How to Host a Cake Walk

Musical Chairs, the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance all have a place in our childhood memories. There's no reason why the granddaddy of every carnival, fair and school bazaar - the Cakewalk - can't make an appearance in grown-up parties. Tweak the music to Outkast. Merge the rules of the Cakewalk with Musical Chairs and watch who "accidentally" sits on someone's lap when the tunes come to a halt!

Things You'll Need

• Scratch and sniff invitations
• Large galvanized tubs, ice, flavored milks
• Large glass containers, bulk candy, dessert posters, candy necklaces
• Chairs, music, cakes, markers (paper and rocks), music, DJ volunteer
• Prizes
• Plates, forks, glasses, napkins, milk
• Ice cream, spatulas, marble tiles and ice cream toppings

Instructions

1. Send out scratch-and-sniff invitations divulging your ice cream theme: "What goes with ice cream? A Cakewalk! Come get a sugar buzz at our dessert party and see who is the best Cakewalker of them all." Include vital stats like who, when, where. Suggest your guests wear "something delicious."

2. Help your guests feel like they've stepped into a candy shop when they arrive. Decorate with candy colors, fill large glass containers with treats, hang posters of desserts and give guests candy necklace when they arrive.

3. Take a cue from the dangerously sweet ice cream store Cold Stone Creamery and set up a station for guests mix their own flavors. Supply basic chocolate and vanilla ice creams along with every topping you can think of! Crushed cookies, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup pieces and anything else that catches your eye in the candy aisle are delicious additions. Create the stations with frozen marble tiles and ice cream spatulas. Then, let the mashing begin!

4. Call for the Cakewalk during the last third of the party (after guests have loosened up with a few cocktails). The cakes are won in rounds so arrange chairs in a circle (one less chair than the number of guests who are participating) and place a few numbers on chairs intermittently. The numbers on the chairs correspond to numbers you place on the cakes. Start the music and watch as guests walk, dance, skip and shake their booty around the circle. When the music stops, everyone scrambles to sit in a chair. The person without a chair will be out. The guests who sit on chairs with a number win the cake with the corresponding number. For the next round, remove all the chairs that had numbers on them, place new numbers on a few chairs and start the music again. Repeat the process until all the cakes have been won and hope that the winners will share their prizes with everyone for dessert!

Tips & Warnings

• Feature a flavored "moo juice" station. Large galvanized tubs or pails filled with chocolate, strawberry, banana and vanilla varieties will do the trick.