Cake Pops and Art Cupcakes

Looly turned six last week. Six!

Between her school celebration cake pops, chocolate dipped pretzel rods for Roo to take to school so he could participate in the 2 additional school birthday celebrations of the week, and Looly's actual birthday party cupcakes, I was a dipping, frosting, sprinkling fool.

Cake pops are the ideal kid assisted treat. There's plenty of measuring, pouring and mixing, but more importantly, there's cake smashing and mauling, both skills my children excel at. And, they're made of cake. And frosting.

I'm not going to provide a cake pop recipe here because you can really use any cake, frosting, or candy coating you like. The process is what matters. If you want more information, I highly recommend Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes For More than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats by Bakerella.

Carrot cake pops with cream cheese frosting are magical but more often than not, I end up using Cherrybrook Farms cake mix (vanilla or chocolate) because it's nut-free, egg-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, ridiculously easy, and tastes pretty good. There is a wide world beyond allergy-free vanilla and chocolate but I make a lot of cake pops for preschoolers with allergies so...

5 Steps to Cake Pops

1. Bake a cake. Any cake. Cool it. Crumble it into a bowl.
2. Mix in some frosting (homemade, store bought, whatever) until it resembles a sticky cookie dough. Chill for an hour or two.
3. Roll cake-frosting concoction into balls. Chill again for an hour.
4. Melt candy melts or candy coating. Dip lollipop sticks into candy coating and insert about 3/4 of the way into cake pops. Chill again.
5. Finally, dip cake pops into melted candy coating and add sprinkles or decorations before the coating sets. If you want them to stand up like lollipops, use a styrofoam block or cake pop stand to hold them once they are dipped.

After we ate all the cake pops, it was time for artsy cupcakes for Looly's baking-themed art party at Magical Minds art studio. I totally ripped this idea off Pinterest, and I believe All You magazine is the original source, but how freakin' cute are these "paint" cupcakes?

Just be sure to use gel food coloring. The colors become much more vibrant than with liquid.

Little House Party

Looly's 6th birthday is coming up later this week. I'll spare you the where has the time gone gush since truth be told, it hasn't been all hugs and rainbows. Sure she's decent kid now but I still haven't forgiven her for four months of colic. Or the Northwest Airlines diaper incident of 2006. She knows what I'm talking about.

Despite our rocky start, I've grown rather fond of the little moppet in recent years. And she has had some kick ass birthday parties, including last year's Little House on the Prairie Pioneer Camp Out.

Tin cup party favors, bonnets, and covered wagon models for all!

Fresh squeezed lemonade. Ma would have remembered to take the tags off the bottoms of the cups

I wore that pink dress as a flower girl in a wedding in the early 1980's and my grandmother sewed the red and gold number for my sister in the 1970's. That's right, baby. Vintage. Nana picked up the bonnets at an Amish market.

Sullen prairie girl. You'd think we made her live in a dugout.

Making beeswax candles

Setting up for the water pail relay. Girls v. Boys

Camping safety debriefing with Pa

Tent-pitching chaos

The frosting is tinted with a raspberry juice. No artificial dyes in LHOTP!

Looly Ingalls Wilder

This year she's doing it up with a baking-themed art party. Try not to fall off the edge of your seat in anticipation. Happy almost 6th birthday, Looly. Thanks for learning to use the outhouse.

Thanks for the invite, but...

I just received an invitation for a fun 3-year-old birthday party for one of Roo and Bean's little school friends.  The birthday boy is a sweet kid and I like his mom a lot.  Several of their friends will be there.  It's not too far away.  Doesn't interfere with nap.  Super.  Except that it's at an ice cream parlor.  A nut-crusted, egg-laden ice cream parlor.  So, as usual, we politely declined.

Yes if I really wanted that mom of the year award I could probably make this happen.  The routine would go something like this:

1. Call J's mom and warn her of Roo's allergies.  Plan to accommodate him while causing least disruption possible at party.  Reject her compulsory offer to provide a "safe" treat and tell her I'll handle it. 
2. Call ice cream parlor and ask about ingredients in ice cream as well as procedure for accommodating allergies (for example, changing gloves, opening fresh containers, using clean scoop, etc. to avoid cross contamination)
3. Bring back-up safe treat even if person on the phone promises on grave of loved one that none of their ice creams contain a trace of egg, nut, apple, peach, or beef (gross)
4. Arrive on party day feeling like my pants are lined with barbed wire at the prospect that a stray peanut or swipe of butter pecan accidentally migrated onto the table where Roo is sitting. Scrub table and chair with antibacterial wipes.
5. Ask person at counter AGAIN about all ice cream ingredients (usually we just stick with vanilla but it often has eggs in it  so we need to be flexible).  Possibly find a "safe" flavor. Ask for a fresh container to be opened, clean gloves, and clean scoop.  Allow irritated glares of busy counter staff to bounce off my skin like rubber balls.
6. Sing Happy Birthday to J
7. Hover over Roo as he eats exactly 3 tiny bites of ice cream, continuously examining his legs and belly for first signs of a reaction, and completely ignoring Bean, who by this time has surely climbed into her own oversize bowl of mint chocolate chip and is swimming in the greeny goodness. 
8. Leave party as quickly as possible to avoid the potential vomiting that's likely to occur after eating, allergies or not. 

So, yeah, I think we'll sit this one out.