Irish Step Dancing Cookies

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Irish step dancing solo dress cookies

Real Parties: An Egyptology/Archaeology Excursion (Part 2, the Desserts!)

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How to Make Mirrored Cake Stands

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How to Make Brush Embroidery Cookies

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Vegas Bound!

I'm heading to Vegas for a few days, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of my very best friends in true Vegas style.  She's the inspiration behind the Elspeth tiara:

She's smart and funny and insightful and determined and kind and beautiful and strong and everything you could ever want in a friend.  I can't wait to go spend a few days in Las Vegas with her, celebrating 10 years of her marriage, complete with an Elvis-officiated vow renewal.

I wanted to do a little something special for this very notable event, and I remembered the favors that they gave out at their wedding included a recipe card, with a favorite cookie recipe from each side of the family.

Scottish shortbread from the bride...

...and Biscochelos from the groom.

That's the original favor/recipe card from their wedding!  It's had a place of honor in my recipe box these last ten years.

Just a little sweet treat to show that I cherish and remember that happy day, and am so delighted to be honoring these past ten years and looking forward to many more.

I hope they like it!

Ocean Cookies--One Batch of Cookies, Two Parties

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DIY Project: How to Make Molded Sugar Treats

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DIY Project: How to Make Homemade Candy Buttons

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Strawberry Picnic First Birthday

My youngest daughter, Niamh (say NEEV, it's Irish), is almost two years old!  I'm in the last minute throes of party planning for her bash this Saturday, and realized that I wasn't yet blogging when she had her first birthday last year.  So to build the anticipation for the coming event, I present Niamh's First Birthday--A Strawberry Picnic.

At that age, it's all about the parents, so we viewed the birthday as an excuse to have our friends over and decorate with a cute theme.  I'd decorated Niamh's nursery in a Strawberry Picnic theme, so already had a number of good props to use, like the letters spelling out her name.

I built a wood-fired pizza oven in our backyard (while I was pregnant with Niamh, in fact), so we already had a number of red-checked tablecloths for when we entertain in Italian style.  They were perfect for the picnic theme.

I was especially proud of the cake, and was very happy with how it turned out.

You can hardly even tell that it fell flat on its side while I was trying to take photographs earlier that morning!  

This was actually the second time I've made this cake.  The first time was about six years ago.  I had never decorated a cake before, but my husband was on a business trip, and I saw the most gorgeous calico-fabric-inspired cake on the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings.  I fell in love, and impulsively decided that I was going to make it.  I went to the craft store, bought some tools, and started baking.  

I was so proud of that first cake!  I thought it looked amazing!  And looking back at the pictures now, I cringe.  It was awful.  Really, really awful.  

See?  I told you!  So getting to do this cake design, which I've always loved so much, over again felt like a chance at redemption.  (Photography has obviously also improved over the past few years!)

Favors were homemade strawberry jam (made by me under the guidance of my jam-making friend Liz) and macarons (graciously made by my pastry-chef mother).

I made strawberry bunting out of felt, and tried my hand at floral arranging for the first time.  I used strawberry baskets I bought off eBay for both the favors and the flowers.  They were the perfect touch!

I also made a strawberry-shaped pinata for the kids.  Thankfully, strawberries are pretty much balloon shaped.  A little paint, glitter, and green crepe paper, and we had the perfect pinata.  I should add glitter to all pinatas.  It looked seriously awesome hanging there in the sun.

The weather here in Phoenix can be either gorgeous or wickedly hot in May.  Of course, the weather crested 100 degrees for the party.  I called all our guests, told them to bring bathing suits for the kids, and set up kiddie pools, sprinklers, and water balloons.  

The adults got to sit in the shade with a misting fan--very effective!

Of course we made pizza in our WFO--that's what we always do when we feed a crowd.  The pizzas cook in 90 seconds in that 900 degree oven!

And it wouldn't be a first birthday without a baby covered in cake.

The celebration continued long into the night, well after the birthday girl had been put to bed.  

I can hardly believe she's already turning two!  My entire dining room and kitchen are completely taken over with party prep for this celebration, and I cannot wait to share it with all of you.  

A Cupcake for You: A Special Easter for Friends

A neighborhood friend's two children are having a very big weekend.  Tomorrow, they're getting baptized, having their first communion, and being confirmed--all in one big ceremony.  Family is flying in from out of state for this very special Easter weekend, and I was asked if I might make a cake for the celebration.

Now, I'm swamped right now.  It's the height of our busy season at Tradewind Tiaras (all those last-minute June brides!)  I'm in crazy-crafting mode getting ready for Niamh's second birthday in two weeks.  Add to that birthday parties, Easter celebrations, playdates, and a session with the trainer and my weekend is swamped.  But of course I made time for my sweet neighbors.  That's not the kind of opportunity I can decline!

I opted to make cupcakes instead of one cake to save time.  Chocolate with chocolate frosting for Cade, the die-hard chocoholic.  Vanilla caramel cupcakes with salted caramel filling and salted caramel buttercream for Hailey, who gave me free rein on the flavor. 

Whenever I make gumpaste flowers for a cake, I usually make too many.  Just in case.  And I keep all the leftovers.  They're really small and easy to store and they last forever.  Why bother saving those odds and ends of different decorating projects?  Because they're great additions to last-minute cupcakes!  There are flowers from at least four different cakes on these cupcakes, but they look great together.  

Gumpaste letters are another quick way to make a custom cupcake topper.  They dry in a matter of hours, and with a little bit of disco dust sparkle, they look fabulous.   If you've seen any of my other cupcake posts, you know I'm in love with edible cupcake toppers.   Now you know two of my tricks for dealing with my near-obsession, even when I don't have much time to invest.

Happy holiday weekend, everyone!  

How to Make Cake Balls That Look Like Ice Cream Cones

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How to Make Meringues That Look Like Soft Serve Ice Cream Cones

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How to Make Sugar Cookies That Look Like Ice Cream

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Sugar cookies that look like ice cream cones!

A Neapolitan Ice Cream April Fool's Day Party! (Part 1, the Dessert Table)

Many thanks to The TomKat Studio for debuting our April Fool's Day party yesterday!  I'm really excited to be able to show off all the details here now!

It all started a few months ago, when the universe started telling me to throw a Neapolitan ice cream themed party.  They were little messages.  Individually, they didn't mean anything.  But they just kept falling in my lap, until, without any real planning effort, I essentially had every element for the party ready.  Just a small sampling of the offerings from the universe:

• My daughter already had the perfect dress from her grandpa's wedding a few months ago.
• I found a darling little set of play dishes at Ikea and thought the glasses looked just like little ice cream cones.  So cute!
• I'd finally figured out how to make cookies that look like scoops of ice cream.
• I saw floral containers (on sale!) at Joann Fabrics that looked just like ice cream cones.
• TomKat and about three other designers all created adorable Neapolitan ice cream themed printables.
• TopIt Cupcakes opened up less than a mile from my house, and its entire concept was based on a top-it-yourself ice cream shop...but with cupcakes!
• And on top of it all, the cupcake shop is painted in Neapolitan stripes of pink, brown, and cream!

So I had the outfit, the theme, the decor, the venue, and one of the activities handed to me on a silver platter.  I couldn't not throw this party!

The concept for this April Fool's Day party was that nothing would be quite what it seemed, that everything would have a trick or a twist and fool the eye.  That meant, with a Neapolitan ice cream theme, that everything on the dessert table would look like ice cream...but wasn't.

We served:

Maybe...Milkshakes?  (Actually white, chocolate, and strawberry milk, topped with whipped cream and a fondant cherry.)

Probably...Drumsticks?  (Actually cake balls on homemade krumkake miniature cones, decorated to look like the classic Good Humor ice cream treat.)

Ostensibly...Fudgesicles?  (Actually chocolates with a peanut butter filling, sprayed with luster dust to give it a little bit of a frosty look, and nestled in fake ice to help give it some extra realism.)

Presumptively...Scoops of Ice Cream?  (Actually sugar cookies made to look like scoops of ice cream.  Tutorial coming soon!)

Presumably...Ice Cream Cones?  (I should have said "Soft Serve."  Ah, hindsight.  Since I threw this party together in about three days, I'm not going to be too hard on myself!  These were actually meringues made to look like soft serve ice cream cones.  Tutorial for these also coming next week!)

Supposedly...Sugar Cookies?  (Ok, so these actually were sugar cookies, but I liked the alliteration!)

The dessert table was great fun to put together, and the kids loved the sweets (of course!) but for me, a party is all about...well, the party!  Come back for all the details about the fun we had in Monday's post!

Non Traditional Cakes: The Crepe Cake

When I saw this cake from the Charleston Crepe Company, I was completely smitten.

Tiered crepe cake from the Charleston Crepe Company.

I'd never had a crepe cake until, at The Roaring Fork a few years ago, I tasted an amazing cornmeal crepe cake with caramel filling and fresh bananas.  It was astoundingly good, and I've thought about that dessert many times over the years.   But I never even considered it as a wedding cake option until I saw the Charleston Crepe Company's website.  Brilliant!

It's so lacy, so airy, so pretty, so delicious looking.  And the flavor possibilities are endless!

How about this option, from Martha Stewart Living?

A chocolate hazelnut dream!  Even if you want a more traditional wedding cake, this would make a spectacular groom's cake.

For all that I love making and decorating cakes, I don't like eating them all that much.  But these crepe cakes... these I would enjoy eating!  My birthday?  My upcoming 10th anniversary?  You can bet these will make an appearance on my table soon!

How to Make Chocolate Popcorn

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Fabulous Product: Sparkling Disco Dust. Marvelous Edible Glitter

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Disco dust (aka pixie dust)--edible glitter for cake decorating.

Sneak Peek: Harry Potter Cookies

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Harry Potter sugar cookies: a broom, an owl, and the sorting hat.

Rapunzel Cake Adventures

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Rapunzel Cake, decorated in fondant with gumpaste accents.

Amazing Trompe L'oeil Chocolates Cake

Cake is good.  Chocolates are good.  Cake cleverly designed in the shape of gourmet chocolates is brilliant, especially when done this well, by the amazing Rosie of Sweetapolita:

Looks like a box of chocolates, right?  NO!  They're mini cakes (each one just the right size for one or two people)!  

I know!  Jaw dropping!  So clever and fun!  I can't imagine a more fabulous cake for a Valentine's day wedding.  Check out more pictures of these amazing confections and learn more about how Rosie made them on her blog.