Surprise Baby Shower

This was a dessert table for a surprise baby shower

during our mini family reunion this summer. 

The theme was "Here's the Scoop" with all kinds

of ice cream related items including a build-your-own

sundae bar with WAY too many sprinkle and syrup choices.

I hope to someday learn the lesson about less is more.

"J" and "E" are the first initials of the parents-to-be, my nephew and his wife.

"B" stands for baby but as it turns out, B also stands for boy!

The happy couple later learned that they will

indeed be blessed with an infant of the male persuasion.

Most of the shower guests had already decided that before they made

the trek to the OB/GYN to learn for themselves.

When the votes for favorite nickname were tallied, 

"Scoop" (boy) won out over both "Sprinkles" (girl)

and "Chunky Monkey" for those who couldn't decide.

 The couple decided to surprise the rest of the family with the news

of their pregnancy after the family was all gathered at our home.

So I decided to take it one step further and surprise them

with a shower once they had spilled the beans.

My husband and I had accidentally learned before the rest of the family that they were expecting this long anticipated and much hoped for pregnancy.

Lucky for me!

The fun part was trying to do everything possible ahead of time and then keep it all hidden while they and other family members stayed at our house before the shower.

(Hence the plastic wrap in some of the pre-shower photos.)

As luck would have it, the mom-to-be had to work out of town on the day

of the planned surprise and the dad-to-be drove her. Great plan!

Soon after the breakfast dishes were done and they were out of the house,

we started setting out the fun stuff that had been

neatly tucked into a linen closet behind a purple sheet.

Like something out of the "The Wizard of Oz."

Never look behind the purple curtain!

I worried that the surprise might be ruined if anyone

tried to find an extra towel in that particular closet.

My fears were for naught. Thank goodness.

The grandma-to-be, my dear sister-in-law, helped IMMENSELY. 

Not only with the set up but with countless time

at the sink and stove during our reunion. And ironing the tablecloths.

(thank you, thank you, thank you!)

Not much of a vacation for her.

Hope those pruny dishpan hands have gone back to normal by now!

We took our time and giggled a bit lot

as we were setting out all the tasty tidbits.

Haven't had that much fun preparing mini treats

and putting together a table in a long time!

Among the lineup:

Baby Cones

Mini ice cream cones filled with Oreo Truffle filling

and dipped in candy melts with pastel sprinkles

and customized paper bands.

The one with the green dot was gluten free.

Fruit Loop Kabobs

Fruit Loops on wooden skewers with a bead topper

and a citrus gum drop purchased from Trader Joe's.

I'm glad that Bakerella hadn't posted about her homemade gumdrops at that time or who knows what cute little baby shape might've ended up there instead!

These were Grandma-to-be's favorite.

Candy ducks on white chocolate foam atop Mini Reese's Cups 

floating on glass bubbles in a silver claw footed tub.

Whew! Try saying that three times quickly.

Can you spot it in the photo below all ready for action?

Scallops to match the buntings were cut into

the white paper table coverings later.

Cheesy Alphabet Tiles - aka Scrabble Juniors

Cheez Its filled the paper cones.

Peanut butter filled pretzels and yogurt covered

pretzels in pastels were tucked inside

the scalloped cups and bags.

I tried for some salty with the sweet but sweet won out.

Another gluten free choice.

Cry Baby Gum Balls, Sugar Babies, Milk Duds and

Strawberry Whoppers went along with this corny sign.

What can I say? I'm a cornball. And a mental case.

As further evidenced with these 

"our sweet family" photos.

Hey, the family was all here.

They could've done an intervention.

But they didn't.

And so I'm free to do it again. hee, hee!

Breathe. Nothing planned for the near future.

This was a truly special occasion and I was fortunate to be able to do it.

The family is rarely all together and we haven't had the chance to attend

the showers of some other much loved babies.

So we were blessed with great timing.

And I am thankful.

Pistachio Cream Cupcakes with Sugar Hydrangeas

Sundae Station Toppings

Among the many were Baby Ruth's, Milky Way . . .

Tee Tiny Kisses and

Peas & Carrots for the health minded.

Well, maybe not.

The "veggies" were candies from Jelly Belly.

And on and on.

Too much sugar, too little time.

We decided to do dessert first.

We followed it up with simple hamburgers.

Not shown are the baked beans that were a surprisingly

good and quick substitution to Grandma's recipe.

The line had to be drawn somewhere.

No great photos, no great beans.

Back at the shower . . .

there was also a giant Sugar Daddy for the new father-to-be.

And Pop Rocks hidden inside one of their shower gifts.

We celebrated the announcement to the family the night before the shower

with a toast of icy bottles of Dad's Root Beer and a tray of Mother's Cookies.

Grandma's Cookies and Grandma's Cake Batter Ice Cream

also made an appearance during the shower.

Yeah, I know.

I may have over done the theme just a bit.

Ya think?

Was I supposed to just LEAVE these things at the store?

I ask you.

Jordan Almonds. Good idea for a name?

Probably not for a boy but we were still trying

to remain gender neutral at the time.

Grandpa-in-waiting was represented with a Waffle Cookie Structure since he's a lover of waffles and waffle cookies and is also in the construction industry.

The sundae station also included a half gallon jar of pickles. 

Just in case any one might be craving pickles with their ice cream.

The syrups were all set to go into little glass pitchers

but that plan was ditched in a rare moment of clarity.

The dishwashers may have gone mutinous on me.

I tried to hide some of the gently used dirty dishes back into the

Wizard of Oz closet for later clean up so that we wouldn't spend all

of our quality time at the sink.

They caught me in the act and found most of them anyway.

A little mobile hung from inside the large bell jar.

Leave no surface untouched.

Not such a great motto for the "less is more" approach.

Next time. Maybe.

One of my goals was to make the shower look like it might belong

in an Amy Atlas Events featured submission.

Didn't quite make the cut but I learned a lot in the process.

Like cover the mirror. Use a spot with natural lighting. Scale down the menu. 

Take time to get some good photos after cutting out

all those scalloped signs and cones. : (

I did consider all of these things but didn't want to rearrange furniture while the family was here or try to plan an outdoor event during our very cool and rainy summer.

I have no excuse for the scaling down the menu part. Personality flaw.

Since everything had to be hidden and I wasn't sure how long we'd have for the set up, some of the pictures were taken days before the event so that I could re-assemble the table quickly. Then after everything was set up, the day simply FLEW by getting the rest of the food for dinner ready.

And visiting a tiny bit in the meantime.

Which was the point.

So I completely neglected my photographer

duties before the shower started. Silly girl!

The "day of" photos were taken by family members who

managed to get in a few snaps before the carnage.

My niece's closeups were among the best.

Thanks Jen and the rest of you for capturing the craziness!

And thanks to all of you for pitching in. I couldn't have done it without you.

Hope you enjoy the sugar rush!

Baking Fun with Little Friends

These are some new friends of mine that are learning to bake.

I was more than happy to play "teacher" for a few days.

They chose the recipes and designs and we went from there.

It just happened to be near the time of their birthdays so

the projects became even more special since they would

be sharing their finished work with their family. 

On Vinh's day of baking, he picked a Lego skier going down
a snowy mountain with lots of white chocolate trees.

And a snowman.

He dubbed his theme, "Christmas in July."

His favorite colors are orange and green. Can you tell?

The next baking stint was a two day event so that the

gum paste bow loops and flowers would have time to dry.

Day One was all baking, simple syrup and gum paste.

They also drew up a sketch of what they hoped to build

and color coded it. Best to have a plan we've learned.

Less surprises that way.

 Loops and a dusted practice flower.

 The real deal before dusting.

 All lined up and ready to color.

Lots of spirals in this design!

Simple syrup applied with love.

While we were chatting away and baking I learned that
it was Grandma's birthday as well. Hold the phone. 

Time to throw in another batch of batter.

She always shares a cake with her granddaughter.

Not this year!

Grandma doesn't like sweet cakes

(which in my personal opinion should be a criminal offense,
punishable by chocolate consumption)

so we tried baking her an angel food cake.
SOMEONE (me, oops!) thought they turned the
oven down but actually turned it off instead.

 So even after lots of tapping . . .

. . . and gentle coaching,

the cake never came out of its dark shameful hiding

place until it was dug out hours later. What a stuck-on mess!

Since we ran out of time and I WAS the guilty party,

I baked a  replacement (not angel food this time!)

so we'd be all set for the next round of fun.

Day Two: dust the flowers. Crumb coat and ice the cakes.
Color the fondant and make the ribbons.

We let the ribbons set a bit to firm up.

And then the finishing touches.

Little pink pearls at the ends of each extruded fondant
strand applied with little hands and tweezers.
Holding your breath may or may not help.

Pretty yellow sparkles to match the plate. 

A very special gift for Grandma.

Baked with love.

And a special cake for Priscilla!

Great job for beginners, wouldn't you say?

Square Waffle Cone Ice Cream Cups . . .

. . . or as they are known in the Netherlands and Belgium,

 "ijsbekers van koek." Roughly translated, "ice cubes of cake."

Not the best translation but I'm told it works.

Can't find them in anywhere in the U.S.

or from anyone I've contacted abroad.

A fellow Cake Central junkie has been kind enough

to try and help but so far we haven't been successful.

Her CC name is Marjommeke. She posted her creation

a few days ago, which sent me into an immediate

fit to have some. NOW!!!

And to follow up on my other ice cream cone cup desires.

A little bowl of adorable from Marjommeke.

I saw these at the Cupcake Project Cupcake Contest

blog a while back and haven't been able

to find them to purchase either. 

They live in Cape Town, South Africa.

Along with Ramsey Thompson, their owner.

Or should I say, former owner.

Hopefully she consumed this lovely bite just after this shot.

She purchased them at the local Pink n' Pay store.

 Check out her recipe for  Mini-Swirl Ice Cream Cupcakes.

Both of these mini cups are just too cute to let go

so the quest will continue. I have big plans for them.

Meanwhile, Marjomekke sent more photos

to tempt me including this one

by Cindy Littlefield for Disney Family. 

I LOVE this idea!!!

It is similar to one I've had in my head for ages.

So now I just HAVE TO make it. Don't you think?

Stay tuned. I'm off this morning to get my ingredients . . .

Star Wars Cookies

I made these for my nephew last year for his birthday.

He blushed. Or maybe he was just embarrassed from the surprise ambush at the restaurant. I think he liked them since he immediately posted them to his Facebook page. While we were still having dinner. Kids these days. What are you gonna do?

Both he and my son were huge fans when they were little. And still are. They can't help it. Great series of movies. I still can't resist buying them lightsabers at Christmas. Did I mention that they're in their 30's now? I HAD TO make these after my daughter spied the set of cutters while we were window shopping at Williams Sonoma.

I shared some of the practice cookies with our 4 year old neighbor boy. He loved the colors of Boba Fett but right before he took a bite, he turned to his mom and asked, "Is it okay? Is Boba Fett a good guy or a bad guy?" They decided after a minor bit of discussion that it was fine to bite Boba's head off. My favorite was Yoda. Maybe it was due to his chocolate mini m&m eyes. Very soulful. And tasty!

May the force be with you!

My First Fondant Covered Cake

I was going through my cake photos
the other day to submit some to CakeCentral.com.

I was embarrassed to post mine for a very long time.

Cake Central is a great place to share and learn new techniques, recipes and cake building ideas. Everyone there is so generous with their knowledge and skills and are quick to answer any "dumb" questions from a newbie like myself.
I always ask since I'm a firm believer and promoter of the idea
that there are no "dumb" questions.

I decided to get my feet wet and bare my soul to the world of cake.

Kind of like getting the bats and skeletons out of the closet.

These were some bat cupcakes I made with fondant wings and ears.



Didn't know then
that the fondant
would "melt" back
into its original softness after I'd left it to dry for several days.
That's what happens when you put them on buttercream and bag them up all pretty like so you'll be all ready the next morning.
I learned to
either use chocolate
or gum paste
or a cookie next time.

Not a true skeleton from a closet but you get the idea.
This cake taught me that the bandages needed to be much thinner to get the best effect. Maybe next Halloween?


But that's one of the great things about Cake Central. A whole big bunch of bakers in all ranges of talent to share the do's and don'ts and the tried and true with. And if you're really lucky, you may also make a friend or two along the way.
I've been very lucky.
I have to say, stepping out into cyberspace and making that first contact at friendship was a little scary for me. It felt a little bit like what online dating must feel like.
Or cyber stalking. Putting details of more than you'd usually share with someone right away on the table at first contact. Not my style. But I'm REALLY glad I did.
I've met some amazing women that I may not have
been blessed with if I hadn't taken that first leap off the edge.

So back to the reason for this particular post.
The first fondant covered cake I ever tried.

I'd always wanted to duplicate the smooth covering that fondant is known for.
Simple. One cake and I was hooked.

Like Playdoh for girls and boys that are too old to buy it
in anything but a brown paper bag.

I used Wilton pre-made fondant, mostly because I had no idea that there were other choices at that time. How wonderful it was to learn that homemade fondant is not only easy, it tastes MUCH better and is so much less expensive than Wilton, even with Micheal's 40% off coupons. Can't tell you how much I purchased before I learned that secret! I've also tried some of the other commercial brands like Satin Ice and Fondex. No bargains to be had there. I still have a lot of fondant recipes to experiment with and compare but my Wilton fondant days are over.

And then I heard about modeling chocolate.

This was prior to the zillion baking shows currently available and countless tutorials on youtube. You can learn just about anything there. Great source if you have time to watch. No matter what your interests, there's a youtube tutorial on it out there somewhere.
Or maybe you should make one yourself . . .

Can't wait to experiment more with it. I tried it a few years ago but was discouraged about the hardness it takes on before kneading.

It didn't stop me but I didn't get the rave flavor or texture reviews I'd hoped for by using chocolate instead of fondant. So now I have some newer modeling chocolate recipes to try. (Thanks Jessica!)And I've learned that the hardness is completely normal. Just keep on massaging until it becomes another tasty medium for cake play.

Here's a photo of my pre-fondant days.

This one won't be posted to Cake Central anytime soon if I have any pride left at all.

Guilty of gum ball abuse even way back then.

Since I'm self-taught, there is certainly much room for improvement in my piping and overall cake skills. I hope to take some classes on basic piping techniques. And flower making. And sculpting. And stacking. And on and on. So much to learn!
I've only watched a few demos. Plus every cake show on TV. Several times.
But I learn something new every time.

Most of my early cakes were based on ideas straight from Wilton yearbooks. Again, pre-Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Food Network Challenge, Amazing Cakes, Cupcake Wars, etc. And before there was a cupcake bakery in nearly every town. Even the books in the bookstores weren't all that great or they seemed much too difficult to tackle in those days. Little did do I know.

I've had the Cake Bible for many years, thanks to the kindness of a generous friend of a friend. (Thank you again Jackie!)

It is one of the only recipe books that I've ever sat down and read, cover to cover.
But I didn't do that until just this year.
My habit is to pick only those with colorful photos then flip through until I find what I'd like to try. One of my (many) goals is to make every recipe in the Cake Bible and taste first hand all the different types of cakes, fillings and frostings inside. Rose Levy Beranbaum's years of knowledge and techniques are so fully detailed. The science behind the why of baking is explained in terms even someone like myself can grasp.

If you'd like to see some of my other baking adventures,
you can check them out on Cake Central. 
Have fun experimenting!

Crabby Cupcakes

These were inspired from the book, "Hey There, Cupcake" by Clare Crespo.

I'm feeling a little crabby myself today since it's raining. Again. Or still.

Make that POURING at the moment.

Isn't summer just around the corner?

No walk in the sunshine today but maybe these will make you smile!

Happy Wednesday!

Baby Quilt for Wes

Must've been our year for babies. And baby quilts. I wanted to give something more memorable than clothes or gadgets to some dear friends for their first baby. The color scheme of the baby's room threw me a bit but we have a HUGE fabric store nearby so finding grey and yellow wasn't nearly the challenge I'd dreaded.

Here was the pattern I chose done up in the

blues and yellows you might expect for a boy.

And here is the un-quilted version of the one for baby Wes.

Lots of geometric patterns but I managed to throw

in some music notes for fun.

Hard to see the tiny detail of the prints here.

A geometric stitching pattern for the quilting seemed to fit the bill.

And it didn't end up in the baby's room after all.

Instead it was used as his blankie to

play on everyday in the living room.

Or so I'm told. But . . .

here's Wes as he was learning to crawl. On his quilt!

What a face! Love him!

He's up and nearly running now so his blanket on

the floor days may be limited. Fun while it lasted. 

Don't they grow up WAY TOO FAST?

Hope it serves as a picnic blanket when he

moves outside to the greener pastures of the lawn.

Hugs to you Wes!