March 28, 2011 6 Comments

mini mortarboard cupcakes

We shot our new graduation collection (here’s a look at the storyboard) last Friday and I can’t wait to show you all the images (update post with all the images!), but for now I’m just going to share these little mini mortarboard cupcakes I made.

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. The morterboard is a Hershey’s Bliss dark chocolate (I got a bag while at BlissDom this year and honestly I ate six the second night while working on a blog post!) and the tassel is a cello bag tie (my assistant Bridget was twisting one around her finger while we were prepping for the shoot and the rest is… in the picture)!

A dollop of white icing, a Hershey’s Bliss, a curled tie attached with a dot of white icing and you’re done! As always, I hope you’re inspired!

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February 28, 2011 6 Comments

iced Moon Pie treats

We’re almost ready to reveal the entire Space collection, but while we wait I thought I would share another simple treat I created for the dessert table. Introducing the iced Moon Pie! I thought it would be fun to take a normal moon pie and ice them to be the various stages of the moon: full moon, half moon, cresent moon. To serve I pierced them with a colored straw and filled the jar with Twizzler bites. They still make me smile and the boys thought they were awesome! 

And the best part is they’re super simple to make. Just unpackage your Moon Pies, pipe an outline on each pie (I used a #4 tip, connector and resealable bag), melt the remaining icing, spoon it in and pull it to the edges with a toothpick. They’ll dry flat.

As always, I hope you’re inspired!

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February 15, 2011 11 Comments

mini space shuttle cakes

I love getting in the kitchen, grabbing everything from the pantry and just creating. I know what you’re thinking… and yes, it is a huge mess when I’m done. But sometimes I come up with fun things like these mini space shuttle cakes for my new Space birthday party collection!

Here’s what you’ll need for each shuttle cake:

  • 1 Hostess cake (select the ones with the flattest tops from the box)
  • 1 Little Debbie cake (you may have to trim the end with a straight edge knife so it stands flat)
  • 1 mini Reese’s Cup
  • 1 Hershey’s Kiss
  • 1 Keebler Grasshopper cookie
  • 2 orange Spree candies
  • 2 tablespoons of icing tinted orange

Assembly is super simple:

  1. Unwrap all of the ingredients
  2. Score a grasshopper cookie (as shown in the image above) for the shuttle’s tail fins using a straight edge knife (don’t use serrated; it will make the cookie splinter)
  3. Tint the icing orange using gel food coloring (liquid will make your icing runny) and melt it in the microwave for 8 seconds
  4. Using the Hostess cake as a base, put a small amount of icing in the center and top it with the Little Debbie cake. Do the same to apply the Reece’s Cup making sure that you don’t use too much or it will leak out the sides
  5. Using the remaining icing, cover the Hershey’s Kiss and the cookie pieces. Allow them to set for at least five minutes
  6. Finally, add the Kiss, tail fins and windows (Spree candies) with another small dot of icing each and serve 

As always, I hope you’re inspired and stay tuned for more from our new Space birthday collection!

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January 14, 2011 4 Comments

half birthday cupcakes

I mentioned a few days ago that my little guy, who is a June birthday, would be celebrating his “half” birthday at preschool this week since all the winter birthday kiddos get to bring in snacks and celebrate during the school year. I think it’s really a nice gesture on his teacher’s part (thanks Mrs. England!). So although I found some wonderful allergy-free ideas (my little guy has a severe dairy allergy), I decided to go with what I knew his friends would like… cupcakes.

But then I was at a loss. I kept asking what “theme” he might want on his cupcakes and he just wasn’t excited about anything (something we’ll have to work hard on by his next birthday since I’m not sure what will beat his dino-roar party in the eyes of this dinosaur loving boy!). So at the end of the day I got silly. {wink}

He and all his little buddies got a cupcake and a half, or better a cupcake and a mini cupcake. His cupcake had the number four in his favorite color, blue (ooohhhh, these cupcake wrappers would go great with our deep blue sea collection too), on the large cupcake and his small cupcake was the half symbol (it still makes me smile!). And all his little friends got two cupcakes too. I’m sure the moms were loving me that afternoon!

The dots and the numbers were just fondant and I promise if you can use a cookie cutter you can make these yourself. You can find white fondant in the baking section of your craft store and I recommend gel food coloring if you want to tint it (it stains your hands so use a resealable plastic bag over your hands to massage in the food coloring). Just tint, roll it out like cookie dough, cut out your shapes and ta-da you have adorable cupcakes! By the way, for dairy free cupcakes, I used Classic Yellow Duncan Hines cake mix (with apple sauce in place of oil… just my preference) and Pillsbury’s chocolate and dark chocolate icing (that’s right, no dairy!).

As always, I hope you’re inspired!

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December 23, 2010 6 Comments

baby Jesus’ birthday cake

My boys schools celebrated Jesus’ birthday in the last few days before the Christmas break and I signed up to bring the cake for my youngest son’s class party. After I signed up then it hit me what a tall order it was going to be: it had to have meaning to the kids and I couldn’t use anything fancy because let’s face it… what four year old is going to eat a fondant cake… plus that seemed a little over the top for a preschool class. 

So in the end I iced a normal homemade cake and adorned it with the manger scene. I tried to keep it simple so I chose to make the stable from graham crackers with a party mix roof and pretzel posts, the manger from pretzel sticks, the lamb from marshmallows (four for the body and one for the head) and coconut (I wish you could see the coconut ears better!) and the beautiful baby Jesus was made of Cheerios. My son liked that part best!

And of course there had to be a star, so I swiped another ornament from their playroom tree (it’s going to be bald soon if I don’t stop crafting) and I tied it to a piece of floral wire and a lollipop stick, which I stuck in the cake behind the stable, so that it could hang in the sky. Last, but not least, I wanted the little lamb to be looking up in awe of the glorious glow (his little face was drawn on; you can find food dye pens at your craft store or bakery supply shop).

For the stable, cut the back graham cracker on a slant with a serrated knife. If you use a sawing motion they won’t break. Then bond the pieces with icing, allowing dry time before finally assembly. All other items can be assembled with icing as well, just allow dry time. I would recommend 30 minutes just to be confident they won’t break when you pick them up. If you need the process to be quicker, refrigerate.

I hope you’re having a very Merry Christmas season and as always, I hope you’re inspired!

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