Eight is Great - the favors

Graham's fabulous party continues with the favors... Everyone received their favor bags when they arrived because I wanted them to enjoy the fun at the party. They contained mini custom buttons, finger lights, flashing flower rings, glow bracelets and little lip balms. Funny story: Graham was so excited the morning of the party that he activated all 150 glow bracelets at 6:00am. I didn’t think they would make through the party, so I sent my husband to run out and buy more. Well, they had much longer staying power than I anticipated, so we A LOT glow sticks! Oh well – no one was complaining! I also made confetti poppers inspired by Sharon of Cupcakes & Cutlery. They were so much fun and yes, I will be vacuuming confetti for the rest of my life! It has become a tradition to create a CD of Graham’s favorite music as a parting gift at his parties, so everyone went home as that as well.

I'll wrap it up tomorrow with fun pics from the party!

Credits:

Concept, styling and baked goods: Cakewalk Baking

Photography: Sherry Heck Photography

Invitations, CD labels, custom buttons, heart stickers: Merry Happy by Cake.

Sugar cookies: Bird Treats

DJ: Chip “Mancub” Corwin
Custom pins: Pinback Attack

It's the most wonderful time of the year

When Kim of The TomKat Studio asked me to contribute a recipe to her annual gift guide I knew instantly what I wanted to share. I've been making these butter toffee peanuts to accompany a chocolate cake at my day job as pastry chef at Zut! and they have been a huge hit. They make the perfect party favor or hostess gift for the holidays - they're easy to make, they stay fresh for a long time and they are completely addictive. For the recipe (and lots of other amazing goodies), download the 2013 TomKat Holiday Guide.

Best wishes for a peaceful & fun-filled holiday season to all!

Download the printable labels here
The adorable jars are available from the TomKat Studio here.

Eight is Great - the sweets!

Next up from Graham's Disco party - the sweets! As a pastry chef, putting together the dessert table is always a passion for me. Since I knew the kids were going to be inundated with piñata candy, I tried not to go too overboard. I created a 2 tiered fondant covered fresh strawberry cake, mini vanilla cupcakes, glitter dusted truffle pops and milk chocolate mousse cups. For the first time, I asked another baker to contribute. I am so happy I did! Sarah of Bird Treats created the most exquisite and delicious G & 8 sugar cookies. It was really nice to take one thing off of my plate! I already own a ridiculous number cake stands and platters, but I just had to buy the acrylic risers to complete the modern, clean look.

Still to come... favors & party pics!

Credits:

Concept, styling and baked goods: Cakewalk Baking

Photography: Sherry Heck Photography

Invitations, CD labels, custom buttons, heart stickers: Merry Happy by Cake.

Sugar cookies: Bird Treats

DJ: Chip “Mancub” Corwin

Eight is Great - a Modern Disco Party

I am so thrilled to be sharing my son, Graham’s eighth birthday party photos. When we started planning his party the one thing he wanted do “dance, dance, dance!!!”.  I liked the idea of a disco party, but I didn’t want to go with the traditional 70’s look. I was really inspired by this party by Bash Please and hoped to create a fun, but sophisticated and modern look. Working with a small budget, this was definitely a DIY affair. I considered renting a space for the party, but decided to keep it at home to save money & also give me more time to decorate and personalize the space. I purchased silver fringe curtains for a backdrop for the dessert table and also to transform our deck into a dance floor. I used silver fringe, handmade tassel garlands and honeycomb balls to decorate both our dining room (where the dessert table was) & deck. I. I also created a lighted marquee letter “G” for the dance floor. Giant clear balloons filled with metallic glitter – some filled with helium, some not – and a silver eight balloon rounded out the decorations. A helpful note: Command strips & hooks saved the day for this party. They held up all the decorations inside & without damaging any surfaces. They were amazing!

I asked my dear friend, Becca of Cake. to create the invitation and was absolutely thrilled with the results. I knew I wanted the basic color scheme to be hot pink (Graham’s favorite color), mint and silver.  When Becca added the midnight blue background it really gave design the sophisticated look I was going for. We added the caveat “No one over 21 allowed” because with 20 kids coming, there wasn’t going to be room for all the parents on the dance floor.

Come back tomorrow for the sweets & treats!

Credits:

Concept, styling and baked goods: Cakewalk Baking

Photography: Sherry Heck Photography

Invitations, CD labels, custom buttons, heart stickers: Merry Happy by Cake.

Sugar cookies: Bird Treats

DJ: Chip “Mancub” Corwin

Silver curtains, fringe, confetti: Shindigz 

Pumpkin, how I love thee

With the abundance of amazing summer fruit, I find it easy to avoid the cans of pumpkin puree in the pantry. But as peaches and plums start disappearing and the first chilly mornings arrive, I'm ready to make just about anything with pumpkin. Facing a serious craving, but with limited time and a sick kiddo in need of cheering, I needed a quick fix. These muffins are simple to make (no machinery needed!), super delicious and definitely pack a pumpkin punch.

Note: I use half whole wheat flour to give them a little more nutritional value, but you could easily use all AP. Also feel free to swap the chocolate chips with nuts or dried fruit.

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 cups sugar 
2 cups pumpkin puree (1lb 3 oz)
4 large eggs
2/3 cup canola oil
2 cup mini chocolate chips

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Combine the sugar, puree, eggs and oil together and mix until well combined (either with a mixer or by hand). Add the dry ingredients and then the chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin tins, about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes