Did I Mention that the Boys are 12

In the computer game Minecraft, players can craft cakes if they own an art table and the appropriate ingredients. To create my son's Minecraft birthday cake, we needed a crafting table. The table was constructed by affixing electrical tape to a flat wooden cutting board.

I created a cake that I love recipe using two square cake pans.

I covered the top of one cake with icing, but not the sides. Then I added the next layer and iced both the top and sides of the top layer of cake so that fondant would stick to it. Look at the picture below to see me 'crafting an edible cake' at the 'crafting table'-- when virtual life transforms into a geeky reality!

I added fondant that was uncolored to the top layer and used kitchen scissors for cutting the edges. I tried cutting the sides and lining up the fondant but it was simpler to simply put the fondant on top of the fondant and shape it. I added some red dye to leftover fondant and then added the squares. It was easier for the fondant to stick to the white fondant by soaking each square.

SNACKS

We were planning on having watermelon anyway, but once I was in my Minecraft-mindset, I started seeing Creepers everywhere and pixelation everywhere...

(If you're not convinced, that is a Creeper's face!) My son drew the face and I etched it into the melon skin using a knife. We made Melon balls to fill the rind, and the boys loved telling me they were eating Creeper brains. (Did I mention that my boys are 12? Do you know?)

Another snack also acted as a game for the evening: Digging for Diamonds! Beginning a few days prior to the event, we placed diamonds made of plastic in the bottom of several plastic cups. Each day, we added a different colored soda or juice. MINECRAFT SERVER LIST On the day of the party, every boy got a cup that contained several layers of ice. See, digging is one of the ways to obtain resources in Minecraft. (I suppose that's the reason they call it Mine-craft!)

We held an event to see who could extract the most diamonds in the fastest time.

CUPPCAKES

After the kid party we had guests' families join us for dinner and then more fun. The 'after-party' was a great time to celebrate. I created cupcakes, or "cut cakes" as some people refer to them. When I first started Googling "Minecraft" parties", I was inspired by the Creeper face cupcakes I found on many blogs and Pinterest sites.

A good friend who would be at our party has a food dye intolerance therefore we made sure he would be able to enjoy the party foods just like everyone else. The Digging for Diamonds snacks were made with natural coloring. The Minecraft cake was only some red spots that were easy to get rid of. The Creeper cakes were more of the challenge.

Thanks to the internet, however, I found my new favorite food item avocado frosting!

It's a bit gross It's not, but it was the most talked about item at the party. The avocado icing isn't like avocados or even Guacamole. It tastes more like garlic and avocados and that's why it's so popular! The avocado's high fat content makes it a great substitute for butter and the green color is simply stunning! It remained bright green for several days.

Alton Brown was the inspiration for the recipe. However, after looking at many variations online and trying them out the week before I discovered that adding vanilla, lowering the lemon juice, and halving avocado produced the best results.

My Creeper cakes might not be the most beautiful in the world, but they're gorgeous! However, they were quick to make and our guests ate them ALL.

I made my favorite chocolate cake mix and baked it in an oven dish made of glass. When cool I cut them into equal squares, iced them with avocado icing and decorated them with leftover chocolate icing from the Minecraft cake. I used a yogurt lid as my template , and spread the icing with a spreader. The green icing needed to be set for a few hours prior to adding the chocolate icing.