Birthday candles for us old folks

When Uncle Victor turned 90, I baked him a chocolate blackout cake covered in whipped cream. My grandma used to say you only need 3 candles: one for the past, one for the present, and one for the future. But seriously, if you are turning 90 there's a lot of "past" to represent and more candles = more fun.

The problem, of course, is how to light 90 candles on a whipped cream cake without having a river of melted cream all over the table? I decided to make a removable, edible base for the candles out of cookie dough. I picked a good rollout sugar cookie recipe for the task. 

Because I foresaw lighting 90 candles might take a while, I made 5 rectangular bases so 5 people could each quickly light 18 candles. And it worked! I made the holes for the candles with the round end of a chopstick in the rolled-out dough before I baked it. 

When the cookie bases were baked but not completely cooled, I made sure the holes were big enough by placing candles in the holes and giving them a quick twist if the holes had closed up a bit during baking. (I had to sacrifice a couple of candles, because they did to to melt as I twisted them in the warm dough holes.)

When my friend Deb turned 60, I didn't want her to miss out on the fun of blowing out her candles.  In this case I made only one cookie base –  this time out of gingerbread.

A single cookie base didn't go as smoothly so I recommend baking multiple candle bases in sections (see Uncle V, above). The ratio of candle holes to base size caused it to crack. Time for some quick repair work.  I made a small batch of Royal Icing (using 1 egg white and 1 cup of icing sugar). I dyed it pink and slathered it on top. This held together both the cracked base and also held the candles upright. But just to be safe, I covered a thick piece of cardboard with aluminum foil and glued the cookie candle form to it with the royal icing.

See the crack? Oops.

I  thought it would be cool if the candles were on the cake and not beside it, as they were for Uncle V. I cut supports out of lollipop sticks that I just happened to have - because who doesn't have them hanging around? (I think wooden skewers trimmed to the right length would also work.) I poked 10 sticks evenly in the cake with about an inch and a half sticking out the top. Then I balanced the cookie candle frame on top. The candles  looked like they were floating on the cake. (Can you see the supports in the reflection below?)

It was touch-and-go with the crack, but I was just super careful when moving it.

What did I learn? 

1. The cookie base works really well, but I would recommend making multiple bases like I did for Uncle V. 
2. The icing and sprinkles looked very nice.
3. When we get older, it's fun to blow out candles - even if we need a couple of friends to help out.
4. Be ready for the smoke alarm to go off.