My Party File - blog

Archive for the ‘food’ Category

Charlize’s “Spotty Party” is fast approaching, so I’ll be sharing some ideas in the coming days.  Here is an easy one to get started with.  These are mini cupcakes, simply iced with butter icing, then topped with mini m&ms.  They proved to be very popular at playgroup with Charlize’s friends  - and the parents, too!

This is space party food you can make ahead, as it will store well in in an airtight container.  Asteroid popcorn balls are simply honey popcorn rolled into balls.   To make them you will need:

• 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil
• 1/3 cup raw popping corn
• 250g butter
• 4 Tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 2 pieces of popping corn. If the corn slowly turns around in a circle then the oil is hot enough.
2. Add remaining popping corn and cover with a lid. When the corn starts popping, gently shake the saucepan.  When the corn stops popping, remove from the heat. Transfer to a large bowl, discarding any unpopped corn.
3. In a separate suacepan, melt the butter,  add honey and sugar, and stir until sugar dissolves.  Boil, uncovered, without stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes or until light golden.
4. Pour honey mixture over the popcorn and stir until popcorn is coated.
5. Use dampened hands to shape the mixture into balls. Set aside on baking paper to dry and set.

This looks just like a soft serve icecream, but it is actually a cupcake. Pretty cool, hey?  This fabulous cupcake was made by Jayne Harrison, and she claims they are easy to make.

How to make icecream cone cupcakes

Use a cake batter of your choice, and pour it into flat-bottomed cones - filling no more than halfway.  Then cook according to your cake recipe or packet instructions.   You may need to keep checking the cakes with a skewer to ensure the cake batter is cooked through until you’ve worked out the perfect cooking time (afterall, it will depend on the size of the cones you use).  When the cake is cooled, trim any excess (you can see she has scooped a little of the cake out before adding the icing), then pipe vanilla buttercream on top, and then push a Cadbury flake into the icing.  No more effort than normal cupcakes!

Alternative:  For some extra scrumptiousness, use a bismarck piping nozzle to pipe some jam or chocolate spread into the middle of the cake before icing it.

Here’s an eggscellent idea for adding a little fun at a slumber party breakfast.  Draw silly faces on some eggs with a fine permanent marker.  The kids will get a real giggle when you open up the egg carton and ask them to choose their egg(s) for brekky.  Or let the kids draw on the eggs themselves before you fry them up or boil them (the eggs, that is - not the kids!).

Alternative:

Send kids home from your farm party with a funny faced egg.

Linking to:

Making the World Cuter

The Persimmon Perch

It’s so Very Cheri

The Girl Creative

Blue Cricket Design

You don’t won’t to be sent “quackers” when preparing food for your party - so consider this simple idea for a Rubber Ducky themed party.   Fill a punch bowl or large salad bowl with bright blue Jelly (make according to packet directions), then pop some small rubber duckies on top.  You can also place clean plastic leaves and flowers on top to resemble lily pads.

This could also be a substitute for a cake - you can even buy rubber ducky candles to place on top.

These rich chocolate tarts are delicious, and are so easy to make!  Great for a girls’ night in, a tea party, sleepover or a treat for mum on Mother’s Day.  I used Turkish Delight in half of them, and a Bounty bar in the other half, but I think a Peppermint Crisp or Fru Chocs would also be scrumptious.

You will need:

• 400g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup thickened cream
• 220g of Chocolate Bars of your choice (ie 4 x 55g Turkish Delight chocolate bars), cut into 1cm think slices
• 2/3 cup flaked almonds, toasted
• 12 x 6cm pastry shells

Arrange chocolate bars on base of tart shells.
Put chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on HIGH until smooth (about 1 minute), stirring halfway during cooking.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the tarts, and top with the almonds.
Put in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until set.

Good, healthy food can be served at a kids party.  There are always ways to make it exciting for the kids - even just putting it in the right dish can make a difference.

I served vegetables, crackers and dip at Bella’s mermaid party in this gorgeous starfish platter I picked up from a variety store.  Yum!

I really love this product - it is so much fun and you’ll be amazed at how creamy and tasty it is!  This “crunchy ice cream” has been freeze dried, so it doesn’t need refrigeration  and there is NO preparation required.  It is such a fun addition for an outer space, alien or astronaut party.  If you are feeling generous, a packet of this stuff would make a great party favour, but at A$4 a bag, you might want to break it up and serve it during the party - either stick it on the food table, or have the guests taste it as part of their astronaut training.

I managed to buy some from a confectionary shop, but you can also order The Professors’ Crunchy Ice Cream online.

These tasty morsels are made from my favourite biscuits - Arnott’s Mint Slices, but you could use any biscuit that tickles your fancy (Not Quite Nigella used Tim Tams, but I think Kingstons or Mandarin Slices would be great also).

Mint slice pops are easy to make.  All you need is:

• 1 packet of Mint Slices (or biscuits of your choice)
• 65 gms light or regular cream cheese
• 125 gms milk or dark chocolate
• Wooden skewers or lollipop sticks

Pop the packet of biscuits and the cream cheese into a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth paste, stopping to scrape, as required. Put the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).  Scoop out some mixture with a small spoon and roll into truffle sized balls between your palms.  Insert a skewer into the base of the pop, and freeze them for a bit.  Melt the chocolate and dip each ball into it.  Stand them in a glass or florist’s foam, decorate with sprinkles and then leave them to set.

My kids and I had fun creating these bunny biscuits in preparation for Easter.  We simply used Arnott’s Tic Toc biscuits, marshmallows or milk bottle lollies for the ears, mini m&ms for the nose, and tubes of white chocolate and dark chocolate fudge writing icing (I used the Queen brand) to draw in the eye, whiskers and cheeks.  Use the icing to also secure the noses and ears.

Tilly decided that we needed a background to put them on, so she drew this scene and lined up our creations.  Cute, no?