If it's true that what you're doing New Year's Day you'll be doing all year long, then it looks like I'll be baking cupcakes and learning to use fondant in 2010! My favorite three-year-old, Bella, had a birthday party on Saturday, and when her parents, my step-son Hunter and his wife Naomi, asked if I could make cupcakes I said sure! The party was to have a Yo Gabba Gabba theme (that's a Nickelodeon show, if you're like me and wonder what on earth that is). Naomi sent me a link to some character cupcakes on the Yo Gabba Gabba website, so I headed to Michaels for rolled fondant and started planning!
Have any of you ever worked with rolled fondant? I had not, so I was surprised when I opened the packages of fondant and it wasn't in a roll as I had assumed. Fortunately it wasn't hard to roll out between sheets of parchment paper, and the shapes were pretty simple to cut out. I never got all the character names straight -- Muno, Brobee, Toodee, Foofa and Plex -- although I did remember that Muno is the red one with one eye. They're right creepy little guys if you ask me, but the kids sure seem to like them!
But enough of that, here's a picture of the pretty birthday girl!
And here's her sweet mom with little brother Owen.
Naomi's beautifully crafted treat bags for the kids all featured Yo Gabba Gabba characters, as did ...
... the wall decor in the living room and ...
... even a "Pin the Eye on Muno" game on this door. Clever!
There was quite a spread of savories and sweets for this afternoon party, and I was happy the cupcakes got a place of honor!
Bella had requested strawberry icing, and I happily complied. And since I was making these cupcakes primarily for little kids, I must confess I opted not to bake from scratch and instead got assistance from my good friends Betty (Crocker) and Duncan (Hines). Since Betty and Duncan prepare their cupcakes in batches of 24, I had quite a few left after making 30 Yo Gabba Gabba ones, so I simply spread the remainders with icing and embellished with leftover Christmas cookie ingredients: coconut, white chocolate chips and pink sprinkles. That took just a few minutes to do and looks so festive, I think I may make mini-cupcakes for a tea party and vary the toppings in this same way.
And I thought I'd close with a photo of the birthday girl with one of the gifts she received, a pretty new bicycle with her name on it!
Those cupcakes are very cute and colorful. I bet that sweet little Bella really enjoyed her Yo Gabba Gabba party.
ReplyDeleteCute as they are I like the pink ones with varied toppings better. You are definitely becoming the cupcake queen !!
ReplyDeleteHow sweet! You're such a good aunt.
ReplyDeleteShe's gorgeous and you are one nice grammy. Good thing you said what Yo Gabba Gabba was - clueless here. I like the others better, but I remember some of the stuff my kids and grandkids thought/think is cool!
ReplyDeleteThe cupcakes turned out beautifully and I didn't know about those characters. What fun for Bella and for you.
ReplyDeleteCute cupcakes. You did a great job.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I am SO, SO impressed. You are truly amazing!
ReplyDeleteNow, mind you, before this I knew absolutely NOTHING of "Yo Gabba Gabba", but after seeing those cute cupcake faces, I now think ALL birthdays should be celebrated with these adorable cupcakes!
ReplyDeleteWow Girlfriend, you are Betty Crocker! They look fabulous! And I lurved the pink one too!
ReplyDeleteI've never worked with fondant but I do admire the look of it. Definitely a craft that requires skill. ha ha