Sweet's gardening party with pink and grey party table

Sweet's 8th birthday party this year was a pretty grey and pink dessert table with a garden theme to tie in with the main party activity which was.......gardening.

We purchased some packets of easy grow flower seed and pots that eventually break down and the kids got to fill the pots with soil and plant the seeds. The pots were just the right size to fit into cupcake boxes which made packing up and taking home both pretty and easy.

I was lucky enough to find some little trowels the week before the party for $1 each at the local supermarket which the kids took home along with their little garden boxes.

If your not trying to be as economical as me this would work as well with a few punnets of plants instead of the seeds, but I managed to get enough for 12 kids along with a few of those sunflower and tomato ready to grow pots (that I used as party prizes for other games) for under $20.

All the rest of the stuff I used to decorate the gardening table with I already had (see that pink polka dot fabric it was from Bubble's 5th birthday party I blogged about 5 years ago).

Apron and string in tin - Greengate
Garden pots, seeds - Big W discount department store
Trowels - Coles supermarket
White plant stand with blackboard - Bunnings hardware
Pink polkadot cupcake boxes and pinwheels - Choice discount variety store

Party Table

The party table colour theme was based on the lovely grey with pink rose and white dot fabric I used as a table covering. I picked it up because it was so pretty intending to have dresses made for the girls, it was from Lincraft at around $8 a meter.

I had a fake window/mirror shutter I had from a while back I got in a closing down sale and was part way through restoring an old wooden plate rack I picked up on Ebay, so I added them to the table. The pink riser that the candy jars are on is a bathroom caddy I picked up at a discount dollar store last year and painted pink for another party.

Then when I was out one day I spied those big moss balls and I don't know why but I got them. For some reason I really like them, anyhoo they added some colour to the table and a bit of texture the big one was $10 and the 2 smaller ones $5 each from Vast Interiors.

The day before the party I picked up a stack of flowers to pop in little pitchers and vases scattered around the table. It was a pretty relaxed table.

Overhead are some pink hanging lanterns which don't quite make it into the photo's.

Party table menu

Decorated cookies - royal icing stripe cookies with fondant rose accent and fondant pink quilted cookies with white royal icing dots (Click here for free tutorial to make similar quilted cookies)

Birthday cake  - Ombre butter cream decorated cake in shades of storm and pink sunset - Italian meringue butter cream with strawberry cake. The butter cream was applied with an offset spatula to evoke the feeling of an artist's pallet.

Candy - Chocolate sixlets, marshmallows and bon bons. There were also pink pig sours on top of the white plate rack and I bought out a selection of other lollies for the kids to fill up their own take home loot bags.

Homemade raspberry macarons (Click here for recipe) served in a Greengate Sophie Vintage bowl.

Cinnamon scrolls with pink cream cheese frosting- we are loving cinnamon scrolls at the moment so we prettied them up with sugar flowers, butter cream piped leaves and sugar sprinkles. What more can I say - yum (click here for a cinnamon scroll recipe)

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.  

Baking hack Marshmallow Booster for domed cakes

Some times I make mistakes.

OK, OK I know I make mistakes all the time. But sometimes I make mistakes that require me to come up with a solution that ends up being kinda cool and worth sharing with everyone.

Like last Sunday, when I baked a packet mix cake and did not follow the instructions properly because I used a smaller tin, split the mix into 2 cakes and was lazy and did not line the tin as directed.

In my mind I was thinking that if I used two 6 inch tins I would end up with a lovely tall cake instead of a regular 8 inch flat cake. But at least 2 of those things I did wrong can result in the cake cooking quicker than usual which can mean overly domed (peaked) cakes.

And that is what happened, it was my fault - I know it - no use getting upset over it.

But I didn't want to cut off the tops to level the cakes, it was just too much to lose and it was too big a space to just fill with plain ganache, so I came up with this marshmallow booster cake hack idea.
 

I placed the cake flat side down on my cake stand, put a thin layer of chocolate ganache over the domed top of the cake and then stuck a ring of marshmallows around the edge of the cake. Then I filled in the rest with ganache* and squished them together with the other cake flat side on the top. I chilled the cake for a bit and then covered the sides and top with the remaining ganache using a kitchen knife.

*to make ganache melt 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream (so for example 200g (8oz) chocolate to 100g (4oz) cream) in the microwave at high heat for a minute leave to rest and then whisk until smooth. Heat another minute or 2 if the mixture is not smooth and then whisk again.

I decorated the top with some raspberries but you can do what ever you like.

It was a pretty good save if I do say so myself, the marshmallows are more economical than chocolate and not as heavy and dense, plus to the kids it seemed like I was doing something exciting.

Hope you enjoyed my cake fail. We all did :)

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer unless otherwise stated do not reuse without permission. 

Cookies and Cream Elegant Stacked Oreo Cake

Mr Sweet just had his Birthday and seeings as he likes Oreo's I came up with this kinda elegant Oreo stack cake instead of making an elaborately decorated cake he wouldn't enjoy.

 I have seen those pictures around where you just stack up a few boxes of Oreo cookies and I guess he would have been happy.

But I don't think it would have made me totally happy so this cake is the perfect balance of cake and cookies.

I did do a stack of Oreo's up on top as shown in the pictures but as it turned out Mr Sweet preferred the cake without the extra cookie stack, so I ended up taking them off.

I think it's because he wanted all those extra cookies to eat himself later ;)

I often get asked how the tall cakes slice up and this one cuts quite well. I served each of those tall slices up into 3 pieces (so 1 Oreo each) and there was no falling apart.

You could definitely make this cake into a double or triple tiered cake and it would make a fun and quirky wedding cake. The chocolate cake I have used in quite a sturdy cake, of course you would need to dowel it properly.

Cookies and Cream Elegant Stacked Oreo cake (serves 24 to 33 depending on how you cut the cake)
I find that the Oreo cookies become a little soft if you stick them on the cake too soon. You can make the chocolate cake 3 days before, fill and frost 2 days before serving and then stick the cookies on as soon before serving/displaying as possible.

Ingredients
2 X 15cm (6") chocolate cakes cut horizontally in half (recipe below)
1 batch cookies and cream Italian Meringue Butter cream (recipe below)
plus reserved 1/2 cup plain butter cream
5 boxes X 150g Oreo cookies approx 70 cookies (US 2 boxes) - use some of these to make cookies and cream butter cream.

Spoon around 3/4 cup butter cream onto the top of one chocolate cake layer and smooth with spatula. Pop a second layer on top of the smoothed butter cream making sure the cakes line up and then top with another 3/4 cup butter cream once again smoothing flat with a spatula.

Place cake in fridge to chill for around 10 minutes.

Remove cake from fridge add a third layer of cake and then another 3/4 cup butter cream and smooth flat with spatula.

Add the final layer of cake making sure the cakes are even and aligned and then give the cake a crumb coat of butter cream (a thin rough coat off butter cream).

Chill cake for another 10 to 30 minutes (depending on the weather) until cake is firm. Cover cake with remaining butter cream making sides and top as even as possible. Chill for 15 to 30 minutes until butter cream is firm and then use a tall cake scraper to make the edges an top of cake as even as possible.

When ready to serve use the reserved butter cream to stick the Oreos around the edge of the cake as per picture. I used 33 Oreos in total to surround the cake (11 rows with 3 in each row).

Stack remaining Oreos on top of cake as per picture. If you will be moving the cake you can stick them on with extra butter cream.

Cookies and Cream Italian Meringue Butter cream
Make sure your bowl and mixer are clean to whip egg whites. I use a stand mixer with a pouring shield to make this butter cream, the sugar syrup is very hot, make sure you take appropriate safety precautions when pouring the hot sugar syrup mixture. Not suitable for young children to make.

300g white sugar (12oz)
75g (2 3/4oz) water
5 egg whites
450g (1 pound - 4 sticks) unsalted butter cut into smallish cubes
1 tsp vanilla extract
Around 8 - 10 Oreo cookies (from the 5 boxes required above)

Place sugar and water into saucepan over high heat and bring to boil. Conintue to  heat until the sugar syrup mixture reaches 115 C (240F). Brush down the the sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush as required to stop sugar crystals from forming.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer (make sure the bowl is quite large). When the sugar syrup reaches 110C (210F) start to whip the egg whites at high speed.

Once the sugar syrup reaches 115C (240 F) carefully pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites whilst the mixer is still beating on high.

Continue to beat until the egg and sugar mixture cooled to room temperature (or the bowl feels cool to touch) and then start to add a few cubes of butter at a time. Add the vanilla.

The mixture will probably become quite liquid, but continue to beat until it thickens and all the butter is evenly distributed. May take around 10 minutes.

Place the Oreos in a plastic or ziplock bag and crush using a rolling pin or mallet until the Oreos are broken down into crumbs. I like mine a bit chunky in bits.

Reserve 1/2 cup of butter cream for cake assembly.

Using a spatula gently fold the broken Oreo cookies through the remaining butter cream. Use immediately.

Chocolate Cake

220g (7 3/4oz) unsalted butter
220g (7 3/4oz) dark chocolate
2 Tbsp (US 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp) instant coffee granules
135g (4 3/4oz) hot water
125 g (4 3/8 oz) plain flour (all purpose flour)
125 g (4 3/8 oz)self raising flour
50 g (1 3/4 oz) cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
480 g (1 lb 7/8 oz) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
115g (4oz) light olive oil
100 g (3 1/2oz) plain greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

Grease and flour 2 x 6 inch (15cm) baking tins and line the bottom with parchment (baking) paper.

Preheat oven to 160 C (320 F)

In a large bowl sift together both flours, cocoa, baking powder and sugar.

Place chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat at medium heat (50%) for 2 minutes. Stir and then heat for a further 2 minutes at medium heat. All the chocolate should be melted, if not continue to heat in microwave.

Combine hot water and granulated coffee and mix until dissolved.

Add the eggs, chocolate mixture, vanilla, oil, coffee mixture and yogurt to the dry ingredients and using a whisk mix until just combined.

Divide mixture evenly between the 2 tins and bake for around 1 hour 10 minutes checking with a skewer after 1 hour.

Cool for 10 minutes and then turn out of tin to cool on rack.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Strawberry Layer Cake and Tickle the Imagination issue 15

Get ready to party! I've shared one of my most requested ever recipes in this months issue of Tickle the Imagination magazine.

This Strawberry Layer Cake has been on the menu for my kids parties for years and it's always a been favorite.


Plus I have included a step by step tutorial to make the modern pressed flowers decorating the cake and a recipe for delicious cream cheese frosting.

Tickle the Imagination Issue 15

Oh and in case you can't tell from my lead it it's Tickle the Imagination's PARTY issue, which is always fabulous! Make sure to check out some of the other amazing articles from some of my favorite contributors.

Tickle the Imagination magazine is available to buy online, at some newsagents or you can read it online free. CLICK HERE for links.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Navy stripe and pink rose cake and a delightful afternoon tea party

My lovely friend celebrated her birthday a few days ago with an elegant navy stripe and hot pink themed afternoon tea.

It was a charming afternoon with her friends at a local venue with a traditional 3 tier afternoon tea service and I made a cake to work in with the theme.

Although I would love to say my cake was the highlight of the event, it was overshadowed completely by my friend who during her thank you speech graciously took the time to thank every guest and tell them why they were special in her life.

 
Fresh flowers on a simple white base trimmed with navy grosgrain ribbon and a pearl brooch. The cake was a traditional chocolate mud with chocolate ganache (a mix of 70/30 dark/milk lindt chocolate).

And I must tell you ganaching in Queensland in the middle of summer is less than awesome :)

Anyhoo I popped some baking paper in between the flowers and the cake to protect it just in case there was any type of residue on the flowers. You can see it in the close up below if you squint and look carefully.

The tables were decorated with fresh roses and co-ordinating navy grosgrain ribbon.

Guests received a lovely gift of earrings and a decorated cookie (by me) in a bag hand decorated by the hostess to co-ordinate with the theme.

It was a delightful afternoon.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

Trash Pack Cake Robert's 5th Birthday party

The Destroyer had his 5th birthday party last weekend.

Yup that is the cake sitting in the box that the toy came in

If I have learnt nothing else in my time here, it is to realise one's limitations and not try to make someone else something they are not.

There was no cute dessert buffet with matching candy, I did not buy him a new designer outfit, we did not invite everyone we knew and we did not have it at our home.

Note I used Americolor Electric colours mixed with Wilton regular gel colours.

The silver is Edible Silver Spray over grey fondant.

We went to the the local play center where I picked the minimum basic party package and I made an interactive Trash Pack Scum Drum Garbage Game cake with mini fondant Trashies that he flicked at the cake using launch platforms (which were not edible) from the real game he had been given.

CLICK on the picture above to check out Robert 

playing with his interactive cake on a short you tube video. 

It's just like a home video on my phone :)

It was so different from my eldest girls 5th birthday party with scores of perfectly pretty princess fairies at a pink tea party.

Yes the little trash packs are hand made from fondant

But it was the best party ever for my little Destroyer, it suited him perfectly and I couldn't love him any more.

I haven't done up an actual tutorial at this stage for the cake just some vague pictures of the process. I made the cake in one morning instead of spread over a couple of days as I had initially anticipated due to a number of incidents including The Destroyer staying home unexpectedly on his birthday because a python was loose in his kindi. So sorry I didn't get a chance for as many pictures as normal.

Don't worry y'all I lined the box with silver cake paper before I popped the cake inside.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

This post was not sponsored

Sophie's 7th Birthday Unicorn Party - I believe in magic

Sophie's 7th birthday party was 'I believe in magic' inspired by magic, wishes, dreams and beautiful imaginations.

We had a fabulous entertainer and magician, a pony dressed as a unicorn, pretty fairyland decorated backyard and a dessert table with a wall mounted cake. Yup we kinda went big, you only turn 7 once :)

Dessert Table and party food

The party was on a weekday after school so I didn't go overboard on the dessert table. Ok maybe I should reword that 'cause y'know wall mounted cake.

What I should say is there were only a few things on the table and errr.. wall. I knew with all the activities there would only be a short window for eating so I didn't overload the table like I usually do.

There was a herd of unicorn cookies at the front of the table (Click here for DIY Unicorn Cookie Instructions). I popped them upright on some tiny glasses which wasn't the best solution on slippery sequins- in future I would probably make a cookie base and turn them into standing cookies. Alternately you could lay them down on plates :)

In the center under the cake were a couple of glass jars filled with pink and white marshmallows and pink raspberry Macarons (Click here for macaron recipe);

The actual birthday cake was a unicorn head that was wall mounted (I know I keep saying wall mounted, but I've never got to say it before and come on - it's kinda super cool). Um does that seem weird and slightly creepy. I've been seeing a lot of cute wall mounted animals for home decorating and it seemed kinda fabulous. That was until we were going to cut into it in front of the real live pony that it looked like. Anyhoo it was a great feat in cake construction and I'm in the process of doing up a you tube video on how I made it.

Sweet pink drinks that were decorated with pretty lace and 'wish' charms. Click here for a delicious Pink Lemonade recipe with no food colour). I do love these little bottles but seriously they are kinda small for 7 year olds. Make sure you have backup drinks on hand.

There were also cheese and fruit platters, lollies, fruit pop up drinks and chocolate and raspberry macarons for snacks and adults.

Party Entertainment

I'm not sure where she gets the energy but Super Steph manages to keeps the hoards of kids completely enthralled with her fabulous show. She is go, go, go which is great as all the parents can sit back have a rest and enjoy watching the kids delighted faces.

One of the mums remarked she had seen Super Steph 3 times in a year and each time her show was new and different. Steph is fun, vibrant and glowingly sparkly with just enough cheeky mixed in to keep the adults entertained as well, kinda like a Pixar movie ;)

We had a magic show that incorporated the new puppet show (which was kinda a ventriloquist for kids), a disco and a fun balloon hat making workshop.

If your looking for a Brisbane kids party entertainer I could honestly recommend Super Steph very highly.

hehe this picture reminds me of Jane and Lizzy from Pride and Prejudice for some reason, 

probably the formal looks and the fact we all just watched the BBC version together, 

except probably the personalities/ hair colours are swapped

Unicorn Rides

Unicorn rides, what else do you have at an 'I Believe in Magic' Party. Dragons are far too dangerous.

Our beautiful pony Misty was from Brisbane Pony Rides.

Backyard Decorations

These pictures don't really capture the feeling evoked by the decorations 

it felt pretty magical :)

My backyard is a bit tired and I was so lucky to have Carol from Creatively Bespoke Weddings come and decorate it. She (with the assistance of Daneve from Ah-Tissue) managed to transform it into a magical fairyland by covering the metal pegola poles with swarths of fabric and flowers, even adding an entrance surrounded by flowers and dripping with crystals and butterflies and generally glamming up everything.

Oh my goodness the large silk flowers she brought along were so amazingly pretty, I was a bit sad to pack everything up and see it all go.


Table Styling

The table had a pink tiered tablecloth (once again from Creatively Bespoke Weddings) topped with a fabulous gold sequin layer. The backdrop was pretty much the wall mounted cake which had an Ikea frame spray painted gold surrounding it. Not much extra was needed, but we did add a few wall mounted pink pom poms from Ah-Tissue with some pearls hanging down and some flowers in the center.
 

The light pink risers on the table that the flowers are sitting on were from Lilli's recent birthday party on a budget (CLICK HERE).

 
Our local florist has closed down so the flowers are actually a few bunches from the supermarket that I rearranged myself.

Loot Bags

We had a selection of lollies and candy in the party favour bags. The pretty pink stripe bags were provided by Creatively Bespoke Weddings and they were decorated with a pretty pom by Ah-Tissue. My favourite candy in the bag was the sour grape liquorice from Sweet and Sour I actually don't normally eat stuff like this but I am in love with quite a few of the flavours and may be a tad addicted.

Party Vendor details


Cake, cookies, macarons and party table - Linda Vandermeer (Bubble and Sweet)
Magic Show, Disco and Balloon Hat Workshop - Super Steph
Decorations provided by Creatively Bespoke Weddings
Paper Pom poms - Australian Hand Made by Ah Tissue
Photography - Terri Vandermeer
Cake stand construction Andrew McCubbin
Pony dressed as unicorn - Brisbane Pony Parties
Sophie's outfit (previous seasons)
           top - Stevie and Me
           skirt - Heavenly Creatures
 Lilli's outfit (previous seasons)
           top - Forever New
           skirt - Tea Princess

 Party loot bags - Paper Eskimo
Pink tiered tablecloth - Creatively Bespoke Weddings
Gold sequin material for tablecloth - Spotlight
Pink stripe Party Loot Bags - Paper Eskimo

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

Disclosure: Super Steph provided this party free of charge in exchange for the ability to record and take photo's of her new puppet show, balloon hat workshop and disco. However the opinions stated in this post are my own and if fact I have previously engaged and paid Super Steph to provide entertainment for my children's party.