Cooking Mama Birthday Party

My daughter's have always asked to have princess parties to celebrate their birthdays with their friends and that is what I have been used to putting together and throwing for them.  This year my 8-years-old daughter asked to have a Cooking Mama party.  I was going between feelings of sadness that for the first time ever in our family, The Disney Princesses weren't going to make their annual debut; and a little excited to plan something completely different.  I first googled "Cooking Mama Birthday Party"...nothing came up on the internet.  I couldn't believe the theme was nowhere in the realms of "internet space"!  Apparently, Cooking Mama is part of the Wild Frontier of birthday parties.  So, to my birthday party planning board I went and this is what I put together for her.

  Hamburger Cake

I usually bake from scratch because that's what I enjoy doing.  But with a guest list of 26 cute and silly friends, I went the boxed route.  No biggie! It made my life so much easier to do it this way.  I purchased enough boxed yellow cake mixes, brownie mixes and sugar cookie mixes to make the yummy treats I needed for the party.

This cake is fairly simple to make.  I baked a yellow cake mix in a regular round cake pan and a second yellow cake in a Pyrex glass bowl.  Spray each with Pam Cooking Spray For Baking~it has flour mixed into the spray making it much easier to turn the cakes out of the pans.  While the yellow cake "hamburger buns" are cooling, mix one brownie mix and pour into a round cake pan (either the same pan that has been completely washed, or another pan exactly the same size as the one previously used).  Bake the brownie "hamburger patty" just until set.  Remove from the oven, turn out of pan and let cool completely.

Now assemble the hamburger cake with lettuce, mustard and ketchup Frosting, here's how:

This is another of my favorite frosting recipes~

(You can use canned frosting too, nothing wrong with that.  Whatever makes your day easier! I just enjoy the flavor of homemade frosting best.)

Perfect Buttercream Frosting

                                     5 T butter                    2 1/3 c powdered sugar

                                     dash of salt                   1/2 t vanilla extract

                                     3 T milk                       red, green, yellow and blue food coloring

                                          

 Soften butter, add salt and powdered sugar.  Beat until smooth and fluffy.  Add vanilla extract.  Separate frosting into 4 different medium sized bowls.  Keep one bowl of frosting white (mayonnaise), add red food color (a lot!) into another bowl with 1 very tiny drop of blue (this will make the ketchup a little bit deeper in color), add yellow (again, a lot!) into another bowl (mustard), and in the last bowl add a few drops of green (lettuce).

Fill 1freezer Ziploc baggy (thicker than the regular baggies) with red, another with yellow and last with green.  Cut a small tip off of the corner of each baggie, set aside.

First place bottom hamburger bun on a cake stand or plate, using the white frosting frost a medium size inner circle on top of the bottom bun.  Place round brownie center on top.  Frost a smaller inner circle on top of the brownie layer, also pipe each condiment frosting as desired for the lettuce, mustard and ketchup.  Place top cake bun on top of the brownie layer.   Place in refrigerator until ready to display and serve.  That's it, you're done!

Mini Hamburgers and Sugar Cookie Fries
 

Next I found this great tutorial for Mini Hamburgers and Sugar Cookie Fries here:  

http://www.bakerella.com/fast-food-fun/ I think the buns came out much more realistic and cute when I left them in the oven until they were a medium golden brown.

I made these as part of the party favors.  I made a small "Cooking Mama" card to add to the theme and slipped them into each of the vellum fry holder's I made.  I also made the paper food trays which I downloaded from here: http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-make-paper-food-baskets.html.  I googled "red gingham images" and found  a cute pattern I liked.  I then resized it and printed the pattern onto cardstock, reran it through the printer with the paper food tray download and made enough for each guest at the party.  I then lined each paper food tray with tracing paper and added the hamburger cupcake and sugar cookie fries.

Sugar Cookie Fries with Mustard and Ketchup Frosting

I used the extra Sugar Cookie Fries and condiment frostings as part of the treats at the party. I also made Peanut Butter and Jelly Sushi Rolls and Honey Caramel Popcorn.

Games!
  As each guest arrived they chose a handkerchief to wear on their heads like Cooking Mama.  The boys can wear the handkerchiefs around their necks like a chef.  They chose from Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple.

Marshmallow Skewers

 

The kids had 15 seconds on a timer to put 5 large marshmallows on their sticks.  This one was a lot of fun!

  
Hot Dog! (Hot Potato)

My husband found the cutest plush hamburger and hot dog at the dollar store.  We played Cooking Mama music from Youtube as they passed the Hot Dog around as quickly as they could! 

Egg Relay Race

I hard boiled 3 eggs and split everyone into teams of two.  One person had to walk across the room balancing an egg on a plastic fork in their mouth, while the other tried to catch the egg being dropped into a cupcake cup at the end.  Lot's of fun and giggles!

Cook The Fish In The Pot Toss

Frost The Cookie...and eat it!

30 seconds to frost and eat their cookies.

Decorations

The Party Fun

The Birthday Girl

Cooking Mama says, 
"It's Delicious!" 

Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake

This Chocolate Bundt Cake is extra moist and delicious! The proof is in the...yogurt?

The Recipe

3 c unbleached flour                                            1/2 c plain fat free Greek Yogurt

1/2 t baking powder                                            2 c natural sugar

1/2 t salt                                                            2 t vanilla extract

3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder                         3 eggs plus 4 egg whites

1 c I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spread, or          1 c skim milk  

1/2 c real butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray 10 in. Bundt pan with Pam for Baking spray.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa.  Set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream butter, greek yogurt, sugar, and vanilla.  Add eggs and egg whites one at a time (mix egg whites two at a time), beating well after each addition.  Add flour and mix alternately, starting and ending with flour mixture.

Pour into Bundt pan and bake for 65-70 minutes, or until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.  Let sit for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack or plate to cool completely.

When cooled, drizzle Chocolate Glaze over the top ridge of the cake in a zig-zag design, allowing the glaze to follow the natural lines in the bundt cake.  Reserve extra glaze for sliced pieces of cake once sliced.

Chocolate Glaze

2 c powdered sugar                                                 1/2 t vanilla extract

4 T unsweetened cocoa powder                                4 T skim milk

1 T I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spread, 

      or Real Butter

In a medium bowl, cream butter with powdered sugar and cocoa.  Add vanilla, then add milk gradually until smooth; adding more or less to desired consistency.

Smart Little Cookie Tip:

I LOVE Greek Yogurt.  I love to eat it plain, with fruit, in dips, and in my baking recipes! Substitute an equal amount of Greek Yogurt, or your favorite plain yogurt, in place of any fat in a recipe; for sour cream, shortening, even eggs! Only substitute one of these ingredients in any one recipe or the magic won't work!

I also cut 1 whole cup of sugar out of this recipe and it still tastes sweet and delicious!

You can bake your Chocolate Bundt Cake and eat it too!

Scrumptious Banana Cake

I made this delicious cake to celebrate my newest niece's First-Month Birthday.  I've been on bed rest and immediately following my release, both of my daughters became sick.  So, I'm anxious and excited to meet this new little addition to my extended family!
What better way to celebrate her first month of life than with a Scrumptious Banana Cake decorated in sweet pink frosting.

The Recipe

                 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened        3 ripe bananas, mashed

                 2 3/4 c unbleached flour                  1/4 c applesauce

                 1 1/2 t baking powder                     1 t vanilla extract

                 1 t baking soda                               1 2/3 c sugar

                 1/2 t salt                                        4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line bottom of cake pans with parchment paper cut into the shape of pans being used.  Spray and dust with flour; set aside.  In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.  Mash bananas and transfer to a small bowl, mix together with applesauce, and vanilla; set aside.

In a seperate medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Add flour mixture in two parts until blended.  Mix in banana mixture until just combined.  Transfer batter into prepared cake pans and bake about 30 minutes until golden brown, or when a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Invert cakes out of the cake pans, peeling away the parchment paper and carefully place each cake right side up on a wire rack to cool.

Crumb Coat and Frosting

When cakes have cooled, transfer the cakes into the refrigerator until set, this will eliminate any breakage while applying the crumb coat.  In the meantime, 

make ~The Perfect Frosting~

The Perfect Frosting

(for anything you might like to frost to perfection!)

1/4 c butter, room temperature

1 16-ounce package powdered sugar

1/4 c milk

1 t vanilla

Beat butter until smooth and creamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating until well blended.  Add milk a little at a time and vanilla.  Add more milk and powdered sugar as needed until smooth.  (Double this recipe when using as a crumb coat and as frosting)

 Crumb Coat

 Take cakes out of the refrigerator.  Working with first cake layer, frost a thin layer of The Perfect Frosting on the top and side.  Do the same with the second layer.  Return both layers to the refrigerator until set, about 1-2 hours.  

 Frosting

 When crumb coat is set, frost the top of the first layer with The Perfect Frosting.  Place the second layer on top of the first and frost entire cake.

Smart Little Cookie Tip:

Use any flavor extract your heart desires.  I use this frosting universally on everything from mint-frosted brownies, to sugar cookies, to cakes! It's my favorite, and I'm happy to share it with each of you.
You may like to use a cream cheese which would also be a delicious flavor combo with this cake.  Mmm...my mouth is watering!

This Banana Cake is both Chic and oh, so Scrumptious!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

I'm back! I've been very busy unpacking and setting up our new beautiful home.  In the midst of it all, my darling daughter Cecelia had her 3rd birthday! So, of course, I loved the opportunity of taking a break to bake her a Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake for the Celebration!

My daughters LOVE chocolate peanut butter, in fact, I made this same cake for my oldest daughter Sophia, in January for her 6th birthday.  My youngest, Cecelia, has been talking about it ever since-for 6 months! Both of my daughter's helped me make the cake, which was a lot of fun! While our birthday girl was taking her nap, I decorated it.  

Needless to say, she was really excited to see our creation when she woke up!

 

The Recipe

2 round layers chocolate cake                                peanut butter

powdered sugar                                                    vanilla

cocoa                                                                   milk                   

butter                                                                  chocolate chips

I baked a homemade chocolate cake in two round layers, however, any cake will do for this super easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. Before baking the cakes, mix 1/2 cup peanut butter with 1/8 cup sugar and 1/2 t. vanilla.  With a small teaspoon, drop little spoonfuls around the cake batter before putting them in the oven to bake.  This will give the cake a fun peanut butter polka dot look when the cake is sliced.

When the cakes are cooled, wrap them individually in saran wrap and place in the freezer.  This will make it easier to frost without breaking the cake. 

To frost, I made a basic chocolate frosting and added peanut butter to the mix.  I don't follow a recipe when making a basic frosting.  I eye it until it is the right consistency and flavor-the best way to make basic frosting, in my opinion.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:  

Mix together powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, peanut butter, vanilla and milk. 

Add less milk than usual to make the frosting a little thicker, this will be used as a Smart Little Cookie-Quick Crumb Coat.

Take the cake layers out of the freezer and place one layer on a cake stand or plate.  Frost the top of this layer with frosting.  Place the second cake on top and frost both top and sides of the entire cake with frosting, reserving about 1/3 of frosting for later.  When the entire cake is frosted, mix milk into the remaining 1/3 frosting until it is a medium consistency and spreadable.  Spread this on the top and sides of the cake making the cake look smooth and yummy.

In a small bowl, melt 1/2 cup peanut butter in the microwave until smooth and silky.  Using a fork, drizzle on top of cake.  Next, in a separate bowl, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips.  With a clean fork, drizzle over the peanut butter drizzles.  

Next, decorate however you'd like!

Smart Little Cookie Tip:

It's always fun to decorate a cake! On this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake, you could sprinkle chopped peanuts, chocolate chips, malt balls (I used chocolate peanut butter malt balls on top), or caramel...mmm!

Oh! le chocolat!