Tag Archives: birthday cupcakes

Because everything is better with color

Grated carrot salad seem to be all the craze suddenly and I definitely get why. It is sweet, crunchy, delicious and actually good for you. But why stop with just orange carrots. Use some purple and yellow carrots in the mix. For 1 lb. of carrots, a simple vinaigrette with 1 table spoon lemon juice, 1.5 table spoon olive oil, salt and pepper to taste is all you need. I sometimes just sprinkle some chopped mint and nothing else.

rainbow carrots

Rainbow Carrots

These cupcakes’ glaze were made with strained frozen blueberries and powdered sugar.

Lemon Cupcakes with Blueberry Frosting

Lemon Cupcakes with Blueberry Frosting

Below I made some orange and strawberry cupcakes. The orange frosting is just orange juice, orange zest and powdered sugar. The strawberry frosting is frozen strawberries that were thawed and strained and then mixed with powdered sugar. The pulp that was strained was puréed and added to the strawberry cake batter.

One of my favorite desserts is a lemon bar. Its a harmony of contrasts – sweet yet tart, crisp and soft. I usually use simple white paper cups to serve them but sometimes I use colorful ones depending on the season. Now they are not just lemon bars but Christmas bars or sweet-16 bars or mardi gras bars.

Simple stress free cake decorting done in under 20 mins!

This first one didn’t even take me 10 minutes. I just poured some glaze on the cake and before it completely set put some sprinkles on it. I used a cookie cutter to get the shape I wanted. Do not put the sprinkles too soon or they will dissolve and start to spread unevenly on the cake. If you wait too long then the glaze hardens and the sprinkles will not stick.

sprinkle cake

Glaze and Colored Sugar

If you want a cake and entertainment in one then this could be the perfect solution. Make lots of cupcakes with a thin layer of buttercream. Keep lots of topping like cookies, sprinkles, pretzels, chocolate chips and some more frosting on the side.

The kids pick a cake and just have fun messing  it.

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Another route is to use edible cake stickers. They are very easy to use and there are so many choices online. But read the instructions carefully before doing anything since they usually have good suggestions on how to apply them. For example if the sticker gets too sticky to separate from the backing then place it in the freezer for a few seconds then retry. Also if you frosted the cake a day or more earlier then moisten the top of the cake with a spritzer or brush since the surface becomes too dry. This prevents the sticker from sticking on to the surface.

Angry Birds Edible Sticker Cake

Angry Birds Edible Sticker Cake

Curious George Cake

Banana cake with frosting and a Curious George Sticker