Such Pretty Things

Happy 4th of July! And Some Strawberries, too!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! Here are some (white) chocolate-dipped strawberries that I made for the occasion...

They are the perfect dessert in my opinion - no-baking required, soooo healthy (the strawberries, of course!), and they are so fast and easy to make. Perfect to bring to a last minute picnic or BBQ!

Just a few tips when making your own - make sure your berries are washed, dried, and at room temperature before dipping. Use good quality chocolate. And work fast if adding those sprinkles - the chocolate sets up very quickly! :-)

Have a lovely holiday!!!

XOXO

Jessica

Birthday Cake Ice Cream

Who doesn't love the delicious combination of cake and ice cream?  As a little girl, I was always delighted when a Carvel or Baskin Robbins ice cream cake was served at a birthday party. Those are some pretty yummy memories. So, with some family birthdays coming up this summer, I thought I would experiment with making something evocative of those old-fashioned ice cream cakes - birthday cake ice cream!

And it was so easy to make. You only need a few ingredients: cake (pound cake holds up especially well), ice cream (I like vanilla for this because it looks pretty, but any flavor will work), some butter-cream icing in your favorite colors, and SPRINKLES (confetti or jimmies are best, as the colors don't bleed as much as the non-pareils).

Now, if you are in the mood, by all means - break out the ice cream maker and bake up your favorite cake recipe. But I was feeling lazy, so I just bought some really good quality ice cream and called upon my good, old friend, Sara Lee. :-) I did make my own butter-cream icing though - it's easy and so much better than the canned stuff. And sprinkles are never on short supply around here. To begin, take your ice cream out of the freezer and allow it to soften up a bit. Cut your pound cake into small, bite-size pieces...

Prepare your buttercream and tint it to your color(s) of choice. I chose pink and a minty green...

Now, in a large bowl, mix dollups of icing in with your ice cream - being careful to not over-mix. It should look something like this...

Carefully add in your cake cubes...

And your sprinkles...

It will look like this...

Place the mixture back in the freezer to harden-up again. See how pretty it looks when it's all done...

All those bits of cake, ice cream, and icing! Of course, you can vary the flavors and mix-ins, so the possibilities are infinite!

:-)

Jessica

Valentine's Day Heart Cookies

As a special treat, I made some heart-shaped cookies to put in the girls' lunches for Valentine's Day.

Just simple sugar cookies. To dress them up, I went for a pale aqua icing and lots of pastel colored sugar.

Hopefully, they will be a sweet surprise for two of my most favorite valentines.

XOXO

Jessica

Valentine Marshmallow Pops

These heart-shaped marshmallow pops are a great little treat for Valentine's Day.

They are soooo easy to make and are a wonderful activity to do with the kiddies!  You will need heart-shaped marshmallows (I found mine at Target)...

They came in a mixed bag of pretty pink and white...

You will also need white chocolate (or candy melts), lollipops sticks (my cute striped ones are from World Market)...

...and SPRINKLES (of course)!

To make them, simply insert the sticks into the base of the marshmallows - pushing them in as far as you can without them coming out the top.  Melt your chocolate as instructed and carefully dip your marshmallows in the chocolate. I dipped some completely in chocolate and others I chose to just coat the fronts. Quickly add your sprinkles before the chocolate hardens and lay them on wax or parchment paper to set.

Once set, you can serve them as is...or put them in little cello bags tied with a ribbon.  They make great little favors to hand out at Valentine's Day parties. Personally, I like presenting them as a colorful bouquet!

XOXO

Jessica

Real Life Sprinkles

Gourmet sprinkles are truly a glorious thing, but sometimes even I just want some regular, old-fashioned sprinkles (jimmies?) to put on my ice cream. Mr. Sprinkles fits the bill!

He's a new discovery for me, but a friend tells me he's been around for a  long, long time. Mr. Sprinkles' sprinkles are happy, tasty and colorful (they come in chocolate, too)!

I absolutely love them for everyday, real life treats! And to those of you who are afraid of clowns...I deeply apologize for this post. :-)

Happy Friday!

Jessica

 

 

Pretty Shopping: Le Grande Epicerie, Paris

It is rainy with dark gray skies here today, so not ideal for photo-taking. So, I thought I would share one of my all-time favorite Parisian shops, La Grande Epicerie at Bon Marche.

Le Bon Marche ("the good market") is one of the best known department stores in Paris. And, while I love to look at all the latest designer fashions and accessories, my favorite department in Bon Marche is this massive gourmet food emporium. If you love cooking or baking (or just eating!), you need to put this place on your bucket list.

This is where I purchased those incredible French sprinkles that I wrote about the other day.

They have an extensive and incredible selection of beautiful candy, unusual baking supplies, and the prettiest sugars you will ever see.

They also carry lots of items I have never seen here in the States. Like this fabulous Violette beverage...

Yes, you know I brought one of those back! And these pretty syrups...

And colorful cookies!

I found so many pretty things at La Grande Epicerie (as is evidenced by that first shot of my quickly filling shopping basket). It is definitely a shop worth visiting!

XOXO

Jessica

 

Why I Love HomeGoods

Last Spring, I took a truly wonderful vacation to London and Paris. As you may remember, I visited a great many patisseries, cupcake shops and candy stores. But I also made sure to go to as many local gourmet food shops as possible - as I am always on the lookout for pretty sprinkles and baking supplies to add to my collection.  So, while I was in Paris, I was over-joyed to discover this incredible line of French sprinkles!

Yes, they were a "bit" pricey, were a major pain to schlep back to the U.S. in my carry-on luggage and caused a hold up at Customs - but they were definitely worth it. And then, just last week, I was shopping at my local HomeGoods when I spied these...

Hmmm...the bottle on the left is one that I brought back from Paris and the one on the right is from Homegoods.  They look exactly the same, don't they?  And do you know why?

Because they are!!!!

And that, my friends, is why I LOVE Homegoods.

:-)

Jessica

Pretty Organized: Cupcake Cases Jar Part II

I LOVE my huge glass jar filled with pretty cupcake cases, but truthfully, it had been getting a bit disorganized as of late. My wrapper collection had been growing and my jar wasn't getting any bigger, so something had to give. It was time for a little cupcake case organization.

I purged some oldies and added some new favorites.

I am happy with the result and, hopefully, I will be able to keep it this way for at least a few days. :-)

XOXO

Jessica

{Half} Birthday Sprinkle Pancakes

I'm not quite sure of when we started celebrating the girls' half-birthdays, but it has become a sort-of tradition in our house. Yes, there are some years when life is crazy busy and I completely forget.  I guess that's why "Mini-me" threw herself a party last year - complete with invites, a cake, and presents that she got for herself! So, this year I was determined to remember. I didn't really want to bake a cake, but I recalled a recipe for birthday cake pancakes that Rachel Ray posted some years back and thought I would give it a try.

You can find the recipe here, but they are so easy.  You basically just make up a box of yellow cake mix and add lots of these to the batter...

For the "syrup", I just made some pink icing to drizzle over the top and then threw on some more sprinkles for decoration.

Add some pretty, colorful candles...

...and you've got a fun (half) birthday breakfast!

"Mini-mini-me" recently suggested that we start celebrating quarter-birthdays, too.  Such a lovely idea, I told her...but soooooo not happening!  :-)

XOXO

Jessica

Cupcakes to Go!

Lately it seems that everyone in the blog-o-sphere is making desserts in jars, so today I am jumping on the band wagon. My family loves to picnic and I'm always trying to think of good desserts to bring along. The girls love cupcakes, but they are hard to transport and often end up getting smooshed.  So, cupcakes in jars seem like the perfect portable solution!

I bought the clear glass jars at Micheal's for about a dollar each. These were just the right diameter (the opening needs to be able to comfortably accommodate a fork). This is a fun project to do with the kids and don't worry if they end up looking a little messy - you really can't go wrong when cake and frosting are involved.  :-). I just baked up some cupcakes and sliced them in half.  Depending on the size of your jar (and your preferred ratio of icing to cake), you'll need about one and a half cupcakes per jar. Simply alternate layers of cupcake with layers of icing until you reach the top of the jar. I also added some confetti sprinkles between each layer - for extra color and crunch!

End with a swirl of icing on top and a little decoration if you like (I used some icing roses). Then, seal them up and tie on a fork with some pretty ribbon and you're ready to go!

XOXO

Jessica