Baby Shower Dessert Table

I know it seems as though I have fallen off the face of the planet when it comes to blogging.  The past few months have been a bit of a blur between work and traveling.  However, I have still been baking here and there in between.  Hopefully over the next few weeks I can get caught up with things and finally have an up to date blog again!  In the mean time I wanted to share this sweet baby shower table I did for a purple and green themed shower. - K

Balloons and Stripy Straws: Shop Sweet Lulu
Cups for dirt cake and green napkins: Ikea
Mini dirt cake spoons: Kroger
Labels and Bunting: Handmade
Purple cake ball chocolate: Micheals 

Strawberry Cupcakes

Just in time for spring! For some reason I associate strawberries with spring, maybe because I grew up in the North East? Down here in Texas where the seasons blend a little more, strawberries are never really not in "season." Lucky for me!

I made these for a birthday party that a client of mine was a hostess for. I had a lot of fun making the cupcakes but I might have had more fun making the monogram cupcake toppers. I used a chevron pattern in the same colors as the invitation and kept the monogram simple with a serif font rather than a script. And her monogram worked out to be ABC which I thought was very fun. These are super easy to make on your own, all you need are toothpicks, artists tape (white), scissors, and whatever your design is printed on a home printer is fine.

For the cupcakes I used a recipe from Sweetapolita - one of my favorite blogs. Her cakes are gorgeous! She has a great Strawberry frosting that goes well with this recipe on her site that I recommend checking out.

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 package of strawberry flavored gelatin
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk (room temperature)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree made from frozen strawberries (puree itself should be closer to room temp, not frozen)

1. To make the strawberry puree take your frozen strawberries and let them thaw out. I removed mine from the freezer the morning of and they were good to go by the time I got home from work. Place the thawed strawberries into a food processor and puree until smooth. Measure out 1/4 cup. You can freeze the rest to use again in the future.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in your cupcake pan. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine and stir the milk, strawberry puree, and the vanilla, set aside.
4. Sift and whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, set aside.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar, gelatin, and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 min.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
7. Add the wet and dry ingredients to the creamed mixture by alternating - beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Don't over mix.
8. Fill your cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full - I use a ice cream scoop to make sure they are all the same height.
9. Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool entirely before icing them.

Blue and Orange Baby Shower

I ordered the orange and blue balloons from Sweet Shop Lulu and then had

them blown up at my local party store the day before the party.

I also ordered these straws from Shop Sweet Lulu and then found the cups at Hobby Lobby.

I am in love with the "rose" look on cupcakes.

It is super easy to do and makes each cupcake look like a flower.

These are my all time favorite fall muffins - Pumpkin Chocolate chip - YUM.

Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream - Their was a baby elephant on the

baby shower invite so when I found this little guy at the party store I thought he

would be perfect for the top of the cake. Simple goes a long way.

Some little minis for the ladies who didn't want a whole piece of cake...

Snicker doodle shooters! The little cups are filled with cold milk, very fun for a shower.

The lovely hostesses!

I really do love baking AND creating dessert tables for people. It is a great way for me to be creative and for some reason I love the challenge of organizing the table and really bringing it all to life. This was a great example of how just a few key recipes can help make a really big statement.

I made a cake, cupcakes, muffins, cinnamon buns, and cookies - just 5 key recipes that were pretty manageable to make. I added in some candy in the theme colors and some really beautiful roses that I found that morning at the grocery store that matched the orange perfect! One bunch split into 3 jars down the back center was just enough. Then for the big statement - the balloons. I am such a believer in using these big balloons to make a big impact on a budget. I used them in the green and white baby shower I did a few months ago as well and they couldn't have been a bigger hit. Shop Sweet Lulu has the best color options I have come across.

People always ask me for advice when it comes to making a successful dessert table and I think the most important thing is time management. Always plan your recipes out in advance, make sure you can bake as many of the recipes in before the day of your party. I like to bake one thing each night starting 4 days before the event - you can freeze cake layers in advance and ice the day of, cake balls will last wonderfully in the fridge in an airtight container and most breads can be frozen before your ready to server them as well. This way the morning of your event you aren't waking up at 4am to bake. One day I will do a whole blog post on tips and tricks for dessert tables... stay tuned.

Resources:

Cupcake liners, balloons, and straws: Shop Sweet Lulu

Blue and white polka dot trays: Ikea

Orange and blue cups: Hobby Lobby

Table runner - Hostess owned

Cake stands - My personal collection from over the years.

Pinkalicious Cupcakes

I was recently asked to make cupcakes for a little girls birthday party that was Pinkalicious themed. Apparently there is this whole world of children's books that I didn't know about. There is not only Pinkalicious, but there is also Purplicious, Goldlicious, Silverlicious... all equally popular. In the Pinkalicious story a little girl eats too many pink cupcakes causing her to turn pink- The only cure is to eat vegetables! Those tricky authors :-)

The plan was to match the cupcakes in the book as closely as possible. I used chocolate cupcakes since the birthday girl herself requested they be chocolate, and a classic buttercream with pink food coloring. In the book each cupcake had a cherry on top but since regular cherries run everywhere I rolled them in sugar the night before and put them in the fridge uncovered to help dry them out a little - very sweet but very cute. A dash of pink and white sprinkles and voila! Pinkalicious cupcakes. I also dipped strawberry marshmallows in pink white chocolate and sprinkles for marshmallow pops. Jill at Stamped Paper co made the adorable crown toppers to add to the theme. I hope these ideas inspire you if you are planning a Pinkalicious party...

Baby Monkey Dessert Table

Whew! Finally doing another blog post with yet another baby shower dessert table. I realized it was time to sit down and post these images since the baby was born this weekend that this shower was held for. So exciting, and baby Avery is a beautiful healthy baby boy with two great parents.

Tracy (mommy) wanted a blue and brown monkey theme which I thought was great. Not only are monkeys cute they provide some great inspiration for banana themed desserts. I included the labels I made to show the full menu as well as to show the simple design. Just like the last dessert table I posted I hope to post some of the individual recipes but for now here are some images...

Color palate

labels - click to enlarge

Peanut butter chocolate layer cake

Mini Dirt Cakes

Chocolate and vanilla cake balls

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Mini banana nut cupcakes

mini monkey breads

Supply sources:

Brown and white striped cups and blue and white polka dot cups, and blue and white striped straws: http://www.shopsweetlulu.com/

Blue and white polka dot platter: www.ikea.com

Ruffled edge platter: www.sweetandsaucysupply.com/

My first dessert table...

I have more images and recipes coming soon but I wanted to share this first batch with everyone. This was for my friends baby shower. They are having a little boy and they wanted green brown and white. No theme - just elegant baby...

the color palate

Caramel stuffed sugar cookies and Coconut cream whoopie pies

S'more marshmallows and white chocolate lemon truffles

Popcorn and Lemon Coconut 4 layer cake

I ordered these adorable green and white straws online to go

with Skinny Girl Margaritas to carry out the green theme

Red velvet cake balls

Lemon blueberry poppy seed bread with lemon glaze

Yellow cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting

Here are some more amazing photo's from the Dad - they turned out

great and you can really see the little labels I made... thanks Aaron!

I used a little green food coloring to get a green gradient in the cake, everyone loved this