Tutu Cute Ballerina-inspired Birthday

I know, I know, "tutu cute" is offensively puny, but I couldn't help myself. It's late, I'm running on fumes, and frankly, I think these cookies are some of the cutest I've made to-date. 

Adelyn, the daughter of my former coworker, turned 5 today and requested a ballet-themed birthday party. I think it was kismet, because just a few days prior, I watched a tutorial video by the fabulous Mary of Emma's Sweets on piping tutu-inspired ruffles and couldn't wait to try it myself. How's that for timing?

These were made using my FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIE and ROYAL ICING recipes -- no need to mess with perfection -- and styled to be sweet and delicate. I wanted a variety of visual interest for the cookie platter, which led to seven different designs. 

I think my favorite is this little ballerina, with her perfect dark pink tutu and little flower in her hair. I hand-piped these after seeing them on Love Bug Cookies Instagram feed. It was important to me that I represent a young ballerina as part of the cookie set, and these were just too perfect.

Here's a closer view of the name plate and hand-drawn ballet slippers; these were the accent cookies -- I did three of each of type. I love the long strings on the ballet slippers, and yes, I just can't seem to stay away from piping little roses on at least a few of my cookies. 

Other notes:

• As always, Amazon is my go-to resource for cookie cutters, and I got both the tutu and ballet slipper cutters from the site.
• The ballet slippers and little ballerina were piped on the Maryann Plaque cookie cutter from Whisked Away Cutters
• The little rose accent cookies are inspired by the now infamous whimsical roses by The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. The cookie cutter is available in two sizes from Whisked Away Cutters. 
• I used Americolor's Soft Gel Paste Food Color in shades Soft Pink and Dark Pink for all five shades of pink, as well as Peach for a soft flesh tone on the ballet slipper.

You're a Wizard, Harry...

Harry Potter is, hands down, my favorite novel series of all time. I love everything about J.K Rowling's stories -- the magic, the lessons, the Englishness -- it's all pretty much perfection in my eyes. Which is why I was so excited to learn that a favorite coworker of mine is also a Potterhead...because a fellow Potterhead means an excuse to make the Harry Potter cookies I've had in my head for ages. 

Harry, Hedwig, and Golden Snitch

These were made using my FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIE and ROYAL ICING recipes. The cookie cutters are easy -- most, other than Hedwig and the ties -- were simple shapes onto which I piped the Harry Potter logos and shapes, including a Golden Snitch and the Nimbus 2000. 

I love the little gold edible stars from Wilton. These are just sprinkled on for the photos, but next time I'll definitely try to use them on the cookies themselves for a more...ahem..."magical" look. 

The color of these cookies was really important, as I wanted to represent the Gryffindor House colors as closely as possible. The crimson was the most difficult to replicate, but after a few attempts, I finally settled on roughly 20 drops of Wilton's Color Right crimson (not red!), with one drop black. The gold was created using 6 drops of yellow and 2 drops of orange. 

Logos, logos, logos everywhere

Other notes:

• I got the owl and necktie cookie cutters from Cheap Cookie Cutters. If you ever need a cookie cutter, I guarantee you can find it on their site -- the selection is amazing. 
• Hell yes, I used a Kopykake on these bad boys. Best money I've ever spent.

S'mores Cupcakes

Happy National S'mores Day!

What? You didn't know it was a thing either? I'm quickly discovering that there's a national day for just about everything, but in this case, I'm totally on-board with celebrating the summertime staple that is the s'more. And, of course, because I'm me, I had to throw my own touch on it and talk cupcakes -- S'mores cupcakes.

Making these cupcakes is pretty straight-forward. Your key ingredients are going to be your go-to chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream recipes, marshmallow creme, graham crackers, and jumbo-sized marshmallows. 

Bake the cupcakes as normal, then core out the middle. There are lots of techniques for doing this, but my favorite is simply using a cupcake corer and pushing down the center of the cake to create a hole. For me, it guarantees I'm not removing the entire cupcake center -- you still want cake on the bottom to ensure the filling doesn't ooze out once the wrapper is removed. 

I filled a disposable pastry bag full of marshmallow creme and just piped it into the cupcakes, being sure to fill it all the way to the top. 

I added my chocolate buttercream and sprinkled some crushed graham crackers on top.

Now you're ready for the final step. Take your jumbo marshmallows and place on a cookie sheet. You're going to broil the marshmallows for a minute or so, just until they start to turn this golden brown. Be sure to watch the marshmallows (I had my oven light on the whole time); you can't set a timer for this one -- you need to actually monitor them so they don't burn. 

Gently place the roasted marshmallows on top of the cupcake and voila! A gorgeous, super yummy cupcake alternative to standard s'mores. Enjoy! 

Strawberry Cupcakes

What comes first -- the recipe or the baking cups? In this case, it was the super sweet, shabby chic liners and accessories my daughter "made" me buy at Michael's during one of our mommy-daughter outings. Her criteria is pretty straight-forward -- pink and pink...and a little more pink. Nothing other than a strawberry cupcake would do, of course. 

I used a late afternoon family visit as an excuse to try a new strawberry cake recipe, but for whatever reason, they ended up being pink-colored hockey pucks. Never have I seen cake batter react the way this recipe did. Obviously I missed a step or something like my oven was too hot (or it was just a bad recipe); regardless, I had several hungry people waiting for cupcakes, including one very pink and strawberry-obsessed little girl. So I tried again, this time following a simpler recipe inspired by one of my all-time favorite bakers: My Baking Addiction.

Sure, it took two hours longer than it should have, but In the end, everything worked out. I stumbled upon a new go-to recipe, my family loved the cupcakes (especially the amazing buttercream frosting), and, according to my daughter, I finally got to use "the prettiest cupcake holders in the whole world". But seriously, look at that super cute baking cup!

Find the recipe here: STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

1960s-themed Cookies

When I think of the 1960s, I think of happy faces, peace symbols, daisies, and tie dye -- all of which I created in cookie form to celebrate two special 60th birthdays. 

These are made using my FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIE and ROYAL ICING recipes. The colors were inspired by Wilton's "Peace Flower" mini baking cup set, which I used on the matching cupcakes. 

I really love the way these cookies turned out, but I have to say, making them was a nightmare. Definitely my fault for getting ahead of myself and deciding to try new decorating techniques when I really didn't have time to do so. I guess I've been really fortunate up to this point, because I've never had anything go so completely wrong before. That's what I get for being smug. 

As you can see from the picture below, the cookies on top are tie dye perfection. The cookies underneath these are my Pinterest fails. I tried a new decorating method called "dry brushing"; instead of awesome tie dye effects, I got loathsome tie dye effects with a side of pitting and dull finish. 

The problem was, these looked great while I was decorating. I completed about 30 of them and, exhausted, decided to go to bed and finish the rest in the morning. I woke up to this and had to start all over again. The good news is, I think the new versions turned out even better.

The lesson here? Definitely try new things...just don't try them 48 hours before you have to deliver four dozen cookies and cupcakes for a joint birthday party. 

Other notes:

• I got the Peace and Happiness Stencils and Flower Icing Decorations from Copper Gifts. The Peace Symbol Cookie Cutter is from Cheap Cookie Cutters.
• The happy faces were created using the Happiness Stencil listed above and a combination of Wilton and Americolor edible markers. I used the Wilton first to trace the eyes and mouth and the Americolor to fill them in for a nice, deep black color. 
• The sanding sugar daisy centers were applied using a dry application. Read more about this on my YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE COOKIES blog post.