The Minute To Win It Birthday Party Treats

So sorry I haven't been able to post for the past couple of weeks, but things have been a little crazy here at the little yellow cottage.  First, we switched cable/internet service and I had some issues getting everything straightened out - technically challenged you know.  Then, we traveled to Big D to help out our daughter while she made a trip to NYC to film a segment of 60 minutes.  We watched our grand children while her husband worked and she was away.  Needless to say, Grandma and Pawpaw had a great time.   There were root beer floats (our grandsons say Grandma has the best recipe - lol) and lots of games and shopping trips and so many memories made.  

We stayed for the second week to help with our grandson's "Minute To Win It" birthday party which we wouldn't have missed for anything!  He chose the theme because it is his favorite television show and it's a perfect choice for kids to play challenging games using household items with only one minute to complete each challenge!  The kids played the games over and over and it was an absolute hit.  I will post later about how to do a party with this theme.  It is inexpensive because you can use items you have around the house and we didn't have to purchase very many things at all.   It's so much fun that even a lot of the parents participated!  Then, we ended the party with a huge water balloon fight.  Oh yes, it was a rousing success!

H's favorite color is blue and he wanted chocolate cupcakes instead of a cake.  So, I used regular chocolate cake mix and made blue butter cream icing.  The dilemma was what to decorate the cupcakes with.  Well, daughter and I were driving to the store and it popped into my head what I could do.  I LOVE when that happens.

H's favorite game is one where you hold a popsicle stick in your mouth and try to stack 5 dice and then  keep them there for 3 seconds before the minute it up.  (It's not as easy as you think it would be)  Here was my idea:  sugar cubes decorated like dice using black icing!  They were adorable!  Here is what I used and how they looked up close.

I made 4 dozen cupcakes so I needed 96 dice to have a pair for each cupcake.  We bought one box of sugar cubes which was more than enough for this project.

We purchased one tube of Wilton's black sparkle gel icing for making the dots on the dice.  This was purchased at Wal-Mart.

I lined the sugar cubes up in rows on a baking sheet to keep from getting icing on the table.  I started by making one dot in the middle of all the cubes with the black gel icing.  Then, I held each cube by the corners and made two, three, four and five dots on each cube.  I had a pair of dice on the table to look at so I did not make a mistake on the way they should look.  They sat for a couple of hours to let the icing dry.  There was no need to make a six on the dice because the bottom of the cube sat on top of the cupcake.  This was a really easy process and didn't take a lot of time.   Also, the decorations were edible!

This is a simple idea that could be used to decorate lots of things.  It is quick, easy and inexpensive -- all of my favorite words!  

We had a wonderful two weeks with lots of awesome experiences and memories made that I will be writing about.  I am glad to be back because the projects are stacking up, especially with fall on the way.  Hope there will be things to inspire you along the way!  

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Make memories because no one can take them away!

Ding Ding Ding, We Have a Winner

You may get tired of my posts about things to bake, but I really love to bake.  I find it comforting.  It is sort of like a meditation to me.  If I am really stressed, I bake.  There is something soothing about the measuring and the mixing - following the recipe. The one thing about baking is there is no room for improvising - you need to follow the recipe for the proper outcome.  I sometimes wish life had this same kind of recipe book, don't you?  But then, I guess it would take a lot of the wonder and creativity of daily living away.   

This cupcake recipe is maybe the best cupcake ever as far as we are concerned and we have tried many.  (believe me)  This rich chocolate cupcake is filled with a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling that is like a little cheesecake in the middle of chocolate heaven.  Dan, who is a "chocoholic" will verify the goodness of these heavenly morsels.  

Now, they are a little tricky to make.  You have to make the batter and the filling separately.  Here is what you do:

Ingredients for cupcakes:

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup water

Ingredients for filling:

6 ounces cream cheese softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

To make the cupcake batter, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips over hot water (double boiler) until smooth.  Set aside.  Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.  Combine sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla.  Stir in melted chips.  Alternate 1 cup water and flour mixture while adding to sugar/oil/egg/vanilla/chips mixture.   This is a runny batter so don't be alarmed.

Make filling by combining all ingredients.   

Line muffin tin with 16 cupcake papers.  Spoon 1 TBSP of cake batter in bottom of cupcake papers.  Spoon  1 heaping TBSP filling over chocolate cake batter like this.  If there is remaining filling, distribute evenly among cupcakes.

Now, add another heaping TBSP cake batter over filling like this.

If there is remaining cake batter, distribute evenly among cupcakes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

I have made a chocolate glaze for these before and then sprinkled with confectioner's sugar but it is not necessary.  It  just makes them more "chocolatey."  Is that a word?  It is now.  

This recipe doubles nicely and you will probably want to do that because 16 of these cupcakes won't last long enough to put the supplies and cooking utensils away.  They are really nice to take to a pot luck or picnic.  Need something to share at work?  Perfect!  If you have children at home, I'm just sayin'.   No icing to melt and they are YUMMY!  

Next time you are feeling stressed, try baking.  It will do wonders for your spirit and your taste buds (not so much for your waistline unfortunately).  Go ahead, give these a try.  I know you are going to like these!  Chocolate!  Cheesecake!  What's not to like?  I'm heading to the kitchen now and preheating the oven.   

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

It's not what happens to you that counts, but how you handle it. It's not how far you fall, but how well you bounce~Dan Zadra