my little girl, age 6 (and party pictures)
Linking up over at Tatertots and Jello!
on ready-made frosting
Phew! With Grace now back in preschool, some end of summer events, and our always growing project list, we have been going nonstop this past week. Nevertheless, I was feeling inspired (by Nienie, here) to throw together a quick back-to-school dinner/celebration for the girls. I had just a couple hours to put something together so it wasn’t a big to-do, but it involved the necessities: homemade strawberry lemonade, crowns, and cupcakes. That, and a well-balanced dinner, were just enough to put the girls over the moon.
I used Cricut to make the crowns, cupcake liners, and cutesy owl and deer toppers. To frost the cupcakes, I used one of my tried and true easy frosting tricks – Pastry Pride. This is a non-dairy dessert topping that you can buy from cake supply stores. It comes in quart-size cartons and I keep a supply in my freezer. Then, when I need a quick batch of frosting, I thaw a carton out, whip up the amount I need (don’t overwhip), and I’m ready to go! It’s great for spreading out smoothly and also for piping swirls, borders, and dots; it isn’t the best frosting for a lot of detail. Frosted cakes and treats need to stay refrigerated. The texture and flavor is similar to whipped cream, not too sweet, and really light and yummy.
reasons to grow rasberries
Addison is definitely the rasberry queen around here. When we pick them together, the handfuls I give to her to put in the basket never seem to make it there and the handfuls I put in the basket disappear instantaneously. I snuck out to the garden a couple weeks ago and actually made it back to the house with a substantial pile of berries. Ice cream was calling my name! I used a Ben&Jerry’s recipe from their book that turned out amazing. I’m used to the tartness of rasberry sorbet, but I much prefer the creaminess of ice cream. And rasberry ice cream is such a delicious blend of both worlds.
I indulged. Every night until the cookies and ice cream were gone. Use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. And for the ganache, just simmer heavy whipping cream, then pour over chocolate chips and whisk until smooth and thick. It stores well in a glass jar in the fridge; when you want to use a little, just heat the jar in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. yummy!
Whose Sunday plans just got changed to include ice cream sandwiches?