Twin Baby Girl Cookies

Recently I did some cookies for baby shower of a woman who was having twin baby girls. She had wanted a pink and green color scheme and wanted them to pretty and girlie.  We settled on some cute onesies and a cookie version of these cupcakes.

Belle of the Ball

"Tale as old as time...." Beauty and the Beast, one of the best Disney movies ever! (Next to the Little Mermaid---but I may be partial to red heads!). My friend Amie was throwing her adorable daughter a Belle themed birthday party.  This little princess was in love with all things Belle and I got to be the lucky one to make desserts for her!  We decided on cookies, cupcakes and cake focusing on the dress and the rose.

 There were a couple of boys attending the party so I made sure to include a few beast cookies too.

Thanks Amie for letting me make these fun desserts! I hope Audrey's party was a huge success!

Top 11 of 2011

As the year closes, lets revisit some of the highlights from 2011!

1. The completion of my Party Challenge.

I completed 1 party every month until I turned 30. This came to completion at the end of January 2011.

2. Grapefruit Cake

This became my favorite cake of the year! I made this so many times, and its just as delicious every time!

3. Our Valentine's Day Table and Red Rosette Cake

4. Happy Birday Cookies

5. Champagne Wishes and Strawberry Dreams Cupcakes

6.  A Royal Affair

7. Designer Inspired Frosted Glass Mirrors

8. How to Clean Graffiti

9. Burberry Inspired Puppy Party

10. Wonderfall Wine Tasting

11. The Reindeer Run

2011 has been a great year! Thank you so much for following along on my blogging journey!
May you have a blessed new year! Happy 2012!

Strawberry Shortcake Desserts

I had the honor of making cupcakes and cookies for a friend's daughter.  She was celebrating a birthday and she loves Strawberry Shortcake. I have a special place for Strawberry Shortcake in my heart.....

This is me, 1987, as Strawberry Shortcake. I was crowned the Strawberry Princess at the Cedarburg Strawberry Festival.

So, when my friend asked me to do  modern day Strawberry Shortcake as cupcakes and cookies, I was ecstatic.  Check it out!

Looks like both me and Strawberry Shortcake changed a little since the 80s!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Remember yesterday's mouth watering apple cider caramels? Well you're going to need a batch for today's recipe!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

(Adapted from Scrambled Henfruit)

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

5 packets of Alpine Spiced Cider Instant Original Drink Mix (look for it with the hot cocoa mixes)

1 Egg

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1.5 Cups Flour

24 Apple Cider Caramels, you can also use plain Kraft Caramels if you would prefer.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Don't skip this step please! You want the parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

In your mixer, beat butter, sugar, salt, and the 5 packages of apple cider mix.  Beat until light and fluffy.

Add in egg.

Add in vanilla.

Gradually add flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.

Refrigerate dough for about an hour.  Don't skip this step. The dough will be messy to work with otherwise.

Once cooled, form dough into 1 inch balls. Flatten the ball slightly in your hand.  Place a caramel in the center of the flattened dough and wrap dough around it completely.

Place balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, until very very lightly browned.

Slide the parchment paper onto a cooling rack. Allow them to cool about 10 minutes, then gently twist off parchment and flip over to finish cooling.

Maybe its just me, but about half of my cookies burst open and did not look pretty. I'll tell you what, pretty ain't everything honey. Those ugly burst open cookies still tasted amazing.  So don't get discouraged if you end up with fugly cookies. Just sit back and enjoy.
Yield: 24 cookies

Fairytale Frosting Blogiversary

This summer Fairytale Frosting turned 2. I cant believe I've been blogging for 2 years. The time has just flown by!  To celebrate my "blogiversary" I invited some friends over for a whimsical evening get together.  I decided to incorporate some of my favorite things, such as night time in summer. I love warm nights, sitting under the stars with the glow of tiny lights on the patio. I also love fondue, chocolate dipped fruit, and of course a glass of wine or two. I styled my little party after these things that I love. Check out how it came together!

Upon entering my backyard, I had giant origami lotus flowers light with battery operated candles, creating a sort of pathway to the fun.

One of the trees in my backyard has this branch that hangs low and is perfect for creating a cozy dining area.

My party was in the evening and I used the moon and stars as inspiration.  My color palette was a range of blue hues. I had just recently painted my picnic table so I chose to forgo table linens and let the color and pattern of my painted table do the work for me.

I created some evening mood lighting by hanging star lanterns with tea lights over the table, and using some faux mercury glass lanterns that I made (UPDATE: See the tutorial HERE)

It was a warm evening so each place setting had a small fan for my guests to keep cool.

I used royal blue sheer curtains over twinkle lights to create a starry night type back drop, and kept the table simple with only a black cloth.  Origami lotuses also flanked the table with candles in them as well. They glowed beautifully as the evening grew darker. I made the moon in the center after being inspired by a bon voyage photo booth over at Oh Happy Day.

The desserts were simple and summery. I served cheesecake filled strawberries, sugar cookies, and chocolate dipped fruit. I also made a lemonade bundt cake, and blackberry mojitos.

 The star of the show, however, was a dark chocolate cake with blackberry buttercream. I modified the dark chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream recipe from Sweetopolita. I had been dying to try it, but I had to put my own little spin on it. I wasn't sure how the blackberries would translate into a buttercream but it was spectacular! My mouth waters just thinking of it.

After the fondue and sugar rush, we moved to my patio to sit and chat until the wee hours of the night! Ok, maybe not the wee hours, but late enough anyway.

I did take a couple of photos as it grew darker out. The photos really dont do it justice.  The lights twinkled warmly and overhead just so happened to be a full moon! I hadnt even planned it that way! What great timing!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the last two years.  This blog has taught me to much about myself. I've been able to express my creativity which I had no idea how valuable that was until I began to write it all out here. Thank you for allowing me to share my creations and find love and support when doing so!

Pink and Purple Butterflies

Recently I made some super fun pink and purple butterfly cookies for a little girl who just looooves butterflies.  Her favorite colors are pink and purple, so what could be more perfect!

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I had to work on these late into the evening so I had no choice but to take the photos at night.  The colors were so much more vibrant than the photos let on.

 These were so fun to do because each cookie had a slightly different look and technique.

This bottom one is my favorite of them all though.  I think may need to try some traditional monarch colors!

Peanutbutter Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Boy the name of these cookies is a mouthful....a mouthful of deliciousness!!! I stumbled across this recipe at Munchkin Munchies and I had to try it. Just look at this delectable combination....

My mouth is watering just looking at them!

Look at the chocolate chips and bacon chunks floating on pillows of peanut butter cookies....yuuuuum!

Of course I am a bit of an indulgent glutton, so I couldn't stop there. I made smaller cookies and turned them into sandwiches filled with peanut butter buttercream!

If you are in need of a salty sugary high, try them out!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Bacon Cookies (adapted from Munchkin Munchies)

Makes 1 dozen large cookies or 1 dozen small sandwich cookies (24 small cookies)

Cookie Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cup Flour

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Salt

5 Strips of Bacon

4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature

1/2 Cup Chunky Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/2  packed Light Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/3 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. 

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings.  Once bacon is cool, crumble into pieces.

Beat butter and bacon drippings in a mixer until smooth. About 1 minute on medium speed.  Beat in peanut butter until combined.  Add in both granulated and light brown sugar, and beat until smooth.  Then add in egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Reduce mixer to low and slowly add in the flour mixture, scrapping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add all but 2 tablespoons of the chocolate chips and all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon pieces.

Form dough into balls, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Flatten the cookies with a fork.  Gentle press remaining chips and bacon into the tops of each cookie.

Bake until golden, about 12-14 minutes.

Let cookies cool for a few minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile....if you are feeling adventurous, prepare your sandwich filling!

Peanutbutter Buttercream Filling

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature

1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

3 tablespoons Milk (or as needed)

2 cups Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Beat butter and peanutbutter in a mixer until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with a little milk.  Beat well until reaching desired consistency.  

Once cookies are cool, pipe dollops of filling on one side of a cookie, and sandwich another one on top.

Sit down before eating, or you may fall over from the amazingness!

Blue Brushed Flower Cookies

Good Evening! Wow, tonight is a late night post!  I had a busy evening of sunset yoga at a local lake, followed by preparing for a birthday brunch at work tomorrow morning.  Even though its late, I'm sharing another one of my "left over cookie experiments".  I love the brushed embroidery technique, so I gave it a shot on some left over black cookies.  I love the black and turquoise combo, don't you?

I just love this look! I cant wait to try it out on more cookies!  Good evening night owls!

Left Overs

I had some left over cookie dough so I cut a few extra to practice on.  I tried out some brushed embroidery techniques on these.

This one was supposed to be a "J" but I got a little out of control with the swirls so its more like a "T".

I love this effect!