Cooking With Kids — Cupcake Kid Cafe

Thanksgiving Cupcakes To Replace The Dinner

Since I am called the Cupcake Kid, I am going with the idea that all meals should include cupcakes. And I saw this on Make Bake Celebrate and told my mom we had to do this! Hopefully next year I can really start experimenting and coming up with my own great stuff like this, but for now I wanted to share this with my readers since I think it is AWESOME!

You have everything with these cupcakes, you get your turkey, corn, sweet potatoes and even your vegetables! I bet you these vegetables will be eaten with no problems!

The person who created these fantastic Thanksgiving Cupcakes include general directions on her blog at Make Bake Celebrate.

Here are some of the things you will need:

cupcakes
buttercream
fondant
yellow, copper, green, ivory coloring
caramel
marshmallow bits
walnuts
black and white sanding sugars

These are just so fun! If you make them we would love to see them!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving! Rachel

Filed Under: Baking, Featured, Rachels Cafe, Thanksgiving Tagged With: featured

Glow In The Dark Cupcakes

This just might be the coolest thing ever! Glow In The Dark Cupcakes may just be the perfect treat for your Halloween party – I can only imagine the look on the kids faces when they see these. Basically it is a regular cupcake with one magic ingredient!

Are you ready? No, really are you?

TONIC WATER! Yep, tonic water added to the frosting will make these wonderfully unique cupcakes glow under black lights. The quinine in the tonic water is what makes all the magic happen! Thanks to the great people at Recipesnobs.com for finding this out!

It turned out there is a whole trick to making this work properly, and clearly as seen in the image below, someone really did it right! Visit Recipesnobs.com for the full details and instructions on how to make the magic happen. This is a must for this Halloween and we would love to see images!!!!

image credit foodsnots.com / recipesnobs.com

Filed Under: Halloween, Mom's Cafe

Dracula Cookies For Halloween

I love Halloween! Even though I am turning 10 soon, I still love the fun of dressing up and of course getting candy! I also love going to Halloween parties and I thought these would be fun desserts for my friends. I have not tried making these yet, they do look a little harder than some of the other things I have made, but I may give it a try and see how I do!

Ingredients

6 Hazelnut truffles (creator used Ferrero Rocher truffles)
5 ounces white candy coating, chopped
1 green or red fruit roll up
6 Oreo cookies
1 (6 oz.) can black decorative icing
6 slivered almonds, cut in half

The recipe is only for 6 Dracula cookies, of course if you want more you should increase the ingredients! You can also use cake mix as an alternative to the truffles for the head – you would just have to make them as round cakes. This option would make more than 6 cookies, so you would need to increase all the other ingredient amounts too!

Directions

Place truffles on a waxed paper-lined pan. Freeze for 10 minutes or until chilled. Meanwhile, in a microwave bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip truffles in coating to cover completely; allow excess to drip of. Return to prepared pan. Refrigerate until hardened.

Cut Fruit Roll-Up into 2-1/2-in. x 1-1/2-in. strips. Reheat candy coating if necessary. Dip truffles in candy coating again; allow excess to drip off. Place one on each cookie. Wrap a fruit strip around base of truffle for cape. Let stand until set.

Using decorating icing and a round tip, pipe hair, eyes and mouth on each. Insert almonds for fangs. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 6 cookies.

recipe and photo courtesy of katherine aras

Filed Under: Baking, Cooking With Kids, Halloween, Rachels Cafe

Corn on the Cobcakes – An adorable Summer Cupcake!

image courtesy of Monica Buck/Woman’s Day

This wonderful Corn on the Cob recipe…wait….its not corn on the cob! It is cupcakes! Yes, really!

These adorable cupcakes when placed together look just like a corn on the cob! Can you be more creative? The kids will love helping to create this masterpiece. The top is just made of yellow and white jellybeans and you can use a yellow starburst for the “butter” slab!

Here are the ingredients you will need:

2 large eggs
3/4 cup(s) canola oil
1 1/4 cup(s) plus 5 Tbsp whole milk
3 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
1/2 cup(s) yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon(s) plus pinch kosher salt
3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 box(es) confectioners’ sugar
16 corn holders, assorted yellow and white jelly beans, 4 yellow fruit chews (such as Starburst), black and white sanding sugar, for decorating

to get the full recipe visit: Corn-on-the-Cob Cupcakes Recipe – Woman’s Day

Filed Under: 4th of July, Baking, Rachels Cafe

4th of July Fun for Kids – Star Shaped Sandwiches

image courtesy Zui

What a fun idea for the kids – both to make and to eat! These star shaped sandwiches are easy to make even for the younger crowd and will be sure to be a favorite at any 4th of July celebration!

Best part of this treat? You do not need all that much! Here is yous list of things you will need:

Bread
Star shaped cutter
Butter
Nonpareils in red, white and blue

Simply cut the bread into the star shape, spread a thin layer of butter then place in a bowl of the nonpareils that are all mixed together. Easy right?

You can of course make these sandwiches with anything including lunch meats, pb&j etc. I think it may be good to try Nutella with the nonpareils – I love Nutella!

To keep the kids busy even longer-let them make their own little flags! Give them some strips of paper, let them create and ten attach their art to toothpicks! Simple idea that will be fun for everyone!

And if you need a Star Shaped Cookie Cutter you can find them on Amazon. We like this Star Shaped Crust and Sandwich Cutter since it seems to fit better with those little hands!

full story from Zui

Filed Under: 4th of July, Rachels Cafe, Snacks

A Valentine’s Day Sweet Treat – Vintage V-Day Cookie Pops

image courtesy of Bakerella

I found these and fell in love with them. I do not think I could do these on my own – so all the Mommy’s out there will have to help, but I know my friends in my class would love these Valentine’s Day cookies.

It looks like you would need what is called frosting sheets and edible ink cartridges that work on some home printers. My mom and I have not tried this, but my mom found this website called TastyFotoArt.com that seems to have lots of products to do this type of baking. You would have to do a little research to see if you printer is one that can do this sort of printing though! There is also KopyKake.com which will give you more information on this process!

image courtesy of Bakeralla

I saw this on Bakerella – and here is what she did.

She made puffy sugar cookies (you can see the whole recipe on her site), but you could probably use the ones that come in rolls in the store if you are looking for a shortcut. Then a stick was inserted into the dough to make the cookie a lollipop. Separate the images from the backing and apply to your cookie. Depending on the shape of the cookie you may need to cut your image to fit properly. It is that easy! As a great added touch, she added a few dabs of icing around the edges which I think looks really pretty.

The options for decorating with printing are so fun! Let your kids choose the pictures though Mom!

Filed Under: Rachels Cafe, Valentine's Day

Almost Healthy Snowman Cupckaes!

Photo by SkinnyTaste.com

These adorable cupcakes, from SkinnyTaste.com are low fat, easy to make and as you can imagine – the kids love them! A fun afternoon activity to get ready for the holidays.

The face is made up of jellybeans, mini chocolate chips, mini-marshmallows and a few colored sprinkles. Standard Duncan Hines cake mix was used for the cupcake – but contain a healthy twist.

The mix was mixed with 6oz.fat free Chobani yogurt, egg whites and water for the low fat option. Take away the oil and butter and you have a healthier option.

The icing was made from powdered sugar with a little melted butter and water.

Ingredients:

18.25oz. cake mix
6 ounce fat free Chobani yogurt
1 1/3 cup water
2 large egg whites
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp. boiling waiter
M&M’s
Jellybeans
Sprinkles
Mini marshmallows

For the full recipe and instructions visit SkinnyTaste.com

Filed Under: Baking, Christmas, Holidays, Mom's Cafe

Kindergartners Talking Turkey

photo credit: Andrew

What a fabulous idea! Kindergarten teacher, Jill Cerny has an annual ritual of asking her class to share their thoughts on how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey. Each child creates an illustration and then dictates their ideas to the teacher who types it up and then adds their image.

Here are a few of the adorable things that kids have suggested!

Nathan: I will wait at the side of the road until I see a turkey in the trees. I will take my bow and arrow and shoot the turkey. My dad will skin the turkey and my mom and dad will drive to my grandma’s for Thanksgiving. My grandma will roast the turkey in the oven at 350 degrees. It will cook for five minutes. While the turkey is cooking, we will make a stew. We also make some drinks, like Kool-Aid. The turkey is put on a big table and some people sit at the small table, and we eat the big feast.
Ella: My dad gets the turkey from the farmer’s market. He starts to cook it in the kitchen. He puts it in a pot on the stove with a lid. It cooks for 45 minutes on warm, not hot. My dad takes it out of the pot and he puts it on plates for us to eat it, but my sister doesn’t like to eat it.
Tommy: My dad will go out to the woods and get a turkey. He will get a bow and arrow and he will shoot the turkey. He will take it home and cook it up. He will cut off the feathers and then put it in the oven. It will cook at 100 degrees for 20 minutes because it takes 20 minutes to cook chicken. My dad will take it out of the oven and place it on the table, and then we start eating it.

To view the full collection of stories and drawings submitted by Ms. Cerny’s class, visit the Darien Patch. It will be sure to give you a chuckle!

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Funny Stuff, Mom's Cafe, Thanksgiving

Veggie Bots – Makes Eating Veggies Fun

Us kids like food that makes us smile – if it looks cute, chances are we will try to at least taste. I cannot promise we will eat it all, but we will try it – and according to my mom, that is a challenge!

Getting Kids To Eat Vegetables with Veggie Bots Veggie Bots were created by Lee Bayless. He is a comedian who has created lots of things.

Veggie Bots is a set of tools that lets kids play with their food in a good way. They can make their veggies look like little building blocks and then stack them and build with them to create lots of different creations like robots, race cars and more.

I have not been able to find where to buy the Veggie Bot, but my mom is looking into it to see if it is actually available yet – if it is we will post a link!

But I thought this was a really cool thing to share to help moms be creative with their kids!

Here is a video so you can see how it works!

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Rachels Cafe

Edible Fruit Turkey

I LOVE this idea! The Fruit Gobbler is a great centerpiece or appetizer for the Thanksgiving Day festivities – it is although healthy! Your kids will want to enjoy this treat – cheese, fruit and all!

The turkey is easy to make and will keep the kids busy while you get ready for the big turkey day celebration.

Get all the ingredients ready, give the kids a picture and let them dig in and have fun creating! (Image Courtesy Family Fun Magazine)

Thanksgiving Appetizer Kids Can Make

Ingredients:

Bosc Pear (head)
Melon (body)
Cheese (beak & tail feathers)
Red pepper (snood,feet,side feathers)
Raisins (eyes)
Grapes (tail feathers)
Bamboo skewers
Toothpicks

Instructions:

1. Cut off a shallow slice of the rind of the melon to create a flat base for more stability. Using a bamboo skewer attach a Bosc pear to the front of the melon to create the turkey head. (Trim skewer if needed)

2) Cut cheese into a triangle for the beak and add a small piece of red pepper for the snood. Use toothpicks to attach these as well as the raisins for the eyes.

3) Cut red pepper as shown to create feet and place them as shown.

4) Cut cheese into cubes and use cheese and grapes alternately on skewers as shown and then place into the melon to create tail feathers.

5) Slice peppers to create side feathers and use toothpicks to attach to the sides of the melon.

Be creative! You can use other things on the tail feathers like pineapple, ham cubes, turkey cubes or whatever your family enjoys.

Have you made one of these with your kids? We would love to hear how they liked it!

Recipe courtesy of Family Fun.

Filed Under: Featured, Mom's Cafe, Thanksgiving