Bat cupcakes
While technically speaking I’m no longer in the cupcake business, I had a special request for some bat cupcakes and I just could not turn it down. Especially with Halloween coming up, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to try out some bat decorations.
I spent a long time practicing drawing bats in frosting and but every one felt like something was missing. I was about to give up and go another route when I realized what it was. Eyes! They needed eyes. I grabbed some sprinkles and very carefully placed two tiny beady eyes on each bat.
They manage to still be a little cute without being cartoonish. These would be perfect for a Halloween party or just for some who liked bats. Just imagine a dozen of these little guys at a party.
I’m debating making cupcakes for our Halloween gathering this weekend, as I make cupcakes every year. Maybe I’ll make ones with pumpkins on top. What’s your favorite way to decorate cupcakes?
birthday cake
This weekend I got to be a part of a cake and ice cream birthday party with two lovely ladies, Tara and Gen. I would say that we outdid any other party I’ve been a part of with mere quantity of delicious cake and ice cream.
We had 3 cakes, more than a dozen cupcakes and two ice cream cakes from Scoops.
I made a chocolate covered vanilla cake and a red velvet cake. There were chocolate cupcakes too.
But my absolute favorite part…
…was the brown bread ice cream cake. Heaven on a plate. I’ve always wanted to have vegan brown bread ice cream. It was exactly as I imagined it would be. Amazing!
We all wore fluffy tiaras and sang happy birthday and ate loads of cake and ice cream. I had a major sugar overload but it was well worth it.
Oh, and I kind of fell in love with Tara’s cat Lucky.
How cute is she?
Harry Potter Day
Today is the day that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I wanted to do a something a little extra special, and since I didn’t have time to make myself a scarf, so I decided to make some Gryffindor scarf cupcakes. I took my cue from the knit night cupcakes over on Vegan Yum Yum. Unfortunately, with my late night baking, I didn’t have any marzipan to sculpt with. I used a bit of rolled fondant instead. It didn’t quite have the materiality of the marzipan, but still looked cute.
It was a fun little project, it would be fun to make some for all the houses for a Harry Potter party. I think when Deathly Hallows Part II comes out, I’ll throw a huge festive event. Oh gosh, I can’t wait to go see the movie.
I’m excited for Thanksgiving next week, I’ve got a few exciting recipes to planned out, I can’t wait to make.
Last but not least, today is officially 3 months until our wedding. There is so much left to do before then! It’s time to really get cracking on that list. I think we have quite a few of our major decisions figured out, but still have some tough choices to make. Not to mention a lot of projects to complete. This weekend I’m going to have my first dress dress fitting. I’m nervous and excited all at once. I hope it goes well.
Halloween Treat roundup
Halloween is just around the corner and I thought we all could use a little dessert inspiration.
I’m thinking of making a fancy Halloween cake this year, just have to find the time. I really like the idea of painting on a cake or using some stencils.
Here are a few of my favorites I’ve made over the years.
Cutest, easiest ghost sugar cookies. If you can frost a cookie you can make these.
Chocolate zombie cake. Gotta show the zombie love.
And zombies need some brains to eat.
Dandies Marshmallow ghost cake. I love anything that’s creepy and cute at the same time.
Or you can get really crazy with pumpkins, spiderwebs, bats and more.
Personally I always want to make chic-o-stick cupcakes around Halloween, but can’t ever find them.
What are your favorite Halloween treats?
Halloween Spirit
This weekend we had our 3rd Annual Halloween Movie Marathon. It wasn’t as crazy as last year, where we went for two weekends in a row, but we still watched movies from Saturday night all the way through to Sunday night.
I made some pb cups & peppermint patties, because you have to have some Halloween candy. Some roasted pumpkin seeds for something salty. And of course, some pumpkin spice & espresso cupcakes, well, because I’m good at it. I didn’t, on the other hand, take photos. Mainly because of our spooky Halloween lighting.
Shawn also made tofurky dogs for everyone to fuel us through the night. And lots of coffee. LOTS of coffee and popcorn.
Anyway…this is just a preface to say that my post today is neither cute nor delicious. In fact, it’s creepy. Shawn and I have spent a good deal of time at the Natural History Museum lately. We are trying to take full advantage of our membership there. Not to mention they have amazingly cool stuff.
I thought this might be the only time of year when I could get away with sharing some of the awesome photos I’ve been able to get there at the museum and at special events. Get ready for a bunch of bones, insects and dead things. So if you’re squeamish, you’ve been warned.
Antlers in storage.
A walrus skull. Massive.
Shawn and a blue whale skull at the museum’s marine mammal warehouse. This whale was recovered after it was hit and killed by a commercial freight ship about 30 years ago.
The Natural History Museum is part of the network that collects dead animals that have been washed ashore for research. They have the second largest collection of sea mammals, right after the Smithsonian.
Hippo skull. I’m pretty sure this is Bubbles, but now I’m not positive.
We ended our pre-Halloween weekend by going to the museum’s haunted cave party. It was really a family thing, but it was lots of fun wandering around after hours in costumes. I’m totally obsessed with all the taxidermy they have. I am really just obsessed with everything in the museum.
Oh and in case you were wondering what we watched this weekend…here is the playlist…
