At last, the big day is almost here! Your child is crossing off every square on the calendar, eagerly anticipating the arrival of his or her friends for your unique on-the-water birthday party. You're almost ready. You have the decorations, the brightly wrapped gifts, the cards, music for the MP3 player, a few games, beverages and snacks — but you're still unsure about dessert.

Birthday parties need birthday cakes, but they do present a few problems. With a traditional cake, you'll have just one flavor to offer. Not everyone will like it, and it may not suit a young guest with a food allergy or intolerance. Plus, on a pontoon boat, you may be hoping to avoid the mess that goes along with cutting a big cake and providing gooey, sticky slabs to an army of little people whose paper plates are likely to tip or collapse at some point during the day.

So: Think cupcakes.

Not only can you hand each child his or her own little cake in a neat, tidy cup, you can make more than one batch to accommodate different tastes.

We recommend baking plain vanilla cupcakes. Vanilla is unlikely to offend any childhood sensibilities, and you can jazz up the little cakes with different-colored frosting and sprinkles.

Vanilla Cupcakes

• Ingredients:
• ¼ cups sifted cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ cup melted butter
• ¾ cup milk
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease the cups in your muffin tins well, or use buttered paper cups. Any size will work.
3. Sift all dry ingredients together.
4. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, butter and vanilla. Stir into flour mixture.
5. Fill the muffin tins with batter, filling each cup approximately 3⁄4 full.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10-20 minutes. (To check, insert toothpick; when center comes out clean, you'll know the cupcakes are ready.)
7. When the cupcakes have cooled a bit, add frosting. You also might want to consider fun sprinkles or chopped nuts.

Important Tip:

These days, every parent must be aware of food allergies and intolerances. You want every child at the party to have a good time and, above all, to be safe — so make sure to contact the parents of your guests in advance of the big day. Find out if anyone has issues with common allergens such as gluten or dairy.

If you do have a guest who is unable to enjoy a traditional cupcake recipe, don't worry. Simply make a separate batch of cupcakes using the recipe below, and avoid cross-contamination with the regular batch (particularly important with gluten).

Gluten-free cupcakes

• 1 Cup GF flour mix
• 2 teaspoons GF baking powder
• ¾ Cup butter or margarine (Earth Balance and vegetable oil are good dairy-free substitutes)
• ¾ Cup fine sugar
• 3 eggs
• 5 Tablespoons milk (hemp, soy, rice and almond milks are good dairy-free substitutes)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix the butter and sugar until they're light and creamy.
3. One at a time, break each egg into a cup and add to mixture.
4. Beat the mixture well between adding each egg.
5. Stir in flour and as much milk (or substitute) as necessary to form soft mixture.
6. Using paper cups in your muffin tin, half-fill each cup with the mixture.
7. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden brown on top.
8. Once the cupcakes are cool, it's time to decorate the tops!

A Final Note:

Nut allergies can be serious. If someone's child is allergic to nuts, it might be best to leave the nuts out altogether to avoid accidental exposure. Focus on the sprinkles and the frosting, and then let your party barge adventure begin!

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