Baby Shower

I have decided that I love throwing/hosting parties and showers. With help from one of my friends, I threw a double baby shower for two ladies. One is expecting a boy and the other a girl, so I went with a blue and pink theme. I didn't stick with the common baby blue and baby pink though. I definitely branched out and brought some pop into the picture with royal blue, hot pink, and different shades and tones of the two. It turned out lovely! And the moms-to-be loved it.

Below is a picture of the dessert table. I made and served three different desserts, all going along with the color theme. The chocolate cupcakes were finished off with a swirl of almond buttercream blues and vanilla buttercream pinks, and topped off with a cute little safety pin decoration. I love how they turned out!

The dipped marshmallows were very easy, as were the dipped Oreos. Simply melt the pink and/or blue vanilla candy melts in the microwave, dip half of each Oreo and marshmallow in the chocolate, and let it rest on a sheet of waxed paper until completely hardened. When able to remove them easily from the paper, simply place a kabob or popsicle stick in the middle and display them on blocks of floral foam. I bought four different blocks and wrapped them in colored tissue paper. Now I can re-use the blocks for other occasions; I just have to use new tissue paper!

The cupcakes were my usual Chocolate Cupcakes, except I added an additional 1 c. of flour and baked for about 20 minutes per dozen. It made exactly 3 dozen cupcakes. I used the Buttercream Frosting recipe from Our Best Bites. The pink cupcakes were vanilla and the blue cupcakes were almond. I added an additional 1/4 tsp. almond extract per half batch of frosting. The almond buttercream was a BIG hit!

The decorations were quite simple, yet sophisticated. For the fireplace, I simply cut triangles out of colored and patterned papers and hung them on ribbon from the mantle using baby clothespins. 

We used blue and pink balloons and paper lanterns throughout the house to keep the theme consistent.

Below are some diaper dolls that we made, a boy and a girl. The tutorial can be found here. It is a nice decoration because we were able to send each mama home with a doll: 17 diapers, a onesie, a receiving blanket, a beanie, and a binky. A little mini bundle of cuteness!!!

 

All in all, it was a successful baby shower. The mamas loved it and quite a few girls came out to support them. I hope to have more shower/party posts in the future. Like I said, preparing for it was very fun!

Summer S'mores Cupcakes

Recently we got invited to a big going-away party for some people from our ward. It was a potluck-type affair. Whenever I know other people are going to be providing food as well, I try to find cute dessert ideas that would really stand out on a normal dessert/snack table. I think these S'mores Cupcakes did the trick! I found the idea in my recipe book, "Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites". Instead of using their chocolate cake recipe though, I just used Shon's Birthday Cake recipe and added just enough flour to make a thicker batter so the cupcakes wouldn't sink while baking. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written, and baked until toothpick in center came out clean.

I did use their recipe for Marshmallow Frosting though:

3/4 c. real butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 container marshmallow cream

3-5 Tbsp. milk 

Beat butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy and smooth. Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment if you have one. Add marshmallow cream and blend until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and continue beating a full minute at a medium-high speed. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, and beat until combined. When you add milk, frosting may change in appearance and appear clumpy and separated. Continue beating on high speed until it comes back together and appears fluffy and smooth. Repeat with tablespoons of milk until desired consistency is reached.

I then used a swirly frosting piping tip, sprinkled crushed graham crackers on top, and finished off with a Hershey's chocolate chunk, as recommended in the recipe book.

Shaner said they could possibly be the best cupcakes he'd ever eaten. Not bad!

Black and White Layer Cake

I made quite the decadent cake recently, for a Relief Society birthday celebration dinner. The cakes were meant to be centerpieces, so I thought I should try for something fancy. I had the idea perfectly layed out in my head: 3 layers of chocolate cake with white filling, covered with chocolate curls. That was it. No frosting to cover the layers; no added fuss. Just three naked layers. Unfortunately, that idea was shattered when my cakes did not come out of the pans too easily. They were a big mess, in fact. 

So I moved onto my next idea: 3 layers of chocolate with the white filling...but with a semisweet ganache coating on the whole cake! I thought that would look nice and smooth, and taste delicious! I made the ganache, coated the cake...and the cake started falling apart even more. The top layer was probably about 1/8-inch larger than the bottom two layers, so the ganache simply fell over that top edge and left the bottom layers not accounted for. After a failed attempt of spooning the ganache onto the sides of the cake, I resorted to the save-all: whipped cream.

Vince and I made a quick trip to the store and I moved on to my last attempt at making this thing worthwhile. I whipped it up, frosted the cake, and topped it with my large chocolate curls (that I had made previously)...and it looked beautiful! I was pleased with its appearance, that's for sure! And if I might add, it was a hit at the party. 

So in summary: I made the layers, filled them with the Vanilla Butter Filling, poured the ganache over all the layers, topped the entire cake with whipped cream, and then decorated with chocolate curls. All the recipes are included below.

Not only did it look elegant, which is what I was going for, but it tasted phenomenal. I love chocolate, so chocolate...upon chocolate...upon chocolate...and topped off with whipped cream, was pure bliss. Don't be scared away by all the layers! They're really not too hard to do, and it would have come together much quicker had I known I was going to do ALL of it! Enjoy!

Black and White Layer Cake

From Grandma's Pantry... "Shon's Birthday Cake" (Adapted from the very first Taste of Home Magazine ever, I think)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp b. powder
• 2 tsp soda
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. oil
• 1 c. hot water
• 1 c. milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla 

Sift together all dry ingredients, including the sugar.  Add oil, hot drink and milk; mix at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix another 2 minutes.  Batter will be thin.  Grease (and flour/cocoa) pans and bake 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

I used 3 9-inch round baking pans and sprayed them with cooking spray and then coated them with plain cocoa powder so as to avoid any white flour chunks on the outside of the cakes. I would suggest cooling them for at least 15 minutes prior to dumping them onto a wire rack to cool completely after cooking; I don't think I waited long enough and all of mine fell apart. Hence the LAYER cake. 

Vanilla Butter Filling:

Ingredients:  

• 1 c milk
• 5 T. flour
• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c shortening
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the milk and flour in sauce pan; cook until thick.  Cover and refrigerate.  In a mixing bowl, beat butter, shortning, sugar and vanilla until creamy.  Add chilled milk/flour mixture and beat for 10 minutes, or until fluffy.  

Ganache (Adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Heat cream and corn syrup over medium heat. Put chocolate chips in medium-large bowl. Add vanilla to cream mixture, then pour cream mixture over the top of the chocolate chips. Whisk together until melted, smooth, and glossy.

Whipped Cream 

Ingredients:

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 c. (or to taste) confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Whip the whipping cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla and whip until stiff peaks form.

Large Chocolate Curls (Adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

• 3 oz. semisweet and/or white chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp. shortening

Combine the shortening and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate out onto a baking sheet and spread into a thin, rectangular layer. If using semisweet chocolate, put into the freezer for about 2 minutes before removing. If using white chocolate, place in the refrigerator for 1-2 minutes. (Time's vary. It took me a while to figure out the right temperature. I had to use trial and error - freeze/refrigerate and thaw - to get the chocolate the correct consistency.) When the chocolate is ready, you should be able to scrape a somewhat sharp spatula or something across the pan/chocolate and the chocolate will curl. 

I used 2 batches of the semisweet chocolate and 1 batch of the white chocolate. Freeze the curls until ready to use. Freeze any leftover for future use!