Our Big Girl's Spring Ice Cream 5th Birthday Party

Well you know that birthday parties are big news around here, and my daughter has been planning her 5th birthday party for at least 6 months. She wanted to make sure that everyone could wear "whatever they want" and that there would be lots of ice cream and games and goodie bags. We put together a casually-styled, low-budget party, with lots of DIY, seasonal fruit and garden flowers. These are some pics from our big girl's Spring ice cream party!

Party: Spring ice cream 5th birthday party

Organised by: Steph Bond-Hutkin (that's me!)

Location: Sydney, NSW

Theme: Casual, budget-friendly, pretty ice cream party

Butterfly cupcakes trend and Mother's Day wishes

Happy happy Mother's Day to all you 12,000 wonderful Mums out there reading this post. Yes, that's you! Our work is an amazing legacy, and gift to the world. I hope you all enjoy your day with your families (and with them in your thoughts if you aren't together). And to our own Mums too - thank you for inspiration, and endless love.


Remember to take a break today, even if it's just a cup of tea and something sweet to remind you of the sweet things in your lives. This is a delicious lamington butterfly cupcake that my littlest and I made together. Just a few left now from the dozen, and we'll scoff them for morning tea.

Don't you just love the butterfly cupcake, with it's fresh whipped cream, maybe covering a dollop of jam, and those sweet wings perched on top? Do you remember them growing up? Quite different from today's sugary sweet frosting smothered mini cakes. These be-winged cakes were the only cupcakes that we knew and we adored them. I'm calling a trend - the comeback of the butterfly cupcake! (you read it here first...)

Happy Mother's Day!


Steph
x

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Easy Easter goodies to bake with kids (and my first macarons)

If you are looking for some easy baking activities to do with the kidlets over Easter, I've put together an article for eBay's Mum's Business that might be just for you. The girls and I made all these goodies together - they are all simple and great to keep them busy over the long weekend.

There are some cute bunny cupcakes to make with things you might have around the house:

(take out the toothpicks before serving to the kids, of course).

Or some super-easy mini chick cupcakes:

And how about some Rocky Road for Dad:

Chocolate muesli bunny tails:

And my piece de resistance! My first macarons:

To make it super-easy to make with kids, I used the Donna Hay macaron packaged mix with a few adjustments:
1. add 2 drops of yellow and 1 drop of red food colouring to the egg mix to make peach-coloured macarons
2. swap out the dark chocolate for white chocolate to make light-coloured ganache to sandwich between your macaron shells

Have you tried making macarons yet?

Head over to Mum's Business to read the whole article. And have a super Easter and Passover weekend!

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Party Ideas: Aidan's 2nd Sesame Street Birthday Party

My dear friend Bron put together this super-cute Sesame Street-inspired party for her son Aidan's 2nd birthday. Everyone was asked to come dressed in the colour of their favourite Sesame Street character. It was a sea of primary colours and delicious goodies. I especially love the handmade paper lanterns - old school cool!, Thanks Bron for sharing your tips:

Birthday: For Aidan's 2nd birthday - a relaxed party with friends at the park.
Organised by: Aidan's Mum (Bron).
Location: Willoughby Park, Willoughby, NSW.
Theme: Inspired by Sesame Street. 

 Sour cream banana cake with freckles and smarties and Sesame Street cupcakes.

Party Ideas: Sambellina Airplane and Stars 4th Birthday Party

This glorious airplane and star-themed birthday party comes to you from party expert, Kate from party stationery and accessories company Sambellina. You know the one! Kate used her airplane invitation as a starting point for the colours and decorations and created an aviatory masterpiece for her son Christian's 4th birthday party. Enjoy!

Birthday: Christian's 4th Birthday Party. A very small indoor "do" with family, his cousins and a couple of his very closest friends.

Organised by: Mum Kate (from Sambellina).

Theme: Airplanes and Stars.

Invitation: Invitation by Sambellina.

First Birthday Cupcakes

Sigh. My baby is not a baby anymore. She's a sweet, funny, happy one-year-old with four teeth and no hair. Too cute. We were at Nanna and Pops' place for her birthday, just after Christmas, and celebrated with rainbow cupcakes and cherries. Happy Birthday little one!

Image: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Lola's 3rd Birthday Party

We LOVE birthday parties at Bondville and were lucky enough to attend a simply lovely party on Sunday for our friend Lola's 3rd birthday. It was such a gorgeous day at the park and all the kids went ga-ga over the amazing rainbow cake that Lola's Mum and Dad made together (Mum made the cake, Dad did the icing). And how about gorgeous bunting that Dad also made? And the cool tent? A lovely, sweet day for a lovely, sweet girl. Happy Birthday Lola!

Trends: Whoopie Pies

Even though I still adore making them, cupcakes are getting a little tired as King of party foods. I thought that macarons might have given them a run for their money (see article here), but they aren't the easiest thing to make. But I am quite excited about a new (for us Aussies) potential party food winner.... the whoopie pie.

Whoopie pies are an old fashioned treat in the New England and Pennsylvania areas of the US and are essentially a cake cookie - vanilla cream filling sandwiched in a fluffy chocolate (or sweet spiced pumpkin) cake bun. Less fiddly than a cupcake, and a lot easier to make than a macaron, the whoopie pie has a more rustic, handmade look. I can imagine a huge heaping pile of them being wolfed down at a kids party, or different flavours perched casually on a cupcake stand. And maybe some spiked cream whoopie pies for the adults. Totally droolworthy, and doable!

I've been seeing whoopie pies everywhere online. And a quick search shows an article from the New York Times last year proclaiming "Whoopie! Cookie, Pie or Cake, It's Having Its Moment". Whoopie pies were believed to have orginated in Pennsylvania, where they were baked by Amish women for farmers’ lunchboxes (who proclaimed Whoopie! upon finding them).

Here are a few recipes on Taste.com.au and Epicurious for whoopie pies using a marshmallow filling but I'm more tempted by this buttercream filling recipe from The New York Times. You can buy a Whoopie Pie packaged mix and cooking pan from Williams Sonoma in the US (as well as several other large US kitchen supply stores). And here is a great article from Not Quite Nigella about them.

I can't wait to make them. Have you tried them? Or made them?

Image: clevercupcakes via Flickr

Brisbane ABCD Meetup Ad Winners

We couldn't decide, and awarded the Autumn 2010 Brisbane ABCD Meetup goodie bag prize to Samantha from Jetta's Nest for her gorgeous art cards, and Bel from Enticing Icing for her handmade sugar art for cupcakes and other baked goodies.

I've written about Samantha's fabulous artwork and craft before, and my Sophie owns two of her gorgeous handmade tops - one made from a vintage Holly Hobby pillow case and the other a mushroom applique featuring one of Samantha's signature sassy girl faces (check them out here). Both are adorable and one-of-a-kind, like all of Samantha's work.

You might know Bel as one half of girls' hair accessories label EmBelish, but did you know that she has just started her own company Enticing Icing? She makes, rolls, and hand-cuts gorgeous sugar art for use as cupcake toppers and a myriad of other pretty things. Here are some of her butterflies in flight on top of cupcakes that I made for Livingstone's birthday party. Bit more fab than my usual cachous!


Images: Steph Bond

Events: Livingstone's 2nd Birthday Party

lolly bags by Karla

cupcakes by Karla

Vintage Tiki food cover; Liv in dress by Alice Thompson

Vintage thermos (drool...)

Sophie in Eeni Meeni Miini Moh dress and Wild Things Of Noosa hat; cupcakes by Karla

cupcakes by Karla

We had a lovely time on the weekend at Livingstone's 2nd birthday eating cupcakes and playing at the "Fairy Park". I just love the lolly bags that Livingstone's Mum Karla handmade, and am totally coveting the original 60's duo thermos.

Images: Steph Bond

Trends: Ultimate Australian Cupcake Directory

After seeing the delectable cupcakes from Tabitha's Place at the Boutique Markets at Portside Wharf, I just had to put together a round-up of cupcakes from Australia for your mouth-watering pleasure. Check out the cupcake directory for QLD, Sydney, Melbourne below - I will continue to add to this round-up with Adelaide, Perth, Tasmanian and regional cupcakes. Let me know if I need to add your favourite!

Brisbane Cupcakes

Couture Cupcakes

Choc Hazelnut cupcake
Image: Cupcake Couture

Tabitha's Place

Apple, Maple and Pecan cupcake with maple icing and toffee shards
Image: Steph Bond

The Cupcake Company

Image: Leanne Stamatellos
Check out my previous post on The Cupcake Company here.

Cupcakes By K

Image: Cupcakes By K

The Cupcake Parlour

Rockn Road cupcake
Image: The Cupcake Parlour

Carousel's Cupcakes

Chilli Chilli Chocolate cupcakes
Image: Carousel's Cupcakes

A Little Slice of Heaven

Image: A Little Slice of Heaven

MySweetopia

Image: MySweetopia

Butterfly Cakes

Image: Butterfly Cakes

Sunshine Coast Cupcakes
Cupcake Cuisine

Image: Cupcake Cuisine

Eden Cupcakes

Image: Eden Cupcakes

Gold Coast Cupcakes

Simply Cupcakes

Sprinkles cupcake
Image: Simply Cupcakes

Cupcake Passion

Lemon Coconut Meringue cupcake
Image: Cupcake Passion

Sydney Cupcakes

Cupcakes on Pitt

Tiramisu cupcake
Image: Cupcakes on Pitt

The Cupcake Bakery

Red Velvet cupcake
Image: The Cupcake Bakery
Melbourne store opens in July 2009.

My Little Cupcake

Image: My Little Cupcake

Sparkle Cupcakery

Image: Sparkle Cupcakery

The Cupcake Factory

Classic cupcake with pink sprinkles
Image: The Cupcake Factory

Newcastle Cupcakes

Hello Naomi

Cherry Blossom cupcakes
Image: Hello Naomi

Melbourne Cupcakes

Cupcake Central

Image: Cupcake Central

Cupcake Corner

Yellow Ducks Cupcakes

Image: Cupcake Corner

The Cupcake Queens

Image: The Cupcake Queens

Sugadeaux Cupcakes

Image: Sugadeaux Cupcakes

Little Cupcakes

Image: Little Cupcakes

Sweetcheeks Cookies and Cakes

Mini cupcakes

Image: Sweetcheeks Cookies and Cakes

The Cupcake Kitchen

Bows cupcakes

Image: The Cupcake Kitchen

Three Sweeties

Rose and daisy cupcakes

Image: Three Sweeties

Crabapple Cupcakes and Supplies

Flourless cupcake

Image: Crabapple Cupcakes and Supplies

Sweet! Cupakes and Treats

Image: Sweet! Cupakes and Treats

Sweethut Cupcakes

Image: Sweethut Cupcakes

Adelaide Cupcakes

Lavish Cupcakes

Simple flower cupcake

Image: Lavish Cupcakes

Delicious Cupcakes

Afternoon Tea Cupcakes

Image: Delicious Cupcakes

Miss Cupcakes

Choc Orange Explosion cupcake

Image: Miss Cupcakes

Bliss Cupcakes

Image: Bliss Cupcakes

Pink Frosting Cupcakes

Cheesecake Surprise cupcakes

Image: Pink Frosting Cupcakes

Perth Cupcakes

Muffin Cup

Image: Muffin Cup

Sugarbloom Cupcakes & Macarons

Image: Sugarbloom Cupcakes & Macarons

We all know that cupcakes have been a major food trend for the past decade, and the desire with which folks pursue the perfect cake has not dwindled in that time. I remember when cupcakes were plain spongecake patties with a round scooped out the top, replaced with whipped cream, and then the scoop cut in two and replaced on top of the cream as "butterfly wings". You know what I'm talking about.

Now, cupcakes are incredible works of art, I believe ignited by the Magnolia Bakery cupcakes from Sex and the City. Cupcakes soon started to take prominence in bakeries and patisseries, and then cupcake-only stores sprung up in all the major cities.

These days, cupcakes are a suitable alternative to a wedding cake, perfect for a baby shower and a must-have at kids' birthday parties.

I'm interested in your favourite cupcakes - recipes and secret sources. And have I missed your favourite cupcake shop? Let me know!