13 Nov 2013

Looking For The Cake Pop Stars

{a competition}

Yes I know...another cooking post. But is it is actually an entry to a cake pop competition, so I guess that's a bit of an excuse. Besides I had the best intention to sew something so I promise something interesting very soon.

So back to the competition. Cake pops have slowly been making an appearance here in Germany and I made my first cake pops last year for Halloween but at that time I couldn't find cake pop sticks or suitable decoration so had to order them from the US.That has all changed now...

One of the shops that joined in the cake pop craze is Strauss Innovation. A nice shop whose product range changes about once a month and one is sure to find everything from colorful piknick plates and baskets to cute Christmas decoration, from sweet cupcake boxes to girlie polka dot bed linens. So I often go there but I didn't see the competition leaflet. The mum of Lovely Kindergarten Best Friend passed it on and so I decided to give the competition my best shot.

And yes there is a price, and yes, I hope I'll win one of 10 duck blue "kitchen aid" look-a-likes.

And since Cristmas is only six weeks away...yes...six weeks...I though that Christmas cake pops are completely in order.


 



As always the internet was full of inspiration.

Do you like one of the cake pops more the rest?
My favorite are the ginger bread houses. They are completely my own creation and look so cute.

SO, fingers crossed! I'll let you know how the competition goes.

Have a nice evening!

Love,
Irina xx




4 Nov 2013

Belated Halloween

{ has it really been so long}

My dearest readers, I can't quite believe that it has been six months since my last post. Of course I made things over the past months (I would have gone crazy if I didn't) but some how I didn't find the time to blog.
I am planning a post to show you how the past few months have been but in the mean time here are some photos from our little Halloween party last week. It was so much fun making everything...the witch's fingers were my absolute favorite.




Witch's broom sticks and witch's fingers- everyone loved them! I followed this really easy tutorial and they turned out so realistic plus they had the added benefit of actually being cookies. The red dye was my addition (simply dilute some red food color in a little bit of water and use a paint brush to make the blood splatters) It definitely added to the effect.
For the brooms I used cheese strings which was much easier than the tutorials I found on Pinterest.


We couldn't skip the cake pops following last years Cake Pop Halloween Party so they seem to become a bit of party tradition in our home. I always use Dr Oetker's Chocolate Cake Mix and they are delicious every time plus I dip them in white chocolate so they were more like double chocolate cake pops.  They are sprinkled with black and orange sugar which I got in a little package from Lovely Mum.




Yes, Lovely Little Son has grown up quite a bit. He definitely helped making sure there are no Dragon's Nails ( aka Buggles) left.



Although a bit cheesy in my opinion, this bowl proved a great hit with the kids. It not only slapped your hand when you tried to get a sweetie but it also gave out a scary growl.  No wonder a few packs of sweets remained untouched...



Mummy sausages - they tasted yum and were really easy to make but I am not sure the kids really knew what a mummy was...maybe next year.



Some girlie scull cookies which no question tasted delicious but were a bit time consuming. I know that blogland is filled with beautiful cookies and informative tutorials, but despite the Royal Icing Sugar which a lovely friend bought back from the UK ( thank you!) I just couldn't get it right. Hours of you tube video watching also didn't help...the consistency of my icing was nothing like those videos showed. Yes, I know you can't tell (unless you are LilaLoa) but after the seventh cookie I just gave up. But the eye lashes and the orange bow were real fun to make.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Love,
Irina xx