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Monday, December 16, 2013

Grinch Christmas Cupcake Toppers


I made these Grinch Christmas Cupcake Toppers simply because I love the Grinch!
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is my very favorite Christmas movie.
Seriously, Dr. Seuss was a creative genius.
 
"You're a monster, Mr. Grinch,
Your heart's an empty hole,
Your brain is full of spiders, you've got garlic in your soul,
Mr. Gri-inch...I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!"

My favorite part, of course, is when the Grinch's heart grows three sizes.
The despicable bad guy becomes a good guy!
I just love a happy ending.

You can make these edible cupcake toppers with candy melts or chocolate.
 To download my Grinch template below, click on the image to open it.
Then right click on the image and select "Save Image As".
Print the template and tape it to the back of a cookie sheet.
Tape a piece of wax paper on top of the template.


 What You Will Need: 
Frosted cupcakes 
Black candy melts or chocolate chips
Green, red, white and yellow candy melts
Piping bags fitted with small round tip (Wilton #2)

First, fill a piping bag with melted chocolate chips or black candy melts.
Pipe the Grinch outline on the wax paper.


Next, use red candy melts to fill in the santa hat and pupils.


Continue to fill in the green, white and yellow parts.
I found "Vibrant Green" candy melts...a perfect Grinchy color!
If you can't find this color, just mix green and yellow to get the right shade. 
 

Helpful Hint: Use a toothpick to push the candy melts into the corners
and clean up the edges.

Don't worry if they look messy when you are done...this is the back side!


When the toppers have hardened, carefully peel them off the wax paper and turn them over.
 Place each Grinch topper on a frosted cupcake and enjoy!


"Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before...
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

Merry Chrismas!
 
 I share my recipes and tutorials at these fun link parties.

Another Christmas cupcake idea...
http://birdonacake.blogspot.com/2012/12/strawberry-santa-hat-cupcakes.html

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Give the Gift of Gingerbread - Blog Hop & Giveaway!


Today I am part of a fun blog hop and giveaway!
You can see 20 gingerbread themed recipes and all the fabulous prizes below.

 My recipe is this Chocolate Gingerbread Cake. 

I decided to put a tasty twist on classic gingerbread by mixing it with chocolate.
The two flavors together are a fantastic combination!

Top it with cream cheese frosting and decorate it with chocolate gingerbread men,
and you have one fantastic Christmas cake!




Chocolate Gingerbread Cake


by Bird On A Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Gingerbread Cake
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup boiling water
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 8 oz. package cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Chocolate Gingerbread Cake
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of two 9 inch cake pans with wax paper; grease the sides of the pans. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars. Mix in the oil and molasses. Add the eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. In another bowl, mix the boiling water with the cocoa powder. Alternate adding the dry mixture and wet mixture to the batter until well combined. Pour your batter in the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla. Gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar. Spread over cooled cake.

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  To make the gingerbread men, I used a silicon mold and melted chocolate.
First, I filled in the eyes, mouth and buttons with white chocolate.



 Then, I filled in the whole cavity with chocolate.



 After these little guys set up, gently push on the other side of the mold until they pop out.
Then press them into the frosting around your cake.
 

 Give the Gift of Gingerbread
Blog Hop and Giveaway


Use the links below to hop from blog to blog
to see these wonderful gingerbread themed recipes:



Thanks to our amazing sponsors, you have a chance to win all of these prizes:

Shabby Apple - Choice of a Dress (from a list) $100 value
Wilton - Gingerbread Decorating Prize Pack $50 value
Cheap Cookie Cutters - $50 Gift Card
Sweet Works - Candy Prize Pack $25 value
Easy Lunchboxes - lunch box set $25 value
Karen's Cookies - $20 gift card
Sweet Simple Stuff - Cake Pop Prize Pack $20 value
CandiQUIK - CandiQUIK Prize Pack $25 value

The Give the Gift of Gingerbread Giveaway will run from December 11 through December 17, 2013. Entrants must be US residents, 18 years or older Void where prohibited by law. 
Enter via the Rafflecopter entry form below. 
One winner will be chosen to win the entire prize pack and will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing information. If the winner does not respond in 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.