We got a job for a double 80th birthday party. My sister will do the catering and I will help her and make the cake. The birthday couple love baseball! The thing is one loves the Oakland A’s and the other  the San Francisco Giants. We had to go with a baseball theme and I would make a Battle of the Bay cake for them. I could make each team cap and the SF Bay Bridge had to be there somewhere. I started drawing out an idea while my sister thought about a menu.
Drawing for team cake idea celebrating double 80th birthdays.
The guest list was to be about 75 people. That meant a pretty big cake. So my thoughts first went to a large baseball diamond-shaped cake for a first tier. Carrot cake was requested, that would make a nice sturdy cake for the bottom. On top of that I would make a half-round chocolate cake that I would decorate to look like a baseball. And a smaller round chocolate cake to look like a mound. Then the baseball caps would lean on that and be made from cereal treats. I learned from my work on the Nightmare Before Christmas cake that I could make a chocolate piped shape. That’s how I would make my Bay Bridge to set in front of the baseball. A scoreboard with birthday names and ages would finish it off.
First order of business was to figure out the decor for the party. The girls giving the party would decorate the tables and we would take care of the buffet and cake tables. There would be an equal number of A’s tables and Giant’s tables. They purchased plastic batting helmets and balloons for the center of the tables. I thought it would be neat if the center of the table had some astro turf on it. So I bought some and cut out field-shaped pieces to go over the tablecloths. I had enough left to have a strip of it for down the center of the buffet table. The rest would cover a board for my cake.
Wooden bleachers to serve the pigs in a blanket from.
We would serve popcorn, Cracker Jacks, cotton candy and pigs in a blanket for the appetizer portion of the party. I Â thought it would be neat if I made a small bleacher set up to serve the appetizers from. The popcorn would be in red & white striped bags propped up in cardboard trays like the vendors at the ballparks use. And a salsa bar with tortilla chips.
I don’t have photos of these buffet tables. But believe me it looked great! I’ll explain later.
I baked the cakes and made the cereal treats a few days before the party. The time consuming part was drawing the Bay Bridge and then piping the lines. It took a couple times and the bridge turned out a little larger than originally planned. I’d have to put that in a different place.
Close up of the San Francisco Giants hat made from fondant over cereal treats.
Making the hats was fun. Simple but all the stitching lines and details make it look harder than it was. I made them ahead so they would firm up over a couple days.
Closeup of the Oakland A’s hat.
The day before the party I put the cake together, covered the layers and stacked them. I then placed dowels so the hats would hang off the sides of the cake. I figured out where the bridge would fit and then made a scoreboard to fit between the hats. I piped grass around the cake to finish off the base. Next was the red stitching on the baseball. This was a heavy cake! I packed the bridge and hats and would put them on at the venue.
The day of the party was perfect…until we got there. My sister and I showed up at the venue and no one was there to open the doors. We waited for the clients who had paperwork and phone numbers. It took sooo long that early out-of-town guests were showing up and we still weren’t in the kitchen! Not to mention that no decorating had been done. Needless to say we had a lot of help.
Popcorn and appetizers needed to get out quickly. Too bad that the popcorn maker didn’t work! Off to the store my niece went and came back with microwave popcorn… lots of it. While that was popping, I put the finishing touches on the cake. Then the tiny hotdogs would not cook. Something to do with the oven. Sheesh! The guests were everywhere and I had no time to take photos.
Fan cake for the San Francisco Bay Area…Giants and A’s.
Menu for the baseball fan birthday party.
At some point the tide turned and the appetizers went out, drinks were flowing, we could not keep enough lemonade made. The band played and toasts were made while we made salads, turkey pinwheels and the delicious beef tri-tip sandwiches.
Finally all the food was ready to set out on the astro turf draped buffet table. The crowd was hungry and ready to dish up their plates. The food went over great.
Time for the cake. After taking photos of the cake along with half the guests I served the cake.
The day seemed to go by so quickly… guess that happens when you start off behind. No time to pace yourself, just gotta go all out. The work paid off and everyone enjoyed themselves so it was a good day!
