Horton Hears A What?

Two weekends ago, Big Sister had her best friend spend the night in our new house. Now, Big Sister had been really sad because her friend didn't like our old house and really wanted her to like our new house. So I tried to make it really special without going totally overboard. In the morning, for example, I told them to get dressed for a surprise. I took them to IHOP for their Horton Hears A Who breakfast...Whocakes to be exact. Now, this wonderful breakfast is simply one giant sugarbomb, but I figured it was kind of a special occasion.

BUT...last night, the same friend spent the night again. (Testimony that our first sleepover went well. *grin*) I asked the girls what they'd like to do. "Surprise!" yells Big Sister. Meaning, of course, more Whocakes. Yikes. Um....$4 a plate for 3 girls, plus my meal, drinks, tip....Easily a $25-30 proposition. Not something I can do very often. So I decided to improvise.

I searched online for Copycat recipes, but found nothing. They're likely too new. *sigh* Time to experiment.

So, here's my take:

Copycat Whocakes

1 can vanilla icing (we only used 1/4 to 1/2 a can and we got the kind that comes with confetti sprinkles)
1/2 cup (or so) pancake syrup
pancake mix or make your own
food coloring (we used blue and red to make blue and pink icing)
lollipops
sprinkles or small candies of some sort

Mix equal parts vanilla icing and pancake syrup. Microwave on high for 20 seconds to melt the icing just a bit to make it easier to mix. Add food coloring as desired. Use a separate bowl for each color.


Make pancakes as directed, except pour them in increasingly smaller sizes so they stack nicely, as shown.

Stack pancakes. Holding two bowls of icing at once, pour onto pancakes, making sure to allow the colors to each stream over different parts of the pancake. All the kids to add their own sprinkles and lollipop.

Photograph the smiles.

These didn't taste quite like the IHOP version, but the kids were thrilled and have asked me to do it again. Next time though? Reduced sugar everything!