Have you ever thought that birthday cakes should be easier?
What if they can be and you can take all the glory for not doing that much at all? Coles has the perfect cake to make you look like the best parent in the world.
If you are not a fan of the Pink Drip Cake, you can also get a Chocolate Drip Cake
Our summer-inspired Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake
Coles Vanilla Drip Cake Makes Birthday’s Easier
I like any mum who wants to make their child’s birthday party special. Each year I ask each kid what they would like for their birthday, and I go out of my way to make it happen.
Hubby is a bit over all the trouble I go to and keeps on saying I should just get a cake from the shop and make it look pretty.
So when I was asked to test out the new Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake I thought this might be the answer to making birthday’s easier.
The kids wanted to make it a summer cake filled with tropical decorations.
I think they did an amazing job and had fun too.
I think next time I have a party I will make things easier for myself. As a mum, there is so much to do and to organise, if you can get more time back it is a win, right?
Will you be testing out the Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake?
Did you know that the Coles Drip Cakes was voted product of the year for 2020?
I can see why it won product of the year, it’s yummy and a stunning-looking cake.
COLES VANILLA PINK DRIP CAKE The Coles vanilla pink drip cake is a stunning and cost-effective solution to creating the cake of your dreams! The white icing with a delectable pink drip puts this stunning dessert on par with the decadent, Insta-worthy cakes that are continuously popping up. This cake is light, fluffy and drizzled with a sweet pink topping and makes the perfect base for decorating and dressing as you see fit! Whether it’s for a bridal shower, kids’ birthday party or just for impressing your guests after dinner, the Coles pink drip cakes are perfect for every occasion. RRP $28.00 Available at Coles.
I hope this gives you some ideas on how to make your next celebration fantastic with this super stylish cake.
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Happy Halloween! I hope you have a fun and spooky time.
Have you created your Ghost Pumpkin or otherwise known as a Ghost jack-o’-lantern yet?
You might be wondering why I am referring to the pumpkins as Ghost pumpkins. Well, Coles was selling lightly coloured pumpkins as Ghost Pumpkins and I thought how cool. I have never seen a pumpkin that is not orange. I thought it would be fun for a change and also loved the genius from the Coles marketing department by labelling them Ghost Pumpkins.
We were carving our Ghost Pumpkins for Halloween. We did one bat and one ghost.
You can just picture the conversation around the board room…. it might have gone something like this.
“We have a whole batch of pale coloured pumpkins”
“Geez, how are we going to sell them?”
“Halloween is coming up, if we call them ‘Ghost Pumpkins’ they will fly off the shelves!”
I really don’t know what was said behind the closed doors of Coles and especially from the marketing team but maybe it did go down as I suggested. I went back the other day and they seemed to have sold out of these Ghost Pumpkins so calling them ghost pumpkins was a brilliant idea.
Since I purchased the pumpkins at Coles they also said that they had more info on how to decorate them on their website. I downloaded the Halloween Stencils to allow me to create the correct shapes and pictures. Do you use stencils or do you just create something on the fly? We have done a bit of both over the last few years so thought I would give the more complicated pictures on pumpkins a go.
What do you need to carve a pumpkin
A pumpkin or two. Yes, I know it is obvious you need to have a pumpkin to carve it.
An ice cream scoop helped us clean out the inside of the pumpkin and made it so much easier.
A couple of very sharp knives. You might want to have a bigger one to do the initial cutting of the top of the pumpkin and a smaller one for the actual carving of your design. (THIS IS SOMETHING THAT AN ADULT SHOULD DO AS KNIVES ARE DANGEROUS AND YOU DON’T WANT TO HAVE YOUR OWN REAL-LIFE SPOOKY ACCIDENT HAPPEN. I am sure you can live without this added drama)
Know the design you wish to create for your pumpkin. It helps to have an idea of what you would like to create, you will be less annoyed afterwards if you have a plan.
If you are not excellent at cutting pumpkins and need to have a guide for the shapes it is an excellent idea to have a stencil to work with. You can trace the outline and then use this to cut out the shape.
To help attach the stencil to the pumpkin I used toothpicks. I put the toothpicks into the area of the pumpkin that would be cut out.
How do you carve a pumpkin?
Step 1: You need to get the top off the pumpkin first. It is best to create an outline with your knife and go over it, again and again, to work it loose.
The top with the cuts around it to help get the top off.
Now the top is off, the inside of the pumpkin needs cleaning out. You can also keep the pumpkin seeds and roast them to add to meals or snacks.
Step 2: Clean out the inside of the pumpkin. This might take a while and it is recommended to dry it out. If you are in a rush and would like to use the pumpkin that day and not wait too long to dry you can put it on the trays in front of the oven to get the heat but not cook it.
Cleaning out the inside of our Ghost Pumpkins.
Using an ice cream scoop was a great idea as it made the job so much easier.
Step 3: Once you have cleaned and dried out the pumpkin it is now ready to carve. Remember it is best to have a good idea of what you are going to do. If you make a mistake you will have to start all over again with a new pumpkin.
I used stencils from Coles this time and they helped me get the right shapes for the characters. However, with the ghost, I should have made it smaller or put it on the bigger pumpkin (this was not possible due to one child claiming the bigger pumpkin and wanting the bat on it, I could not tell her otherwise) due to the fact that the head was missing and I thought it would not be an issue. I did think that a headless ghost would be great but it did not give you an idea of the character. I ended up adding a new head with the cut out from the stencil for the eyes and mouth.
Now the stencil is attached to the pumpkin you can use the knife to mark the lines of the bat. Once you have all the lines there you can remove the stencil and start to create the bat.
I did the same for the ghost, although I needed to make the image smaller or find a bigger pumpkin. Make sure your design fits perfectly on the pumpkin.
See here I’m tracing the lines with the knife. This is not to difficult but it does take some time. Don’t worry if you cut through the paper as this will just end up in the recycling anyway.
See the lines on the pumpkin is now in the shape of the bat that was on the stencil. The next step is to cut out the bat shape and reveal the bat so you can light it up for Halloween.
Step 4: Now you have the outline the work begins to cut out the bat image from the pumpkin
Getting there. It is partially cut out and on its way to being a nice-looking bat. Just take care of the knives and don’t hurt yourself. Remember it is for an adult to do this so that little fingers don’t get hurt.
Step 5: After cutting out for a bit and removing the excess pumpkin a bat is born!
Our ghost pumpkin bat. I think it looks amazing. Using the stencils really helped get the right shapes for the bat’s wings and ears. What do you think?
So now both the pumpkins are complete and the girls were keen to see them with candles in.
Our wonderful bat and ghost pumpkins are now all complete and lit up with a candle each.
I even added a little bit extra to the ghost one. I put the word BOO! Not my best work but it was done freehand and I thought it might turn out better than it did. Still does a good job and gives a nice spooky impression.
The ghost pumpkin with added head due to smaller pumpkin.
The word “BOO!” on the side of the ghost.
If you don’t have a ghost pumpkin just use a regular orange one.
Download this amazing printable to decorate your cupcakes. Perfect for Halloween or birthday parties. Spooky monsters will make you giggle while you eat your sweets.
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The twins have taken to a treat that we call chocolate koalas; the proper name is Top Taste Yummy Tummy Koalas™. For a long while now I have noticed no chocolate koalas at Coles Supermarket. Today I enquired as to why and when they might get more in stock.
I did notice their numbers were thinning at Coles like in the wild but thought that they would get more in. However was told today that whoever is in charge of purchasing has decided to no longer stock the chocolate koalas.
As you can imagine I was very sad to hear of this as the Top Taste Yummy Tummy Koalas™,are very tasty and a nice surprise for the girls and guests alike.
We are very much fans of this cake and would like to see it in Coles or another local supermarket soon. Coles here is moving to another location and maybe they might have room for it then. Who knows? Has a supermarket or shop stopped stocking a product that you or the kids love?
I do hope that the chocolate koalas will not be extinct for long as we miss them. Maybe I need to write a letter to George Weston Foods Limited the people that create the chocolate koalas and see if they can be put back for purchasing at Coles. It is worth a try.
P.S. Have emailed George Weston Foods Limited to see where they can be purchased now.
Woke up to nice sunny, hot weather, about time I hear you say. It feels like the rain has set in and will never leave. Very worried about autumn and of course winter. Living in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, it gets very cold. If it continues this wet weather we will be in for a cold and wet winter. This is not something I enjoy. I love summer, but not when it is wet and gloomy. So as it was sunny and warm, I made the most of it. I organised the girls to get in the pram, packed us up and I walked into town, well Katoomba that is.
As I have been meaning to do some exercise, it was nice that the weather was so nice. So all 3 of us were out and about for a walk, well mummy was walking and huffing and puffing some of the way. It is hard to push the pram with it all stocked with 2 little people on board now. I suppose this helps with the exercise, so I shouldn’t complain. We finally got to the shops, I dropped of daddies shirts at the cleaners, then we went off to check the post office for a parcel we are expecting went to the bakery and purchased cheese and bacon rolls for the girls, then off to Coles to get some shopping.
On the way back the pram was packed up well with all the shopping plus the girls. It was getting black and dark. There was a big black cloud getting darker and darker. We heard loud thunder and I thought I had to speed up to get us home. I had a bit of walking to do. The whole idea now of taking the pram seemed like a stupid idea. How will I ever get back in time.
I managed to get down Station Street and if you know that street it is all downhill. I jogged with the pram all the way down that street. I was trying to make up some time to get us home quickly. However that did not help a great deal, just around the corner from the house it started to rain, thunder and lightning seemed to be getting worse and felt very close. I was trying to keep up with the jogging but could not, ended up fast walking. This was met with sadness from the girls as they liked me going fast and really enjoyed the speed. Pity it was not something I could keep doing. Maybe after more sessions jogging or fast walking I could do that, only if the weather would permit.
We managed to get home, wet and I was so exhausted. I got the girls out of the pram, put the pram under cover, and opened the house. Made sure all windows were closed and then raced outside to get the clothes off the line.
Have you ever been caught by the weather? Has it made it difficult if you had kids with you? What did you do? I did think of getting a taxi or bus, however you would have to wait for that and the likelihood is that the rain would have been worse by this stage. After we were all indoors it bucketed down. I also learnt that there were weather warnings for hail and severe thunderstorms in the area. We were very lucky to get home when we did. If I had known that would have happened, I would have taken the car. Although every time I do and it ends up a nice sunny day, I kick myself for not going out and exercising and enjoying the weather while we can.
