{Parties} Spring Babyshower

Last year I had the pleasure of working on a dessert table for a girlfriend's girlfriend's babyshower.  No that wasn't a typo it was for my friend who was helping host another friends babyshower :-)

The colors were mint green and light blue.

The goodies included mini-chocolate mints, decorated sugar cookies....

..my signature brownie pops.

Can't have a dessert table without the cupcakes!  These were chocolate, vanilla and red velvet.

Most of all the decorations can be found at Joann's and the display dishes were found at HomeGoods.  The tags were from a babyshower scrapbooking kit.  I could have purchased them online or made them myself but because of the lack of time, this option was much easier and faster and it still turned out super cute.

{Recipe} Chocolate and Beer Cupcakes

Ingredients:
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup cocoa
* 2 tspn baking soda
* 1 tspn baking powder
* 1 tspn salt
* 2 large eggs (room temperature)
* 1 bottle beer (your preference)
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 tspn vanilla extract

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees
- Place the cupcake liners in the cupcake pan
- In large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt
- Add eggs, beer, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer for about 2 minutes.
- Pour into prepared cupcake pans
- Bake for 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean
- Cool completely then frost with your favorite chocolate frosting

(Recipe makes approximately 34 cupcakes)

Going on a Safari...cake

How fun is this cake?  Perfect for the animal lover.

Big Top Cake

This "Big Top" Cake was made out of my homemade marshmallow fondant.  The inside was chocolate raspberry, a very popular flavor, and Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting, also very popular.          

I can't emphasize enough how easy it is to use the marshmallow fondant recipe.  It's so much cheaper, which helps during these times of recession and it tastes so yummy.  Actually, you can add your own flavor to it so if you fancy some white chocolate fondant just go to your local cake decorating supply store and buy some.  There are so many flavors you can add to your fondant so don't be afraid to try them.  You may be pleasantly surprised.

{Parties} Fun Ideas for a Girls Night In

These past two weeks have been very difficult and they've reminded me not to take life or loved ones for granted.  While at times it feels like we'd like the world to just stop for a minute so we can take a breather, life reminds us that it'll keep on going whether we're ready for it or not.  So, in order to take the days one day at a time and help myself focus on happier things, I've decided on a girls night in for closest and dearest girlfriends.  It had actually been scheduled for the month of February when the day of love and friendship is celebrated but because of events that have transpired, I've rescheduled it for March.  It is nice though, to have moved the date, because I have a lot more time to brainstorm and come up with cute ideas on decorating, baking, and cooking and I wanted to share these ideas because they are too cute not too.  They have been taken from other websites whose authors are brilliant and creative women and credit will be given appropriately so put the phone down...no need to call in big shots ;-)

Baked goods are my niche but I sometimes like to look around and see how to make them cute and presentable.  My first source of inspiration is this beautiful dessert table presented by Glorious Treats.

It's such a cute table without being too "baby girl".  The tulip flowers give the table an air of sophistication and there aren't too many treats provided making the choices of what to eat a little easier.
And get this, Glorious Treats set up an almost identical table but with much healthier choices....

Love it, love it!  Notice the fruit kabobs on the lower left.  Yup, those are definitely going to be part of the menu at my little get together. 
Another item that will be placed on the table is this yummy appetizer I found on Gina's Skinny Recipes.
They are Skinny Baked Jalapeno Poppers.  My stomach is seriously rumbling right now just by looking at this picture.

Jump on over to her site for the recipe and how-to pictures here...Gina's Skinny Recipes.

A little hartiness is always recommended to help filler-up the tummies and I found the perfect appetizer also on Gina's Skinny Recipes.  I promise I'm not trying to keep my friends from the chubby side but Gina has so many delicious recipes on her site with the most appealing pictures that I just didn't bother searching other sites.  I mean if I can eat more for less of the calories then I'll take it!!!  Who wouldn't.  So anywhoo, her other recipe I was eyeing was this one for Southwest Turkey Balls with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce.

Do these foods not make you want to come over and crash my party?

For dessert, I found these adorable Pie's on a Stick on Our Best Bites.

How cute are they?  Even dessert is served as an appetizer and in a very convenient way.  Who needs a plate for their pie?  No one because it's on a stick and it looks so cute.

Since my little shin dig will be a group of fun, grown up ladies like myself, I plan to serve drinks.  And even the drinks have to served stylishly.  So to my rescue comes this nifty DIY Ice Bottle Cooler idea from Celebrations At Home.

I tell ya, if I don't get the ooh's and aah's I like to hear I will have to plan another get together....hmmm I think that's a great motivator.

{Cake} Edible Images

Edible images are pictures, logos, etc printed on rice paper using edible ink. They are fast becoming my best friends when making cakes or cupcakes that require a picture or logo on them.  Here are a few examples of the cakes where I used an edible image.  Below that you can find links to the vendors I ordered them from.  I had great experiences with them so I'm sure you will too.

Vendor used for photo edible image:   http://stores.ebay.com/Art-Design-Gifts

 Vendor used for Lakers logo edible images: http://stores.ebay.com/Art-Design-Gifts

Vendor used for Raiders logo edible image: http://www.abccakes.com/

{Recipe} Sugar Cookies, REGULAR, with NO EGGS, NO DAIRY and NO EGGS

I have recently found alot of different variations on the sugar cookie.  I decided to include a traditional recipe along with two others that cater towards those with food allergies.  So have fun making them for the ones you love, whom normally wouldn't be able to eat them.  Such a relief right?

Traditional Sugar Cookies
This recipe makes about 30 cookies
Ingredients
* 3/4 cups butter, softened
* 1 cups granulated sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
* 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 tspn baking powder
* 1/2 tspn salt

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
3) Roll out dough on floured surface or on a large piece of parchment paper to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
4) Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven.  Cool completely before removing from cookie sheets.




Sugar Cookies without Eggs
Ingredients
* 1 lb. butter (4 sticks)
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 cups flour
* 1 tspn baking soda
* 1 tspn salt

Directions
1) Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2) In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
3) In a seperate bowl sift dry ingredients together and then mix into creamed mixture.
4) Roll into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
5) Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven until lightly browned. Cool completely before removing   from cookie sheets.



Sugar Cookies with no dairy and no eggs
Ingredients 
* 1-3/4 cup flour
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
* 1/4 tspn baking powder
* 1/8 tspn salt
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup applesauce, smooth
* 1/2 tspn vanilla extract


Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In large bowl mix flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
3) Slowly mix in the vegetable oil, applesauce and vanilla.
4) Roll into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.
5) Bake in preheated oven 7 to 8 minutes until edges are golden brown.

*Note: if you plan to roll and cut, allow to chill for atleast 1 hour

{Cake} Simple decorations for any occasion

A very simple technique for using fondant to decorate your cakes is to use cutters.  Cutters can be found in virtually any size and mold.  They can be found at your local crafts store or over the internet.  These cakes were decorated using Wilton's Circle Cutters and marshmallow fondant, made by yours truly :-)   You can see the fondant recipe here.

The cake above was made by first covering it in buttercream.  There are two reasons why you want to cover it in buttercream.  First, it helps insulate the moisture and taste of the cake.  I mean who likes cake without the frosting, right?  Second, it helps to bond the fondant decorations, keeping them from falling off the cake.  The second step is to roll out your fondant and cut out the circles using your cutters.  These are the ones I use... they are made by Wilton.

For the cake above, I used the smallest cutter to make the small circles on the sides of the cake.  And for the top of the cake I used the middle circle.  The middle circle is just big enough to hold a letter inside of it but not to big that it overwhelmes the cake.

This next cake, above, was made using the middle cutter.  The same size was used all around and I was able to create an overlapping effect on top of the cake.  The same marshmallow fondant recipe was used.

Any questions?  Feel free to email me at janet@theprettylittlecakeshop.com

{Cake} Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

Just made this cake for recent 1 yr old birthday boy. 

I was asked to match the characters in this party theme and make the characters on the cake a little more 3D than usual....

It was fun but a challenge none the less.  All the characters on the cake as well as the scenery such as the mountains, railroad tracks and street were made out of fondant.  The cake itself was covered in my "famous" buttercream which can sometime betray me by becoming difficult to completely smooth out when I'm trying to decorate but it is so damn good that I always use it regardless because I think I'll be forgiven for the imperfection once the customer tastes how good it is.
So, close your eyes and imagine the cake alongside the party decor....