Bunny Cakes

White Chocolate Easter Bunny Pops

Last year I found a sweet chocolate bunny mold at Target.  It was cute and cheap, so I bought it.  Actually I really like the Easter merchandise at Target.  They have great stuff year after year and I am always excited to check it out.  But, I digress, back to the chocolate mold...I bought the mold but didn't have a strong inclination to actually use it until the boys asked to make something for Easter.  It seemed like a perfect task for them, all we needed to do was melt chocolate and squeeze it into the molds.  The first bunnies the boys created turned out a bit messy, but by the second one they both got the hang of it.  After the bunnies hardened we wrapped them in cello bags and tied them with ribbon.  They came out super cute, the boys were really proud of their efforts.  I put the extra bunny pops in a milk glass vase with Easter grass and some faux eggs and thought it made a lovely Easter decoration.  Hopefully we can find some time to make them again this year.

-K

Chocolate Easter Bunny Brownie Treats

If you're looking for a fun way to dress up a dessert for Easter then look no further!  Start with a cookie or brownie base (I used mini-bundt cake brownies) then top with some green frosting for grass.  Next, nestle a chocolate bunny in the grass and place two orange tic tacs in the grass next to the bunny.  That's it, you're done!  Throw some Easter grass on a platter and place your treats on top.  Your guests will love it especially the wee ones.

 

      

-K

Snowy Pecans

One treat which I always associated with the holidays are sugared pecans.  We have several names for them: Snowy Pecans, Heavenly Pecans and Pure Goodness (you can find the recipe here).  We have learned that if you are going to make them, then you might as well make a boat load.  They are great little treats to give to friends and neighbors.  They are also the perfect little homemade something to accompany an impersonal gift card.  This year we planned ahead and bought 12 oz. glass jars to package the pecans in.  To complete the packaging we added a label and baker's twine.  I have included the link if you wish to download our Snowy Pecan labels.  Simply print them on whole sheet adhesive label paper and cut them out.  To affix the label lay the jar completely perpendicular to you and position the middle of label on the bottom third of the glass.  Then smooth out the label from the center to each side.  If the label doesn't align perfectly don't sweat it, it just proves that it was homemade.

-K

Halloween Oreo Cream Pie - The Easy Dessert

My previous post was all about the baking projects I have in mind to try for Halloween.  However, sometimes you don't have a lot of time to bake, but still want something sweet, festive and not store-bought.  The solution, Jell-o's Oreo No Bake Dessert.  I would usually turn my nose up at the bright blue box while cruising through the baking aisle at the grocery store, but something recently made me dump it into my cart.  The bright blue box sat in my pantry till one day the boys were 'bored' and wanted a project.  The *Oreo Cream Pie* turned out to be the perfect treat to make with the kids.  There are four steps to build it.  The first step is to melt butter--so easy it the kids can do it with a blindfold on.  Second step is to mix the oreo crumbs with the melted butter and tamp it down to form the bottom layer of the dessert--again, perfect for the kids.  The next step is to mix the pudding mix with milk using a beater--this step gets a little messy and is best for the adult to handle, but it is over in 3.5 minutes.  Finally, spread pudding over the crust and top with crushed ores and refrigerate.  To make it festive we added some additional crushed up Halloween Oreos, Halloween sprinkles and a candy corn pumpkin.  The taste is quite delicious and has quickly become a favorite in our house.

-K

Halloween Baking

Halloween baking is almost as fun as Christmas and Easter baking, but certainly equally delicious.  Last year I had my eye on several Halloween baking projects, but sadly I never got around to any of them.  I blame my uncharacteristically busy travel schedule for my lack of productivity.  This year I have no October travel plans, so we'll see how many projects I can get to.  I have added a bunch of treats to my *Halloween Baking To Do List* from last year, so my list grows longer...

*Brownie Pumpkins* - Orange icing and marzipan stems transform bundt cake brownies into little pumpkins from Country Living.

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*Candy Corn Cookies* - Granulated sugar added after these cookies are bake make these candy corn treats sparkle.  The full recipe can be found here.

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*Halloween Cookie Dough Pops* - Use your favorite cookie dough recipe and substitute 2 Tablespoons of milk for each egg.  Then follow these steps to make the pops.

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*Ghostie Cake Pops* - These are the cutest treats on the list.  They would be perfect for any Halloween dessert buffet.  The full recipe can be found here.

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*Halloween Parfaits* - Vanilla yogurt, crushed up Oreos and orange sprinkles make for an easy treat.  Full details can be found here.

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More Halloween ideas can be found on my Halloween Pinterest board.

-K

Teacher Appreciation Gifts - Apple of My Eye

For this year's Teacher Appreciation gifts we were inspired by Amy Atlas' Apple of My Eye dessert table found in her latest book: Sweet Designs.  The boys and I collected a bunch of apple flavored goodies and even made our own apple shortbread cookies and then packaged them in baskets for their teachers.  Of course we had to add our traditional gift of a movie gift card too.  Teachers work really hard and do amazing things for our kids.  I hope they know the little gifts we bring them are just a small token of our gratitude.

Here are the goodies we gathered...

To make the apple shortbread cookies we used red, green & brown royal icing to make little apple images on the store-bought shortbread cookies.  We used squeeze bottles for the icing so the boys could help create the apples.

Here is the inspiration from Amy Atlas, who is truly an endless source of inspiration...

And finally, the baskets...the boys wrote out 'You are the Apple of my Eye' on hang tags tied to the baskets.  We also added a little red ric-rac to the baskets with fabric glue to match our color scheme.

-K

Easter Cookies

I realized I forgot to post on last year's Easter Cookies.  I love making sugar cookies for Easter, there are so many cute bunny and chick shaped cookie cutters and inspiration abounds.  For extra special cookies, be sure to add a second layer of royal icing to either give texture or additional detailing.

The boys brought in some Easter cookies for their teachers.  We packaged them in favor boxes from Martha Stewart Crafts and added a carrot decoration.

-K

Turkey Day 2011

We had a very lovely *Thanksgiving*.  We stayed true to our family traditions and only veered slightly.  We went sans tablecloth (loved it, no last minute ironing) and because I missed out on making sugar cookies for Halloween I had to make some for Thanksgiving.  I added our guests names to turkey cookies and had intended them to be place-markers, but my icing script needs some work so I saved them for the dessert table.  We also made mini turkeys, fall leaves and flowers with the extra cookie dough.  This year's centerpiece was my favorite from last few years.  It consisted of four flower bunches from our local grocery store (salmon colored roses, orange and red berries & greenery) with some red leaves from our yard and peasant feathers added in to complete the look.

Little O had his first meal and year ago last Thanksgiving and he surely enjoyed his Thanksgiving meal again this year!  In this picture he looks so much like my sister as a baby.

-K

Halloween Baking To Do List

My kitchen is out of commission because we are having the cabinets painted.  The timing is such that I will not be able to get my bake on for Halloween.  However, I thought I would still share some of the *Halloween Baking Ideas*  (found on Pinterest) I was thinking of making...

*Halloween Graveyard Cake* - this idea comes from Country Living.  Essentially it is a box cake baked in a rectangular baking dish then topped with store-bought cookies (tombstones fashioned from Pepperidge Farm's Milano and Bordeaux cookies & fence made from Rademaker chocolate sticks).  More details can be found here.

*Ghosties with the Mosty* - White chocolate will transform almost anything into ghosts.  All you need to do is dunk your items (pretzel rods, Milano cookies, Nutter Butter cookies or anything else) into white chocolate.  You will need to do a few coats and then add eyes (use mini chocolate chips, pipe chocolate/icing or use a black food marker).  Here are some examples (also found on Pinterest)...

*Halloween Trifle/Parfaits* - Go crazy and stack up your favorite Halloween candy.  You can keep it 'dry' or add layers of pudding, whipped cream, cake bites to make it a gooey, delicious mess.  More details on the parfait can be found here.

*Halloween Cookies* - A true favorite of mine and the kiddies.  I found some really cute decorating ideas I worth giving a try: skeleton cookies and the cutest ghost cookies ever.

Happy Baking & Eating!

-K

Halloween Table & Mini Halloween Cookies

I just realized I never posted last year's *Halloween Table*, so here goes...as per usual, ignore the wrinkles on the tablecloth (Martha would be so disappointed).  

Last year was baby O's first Halloween, so I wanted the table to have a fun vibe.  I set the it with an orange, retro tablecloth from Target and added a centerpiece of Halloween treats (brownies, chocolates & candy corn).  I also added black cat buckets filled with plum-colored leaves and bluish berries.  The best part of the table, however, were the little buckets of *Mini Halloween Sugar Cookies* set at each placesetting.  To make the little cookies I used cookie cutters from a Halloween Linzer Cookie cutter kit (can be found at A.C. Moore).  I am hoping to make more mini cookies this year, other than that I haven't figured out what else I will do for this year's Halloween table.

-K