It was always going to be a ‘Princess Party’ but the rendition of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ was above and beyond the ‘Pink ones’ wildest dreams. The stage was set, the sun shone, the tent erected and bunting hung. Low and behold we had one ‘Prince Charming’, one ‘Princess Aurora’, a throng of delightful fairies and a King and Queen. This was Mr.P’s first production, and one that had the audience in stitches and tears simultaneously. I am only sad that it will not be staged again as it was a true classic, performed in the open air on one of England’s balmiest and most beautiful of days, it was a triumph. Party games swiftly followed with an exhausting bout of ‘What’s the time Mr.Wolf’, ‘pin the jewel on the crown’, and ‘pass the parcel’, which the ‘blue one’ always finds deeply traumatic. A hectic gymnastic workout on the trampoline, led the little Princess’s and Prince happily into the tea party banquet.

A small attempt was made to introduce a nod to  savoury food; mini chicken fingers and chips, tiny sausages, cucumber and carrot batons, hula hoops and little cups of summer berries and then it was on to the serious stuff. Naughty, sugary and very pink. Well you only have one party a year so why not? Princess crown biscuits, pink swirly meringues, butter iced cup cakes with fondant hearts, jelly boat galleons, butterfly wands, and of course the birthday cake (what a nightmare). My mistake is that the having picked up a few ideas on pinterest I had an ‘idea’ but actually no plan…..big mistake! By friday night I was weeping into layers of pink icing as what looked like a cake made out of play dough confronted me. To add insult to injury, it appeared that one of the seven dwarves had sat on said cake, it was listing, a little like the Titanic, and looking decidedly dodgy. Refusing to be defeated by the pile of sponge and icing I set about on a major operation in cosmetic surgery and I think just about pulled it off. Note to oneself, keep it simple, what’s wrong with a simple ‘Victoria Sandwich’?

So the cake was a headache, nothing new there, I am always way too ambitious. It did taste good though thanks to a genius recipe by Mary Berry, that incredible ‘phoenix-ish’ icon of British baking. A four egg sponge seemed pretty excessive even to me but it was light as a fairy and quite sublime. Cupcakes are always a winner, as not only are they more portable so work brilliantly in party bags but also just a lot more practical for little people to hold and eat. However the ‘piece de resistance’ was the ‘Princess Fairy Crown Biscuits’, each uniquely decorated by yours truly in order to pull off that bespoke Princess party feel. After all you’re only ‘3’ once so a little excess icing and biscuit is just what was in order, though frankly I would welcome them at my birthday.

All you need is a little patience, time, a steady hand,  and a ‘princess’ ready to party!

Princess Crown Biscuits

150gms soft butter

50gms golden caster sugar

25gms icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

250gms plain white flour

Set the oven to 180C and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

1. Cream together the butter, sugars and vanilla extract either in a Magimix or in a Kenwood with the beater going at full speed.

2. Slowly add in the flour until you have a pliable ball of dough. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes or so.

3. Dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out the dough till about 2-3 mm thick and stamp out your crowns. Pop on the baking trays and put in the fridge to chill again for another 15 minutes. This mix makes about 20 crowns (slightly depending on the size of your crown cutter).

4. Bake in the oven until just beginning to turn golden at the edges. About 12 – 15 minutes. Leave to cool on a baking tray.

Decoration

1 small packet of pink fondant icing

1 packet of icing gels – made by Dr. Oeteker and found in the baking section of most supermarkets

1 packet of icing flowers

Roll out the pink fondant icing to really quite thin – 2 mm, and then cut out your crowns.

Pop some of the icing gel or if you have butter icing on the biscuits and stick the fondant crown on top.

Decorate your biscuits with squiggles and swirls in true regal style and maybe a few flowers.

Serve to all Princess’s in the kingdom.