I've forgotten which). Nothing left on the plate.

Random Pasta

Whole wheat penne with red peppers, zucchini, onions, italian sausage and red pepper tomato sauce.