Cat in the Hat Swirled Bundt Cake - Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Hey there everyone! It's that time of year again to celebrate all that is Dr. Seuss! Not that we don't celebrate him all year round but his birthday is March 2nd and all across schools they tip their "hat" to him and celebrate reading and all that is Dr. Seuss.  You can see more here on Read Across America Day and also for tools and tips for schools in your area. 

And what better way to also express our love for his time enduring books than with a super fun and swirled Cat in the Hat cake? 

I love Dr. Seuss and all the books he wrote over his time. There are so many to choose from but The Cat in the Hat has to be our favorite.

There's just something about the fun blue, red, white and black colors of the book that make me smile every time we re-read the book.  Although I must admit that my kids (the twins are almost 9 and my oldest is 11 going on 35) have said Dr. Seuss books are starting to be too "babyish" for them.  Insert me crying profusely inside.  Stop growing up so fast dammit!

That said, they loved this cake - and they are hard to please with treats these days.  

I also recently got a new bundt pan, one that is full of whimsy and swirls! I knew it would be the perfect pan for a Dr. Seuss inspired cake.  This cake is very easy too since it starts with a box mix. Then the batter is tinted with blue, red, and black to match the Cat in the Hat colors.

I also added some homemade sprinkles to resemble the Cat's iconic hat. They were easy to make and added more fun to the cake.

Although the cake looks great, I was a little disappointed that the blue color on the outside wasn't as bright.  That's just me not taking the cake out early enough and it browned slightly.  But the inside was exactly what I wanted - fun swirls of aqua blue, red, black and white!

So bake up a swirly Cat in the Hat cake for your fav fans.  

Do you love all that is Dr. Seuss? How do you celebrate this time of year??

How to Make Dr. Seuss Swirled Bundt Cake

Makes 1 bundt cake (8-10 slices)

Total time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 box of white cake mix
• red, light blue, black food colorant
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of white candy melts (wafers) for icing on top of bundt cake
• For Cat in the Hat sprinkles: 1/2 cup each of red and white candy melts (wafers) and black food writer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray bundt pan well with non-stick flour spray.
3. Prepare cake mix as per box directions.
4. Separate batter into 4 bowls. Leave one bowl plain. Tint a bowl with blue and red color. Add cocoa powder to 1 bowl. Mix well and add 5 drops of black food color or until deep black is achieved.
5. Add mixtures separately to 4 freezer bags. Snip an end of each bag and pipe the batter into bundt pan. Alternate colors until all batter is used.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Let cool.
7. Turn out cake onto plate.
8. To make Cat in the Hat sprinkles: Add white and red candy wafers separately to 2 freezer bags. Microwave each bag in 20 second intervals until just melted. Snip a small corner end of each bag and pipe small lines of each color to make hat on parchment paper. Alternate colors ending with white brim. Let candy harden for 10 minutes. Peel from parchment and on smooth side add small black line with food writer.
9. Pipe some of the melted white candy melt onto top of bundt cake following the lines. While candy is still melted add hat sprinkles.

Marvel's Deadpool No Bake Cookies

Are you ready for the next Marvel X-Men movie installment?! Deadpool - the story of "anti-hero" Wade Wilson opens this month on February 12th and I can't wait to see it.  

At least the trailer looks pretty cool:

I love Deadpool because not only can he heal himself - but is known as the "merc with a mouth" and has a "twisted sense of humor" - cue the jokes and shenanigans.  He's also not pretty.  Well Ryan Reynolds plays him so that could be a stretch, but he is supposed to be disfigured, hence the mask.

lolz!

He also knows he's a comic book character and often talks to the reader (or in the movie he probably talks directly to the camera) - in the geek world this is called breaking the "fourth wall".  Love it.  

Well as usual my way of welcoming some of my fav pop culture icons, I make treats.  

In this case Deadpool Cookies.  

They are really very easy and no bake so you can make them in no time flat.  I'm sure Deadpool would have some snarky comment about them.  Bring 'it Deadpool, bring it!

Pop over and see more here at sheknows.

Gingerbread Heart Cookies with Rainbow Candy Curls

I know I just posted gingerbread cookies for Valentines day last week but I had to share another cookie idea with you all too.

This one also starts with gingerbread cut out cookies. Heart shaped 1) because Valentines Day is this weekend and 2) my kids love gingerbread all year round.  Also I saw these cupcakes topped with rainbow white chocolate curls  awhile back and its been on my to do list forever.  I thought candy curls would be perfect on these cookies.

Start with blocks of colorful candy.  Instead of tinting white chocolate chips, I used candy wafers/melts in various colors.  Melt the wafers in the microwave and then add to a silicon ice cube tray.  I have a tray for big square cubes that worked great for the candy blocks.

Once the candy is hardened again, pop them out of the mold and use a vegetable peeler to make the curls.  Keep peeling until the block is gone.  It takes some time but worth it and I have plenty left for other projects.

Make them in all the colors! Curling the candy was strangely therapeutic for me.  Aren't the rainbow colors so pretty?!

I decided to add the candy curls to cookies.

Add some royal icing and before it dries just sprinkle some of the curls on top. Mix and match as you like - there is really no way to mess this up.

If you follow my Instagram you know I'm a bit obsessed with these candy curls!

I love the fun and whimsical look they give the cookies.   You can use a couple of colors like purple and pink.

Or you can go full on rainbow too!

Super fun and really easy.  I can't wait to make more treats with these rainbow vanilla candy curls. I'll apologize ahead of time for using them in lots of upcoming posts!  

Oh and happy almost Valentines Day! We are headed out to Park City, Utah this weekend so will be spending Valentines Day with some of our oldest friends AND getting the kiddos up on skis/snowboards in Utah snow.  Boarding on powder is way different than on the ice and blown snow here on the East Coast!  Enjoy the cookies and thanks for stopping by!

Oh also sharing some fun printables here - there are labels for Valentines day as well as other holiday labels and stickers too.  Bonus they are all free!

How to Make Valentines Day Gingerbread Cookies with Candy Curls (makes about 2 dozen)

• 1 roll of refrigerated gingerbread cookie dough or boxed mix (follow directions on mix)
• 2 cups of royal icing 
• 1 cup of various colors of candy melts/wafers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Roll out dough and cut out circle shapes.  Use heart cutter to cut out shapes.
3. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until just slightly browned
4. Ice cookies with royal icing
5. While icing is still wet, sprinkle the vanilla candy curls. 
6. Let icing harden.
7. Enjoy!

To make candy curls:

1. Melt 1 cup of candy wafers/melts in microwave safe bowl in 20 second intervals in the microwave until all candy is melted.  Stir in between intervals.
2. Add candy to silicone ice cube tray.  Tap to remove air bubbles.
3. Repeat with each color that you want to make curls.
4. Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until entire block is hardened.
5. Use the peeler and peel long sections (allowing candy to curl as you go). This gets easier as you do more curls.  
6. Repeat until the block is all curled.

Valentines Day Iced Gingerbread Cookies with dried fruits

Hey there! Valentines Day is just around the corner so I thought I'd share some fun cookies.  They are gingerbread too.  I know gingerbread is usually saved for the holiday season, but why? 

My kiddos all love gingerbread so I make them cookies throughout the year in this flavor.  

These cookies are extra special because they have heart cut outs and are topped with a variety of toppings.  I love all the flavors of freeze dried fruits available and they are simple to sprinkle on top of still wet royal icing.  

The freeze dried fruits crush really easily and give an nice concentrated fruit flavor (and awesome color too!).  

I also added some other fun stuff I had in the cupboard like dried blueberries, candied ginger, goji berries, lavender, and pistachios.The taste was great with all the flavors and the gingerbread together.

I'll admit the kids went for the plain iced gingerbread cookies of course, but they did make super pretty gifts for the past holiday season (and for cookies for Santa!).

What are you making for Valentines Day? Do you go for a special savory dish or something sweet or BOTH? (I'm the later!).  Thanks for swinging by, have a great weekend!

How to Make Valentines Day Gingerbread Cookies (makes 2 dozen)

• 1 roll of refrigerated gingerbread cookie dough or boxed mix (follow directions on mix)
• 2 cups of royal icing 
• 1/2 cup of dried or freeze dried fruit (such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, pineapple, pumpkin, goji berries)
• 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
• 2 Tablespoons dried lavender (food grade)
• 1/2 cup chopped pistachios (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Roll out dough and cut out circle shapes.  Use smaller heart cutter to cut out shapes in the center of each cookie.
3. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or until just slightly browned
4. Ice cookies with royal icing
5. While icing is still wet, sprinkle with crushed freeze dried fruits and other toppings.  
6. Let cookies set until icing is dried to the touch.  
7. Enjoy!