Sweets for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee





Vanilla Cupcakes with fondant toppers, decorated with buttons, purses and a hat.



 Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream are topped with printables from
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hfcSupplies.



The party would not be complete without the Corgis!

 Chewy sugar cookies with buttercream and edible images made

from free printables available at http://www.weebirdy.com/.

Strawberry and Cheese Bars

Chocolate covered oreos with the official Jubilee design on top, edible of course!

Rasberry Lemonade Cake

 Most shortcuts I don't mind. One shortcut I don't usually take is baking with a cake mix; sometimes I make exceptions. Pink lemonade is pretty but because I have always considered pink a color and not a flavor, I was so excited to see raspberry lemonade concentrate at the store. I love to drink it and now I can bake with the flavor, shortcut style.

 

 I baked the cake in the Wilton 7 inch angel food cake pan. I like the small size for family dinners.  I covered the cake in a glaze.

 I made a buttercream for the cupcakes.

 The recipe that follows is how I bake at home, throwing in sugar and butter as I go. I hope  you don't find the recipe to difficult to follow. I like the option of a glaze and a buttercream, a cake and a cupcake. If you don't, you can bake the cake in a full size pan, and just ice it the way you want.

 The remaining concentrate was mixed up into a small pitcher of raspberry lemonade.

You can never have too much glaze! 

Raspberry Lemonade Cake

1 (16.25 ounce) box lemon cake mix                                        

1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix                      

4 large eggs, room temperature                                                

1 teaspoon lemon juice                                                             

3/4 cup milk, warmed

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup raspberry lemonade concentrate, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 8 cupcake liners. Spray 7 inch angel food pan with no-stick baking spray with flour and set aside.

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat all of the ingredients on low speed until combined. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

Pour batter into angel food pan and fill just over halfway. Bake for about 40 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean and the top should be browned. Scoop the remaining batter into the cupcake liners. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes. The tops should spring back when lightly pressed. Allow cake and cupcake to cool before frosting.

The cake does not need to be cooled upside down because it is not an angel food cake :) but slide a spatula around the edges to loosen before removing. If the top (which will be the bottom once it is flipped over) is uneven; slice it off with a serrated knife.

Raspberry Lemonade Glaze

1/2 cup raspberry lemonade concentrate, thawed                           

1 teaspoon lemon juice                                                                    

1 teaspoon corn syrup
4 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, stir all ingredients until smooth and glossy. When cake is completely cool, pour about one cup of glaze around the top of the cake, easing it down the sides. Keep the rest of the glaze in the bowl to make the buttercream.

Raspberry Lemonade Buttercream



1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar

Additional raspberry lemonade concentrate,

optional

To the bowl of reserved glaze add the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed. Add remaining raspberry lemonade concentrate a tablespoon at a time if desired for flavor and consistency.

When stiff enough to pipe, place in pastry bag with a large star tip and decorate cupcakes with a swirl. Pink and yellow jimmies may be added.



Cameos and Cupcakes for Mother's Day






I did a guest post at decoratethecake.blogspot.com. My friend Glenda gave me some molds to play with and I did. The molds are very easy to use even though they are detailed, they are easy to fill in multiple colors. I used a small cel stick to fill the small areas.  I froze the molds for a few minutes to make the gumpaste release easier.

 Round sugar cookies with fondant edged with a crimper.



Oval sugar cookies topped with cameos in settings.



This ribbon rose is so pretty. It is so fast to make with a mold!

 I cut out petit fours with an oval cookie cutter and glazed.

The mini cupcake liners are flattened to hold the oblong shape

and help hide the imperfections in the glaze.

This cupcake needs no sprinkles with all of the detail in the mold. Pearl luster dust, applied after the cameo dried, brought out every detail.

The ribbon rose is so versatile.  They released quite easily, just push them out slowly.

When applying multiple colors to a mold add a touch of water between layers to make sure everything sticks together.

 

I love the cameo in blue.

Cameo and ribbon rose molds decoratethecake.com 

Shabby chic rose digital paper etsy.com/shop/ClipArtCorner

Pastel Alphabet Collection  etsy.com/shop/michellekirsch

 

A Patisserie in the Springtime

Doesn't everyone dream of going to Paris? I know I do. I have not made it there yet, but my daughter will be going in a few months on a student exchange trip. Choosing a French theme for her birthday party was an obvious choice. I decided to model the dessert table after a patisserie, making it look as realistic as I could. I made food labels in french, complete with prices in Euros. The french blue wall making a pretty backdrop once adorned with a chalkboard menu, french calendar and framed pastries. 

The menu included palmiers, macaroons, meringue cookies, cream puffs, mocha madeleines, fruit tarts and brownie cakes. I looked at many pictures of real french bakeries before deciding on the menu and tried to keep to items that really would be sold there. The tarts and tulips were as pretty as a picture. White chocolate Eiffel towers were handed out as favors. I used my tea set and collection of tea cups to add some color and charm. The dessert table transformed the room. The guests were enchanted. And the birthday girl, she will carry the love of family with her while she walks down the streets of Paris.

Vendor credits below.

Party Styling and Baked Goods:  Jeannie Gearin

Photography:  Marisa Gearin

Calendar:  Sycamorestreetpress.etsy.com/shop/

Framed Art Work:  FrenchGallery.etsy.com/shop/

Eiffel Tower Poster: MissInsouciance.etsy.com/shop/ 

Macaroons  janjoupatisserie.etsy.com/shop/
Invitation:  GreenBeansieInk.etsy.com/shop/

Pastry tags:  bellaseradesigns.etsy.com/shop/

Robot Birthday Party

 {Featured on A Blissful Nest}

This birthday party theme was chosen by the birthday girl who wanted robots. The printables are all by A Blissful Nest and they provided great inspiration for the cake, cookies and cupcakes. The cupcake toppers were cut with a scalloped cutter and taped onto drink stirrers which are food safe and are easy to cut.



The cake was just for the birthday girl and covered in gears and cogs made from a mold by decoratethecake.com. A mix of fondant and gumpaste is used to fill the molds and then placed in the freezer for a few minutes to set the fine lines of the mold.

The bright yellow wall was a great background and the red chevron table runner made everything pop. The table runner is from Fine Pillow Covers on etsy. I can always find what I need for a party on etsy.    

    



I hand molded some little screws to give more dimension to the cupcakes. The primary color sprinkles and the gray cupcake liners finished off the look.





Sugar cookies are topped with fondant discs attached with a little icing and a couple of gears are all they need. A dot border is added in icing.



Finding candy in coordinating colors is so easy now that the dessert table trend has become so popular. Party City has an aisle of colored candy to match any party.

The invitation with the gears and chevron detail was perfect for our party.

A little ribbon and candy labels dress up the candy jars. I have a collection of basic shapes and use the same ones over and over. 

1. 



The vinyl wall decals are made by Decal Farm on etsy. These went onto the wall easily and came off without damaging the paint. I was able to choose the exact colors I wanted. After the party, some went up in my daughter's room and some were used in the locker at school. The favor bags and favors are from Michael's.

This is how I plan a party because I have fun doing it and going to a little extra effort makes a big difference. It does not take much work to throw a memorable party.