Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

I have started a new tradition where once a year I host a tea party. I love doing this and all the details it involves.

The theme this year was Alice in Wonderland. We did my daughter's birthday in this theme and it was so much fun that I wanted the same party for me. Below are a few photos from that day.

The mini cupcakes on the cake stand are lemon poppy seed, they are so yummy.  You can find the recipe here and the cake stand is from Rosanna Inc.

I made some meringue mushrooms, the recipe I found on Sweet Treats blog and I am quite happy how they turned out. Below that are 'Sue Bars', it's a recipe my mom used to make so it brings back fond memories.

Some tea cup sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle). I tried a new sugar cookie recipe and these are by far the best that I have found so far.  You don't need to refrigerate the dough, you just roll it out and bake. And the best part is, besides tasting really good, is that the cookie doesn't spread.  The shape you make is the shape you get.  

A tea party is not complete without some pretty macarons. These have a chocolate ganache icing in them, so yummy.

Many of my parties include homemade marshmallows, these ones are blackberry flavoured.

A few Alice in Wonderland figures to help create that bit of whimsy. And some peppermint naniamo bars, these are super yummy. The recipe is from Butter Celebrates, here is a copy of the recipe I found printed in our local paper.

Chocolate dipped Macaroons, cranberry pistachio cookies and more mushroom meringues, oh so good.

Alice in Wonderland Birthday Celebration

We did an Alice in Wonderland inspired birthday celebration, it was such a fun party to plan. I made a scroll birthday invitation that we rolled up and tied with a ribbon and a tag for the name.

I had decided to buy some artificial turf from my local hardware store for a table runner, it was such a fun detail.

Some fun table details.  Every girl had their own pretty tea cup to drink out of.

A mini tea set, a terrarium with a little deer and the Mad Hatter, so fun.

The Cheshire Cat had to be on the table too. These figures are from Disney that I happened to stumble across.

I made bubble gum flavoured marshmallows, they were super yummy. Below the marshmallows are a childhood treat I had, called Sue Bars, and a lemon cake in the background.

Some tea cup sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing (recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle). I used an edible maker to write on some the cookies, so fun. I made my icing a bit too runny, so some of the cookies didn't quite turn out as I had envisioned but they were still tasty nonetheless.

I made cake pops and had left over candy melts, so I grabbed a box of Oreo cookies and dipped them in there and then into the sprinkles. These were a hit, I don't think I had a single one left over.

From left to right at macaroons, mushroom shaped meringues and chocolate cupcakes. The meringue recipe I found on Sweet Treats blog and I am quite happy how they turned out. They were a little delicate so I broke a few of them but they were also a hit. The chocolate cupcake recipe was from Butter Baked Goods and inside was a surprise, a bit of Nutella and then topped with cream cheese icing.

The girls all got to decorate a foam glitter crown that is worn as a hair band. We used buttons, feathers, glittery pom poms and gems to decorate these adorable little crowns.

And finally the cake. I made a white cake from Butter Baked Goods. I used cream cheese icing from Martha Stewart and used just pink and cream, simple but pretty.

A Tea Party

I recently hosted a tea party for some of my friends. It had been a few years since I had done something like this and I thought it was time to do it again. It was so much fun preparing the everything that I think I'm going to do this every year.

My theme was Paris in Spring. I made marshmallows, macarons, meringues, cake pops, cookies, cheese cake, just to name a few things. Below are a few photos of the food, I had forgotten to take photos before everyone arrived.

Winter Woodland Birthday Party

It was my daughter's 5th birthday and we decided to have a winter woodland themed party where Elsa would make a special appearance. You can see more more photos of Elsa at the party here.

It seems that no birthday is complete in my house without cake pops. I use my all time favourite recipe for these, lemon poppy seed sour cream cake. Maybe one day I will use a different receipe…maybe.  I then used the Wilton candy melts (do no overheat, it makes for a challenge to coat the cake pops).

One of the latest things that I just love to make are marshmallows.  I used Butter's famous marshmallow recipe and made 2 batches, vanilla and blackberry flavoured. I also decide to make rock candy which reminds me of ice, perfect for a winter themed party.

Lots of cupcakes, cookies and fruit covered the table.

Some snowflake sugar cookies (recipe from Butter Baked Goods) but as yummy as they were, I found the dough to be a bit crumbly to work with.  Some royal icing with crystal sugar and you have some lovely snowflakes.

Then I had to make some chocolate cupcakes with a hollowed out center which was then filled with Nutella and covered with icing…they were delicious. (recipe from Butter Baked Goods)

For decorations I painted twigs white, paper roses which I had all over the place.  Acorns, branch coasters and paper punched snowflakes worked nicely with the winter woodland theme.

Every little girl left with a pretty princess cup and some ribbon elastic hair ties. 

As an activity for the kids I try to do a craft.  I found these adorable castle like birdhouses which each of the girls got to decorate. They turned out so cute. 

And finally the birthday cake. I did not put Elsa on top of the cake, I really didn't feel that it went with everything else. My daughter has been collecting these little Mooska dolls and thought it was perfect. A few model train trees, blackberries and lots of icing we had a great cake.  This cake was a white layered cake with homemade strawberry jam and icing between the layers. I used the white cake recipe from Butter Baked Goods, it was so good. 

Paper Airplane Birthday

It was my son's 3rd birthday party and he loves airplanes, so it was fitting that we would have a paper airplane party.  I made a paper airplane birthday invitation from a template and then modified to to meet my needs. Our little guests loved receiving these airplanes, so much fun.

It seems that no birthday is complete in my house without cake pops. I use my all time favourite recipe for these, lemon poppy seed sour cream cake. Maybe one day I will use a different receipe…maybe.  I then used the Wilton candy melts (do no overheat, it makes for a challenge to coat the cake pops).

I got the Butter Baked Goods recipe book for mother's day this year, it has so many wonderful recipes in it and is beautifully photographed (photographer's blog found here) as well. I decided to make the Nutella chocolate cupcakes and they were yummy. The cake was more like a brownie to me and then filled with a little bit of Nutella, what a great combination. I topped the mini cupcakes off with cream cheese icing and a few blue sugar.

And how could I not serve marshmallows at the party? I made vanilla and blackberry ones, they were a great hit. This recipe can be found in Butter Baked Goods recipe book as well. You can also find it here.

Some airplane sugar cookies (recipe found here) decorated with royal icing. I tried a flooding technique this time around.  I was pretty happy with it minus the poor piping job…better luck next time….I hope.

The table with covered with little paper airplanes that I printed out and then used a circle punch. It was so simple but I thought looked great on the table.

And finally, the cake. I know I said before that making cakes was not my thing but after reading the Butter Baked Goods, I thought I would give it a try again I was inspired.  The cake was great, I made the vanilla cake recipe. Then I discovered the 1M piping tip, it made my life so much easier when it came to icing the cake and cupcakes. A few chocolate sprinkles, some Oreo cookie crumbs (under the airplane), paper bunting, a toy airplane and we are done. 

the marshmallow making continues

I've been really enjoying making marshmallows and I have made more batches than I really care to admit. Thank goodness for friends who are willing to eat them.  I made a batch of lemon marshmallows with real lemon juice, they are super yummy but I found that they did get sticky feeling after a day or two.  

Also as a side note, when the recipe calls for a 9x9 pan, you really should use a 9x9 pan. I tried putting the batch into an 8x8 with this recipe and the marshmallows turned out huge, so had to cut them into thin slices instead.  The advantage to having thinner marshmallows is that they are the perfect smokes thickness for pure melted gooey marshmallows.

a sweet fluffy marshmallow treat

I recently made marshmallows for the first time and I think I found a new favourite thing to make. The kids love them but then what kid doesn't and even the adults quite them as well. This is definitely going to be at the next birthday party.