Birthdays are one fun occasion for kids. I am sure most of them don't even know the meaning of the word "birthday", but for these innocent little angels, birthdays are all about fun, cakes, chocolates, ice cream, balloons, games, and what not. They take absolute pride in cutting a cake, and their happiness knows no bounds when all the other kids are looking on and clapping for them. Childhood is one phase of life everybody would want to go back to! For all those parents who are gearing up, planning their little one's birthday, I have few ideas to make this occasion a special one. How about a homemade birthday cake for kids. You can customize the cake according to your kid's fancy, and involve him or her in helping you bake it. Kids are more than happy to do things like that. You can entrust him with small simple tasks and video shoot while he does the little chores. Let's see, I will help you with a few cake recipes, and then give you some innovative decoration ideas. Easy Homemade Birthday Cakes for Kids Basic Cake Recipe Preparation time: less than 30 minutes. You will need:

• Butter/ margarine - 250 grams
• Powered sugar - 250 grams
• Flour - 250 grams
• Vanilla essence - 2 tablespoons
• Eggs - 4
• Milk - 1 cup
• Vinegar - 1 tablespoon

Get Started:

• Preheat the oven or microwave at 180 degrees.
• Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the milk and keep it aside.
• Using an electric blender, beat the eggs until fluffy.
• Add powdered sugar, butter, vanilla essence to the mixture in sequence and mix it all.
• During each addition, make sure you mix all the things properly.
• Now, add the milk mixture, that you kept aside in the beginning and mix.
• Add flour slowly to the mixture while you simultaneously mix it.
• This will give the mixture, its required consistency.
• Now grease the cake tin or mold with butter.
• Pour the mixture in the cake tin and place it in the oven. Bake it for 20-25 minutes and watch it rise. The top portion has to be golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and place it aside until it cools down, then remove from the tin. Now, the basic cake is ready, let's look at the decorating ideas.

Frosting or Icing (Chocolate Flavored) You will need:

• Cocoa powder - 5 tablespoons
• Butter - 5 tablespoons
• Evaporated milk - 5 tablespoons
• Vanilla essence - 1 tablespoon
• Icing sugar - 1 cup

Directions: In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients in the above sequence. Make sure you have a thick consistency, you can place it in the fridge for sometime. Your creamy delicious chocolate frosting is ready! Coat the cake with this frosting. You can also use edible colors in the above preparation instead of cocoa powder, to get different colors of frosting. Vanilla essence can also be replaced with the essence you like! Fruit Cake Recipe Preparation time: 30 minutes. You will need:

• Butter/margarine - 125 grams
• Powered sugar - 150 grams
• Flour - 250 grams
• Orange juice - 2 tablespoons
• Eggs - 3
• Milk - 1 cup
• Baking powder - ½ tablespoon
• Orange rind - 2 tablespoons
• Seasonal fruits
• Sweetened whipping cream - 2 cups

Get Started:

• Preheat the oven or microwave at 180 degrees.
• Using an electric blender, beat the eggs until fluffy.
• Add milk, powered sugar, butter and orange rind to the egg mixture and blend thoroughly.
• Sieve the flour and baking powder, to eliminate coarse granules, if any
• Now, add the flour to the egg mixture, stirring repeatedly as you add.
• Once you have added all the flour, keep mixing the mixture to acquire a thick consistency.
• Now, grease the cake mold using butter or edible oil and pour the cake mixture in the tin.
• Do not fill the cake mold till the brim. Pour the cake mixture, until one-fourth of the mold is filled.
• Bake the cake for 15-20 minutes, then remove the mold from the oven.
• Place the mold upside down on a plate and gently tap it. This lets the cake come out of the mold easily.
• Let the cake cool completely. Cut the cake horizontally, such that it is divided into two horizontal halves.
• Place the halves side-by-side and drizzle orange juice on both. This will make the cake soft and melt in your mouth.
• Cut the seasonal fruits you have chosen into small pieces. Place them on the bottom half of the cake.
• Now spread the whipping cream using a knife, onto one side of the other cake half. Place the top cake half onto the fruit-filled bottom half, such that the whipped cream and fruit are sandwiched between the 2 cake layers.
• You are almost there, coat the entire cake with whipping cream and decorate it with fruits if needed.

Homemade Children's Birthday Cake Ideas Now, kids live in their own fantasy land, and if you ask them what kinda cake they would like, I am sure they will come up with all sorts of funny things. But trust me, it is more fun to make funny, exciting, customized homemade birthday cakes for kids.

•	A princess castle cake for your little princess is an ideal option. Ice cream cones can be used to give the tower effect, and fondant can be used to make trees, butterflies or animals.
•	You can use coloring sugar to cover the cake with different colors. Kids are always fascinated with colors, so why not use seven different colors to make that special homemade rainbow birthday cake. Mix edible color with icing sugar to achieve the required color. You can then coat the cake in layers with rainbow colors, and make it look colorful and fancy.
•	Other interesting ideas would be a fire engine cake, a Spiderman racing car cake, and a Snowman. Moreover, cartoon characters seem to be in vogue amongst kids. You could have a Tom and Jerry, Bob the Builder, a Roadrunner, and many more such characters on top of the birthday cake. Well, you should be able to draw the characters using a frosting cone.
•	You can also have a cake decorated only with chocolate marbles or jelly sweets. How about a two tier or three-tier cake! Kids love big cakes and would be fascinated by its tiers. Surprise your little girl with a pink-frosted Barbie cake on her birthday. A rocket ship cake or an airplane shaped cake should be prefect for a terrific boy's birthday party.
•	If your child is turning five, you can simply have a numeral shaped cake. You can either bake a round shaped cake and cut any desired number or you can buy numerals molds. These molds are available in any supermarket from 0-9, therefore any combination is possible.
•	Lately, there are websites and confectionery stores, which provide edible prints to personalize your own baked cake. In fact, you can even have your own kids image. The print is easy to apply on the cake. So, decorating your own cake with an edible printed image is worth considering.

You have been loaded with umpteen number of homemade birthday cake ideas, the cake recipe, and the icing as well. So brush up your confectionery skills and blast off to the grand party of your kid, with a homemade birthday cake.