Patriotic Mini Star Cakes

"Oh, say can you see..."

These red, white and blue Mini Star Cakes make me feel all patriotic.
I made them with vanilla cake, whipped cream,
fresh berries and strawberry sauce.

They would be a fun treat for your Memorial Day BBQ
or Fourth of July celebration!

Making Mini Star Cakes

Prepare your favorite vanilla cake batter. Divide the batter equally into 3 bowls. Use food coloring to make one bowl of batter red and one blue. Bake as directed and cool. (I baked mine in 8 inch square pans.) While the cake is baking, make your whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Whipped Cream

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla
• 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks form. (Do not over-beat, cream will become lumpy and butter-like.)  Store in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Sauce

• 2 cups pureed strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

Level your cake tops if needed.

Use a star cookie cutter to make star shapes from each cake layer.

 

Remove the cake scraps around the outside of the stars.

(I'll show you what to make with these later!)

Use a spatula to transfer a red star to a plate.

 Put your whipped cream in a decorating bag, and snip off the tip.

Cover the star with whipped cream: Make an outline, then fill it in.

 Arrange sliced strawberries on top. 

 Layer with a white cake star. Cover with whipped cream and blueberries.

 

Layer with a blue cake star. Cover with whipped cream and strawberry sauce
(let it drip down the sides). Garnish with strawberries and blueberries.

Now let's make something with those cake scraps...

Mini Trifles!

Cut the cake scraps into cubes.

Layer all ingredients in a glass or mason jar, in the same order as above.

 

If you aren't a fan of whipped cream and fruit on your cake, you could put frosting between the cake layers instead and sprinkles on the top.

 

 Enjoy!

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And these holiday link parties...

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Gooey Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

What is your favorite comfort food?

This scrumptious cake is mine.

Moist chocolate cake topped with gooey chocolate marshmallow frosting...
 heaven on a plate!

After I made this cake the first time,

it became my go-to chocolate cake recipe.

It is so delicious!

And did I mention there are marshmallows?

Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

recipe from MADE

6024628

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (OR 1 c. milk mixed with 1 T. vinegar)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 6 Tablespoons milk
• 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups marshmallows

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9X13 inch pan. Bring a small pan of water to a boil and keep it simmering while you mix the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat with mixer until combined.

Add 1 cup of the boiling water and carefully stir until it is mixed in. Beat for 1 1/2 minutes with mixer. Batter will be thin. Pour the batter into pan and bake for 35-38 minutes.

Make the frosting while the cake is baking. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the milk and cocoa. Stir constantly, just until it comes to a boil; then remove pan from heat.

Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, beat with a mixer until the frosting is nearly smooth. Continue to stir every few minutes while the cake is baking. When the cake is done, add the marshmallows to the frosting and stir until they are coated. Immediately pour the warm frosting over the cake. Gently spread until it covers the cake evenly. Serve warm!

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I highly recommend serving this cake warm...
about 30-60 minutes after it comes out of the oven is perfect.
You will have difficulty not eating the entire cake!

 
 Want a bite?

Enjoy!

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Perfectly Packaged Rose Cupcakes

Here are some pretty rose cupcakes that you can make for Mother's Day,

or for Teacher Appreciation Week.

I love making these buttercream roses...

they look impressive but are actually quite simple!

For these, I decided to add another color to the rose tips.

You will need a decorating bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip.

Add some food coloring gel in a straight line, down the inside of your bag.

I used AmeriColor deep pink, which comes in a little squeeze bottle.

Fill the bag with your favorite frosting and twist the top closed.

Starting in the center of your cupcake,

pipe the frosting in a circular motion, moving toward the outside.

Now for some cute packaging!

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and had to try it.

9 oz. plastic cups are just the right size for cupcakes!
Simply hold the cupcake directly over the cup and drop it in.

Wrap each cup in some clear cellophane,

tie it closed with ribbon and you have perfectly packaged cupcakes!

To get the cupcake out, you can stab it with a fork and lift it up.

Enjoy!

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Meringue Tulips Cake for Mother's Day

This cake is for my mom.

My mom's favorite flower is the tulip.

She has 100% dutch heritage, and grew up
in a small Iowa town where almost everyone was dutch.

Each year, that little town is covered with tulips for the annual tulip festival.

Here is my mom in her costume and wooden shoes, ready for the parade!

  

I made strawberry meringue tulips to decorate my mom's cake.
They are light, crunchy and sweet...yum!

Strawberry Meringue Tulips

adapted from Sweetapolita

6023607

• 3 large egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (3 oz.) Strawberry Jell-O
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy. Combine Jell-O and sugar, and pour mixture into the mixing bowl in a steady stream. Turn the mixer speed to med-high and beat until meringue is stiff, thick, and glossy (about 5 minutes). Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.

Place the meringue into a decorating bag fitted with Wilton #125 tip (large petal) and pipe the tulips onto the baking sheets.

Bake for 2 hours, then turn off the oven and let the tulips cool completely before taking out.

Store in airtight containers or Ziploc bags at room temperature and away from moisture.

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Making your tulips:

1. Hold your decorating bag so the tip is vertical, like a teardrop. Make a teardrop shape, stop squeezing, then lift up.
2. Place your tip above the bottom left side of the teardrop. Squeeze while sweeping to the right with an upward motion.
3. Repeat, moving from right to left.

After the meringues were completely cooled,
I attached them to my cake with a dab of frosting on the back.
I piped stems with a Wilton #5 round tip,
and piped leaves with a Wilton #352 tip.

Pretty, simple and sweet. :0)

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

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Rapunzel Tower Cupcakes

My daughter really, really LOVES the movie "Tangled".

She owns all the dolls, sings all the songs, quotes all the lines,

and can tell you who does the voice of every character.

When "Beauty and the Beast 3D" came to theaters, she HAD to see it...

because there was a new "Tangled" short before the movie.

We just celebrated her birthday, and you can guess what theme she chose.

I created these Rapunzel tower cupcakes for her party.

I was inspired by these cupcakes at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.

 Want to make some too?

What you will need:

Flat bottom ice cream cups

Sugar cones

Your favorite cupcake recipe

White and purple candy melts

Yellow, green and pink frosting

Yellow moldable candies (Laffy Taffy or Starburst work great)

Directions:

Mix up your cupcake batter.

Place the flat bottomed cups in a muffin tin.

Fill the cups only 1/2 full with batter (this is important!).

Bake as your recipe directs.

 

Melt your candy melts on 50% power in the microwave,

stirring at 30 second intervals until smooth.

(I used mostly white, with a few purple thrown in to make lavender.)

Use a pastry brush to coat the outside of each sugar cone.

 

Place the cones on a sheet of wax paper and let dry.

(I forgot to take a photo of this next part.)

Pipe yellow frosting on top of the cupcakes,

making sure to cover the entire top, all the way out to the edge.

Place a sugar cone on top of each cupcake, pressing down into the frosting.

Pipe some green leaves on your tower (Wilton tip #67).

Add a few pink flowers among the leaves (Wilton tip #16).

Microwave your yellow candies for 5-10 seconds.

Flatten them with a rolling pin and cut out window shapes.

Put a little frosting on the back of each window, and attach them to your towers.

Since we had to transport these cupcakes to the party,

my husband created a custom cupcake carrier (similar to this one) 

using a thick cardboard box.

Best. Birthday. EVER!

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