Beatrix at Six

She’s been looking forward to turning six since the day after she turned five. Maybe it’s because it has a nice ring to it: “Beatrix is six.” How many of our names rhyme with our ages? It doesn’t happen often.

Beatrix

Beatrix wanted a “B” cake. At first, I was charmed by the idea of making a cake decorated with bumblebees. She quickly corrected me. No, she wanted the letter “B” for Beatrix. She also thought I should hand-letter it with one of those bag-thingies you squeeze. I told her I wasn’t so great at using those bag-thingies you squeeze. My handwriting is deplorably bad when I use a pen, never mind piped frosting. So I thought of fondant flowers. It’s like playdoh made out of sugar.

I had never worked with it before, but I’d give it a whirl. How hard would it be to make a “B” with playdoh? Preschoolers do it every day. Convincing Beatrix was difficult, though. Once she has something settled in her mind, it’s hard to get her to change. When I told her she could not only help, but she could make most of the fondant flowers, she was won over.

Fondant flowers

Officially Six

She put the flowers on the sides of the cake, which I baked the day before. I made the “B.”

B is for Beatrix

Proof she is a sweetheart: Sam hates chocolate. Beatrix loves chocolate, but she wanted Sam to eat her birthday cake. She requested vanilla cake with vanilla frosting—for him! I told her she didn’t have to do that. Sam would understand. She insisted, so vanilla cake with vanilla frosting it was. I used Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Birthday Cake and Frosting recipe. It was just okay, turning out more like a pound cake. The texture was dense, but the flavor was good. I doubled the vanilla in both the frosting and cake.

Six candles, one dimple

Beatrix is a girl who can keep up with the brothers, hang with her big sister, and still revel in being the baby girl. She is bright, lovely, quick to be kind. Beatrix is fine with a messy room but fussy about her clothes. She is our only child with green eyes and she has a deep dimple on her left cheek. She adores cats, foxes, and still sleeps with a pink fluffy blanky. School is beloved. The monkey bars have been conquered. She has the blisters to prove her skill, which she shows off with pride. “My blisters have blisters!” she laughs.

Happy birthday to our big girl, our baby girl, our Beatrix.

Happy times six

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Beatrix’s birth story is here.