Sweet Sugar Treats Anyone Can Make For Spring!

Earlier this week I shared a sugar-free Easter idea with my Plush Chocolate Bunny, but today is all about using the sweet stuff since I am a total candy addict.  The great thing about these little goodies is they are easy to make, keep for ages and have lots of uses.  

Now let's sugar it up!!

First up are royal icing spring flowers.  They look so lovely & it's easy to make a lot really quickly.  I've piped royal icing on panoramic eggs in Easter's past, but this time I made some little florets. My fab sponsor Wholeport let me try out this cool set of icing tips to make them.  I loved how many different specialty tips were included and that they came with their own case.  No more sifting through baggies trying to find the right one like I used to do!  

A few are extra wide, so I'll need to get a bigger coupler, but several fit the ones I already had and I love the results.  Even though I'm a total no-skill novice, I was able to make some shapes like a decorating boss:

It was really easy too - using an electric mixer, blend 2 cups confectioner's sugar with 3 tbls water and 1 1/2 tbls meringue powder.  Add a drop or two of gel food coloring and you're good to go.  I spooned the icing into a pastry bag (aka ziploc freezer bag with corner cut out) and just held the pastry bag straight down right on top of my waxed paper-covered cookie sheet and squeezed until a nice shape appeared on the paper.  

Then I pulled it up fast and was left with a lovely star, or floret, depending on the tip:

Adding some edible pearls to the centers gave a more polished flower:

Playing around with size and speed of pulling up the bag and gave some different looks too:

I let mine air dry for 24 hours and then they were nice and hard to eat as little treats for Easter or to save for decorating cupcakes & cakes down the road.  2 cups of icing makes LOADS, so I've got a nice shaped icing stash now:)

Next up are sugar shapes.  These look lovely on baked goods, served with tea or just a special treat.

To make them just mix 2 tablespoons of water into 1 cup of granulated sugar and stir until it feels like wet sand:

Turn it out onto a flat surface and then press down with a bowl or cup bottom to form a "piece".

I used my trusty spring fondant cutter set from last year to make the shapes and then slide a pastry cutter underneath so it would be easy to transfer them to a parchment covered cookie sheet without falling apart:

I laid them out on the cookie sheet and baked in the oven on 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.  

I let them cool and then they were nice & hard and ready to decorate with royal icing:

I used some giant candy buttons as the centers on my flowers (using the royal icing as the glue):

And for splitting up a big package of store bought Easter cookies, I made some cute single serving versions with these little treats bags.  I got these from Wholeport too - I love the little message they have on them "Because I want to see your face with a smile".  Just so cute!

And the backs are cute too, since there are matching stickers to seal them up.  This makes sharing Easter treats easier.

Now we're nice & sweet for Easter and the newly arrived spring!

I'm also sharing this project with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.

Click HERE to check them out!

I was not financially compensated for this post and received some of the tools shown to review.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  I am an affiliate of Wholeport.com.  For my complete disclosure policy, click here. 

Sew Can Do's YUM Food & Fun Magazine Debut

Today I'm proud to share that I'm in the latest issue of YUM Food & Fun Magazine!!

This quarterly magazine is full of fun, food-related projects & products, recipes and party ideas that are fabulous for kids.  They pack an enormous amount of great content in each issue, so it's a goldmine of goodies for us crafty types.  I'm a contributor to the "Cool Ideas" of the new Spring 2013 issue, currently on newsstands.  

I was asked to share my popular sculptable frosting and some all new spring-themed designs using it:

I also show how to make my "peeptastic" spring chick, plus some handy tips & tricks for making sculpted frosting look awesome.  

It's a really fantastic magazine for anyone who loves food, crafts & kids.  Loads of meal ideas, recipes, things kids can do & more.  I'd say it was awesome even if I wasn't in it! These are just some of the other great things you can find inside:

And they've got lots of good stuff on their website too.  I'm very honored to be part of this issue:)

 

You can find YUM Food & Fun at select Barnes and Noble, Target, Wal-Mart stores and on newsstands.  You can also subscribe to it here.  I hope you'll go check it out!

Little Love Cakes: Baking It Cute With Minimal Baking Skills

Pretty, tasty-looking treats are so fun to oogle.  To make?  Well...that depends.  Not all of us are blessed with the skills - or the time and budget to get the fancy details perfect.  But that shouldn't stop us.  I feel like I'm very hit or miss with my decorating skills, but I've figured out a few sure-fire ways to get good enough results to be able to "bake it cute".

Use fun molds.  Shaped cake molds & pans give a cute base to work from with minimal effort.  There are a lot of choices out there too.  To make my sweetheart cottage cakes, I used this mini-house silicone mold (from Wholeport) with basic cake mix:

I just made sure the molds were really greased up and added some extra time to the baking.  The molded details are easier to just trace than trying to free hand designs.

Or if the details don't turn out or the mold is simpler, just go the outline route to define the shape more:

Simple Decorating Gear. There are lots of fancy tools and decorations out there, but for those of us short on time & $$ you can still do big style with a small amount of stuff.  For my Love Cakes I used canned frosting, a Valentine's themed sprinkle set from the grocery store and some cheap, striped cupcake liners from Ikea at Christmastime (remember those from my holiday soap gift sets?).

Think Cheap.  I also go basic with my pastry bags: zip top quart size freezer bags.  Just snipping off the corner and then sticking in the tip assembly is easy & cheap, scoop in some spoonfuls of frosting and you're good to go.  When done, just remove the tips and toss the bag.  Especially handy when short on clean-up time.



Get A Great Tip.  I've found the small round and star shaped tips to be pretty versatile and easy to use, even when you've got no decorating training (ahem me).  Going a little wavy with a star gives nice scalloped shapes like this roof top:



Swirling the same tip on a cupcake and adding some sprinkles/nonpareils looks really nice too.  It's pretty hard to goof-up, so even when you've got kids underfoot or just have a couple of minutes, they'll turn out right.

When In Doubt, Candy It Out.  I'm not so hot at doing tiny details with a pastry bag, so I just do the basics in frosting and then add some colorful candy or shaped sprinkles.  Using them as accents on the roofs and sides of the houses gave them a nice Valentine's feel without worrying I was going to wreck anything at the end.  It must have worked, because I had 3 kids and a husband  leaning over my shoulder waiting to eat these as soon as the pics were taken.  

Do you have any tips, tricks or ways you decorate goodies?  

Share them in the comments!

I'm also sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.

Click HERE to check them out!

Sculptable Frosting! A Fun & Sweet Treat How-To

How about a fun treat tutorial that is as tasty as it is easy.  That's right - no matter what your sweets crafting skill level, you can make this delicious and fun creation: Sculptable Frosting! 

With this frosting you can cut and sculpt all sorts of fun shapes and designs, like those made with modeling chocolate or fondant, but with all the flavor and a softer texture of a buttercream frosting. If given a few hours to firm up, sculpted shapes will hold up well and can be stored a few days at room temperature in an airtight container.  Yummy right?  Here's how to make some:

You'll Need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon real vanilla extract

3-4 cups confectioner's sugar

Food coloring gels (I use Americolor)

NOTE: I've gotten a lot of questions about substituting the specified ingredients with other things.  Substituting ingredients will definitely change a frosting or candy's specific texture/behavior so I wouldn't recommend it. You could try experimenting with other things, but they probably won't give the same excellent results.  

Sculpting Tools - small rolling pin, small paintbrush, nesting circle and flower shape fondant/small cookie cutters, butter knife, waxed paper, standing mixer with paddle attachment

Beat butter & cream in mixer until smooth.  Adding a cup at a time, blend in the confectioner's sugar to create a dough consistency.  Add vanilla and beat to combine. 

 Scoop out frosting to form a mound of "dough" (roughly 1lb):

Separate frosting into portions for various colors desired and, using a single drop of color at a time, knead food coloring gel into frosting until color desired is achieved.  If frosting seems sticky, add a small amount of confectioner's sugar until smooth.

Dust a sheet of waxed paper with confectioner's sugar and get ready to start sculpting!  

To make my snail & mushroom vignette (great as a cupcake topper), use rolling pin to roll out some green frosting about 1/4 inch thick and use a large circle fondant cutter to make the base:

Next grab a piece of white frosting and roll with hands to make a rounded mushroom stem that is about 3/4 inch wide and 1 1/4 inches tall.  Stand up and push down slightly so base is a bit wider than the top:

Roll out the red frosting to 1/4 inch thick with rolling pin and cut a medium sized circle. Carefully place on top of stem and allow gravity to help mold the cap shape.

To make the snail roll a piece of pink frosting with hands to be about 1/2 inch wide and 1 1/4 inches long and flatten:

Pull up 1/3 of the strip and press down on the short side with the end of the paintbrush to create the antennae, smoothing & pinching with fingers to shape as desired.

Roll out some blue with hands until it is 1/4 inch thick and several inches long to make the shell piece.

Coil shell and trim outer end flat with knife:

Place shell on the snail's back. Add snail & mushroom to base.  Remove any excess confectioner's sugar with paintbrush:

Or how about a mini birthday cake made entirely of frosting?  Simply change the color of the base circle to make a "plate". Take a bit of white frosting and flatten about 3/4 inch thick, and use a small circle fondant cutter to create the cake shape:

Roll out a bit of pink frosting 1/4 inch thick and cut with a flower cutter and then flatten slightly with the rolling pin to make the shape more uneven and drape over the top of the cake piece to "frost" it.

Add a small piece of white to make a candle and a tiny tapered piece of red for the flame and the cake is complete.  Perfect for those kids who only want to eat the frosting off the cake - now they'll eat the whole thing!

 

 And if you really want to get whimsical, how about a little garden gnome?

Roll out pink, white and red frosting to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut a medium circle and taper slightly with hands on lower half to make a face shape:

Use knife to make a triangle with the red that is slightly wider at the bottom than the pink circle.  Use the cutter to round out the bottom to make the hat shape:

 Place hat over top of circle and curve to fit.  Cut flower from white to create a beard and place over lower half of face:

Use end of paintbrush to make eye holes and then fill with small dots or blue.  Create a mouth with paintbrush in same way and fill with a small strip of red for a nice smile.

Add a pink circle nose and a strip of pink with a pointed end to either side to create ears and place over a large circle of green under the beard for the gnome's body and this little guy will be nice and sweet:

For storing sculptures, allow them to firm up in open air for a few hours and store in an airtight container for a few days at most.  I would not recommend refrigerating or freezing. I cannot guarantee the consistency would stay the same or not cause moisture issues or separation.  It really only takes minutes to make so it's fine to make at the last minute.  Typically decorated cakes and cupcakes are fine to leave at room temperature for up to 48hrs, so this should not be an issue. 

Use Sculptable Frosting creations to decorate cakes, cupcakes, brownies or use as stand alone sweets. It's also great for covering cupcakes.  Just not anything large scale like an entire cake, since it is a frosting and not as clay-like as fondant.  Try my Modeling Chocolate for posts HERE for bigger or longer lasting projects like cake covering.  The possibilities are endless and incredibly tasty.  Hope you enjoy them!

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too-

Click HERE to check them out!

Bird's Party Blog