Twinkle, twinkle cupcakes

(clearly, Duff could have done better)
I get asked to make desserts a lot for events. I make some pretty delicious stuff, I'm not going to lie. I do my best to make it a little pretty, but I'm not Duff from Ace of Cakes.

So when I was asked to bring a nursery-rhymed themed dessert to a baby shower, I sort of panicked. If you say, "Hey, it's a red/black/white theme", I can work with that. Black & white polka dot cupcake wrappers, red sprinkles - no problem. But this one really left me stumped.

To complicate it, this shower is for one my dearest friends in the whole world, and probably my oldest friend. We've known each other for, well, over 20 years. Not going all out was not an option. However, I am not artistic. I make tasty treats... but I cannot draw a stick figure.

"How I wonder" was the theme of how I was going to pull this off
After considering my options, I went with Twinkle, Twinkly cupcakes, because I thought they'd be easiest to translate into reality. The cake I used is a "homemade" white cake with a sprinkles, since I know how much the mom-to-be loves candy. With light blue frosting, silver and gold star sprinkles, I knew I would not have to roll out fondant stars, mold chocolate into shapes, or take too long to assemble. I decided to make cupcake toppers to make the theme very clear.


The credit for the toppers really needs to go to a very kind friend from church who makes cards. She lent me her punches for circles and stars and even threw in glittery paper. All I had to do was assemble.

Looking at it all now, I'm pretty proud. And mostly, I cannot wait to celebrate this new life with my friend. Their story of adoption is so close to my heart, and I feel like we have prayed for years for this - it is amazing to see the fruition.

Recipes -
The cake recipe is Recipe Girl's White Wedding Cake, with 1 cup of rainbow sprinkles thrown in. I know the "base" for this a box mix, but let me explain 3 wonderful things about this recipe. (1) due to the stabilizers in the box mix, this cake travels really well  (2) it makes 36 cupcakes, a great amount  (3) it tastes really good.  http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/03/16/white-wedding-cake-cupcakes/

Frosting was a basic vanilla buttercream with normal blue gel food coloring. Go to http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html if you need a recipe to follow.

I found most my star sprinkles at Joann's or Michael's. Some times I order large quantities online.

The results?
Not too shabby for a girl who can't draw stick figures!



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