some boozy desserts for cinco de mayo....!

....some desserty-serts for the grown-ups around here to celebrate the festive 5th of may!....is it terrible that i don't even really know the history of cinco de mayo?...aside from going to get some great mexican food and beers...? ok according to the all knowing wikipedia....cinco de mayo is a mexican civic holiday commemorating mexico's victory over the french on may 5th, 1862 during the battle of puebla...oh and apparently only really celebrated here in the US as an excuse to get some great mexican food and beers....great back on target then....!

.....first some margarita cupcakes....used a boxed vanilla cake mix but also added a box of this stuff.....

...i just added the jello powder to the dry mix and added an extra egg more than what the box calls for....and to give it a little something something....also injected them with some real margarita (prob about 4 mL) .....not because i wanted to drink a margarita at 1 pm on a saturday or anything....(ps those kiddo medicine syringes come in handy, right?)

....the icing is lime buttercream....my fav vanilla buttercream but with the juice of 2 limes added in place of some of the milk, and the zest of one of the limes mixed in at the very end.....this stuff would make an awesome icing shot...!

....i used a "lime wedge" made from candy melts because i didn't want the tops getting soggy or wet from a real lime wedge.....i've gone over how to make candy melt toppers a gagillion times....but you can find the basics here....

.....and because margarita cupcakes were just not enough also made some.......

....i wanted to make them with some dos equis in the spirit of cinco de mayo, but didn't have a chance to pick any up....so it's made with a birra moretti.........i couldn't really find any beer jello or gelatin recipes (go figure) so i had to wing it.....with:

beer jello

1 cup of beer

2 packets of knox gelatin

1 cup of water

6 packets of splenda (or you can use 1/2 cup of sugar)

icing or cool whip topping

lime garnish

....add the gelatin to cold beer and let sit to thicken....heat 1 cup of water to a boil then remove from heat.....add gelatin/beer mix to hot water and mix with a whisk.....add splenda and mix again.....pour into your cups and refrigerate (i let it sit over night).....once solid....top with frosting or cool whip topping (i used the lime buttercream from the cupcakes above) and garnish with a lime slice....very simple!

...the cupcakes may have been the best cupcakes i've made to date....the lime/margarita cupcake with the lime buttercream was so very awesome and the injected margarita was not too much and didn't make the cake too soggy either....

...the beer jello tasted like beer jello!....but not overpowering for jello or anything....not my favorite dessert but definitely not terrible either....the 41 year old kid tasted it and said it was ok...but he'd rather just drink a beer vs eat some beer jello...i can't argue with that...!....but it was fun to experiment and it was so simple and took no time at all really.....

...anyway hope everyone has a great cinco de mayo tomorrow---can't wait to get some great mexican food and some real beers...!

tidymom

simple bunny and lego mini cupcakes....!

...so my boy/girl twins turned 4 this past wednesday!....woohoo!!!...they are offically big kids...and life is finally getting a little simpler....no more strollers, huge diaper bags, pack n plays...the gear situation is much more manageable and we can get up and out of the house in record time these days (well most days anyway)....and for their preschool party they both requested cupcakes...and the only specific request was for chocolate....and one wanted blue frosting and the other wanted purple.....yay! an easy request....especially since it was mid-week....i'll take super easy, thanks kiddos....

...the bunnies were made from an ice cube tray mold that i found at a five below for like a buck...melt some candy melts/wafers in the microwave, fill with whatever color you like then put the tray into the freezer for about 10 minutes.....pop out bunnies and use either more melted candy or food writers to add the face details....(btw-i made these a few weeks ago for easter but then forgot about them because outta site outta mind....)....so these were relatively easy since i had them made already...

...and you get a bunch of these....chocolate mini cupcakes (made from a doctored box mix--add an extra egg and i cup of milk with a generous squirt of chocolate syrup for the liquid) with bunny toppers.....

....and the lego cupcakes were a piece of cake.....just topped with some of these.....which i found at a candy shop in my town......but you can order them here or just google "lego candy" and you can find a few places that sell them...

....to get a bunch of these.....the frosting is just my fav vanilla buttercream tinted with food gels....

.....since mini cupcakes are just too small for the awesome teachers at their preschool....and it's teacher appreciation week this upcoming week.....they all got regular sized cuppies with the same cake and frosting......

.....hard to believe my babies are all grows up (to quote swingers!)....but 4 is a pretty cool age...the baby phase is great for what it is...but i love this age so much more and how their personalities really come though....my little people....

....have a great weekend everyone....beautiful weather predicted for the nj area....and thanks a bunch for stopping by....!

planet whoopie pies....!

...so the request i got from the biggest kid in the house for his birthday last week was for whoopie pies but "something to do with space" (and by biggest kid i mean the 41 year old)....there are no simple requests anymore...like how about just a plain chocolate cake with some sprinkles...? nope...i get space themed whoopie pies.....so i pretty much got assigned a science project this week!

....started with a vanilla whoopie pie recipe.....or as my kiddos call them "whommpie pies"......i think i prefer to call them that from now on.....

....went with vanilla so i could tint them colors.....once the batter was mixed up...separate into bowls and tint "planet colors"---yeah i did google search "what are the colors of the planets".....but i figured the cartoon color representations are much better than the real things for this (so i know the colors are not really exact, but whatev they are whoopie pies!)...you don't even need to totally mix them well either and you get some streaky planet like marbling going on....

....plop some of each color and make circles (2 for each planet and the sun of course)...started with the sun, then did planet sizes in scale to that (well tried to anyway)....for some i swirled a couple colors with a toothpick after plopping onto the baking sheet...

....then bake @350 for about 10 minutes but keep an eye on them and take them out as soon as a toothpick comes out clean......

....filled with this from the marshmallow fluff site....and added a couple rings for saturn and uranus (made from candy melts)....my 6 year old had to tell me uranus had rings---he's getting way too smart too fast....and you get....planet whommpie pies!

...oh since earth day was on friday april 22nd...these may fit in as well!...

....and since chocolate whoopie pies are the big kids fav....made a plate of them too.....

...i sure hope you get simpler requests than me.....oh yeah my 6 year old also told me today he wants a standing jango fett (dude from star wars) cake for his 7th birthday this summer.....i am going to try again to talk him into a pencil shaped cake....it didn't work last year but it can't hurt to try.....next up the twins turn 4.....2 separate cakes for a party in may.....i think i'm in trouble from here on out....!

...thanks for all the great comments on the "trooper" peep pops, they were very fun!....and have an awesome week :)

ps i really wanted to do pluto too but ran out of room....poor pluto....that's like sitting behind home plate at yankee stadium for all the past seasons then all of a sudden you are a bleacher creature...bogus.

a bunch of marshmallow peep pops and bonus "peep" troopers...!

....so as i've been doing my "research" for some awesome spring and easter ideas....it's painfully clear that people either love marshmallow peeps or they absolutely despise them....

...i am clearly on the "love 'em" end of the spectrum....in fact i actually love them stale....open a package and leave them open for a couple weeks on the counter....Awe.Some.Ness....ok, don't knock it til you've tried it....in fact i bet you'll never eat fresh peeps again...but i digress...

....peep pops have been all over the blogging world lately.....and they were too easy not to try....melted candy wafers, sprinkles, and some peeps on a stick...what's not to love?....you can make a bunch in no time at all....

....nuke some vanilla candy melts in a bowl (deep enough for dipping)...pop a peep on a stick (i prefer the bunnies over chicks for some reason....not sure why...i just do)...dip, tap off excess, and lay on parchment or wax paper...

...immediately top with your favorite sprinkles (btw-an excellent way to use all the different sprinkles and decorations you always collect and never use!).....and let harden....give them about 10-15 minutes....

...in fact they were so easy that i also made them in chocolate.....

....and for the star wars fanatics in our house (i'm sure there are a couple of you out there as well)...."peep" troopers!...yep peep trooper pops...!

...these are not the peeps you are looking for.....(bonus points if you can name all the troopers representin' here...)

....and just for fun...."peep" trooper cupcakes...! make these cupcakes, you will, yessss....

...oh and if you are not a star wars fan....i'm very sorry, the last few parts of this post probably make no sense whatsoever (in fact you are probably thinking--"i must un-follow this blog immediately--crazy chic does terrible things to marshmallow peeps!")....but if you are a star wars fan...virtual high-5!

....anyway hope you are enjoying spring and all the awesome treat's its inspiring....as fyi, peeps also makes chocolate covered chicks and peep peepsters (bite sized chocolate covered marshmallows) now....but really these are so super simple and pretty much everyone but those peep haters will enjoy them...!