It's Pride month!!! What better way to celebrate that LOVE IS LOVE than with a giant cookie cake!!! While we should always celebrate who we are, this is the time to teach our kids that everyone deserves to live their truth. Baking this easy cookie cake is a great way to get the conversation started. After all, Pride is a celebration! So why not eat cookies and talk about acceptance and inclusivity??!!!
This Pride cookie cake idea started because I wanted to celebrate Pride with a fun and easy activity I could do with the kids. After studying the Pride flag, I realized we could recreate it with fruit on a cookie cake! I have to share that this was my trial run. I was experimenting to see if my idea would work. It turned out so good I didn’t even have make another one! And best of all, it's is sooo easy! I used ready made sugar cookie dough, ready made frosting, fresh fruit and a little apricot jam...that's it! Oh and some help with cleaning and chopping fruit from the kiddos. Of course you could go the extra mile and make homemade cookie dough and frosting.
I kept this recipe simple because I wanted to involve the kids and get a conversation going. Baking this cookie cake is a great way to discuss what Pride is all about. An easy way to start the conversation is to explain why Pride celebrations happen in June. I’m sharing below what I discussed with my kids in the hopes that it may help others talk to their kids. We can’t deny the pain the LGBTQ + community has faced. For this activity we are keeping thing’s celebratory and focusing on how important it is to be true to ourselves.
An easy way to start the conversation is to explain why Pride celebrations happen in June. Events are held in June to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion that began June 28, 1969. The Stonewall Inn was a bar that the LGBTQ+ community felt safe to be themselves. It was common practice for police to raid LGBTQ+ friendly bars for no reason. On this particular day the Stonewall patrons fought back. A multi- day protest started and didn't end till July 3, 1969 when the police finally backed down.
Another point to discuss is why this month is called "Pride." Pride was originally an acronym that meant personal rights in defense and education. Pride started in 1966 in California to fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community. Aside from the given acronym, Pride month is also meant to celebrate our truth in a safe space. It's a time to be proud of who we are without judgement.
The colors of the Pride flag is also an interesting topic. Each color represents different aspects of our existence. The original flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 for The Gay Freedom Celebration in San Francisco. Baker used the rainbow because he believed it was a natural flag from the sky. Each color had a meaning - red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for serenity/harmony, and violet for spirit. Baker also had hot pink for sex and turquoise for art on the original flag. Because of production issues, hot pink and turquoise were removed and the standard rainbow was developed.
OK. Now let's get into the recipe for this beautiful Pride cookie cake!
Ingredients
- 18 x 13 inch baking sheet
- 2 16.5 oz. tubes of ready made sugar cookie dough
- 1 16 oz. tub of ready made vanilla frosting (I know the pictures shows 2 but I only needed 1)
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
- 2 cups cuties or clementine peeled & separated
- 2 cups pineapple bite size pieces
- 2 cups green grapes sliced in half
- 2 cups blueberries
- 2 cups red grapes sliced in half
- 1/3 cup apricot jam
- 4 teaspoons water
Directions
1.Grease pan and Preheat oven at 350 degrees
2. Add both tubes of cookie dough to the pan by breaking up small pieces and pressing it into in the pan
3. Bake for 11-14 minutes till lightly brown. Let the cookie cake cool completely. I placed it in the fridge for about 1 hour to cool.
4. Spread frosting onto the cool cookie cake. Using a ruler, measure 6 equal spaces. Use a knife to make the lines. These lines will be your borders to fill in with the fruit.
5. Follow the rainbow colors and fill in each section with the corresponding colored fruit. Completely cover the cookie, making sure no white parts show through. I overlapped some of the thinner, sliced fruit to get this effect.
6. In the microwave, lightly warm the apricot jam and water in a small bowl. This should only take about 25 seconds.
7. Lightly brush apricot mixture over the fruit. Don't use too much as the cookie will get soggy.
And here is the Pride cookie cake!!!
I hope this Pride cookie cake gives you inspiration to speak to your kids. Kids need to know from the moment they are born that they are accepted for who they are. That it is OK to love what you love. That they can play with toys and do activities that make them happy. And as kids get older, they need to know it's OK to love who they love. No labels are needed for kids either, just our acceptance. Everyone deserves a safe space to speak their truth. It's our human right to be ourselves. How did such a simple concept become so complicated? I will never know.
So go spread acceptance and love and have a Happy Pride Month!!!