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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Happy Birthday to a Little Princess and a Special Guest, Plus A Birthday Cake Decorating Idea


Happy Birthday

It was my Little Princess’ Birthday and we celebrated early this year.  Since Hello Kitty is (still) the Birthday Girl’s favorite character, I have to make sure the Kitty banner was in place before the party started.  Do kids ever out grown Hello Kitty?  If you know the answer, please share!  I was never a fan myself when I was young so I couldn't tell.  And I don’t think I would miss all the pink Hello Kitty items around the house if, one day, my Princess decided she doesn't like it anymore.  Hahaha…wish me luck that it will happen one day!  Besides my Little Girl’s birthday, it was also my Hubby’s Aunt’s birthday on the day we hosted the party.  She happened to be visiting the States from Hong Kong so we celebrated her Birthday as well.  It was our honor to have her at the party. 

Red Bean Ice Dessert (紅豆冰)

In the afternoon, I served up these Adzuki/Red Bean Ice Dessert (紅豆冰, see picture above) , made from the Homemade Red Bean Paste, recipe here.  It’s a very popular Chinese dessert and perfect for hot summer days.  Simply fill a tall glass with some shaved ice (I blended some crushed ice in a blender to turn them into shaved ice consistency).  Then, top with some red bean paste, more ice, more bean paste; last but not least, splash in some evaporated milk and that’s all.  It was so good, refreshing, chilled, creamy, and very satisfying!  You bet I’ll be making this very often this summer!

Next, onto the birthday cake, its a Chocolate Mousse Pocky Cake!  Can you tell I'm quite excited about this cake?  You might noticed that I haven't show you the entree and appetizers and jump right to the cake. You bet that's the way we roll here, always start with desserts first.

Pocky Chocolate Mousse Cake

Little Princess requested a chocolate cake for her birthday, so I made a chocolate mouse layer cake for her. (Similar to this chocolate mousse cake but in bigger scale.)  This dark chocolate mousse cake started with a chocolate cookie crust on the bottom, two layers of chocolate sponge cake in between the dark chocolate mousse layers, and topped with cocoa powder.  As you can see from the picture below, the sides of the cake wasn't that neat, so I decorated the cake with my kids’ favorite snacks, Chocolate Pocky and Strawberry Pocky!  As you might have guessed, pink is my Little Princess’ favorite color, that’s why I used the Strawberry Pocky as part of the decoration.  If you’re not familiar with Pocky, they are chocolate covered (or strawberry covered) pretzel sticks.  They are really tasty and fun snacks on their own.

Pocky Chocolate Mousse Cake

I simply line and pressed the Pocky sticks onto the side of the cake.

Pocky Chocolate Mousse Cake

Then tide it all up with some pretty ribbons.  But if I would do it again, I probably would apply a thin layer of cream on the side of the cake before adding the Pocky so that the Pocky sticks would stay-put when we cut into the cake. 

Pocky Chocolate Mousse Cake

To go with the Strawberry Pocky theme, I simply decorated the top of the cake with a few strawberries right before serving.  The Pocky sticks are great for cake decorating if the sides of your cake doesn't look perfect.  As you all know by now that I'm not a crafty person, so, this is probably the easiest way to make the birthday cake looks great.  Hope you like this simple cake decorating idea.

Pocky Chocolate Mousse Cake

Besides the cake, we had plenty of food.  Such as Chicken Cold Noodles with Sesame Dressing as shown in the picture below.  My Parents also prepared tuna sashimi and a self-serve sushi hand roll plates.  And somehow I didn't have a picture of those dishes alone.  They were surrounded by people constantly!  That’s how good they were.  The self-serve sushi hand roll plates was definitely a perfect dish to prepare for summer parties.  I’ll try to post a recipe in the future when I make it again.   I also made fried shrimp balls as appetizers and they were all gone before I had a chance to even take a picture.

Chicken Cold Noodle with Sesame Dressing

I also prepared some Meyer Lemonade for the party.  It was Little Princess’ latest favorite drink.  So refreshing and perfect for any guest.  It was a nice party and we all had a great time.  It was filled with food, laughs, gifts, fun and love.  I hope you enjoy these pictures from the party and the cake decorating idea.  Stay tuned for my next post on more summer treats and recipes.

Lemonade

109 comments:

  1. Happy belated birthday to your daughter. You decorate the cake so nicely! I love the red bean ice and Lemonade!

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    1. Thank you, Jozelyn. I'm not too good at cake decorating, this method is so simple and easy for me. ^^ Glad you like the red bean ice and lemonade too.

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  2. Oh my, your cake is gorgeous and the decoration is awesome! I will have to show this to my daughter for her girls! Hope your cutie had a great bithday too! Big hugs,
    FABBY

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    1. Thank you. Hope your daughter and her girls love this too. :) We sure had a wonderful time together.

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  3. Happy birthday to your little princess! What a wonderful party you threw for her. That cake is so awesome looking! And the shaved ice sounds simply amazing....

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    1. Thank you, Amy. We all had a wonderful time together. Oh...those shaved ice. I have one of those on a daily basis when I have the red bean paste around. It's that good. :P

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  4. Best wishes to your little princess on her birthday. Everything is spectacular and well organised, the deco and food stuffs. The cake is a stunner but my fav will always be the red bean ice dessert. Thumbs up to you Amy!

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    1. Thank you so much, Navaneetham. Glad you enjoy the pictures of the party. Oh...and I'm a fan of the red bean ice dessert too. I've been eating it almost every day! shhhh....

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  5. What a sweet post:-)
    Love the cake..love Miss Kitty..
    Happy day indeed-

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    1. Thank you. Oh yes, it was a happy day, indeed. :)

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  6. LOVE it, Amy! What a wonderful party and whimsical cake. Your daughter is really lucky and has great taste (chocolate mousse and Hello Kitty)! : )
    And can I tell you...I also love red bean ice so much! I used to live off of them in the summers as a kid. I've been thinking about how I haven't had one in ages (it's bubble tea and fraps now). Need to get/make one soon. I would totally crash your party, btw. Looks delicious and fun! Happy birthday to your princess!

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    1. Thank you, Monica. Oh...I love bubble tea and fraps too. I probably can drink those everyday if I let myself to do so. :P But since I usually make a pretty big batch of red bean paste, I've been having the red bean ice almost every day! :P

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  7. Happy Birthday to your 'Little Princess' , what beautiful decorations and I know a good time was had by all . And no , I don't think they ever grow out of Hello Kitty . Thanks for sharing :)

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    1. Thank you, Nee Glad you like my decorations. hm....I have a feeling my Little Girl won't grow out of Hello Kitty too! :P She's so in love. LOL!

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  8. Wow...what a fabulous spread you had for the birthday girls! Everything looks fabulous...but I agree with you...dessert first! That cake is gorgeous and how clever to decorate with those pocky sticks...they look like something I would love all on their own! And I love your pink cake stand, too! Hope your Little Princess had a wonderful birthday! : )

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    1. Thank yous, Anne. Glad to know you like the idea of dessert first. ;) Oh yeah...the pocky sticks are pretty good snacks on their own. My kids always ask for them whenever I go to Asian supermarket. :)

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  9. Your party looked spectacular and I love that cake. I'm sure your princess did as well. I've seen Pocky sticks but never paid attention to what they were. I wish you hadn't told me. Now I will be looking for them to snack on. Very creative idea for using them.

    Sounds like a wonderful party. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you, Vicki. Oh, the party was a blast. Well, those Pocky Sticks are really great for snacking. :) I love both sweet and savory as well. Good thing is that they comes in pretty small individual package, great for portion control (I totally need that! haha)

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  10. Happy belated Birthday to your little princess. The birthday cake looks gorgeous and the Meyer Lemonade picture looks pretty too.

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    1. Thank you, Ann. Glad you like the cake too. Just posted the Meyer Lemonade recipe on the blog too. :)

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  11. What a perfect party for a little princess. And my daughter who is almost 23 is still a princess. So, they never outgrow that! Love that cake and the lemonade looked like it would really quench one's thirst. Happy Birthday to the little princess!

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    1. Thank you, Abbe. I agree, my little girl will always be my little princess. :)

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  12. Amazing how the sticks really can glam up a cake, I am sure your little princess is a very happy girl! Love your simple red bean dessert too!

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    1. Thank you, Jeannie. I know,the Pocky really helps make my cake pretty. :P Everyone loved the cake. Oh....I've been having the red bean ice dessert almost everyday...when I have the red bean paste on hand. I love making a big batch and keep it in the fridge for any time enjoyment. :P

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  13. Happy Birthday to your princess Amy! God bless! Wonderful cake and simply loved the sticks on them..:-)

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    1. Thank you so much, Rekha. Glad you love my cake decorations...I'm not too good at it and always like to try new things. :)

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  14. What a lucky birthday Princess she is! :-), I love the cake and Pocky sticks..what an amazing birthday menu you served-our friend Megan loved her HK's until she was 9!

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    1. Thank you, Lynn. Yes, the birthday girl was so lucky! :) I wish I get such a fun cake when I was little. LOL....

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  15. Happy Birthday to your little princess!! and now I need a cute cake like this for my next year's birthday :D

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    1. Thank you so much, Kiran. hehe....I'm sure you can recreate this cake easily. Have fun.

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  16. Happy Birthday to your little Princess, sounds like she a fabulous party, love the look of her cake.

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    1. Thank you so much. Oh...it was a fun party, indeed. :)

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  17. Happy Belated Birthday to your little girl ! Your cake looks so tempting. Btw, love your ice water pot on the last photo. Is that a plastic or glass ware?
    Hope you're having a lovely day.
    Kristy

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    1. Thank you so much, Kristy. The drink dispenser on the last photo is glassware. Very durable and elegant. I've been using it every day since I got it. Here's the link to the product if you're interested to check it out:

      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ADYLNLS/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00ADYLNLS&linkCode=as2&tag=a0464-20

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    2. Thank you so much, Kristy. Glad you like the cake. The beverage dispenser is glass. I personally love it and has been using it every day. Here's a quick link to the product. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ADYLNLS/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00ADYLNLS&linkCode=as2&tag=a0464-20

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  18. Happy belated birthday to your little angel, Amy. I would love some 紅豆冰!

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    1. Thank you so much, Angie. Oh yeah..I've been eating 紅豆冰 almost every single day. It's just so good and it's the most delicious way to cool off. :)

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  19. Happy belated birthday to your little princess! Wow, what a fantastic and delicious looking cake! Love that you used Pocky to decorate it, my son loves eating those too. Sounds like a wonderful party, you did a great job Amy :)

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    1. Thank you, Kelly. Glad you like my Pocky cake. It was so much fun picking them off before cutting into the cake. :)

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  20. Birthday wishes to the little angel. Love the yummy spread you have put to celebrate the special day. The cake looks awesome.

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    1. Thank you so much, Amrita. Glad you like my menu of the party. :)

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  21. Wow I love the strawberry cake with pocky, wide spread of my favourite desserts, yummy

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    1. Thank you. Glad you love my cake decoration.

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  22. Homenaje de lujo a sus hijas pastel maravilloso con decoración original y perfecta y su bebida refrescante preferida muy bueno todo,hugs,hugs.

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    1. muchas gracias. alegra que te guste mi decoración de pasteles y comida de las fiestas. :)

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  23. Happy Birthday to your little princess! I want to be a mom who can make kids' birthday cake one day... and I can dream of making this delicious Chocolate Mousse Pocky Cake one day... :D

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    1. Thank you,Nami. hehe...actually, I'm really not good at cake decorating, as you can tell before adding the Pocky. Glad that the Pocky helps glam up cake! hahaha....

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  24. happy birthday little one...am sure your mom made that day really special with her wonderful and innovative decorated cake

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    1. Thank you, Divya. It was a fun party for all. Glad you like my cake decoration. :)

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  25. Stunning cake. Overall looks like a lovely party. You can come play hostess ANYTIME :)

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    1. thank you. :) glad you like my party. hehehe...I think it would be fun to play hostess.

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  26. Happy Birthday to the gorgeous, lil princess! The cake is such a stunner, and pocky was my fav childhood treat! Glad that your family had a great time, it looks like a wonderful party-well done Amy!

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    1. Thank you, Jehanne. :) Oh yeah, I love the Pocky and so glad that they came for the rescue and made my cake look so much better.

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  27. Happy belated b-day to her :) Everything you make is so beautiful, the cake is such a great idea! You did such a nice job with the party!

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    1. Thank you, Ann. Glad you like the party and the cake decorating idea. :)

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  28. Happy Belated birthday to your daughter! What a pretty cake. I guess the Pocky sticks have to be eaten before we can get to the cake. :)

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    1. Thank you, Mun. Yeah...we had fun picking and eating the Pocky before cutting into the cake. ;)

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  29. Happy Belated Birthday to your lil princess, Amy! You sound like my kind of mom...serving / showing photos of dessert first! haha! =)

    I loved the idea of decorating the cake with pocky sticks. Such a clever idea! I love pocky! Also, if you're a Hello Kitty lover, I don't think you can ever grow out of it (or maybe that's just me). I still love Hello Kitty. =)

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    1. Thank you, Dice. Oh...good to know there's a possibility that my girl won't out grow of Hello Kitty so I can be prepared! hahaha....glad you like my Pocky cake. :) And yes, always dessert first.

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  30. Happy Birthday to your dear darling girl!! The cake's so cute and perfect. Hope she had fun picking out the pocky sticks.

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    1. Thank you, Asha. Oh yeah...we all had fun picking the Pocky before cutting into the cake. I think I might have more fun than anyone else! hahaha....

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  31. Happy birthday to your little princess! That cake looks amazing...

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    1. Thank you, Gayathri. Glad you like the cake too. :)

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  32. Muchas felicidades para la "Little Princess" con un poco de retraso.
    La tarta es, sencillamente espectacular, preciosa.
    Un abrazo desde España, Amy.

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    1. Muchas gracias. Me alegra que te guste la fiesta de cumpleaños. :) Tenga cuidado.

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  33. Hi Amy! Happy Birthday to your little princess! I hope I'm not late since you mentioned that you celebrated early this year.

    Love your Chocolate Mousse Pocky Cake!!! You are so creative!!!

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    1. Thank you so much. A well wish is never late, in my opinion. :) Glad you like my Pocky cake too. It was fun to eat.

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  34. Amy, the adzuki dessert sounds easy, but so refreshing and elegant! The birthday cake is a real piece of art! You have outdone yourself here! I don't remember ever seeing such a beautiful home-made cake! And the pocky sticks are such an original idea too! Would you like to make a birthday cake for me too? ;-)

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    1. Thank you so much. Glad you like the red bean dessert and the birthday cake. I'm still not very good at making and designing cakes...a lot to learn. It'll be fun to make you one for your b-day, if you don't mind that it probably won't be perfect. ;)

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  35. Happy birthday to the birthday girls! You know, your little princess will always be a princess - she'll never outgrow that. Good thing too, I think! Lovely cake - extremely creative. The whole meal looks great, but that cake is wonderful! Fun post - thanks.

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    1. Thank you so much. Glad you like the cake and the post. I agree, my Baby Girl will always be my little baby, no matter how old she is. :)

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  36. Happy Birthday to your little princess Amy...and the cake is so pretty, I love the idea!
    Hope you are having a fabulous week my dear :D

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    1. Thank you so much, Juliana. Glad you like my cake decoration. I'm happy it turned out good too. :P

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  37. Happy Birthday to your girl! It looks like a great party! I bet all the food are so delicious! And the cake! Wow.... I got to try it one day!

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    1. Thank you so much. Glad you like the party. :)

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  38. Happy bday!! A pocky cake?? Everyone's dream!!!!

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    1. Thank you, Belinda. Glad you like my Pocky cake too. :) It was just fun to eat.

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  39. I used to love all of those sanrio characters and definitely outgrew it. Sounds like you put on a great birthday celebration for your daughter! That pocky cake is AMAZING.

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    1. Thank you for the reassurance, Joanne! Glad to know the Hello Kitty doesn't have to last forever! hahaha...Glad you like the pocky cake too. :)

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  40. That is like the kit kat cake but done all over again - brilliant :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    P.S I will not be commenting for 4 weeks due to exams - see you afterwards :)

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    1. Hehe....I thought of using the Kit Kat for decorating the cake too. But the cake is chocolate mousse, so, I was afraid the Kit Kat would be "too heavy" for the cake. That's why I went with Pocky, which were the Kids' favorite anyway.

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  41. I have not heard of chocolate and strawberry pockys!! I will have to see if my local store has them since I'm sure my grandsons would love them too :) What a beautiful cake you made with them!!! Your daughter must have been smiling from ear to ear :)

    Happy Birthday to your little Princess, Amy!!

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    1. Thank you. Oh yeah...Little Princess was very happy about the cake and she had a big piece too. I'm glad the cake turned out nice. Oh yeah, see if you can get those Pocky, I haven't met a kid who doesn't like them yet. ;)

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  42. Amy, great job on the cake! But I'd dive right into that sesame chicken thing and probably not have room for cake!

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    1. Thank you. LOL...I agree with you. I make the the sesame chicken cold noddle quite often in the summer cos it is so good. I'll post the recipe later. Stay tuned.

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  43. Gorgeous party--fit for a princess! Happy belated to her and hubby's aunt!!! Years ago, when my youngest son was little--we had Barney items all about the house. Your Hello Kitty reference brought back fond memories. xo T. http://tickledpinkwoman.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you so much, Tina. Oh, Barney! hehe....my kids like that too, but not crazy about it. Otherwise, I'll have a pink and purple decorated home! hahaha...

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  44. What a magnificent cake, Amy! I love the idea of using Pocky's...a new candy for me :) And your noodle salad looks terrific as well!

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    1. Thank you so much, Liz. The Pocky sticks are fun to eat. Glad you like the cold noodle as well.

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  45. hi amy, that's a very pretty cake and that's really a great decorating idea with the pocky sticks! yes, i have enjoyed looking at these pictures and about the hello kitty stuffs, i was once crazy over them when i was small ..not really that small, i think probably when i was 10 and up till probably 14..also snoopy and also little twin stars..but that time didnt have so much collections as nowadays..i have handkerchifes which i only collect and not using it, alot of small cases, stationeries..etc but slowly i dont how i just stopped losing interest on those things eventually..:D

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    1. Thank you, Lena. Oh...good to know Hello Kitty home decor doesn't have to last forever! hahaha....I remember little twin stars too. :) hehe...they are always right next to Hello Kitty stuffs. I agree, there are a lot more things to collect these days compared to when I was young! The kids now are so spoiled! :)

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  46. Awww happy birthday to your little princess!! I love the cake!!

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  47. Hi Amy, happy birthday to your princess. That's a very very lovely cake, you're very creative. Your girl must be smiling from east to west.... The red bean shave iced and noodle salad look so refreshing and inviting. Looks like a great party!

    Best regards.

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    1. Thank you so much, Amelia. We all had a great time in the party. :) Oh yeah, My Little Girl was so happy with the cake. And I personally love the red bean ice dessert and eat that almost every day.

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  48. Amy, very Happy belated Birthday to your precious Little Princess - I wanted to let you know what an amazingly wonderful party you organized, the cake and the food (and drink) look perfect, the birthday cake is one of the prettiest cakes that I have seen in a while!

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    1. Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Andrea. :) I'm glad you like my party and the menu too.

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  49. OMGosh, that cake is beautiful and amazing and should win a contest for most FABULOUS cake EVER! I LOVE IT so much.

    I wish I wish I could have come to that birthday party.

    Happy birthday to the Princess.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. :) Glad you like the party. Take care.

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  50. The Poky cake is genius! Truly inspired. I bet all the guests had fun pulling them off and eating them one by one, too. I know that I would! LOL

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    1. Thank you...Oh we did. It was fun eating the Pocky while waiting for the cake being cut. :P

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  51. How cute! Great idea! Happy belated birthday wishes to your lucky girl!

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  52. Amy! ....that cake is too awesome! What a great creation! You are so brilliant my friend.

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    1. Thank you so much, Danny. I'm still learning in cake decoration. Just glad that the Pocky came for the rescue! hahaha....

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  53. Everything looks beautiful!! I`m loving the cake! When I was a teen, I loved Sanrio characters, not just Hello Kitty. As I grew older, I still love them! Now, I`m 22 and I not only still like Sanrio characters (like Chococat), I also love others, like Rilakkuma. Haha.

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  54. Amy the pokey cake looks so cute!!! What a great idea!

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  55. What a cute idea! I see these sticks all the time in the store and now I have a real reason to buy them.

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