No kidding! These mamas did a little Freaky Friday twist last Monday, as they left their serious sides at the door of Party Favors. As we were escorted downstairs by the lovely Mary Lynn and John Pergantis, we all reverted to our kids selves. There was chocolate and cake alongside ginormous bowls of sugary frosting goodness in a glorious rainbow of colors. Willy Wonka gone wild.

After donning our fancy aprons, we separated into two groups. The cake masters and the cupcake designers. The cake masters learned tricks of the trade: how to smooth out the frosting, eliminate evil crumbs, and design spectacular borders on the most simple of bases. NOT as easy as it seems. Scissors on cake? Full disclosure, master baker John had to fix mine not once, twice, but THREE times. Very messy froster, me. Very patient man, he.

Over on the cupcake side, mamas were creating fanciful creatures from colorful mounds of frosting. Squeeze, release. Big circle, little circle. One petal, two petal. Shrieks of laughter rang out as attempts were made to recreate the beautiful cupcake art prepared in 2 seconds by our talented instructor. Making a pig out of frosting looks easy when she does it. Who knew that a leaf tip made pig’s ears? Who knew that there even WAS a leaf tip? Pigs, cows, penguins, and flowers of all shapes and sizes appeared (well, if you squinted at mine, a pig appeared) as we played with gobs of frosting. Tongues to noses, eyes focused, we manhandled frosting like nobody’s business. Amazingly good fun.

And then, we all came together, like two layers of a perfect Party Favors cake (couldn’t resist). Perched around tables with our newly iced cakes, we begin the project of decorating them. No more cupcake practice for us! John made it easy by creating a water scene for everyone to begin, and then we were off with our imaginations. Duck ponds, oceans, frog ponds complete with lily pads came together as we used our newfound skills (and John’s help) to create our masterpieces.

I will never use “piece of cake” to describe an easy task again. Our efforts were met with hilarity and giggles (could have been the wine, too) as we realized how much fun we were having, and how although unleashing our inner cake artist was amazing, it might be better to leave important cakes to the pros at Party Favors. We give three cheers to all of the staff at Party Favors for creating such a fabulous event. We’ll be practicing, and eagerly awaiting our next tutorial…