In collaboration with Whiskas Cat Food.
I am of the firm belief that a home isn’t a home unless a cat is part of it. There has always been a cat in our family for as long as I can remember.
A year ago a new addition to our family was born – Echo, the daughter of a local barn cat – came to her new forever home when she was just eight weeks old.
As my husband is away at work all day and the children are at school, it was me that she first impressed upon. When she first arrived here she was very timid and cautious, but there was a discernible change in her after about three days where she opened up and embraced us as her family.
I get some extra special treatment though.
I have never, ever, owned a cat as vocal as this one! She meows and talks and is very insistent that she be heard. She also has a rather curious habit – ever since she was tiny and could jump up onto the kitchen chair, she’d jump up onto the kitchen table (much to my husband’s horror), circle around the back of my laptop, crawl up my arm, cuddle herself into my shoulder and lick my neck, purring, until she fell asleep, nose firmly wedged into my collarbone. It’s a comfort thing, for her, I believe.
Echo is a year old now and as I type this she has just done it again! Most of the time I spend typing on this blog I have a cat sitting on my shoulder purring away. Well, she’s a bit too big for just my shoulder now, so her backside is perched on the back of the wooden chair I’m sitting on, but she’s there right now, purring away in my ear.
Every few seconds while she’s purring she’ll meow at me. I wish I knew what she was saying. It’s pretty obvious when she’s standing by the back door she’s meowing to get out, or when she’s standing by her empty food bowl she’s meowing to be fed, but what is she saying when she’s lounging comfortably on my shoulder, purring away, and she meows?
I think she could have used a semester or two at the Whiskas Kitten Kollege to refine her communication skills. Have a look at this adorable video below to see what I mean! Cutest cat food advert, ever, no?
I wish that Echo could speak human so I would know exactly what it is she is trying to say to me. As it stands now with her raspy sandpaper kisses and cuddles I’ll just assume it means she loves me. I’m happy with that. 🙂
As with any member of our family, a birthday requires cake, so this weekend the kids and I made some Kitty Cat Funfetti Fairy Cakes to celebrate.
They’re a basic vanilla fairy cake recipe with the addition of a tablespoonful of hundreds and thousands sprinkles to provide little flecks of colour throughout the sponge, topped with ready to roll icing embellished like little kitty cat faces. Simple, and a project you can work on with your kids together (Madame was given the task of pinching off balls of icing and rolling them into balls for me to shape).
These would be ideal for any children’s cat themed party, or, like we did, to celebrate our lovely cat’s transition from kittenhood into fully fledged adulthood.
Happy 1st Birthday Echo! Ok, ok, she wasn’t that terribly impressed with the party hat. We did give her a few cat treats and cuddles after our photo session though, to compensate her for her time.
Do you have a cat? Tell me all about him/her in the comments!
Kitty Cat Funfetti Fairy Cakes
Ingredients
- 125 grams butter softened
- 125 grams granulated sugar
- 2 large free-range eggs beaten
- 125 grams self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp full fat milk
- 1 tbsp hundreds and thousands sprinkles
- 2 tbsp apricot jam warmed and sieved
- 300 grams white ready to roll icing
- 50 grams pink ready to roll icing
- black edible ink pen
- icing sugar to dust the table
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 C/ 180 fan and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of flour, and beat well until incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and milk and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Fold in the sprinkles and spoon the batter into the prepared cases so that they are 2/3 full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until well risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the fairy cakes have cooled completely use a bread knife to cut the tops off.
- Roll the white ready to roll icing out to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Using a round cookie cutter the same size as the top of the fairy cakes cut out 12 circles.
- Brush the tops of the cut fairy cakes with the melted, sieved apricot jam and place one circle of icing on the top.
- Make the cat ears by rolling two even sized balls of white ready to roll icing sugar about the size of a small marble. Place a tiny ball of pink ready to roll icing on the outside of the white and use your fingers to shape it into a triangular ear shape. Stick on to the top edge of the white circle.
- Make a pink nose with a small ball shaped in to a triangle.
- Using the black edible ink pen draw on eyes, a mouth and whiskers.
- Leave out in the air to dry completely before serving.
Why not listen to an audiobook while you cook?
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This post is a paid collaboration with WHISKAS®, but all thoughts are my own. Check out their website for more information on their cat food and their YouTube channel for fantastic Kitten Kollege videos.
Evelina
This post is absolutely adorable! Your cat is super cute and cupcakes look delicious.
Baby Isabella
Woweeee! These cupcakes are gorgeous! Love the kitty party!
Holly
She is so pretty! As a fellow ex-feral kitten owner I know that initial aloofness but it is marvellous once they start to feel settled!
The London Mum
Happy Birthday Echo!!! I love the little cupcakes- gorgeous!
Kate - gluten free alchemist
A beautiful cat and gorgeous cupcakes too! They really are very clever and so so cute xx
Hannah
These cupcakes are amazing!! can I have one please?!
Toni | Gym Bunny Mummy
The cupcakes are really cute but OMG your cat in a party hat! That is just the cutest
Natasha Mairs
These are just the cuteset!! My daughter is sat beside me and just asked if we can make these. But I very much doubt ours would turn out as adorable as yours
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com
Oh these might be the most darling thing I’ve ever seen! They are almost too cute to eat…almost! >;}
Claire
Oh wow! These are super cute! I love them 🙂
Rachel
Aw Echo i just beautiful, my kitty celebrated his first birthday yesterday and he too is quite vocal x
Kristen
These cupcakes are soooo cute!!! my kids will love them!
Emily
These are adorable!! Happy 1st Birthday Echo! My little puppy just turned 1 she’s honestly like my baby and yes we had a party haha. Love this post!
Diana
Can’t decide which is cuter, your cat or the cupcakes! Love this post! And my cat only eats Whiskas haha
Amy Deverson
These are so cute!! My little sister loves cats – I’m definitely going to try and make these for her birthday!
Marilyn
Everything on this post is so cute and adorable!! I love the video!!
Sam | North East Family Fun
Ah I love the idea of a cat party – impressed with the cakes x
Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet
Cute cupcakes! Bet the kids would love recreating this during the holidays.
Katie Bryson
What a gorgeous baking project for kitty-lovers! My niece would go crazy for these cakes… I love the idea of putting hundreds and thousands through the sponge…
Stella
The cakes look so cute. I love the design. I bet Ecko loved them.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
These look incredible and super cute. They look like something I could make too.
Jordanne | Thelifeofaglasgowgirl
Oh my lord I need these in my life for sure! So cute and sound super tasty. Echos birthday shoot is just perfect! My little teddy bear is almost 15. Echo celebrated in style for sure.
Jordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk
Tanya
I literally spoke out loud to my laptop when I opened this post and said OMG how cute are they! And I’m loving the unimpressed party hat photo. I don’t have any pets, I can barely keep plants alive let alone an animal
MELANIE EDJOURIAN
OMG those are the cutest little cupcakes, my girls would love them.
Rhian Westbury
Oh my god the cakes are gorgeous but your cat is even cuter. 15 years is so good for a cat x
Kira C
Those cakes sound delicious! You cat is adorable! Looks just like my cat, Tequi, same tortoise shell fur and gets that hooded expression on her face if you attempt to put a paper hat on her head (I’ve tried too) :’) 😀
Annie B
I’m not going to lie to you, I’m not a cat person at all but that cat is so cute! Plus I am so won over by those cup cakes!
Sarah Bailey
Oh my goodness those cupcakes are amazing just so cute! And your cat is such a cutie as well <3 x
Lucy
Happy first birthday Echo! The cakes are so cute, bet they were well received. Mustn’t look at the cute kitten photos (want one!!)!
Angela Milnes
What a fab idea.We are having Yodas birthday in october and I’m starting to think about how to celebrate it!
Harriet from Toby & Roo
Ahhh these are too cute! I love the little noses 🙂
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
These are SO cute. I am cat obsessed and treat my two as if they are my children. So, anything cat related gets the thumbs up from me!
Iryna Bychkiv
What a lovely working companion you have. I miss owning cats. I hope we’ll adopt one when my girls are a little older.
Your cakes look beautiful! My daughters would absolutely love them!
Elizabeth
You know, I suppose despite that she does my head in sitting around my shoulders sometimes, she really is! 🙂
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
These are adorable! Echo sounds so lovely, she’s just gorgeous 🙂
Jill
Echo has such a sweet face. What a lucky cat to have you as owner 🙂
Christine Dodd
Echo is adorable. We have had cats for 35 years since we got married, but our last cat Monty died early this year aged 21 W’re doing a lot of travelling at the moment but no doubt we’ll have another one in time.
Elizabeth
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about Monty, although 21 is a pretty good innings for a cat, isn’t it. Enjoy your travels 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth
Never mind the cakes, although they are absolutely amazing, the kitty cat is JUST adorable! And, back to the cakes, they are so creative and fun too!
Elizabeth
So glad you like the look of them, and Echo! She’s our little baby. 🙂
Lyndsey O'Halloran
Those cakes are adorable! The actual cat is pretty damn cute as well!
Elizabeth
Aw thanks! 😀
kate @veggie desserts
Such adorable kitty cat cakes! Happy birthday to Echo! My mum was like Dr Doolittle and was forever bringing home pets, adding to our menagerie. How that I have my own kids, I know the importance of having pets at home. I’ll have to check out Whiskas’ Kitty Kollege now and pick up some tips!
Elizabeth
My mother was much the same. Crows, abandoned baby deer, birds stuck in chimneys, you name it, we had it living with us for awhile!
StressedMum
I love the cat cakes they look too good to eat, my cat is an old lady well into her 20’s now x
Elizabeth
Glad you like them! I suppose they are little works of art – the kids loved them. 🙂
Manjiri Chitnis
Adorable cup cakes , I am allergic to cats but that doesn’t stop me from loving them , we have a strong connection for sure as every evening on my walk I have at least two cats that are prowling around follow me and beg to be petted!
Elizabeth
Aww such a shame to be allergic to them, but how adorable that they seem to like you! 🙂
Tracy Morgan
Oh I really love these! Those little cat noses!
Elizabeth
So glad you like them! We thought the pink icing was rather effective for a cat nose 🙂
Hannah
These cakes look awesome and really easy to make too x
Elizabeth
We deliberately kept them simple so kids could help make them too. Plus, I’m really quite lazy 😉
LaaLaa
This is too cute and creative. I love this. I miss my cat we had to put him down nearly a year ago but we had him for 15 years from 6 months old.
Elizabeth
Oh bless! 15 years is a good age for a cat though. Glad you like our fairy cakes – we had a lot of fun making them! 🙂