Author: Shaily Agrawal

Do you know what all goes into cooking a rainbow cake 🎂?

My daughter is turning seven this month. Also, for the first time, she was dealing with exhausting end-of-year exams (Children her age have been going to school since they were 3 but we homeschooled her due to COVID.) I wanted her to remember these days with fondness rather than dread. So, I built her a 4-inch oven the out of a cardboard box.

She was so excited upon seeing the gift that she decided she will begin using it immediately. That is when it all snow-balled.

It started with a small paper pizza 🍕, complete with mushrooms 🍄, onions 🌰, tomatoes 🍅 and capsicums.

The next day, a 3D cake 🎂 the diameter of my smallest finger and the half the height appeared. It was cute with rainbow colours and seven candles on the top, ready for the big doll party–apparently, my daughter’s doll is ready to celebrate her seventh birthday too.

But of course, it wasn’t enough because it didn’t really have any ingredients, just paper. So, my daughter took it upon herself to create them. You see, the quickest way to get a toy is to build it. So, on the next day, a paper flour bag 🌾appeared, along with a paper milk jug 🥛, a couple of eggs 🥚🥚and a bowl of sugar. Not sure where she found the recipe–I don’t bake. I don’t even have an oven. The items are a little rough around the edges since she is not allowed to use scissors yet. But that never managed to curb her enthusiasm.

The next day, paper icing cones started appearing. Soon, we had strawberry 🍓, orange 🍊, mango 🥭, kiwi 🥝, blue berry, black berry and black grapes 🍇 flavours. I thought it should be enough for the cake, so after a lot of ministrations from our little chef, the cake went inside the oven.

And then she realised that it is a party, and she can’t offer just a piece of the rainbow cake to the guests. So, over the next few days, paper cupcakes 🧁, burger 🍔, four varieties of shakes 🥤, a whole lot of other food stuff of unidentifiable variety 🥗🧆🍥 started appearing. It was, of course, done using the milk-jug 🥛, eggs 🥚🥚, icing and flour 🌾 prepared previously.

And then came a whole set of paper fruits 🍓🍒🍎🍑🍊🥭🍍🍋🍌🍇 and serving trays. I reminded her that she had plastic fruits and trays as well, but the suggestion was declined on the premise that everything has to look similar.

Yesterday, after her exams ended, my daughter had the big doll birthday party 🥳 with her friend. Four guest dolls along with four soft toys–a deer, a monkey, a dog and a penguine–were in attendance. The party was a huge hit and everyone nose-dived into the rainbow cake 🎂 since they didn’t have the patience to cut it neatly into pieces (which would have destroyed a real piece of art).

I am glad my daughter’s knowledge of baked items is limited, or else the party would have to be delayed until my daughter had the complete range of baked goods. I hope now the party is over, the bake frenzy would end, or else slow down to one piece a day.

Well, one can hope!