5th Birthday pink dance party

It's a five-year-old girl's dream party - lots of pink, delicious treats, all your friends, and a dance party! Accalia's Mum and Dad always put together amazing parties for their girls (see the fairy princess party here, bubbas and bears here), and this one was no exception. Holly Hiphop was the star of the show, teaching the kids some cool moves and playing games with them. Accalia's Mum Renay kindly shares with us her tips and tricks for putting together a fun pink dance party:

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

Donna Hay macaron packet mix

Well, Masterchef helped a lot, but it seems that macarons really have hit the bigtime. Check out my post about macarons back here in 2008 when I thought they might take over from cupcakes. I still think they are a bit less accessible than a cupcake (hence my prediction of the whoopie pie here!), but they are enjoying the spotlight nonetheless.

Donna Hay was super-clever to be the first to bring out a macaron packaged mix to help those of who are intimidated by Adriano Zumbo to take the leap. Have you tried it yet? Clare from mondocherry did an amazing job. As did the product tester at taste.com.au.

I might try adding a few drops of raspberry juice for my big girl's birthday party in September (yes the planning has begun!). Will keep you posted...

You can find Almond Macaron with Chocolate Filling packet mix by Donna Hay in the Donna Hay online store, the Donna Hay General Store in Sydney, as well as various supermarkets.

Image: Donna Hay

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

Trends: Macarons (Macaroons)

I keep reading about Macarons. These are sometimes referred to as Macaroons, (although technically they are a different cookie made from coconut), Parisian Macarons and French Macarons. I'm talking about those crispy, pastel, sweet treats with the soft centre that look so delicate and pretty.

According to Wikipedia, Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. They are a traditional French pastry from Nancy and are said to date back to the 18th Century.

Macarons are popping up all over the place. They were featured heavily in Sofia Coppola's influential movie Marie Antoinette in 2006, and I have seen them on many blogs recently including (Inside A Black Apple), Babyccino, Syrup & Tang (with a great review of macarons in Sydney and Melbourne), ColourLovers, David Lebovitz, Fashion Week Daily, and Serious Eats, to name just a few.

Two much-revered brands are Pierre Hermé and Ladurée, both based in Paris. For more detailed information about macarons, there is a great post by Chocolate & Zucchini. And if you just can't get enough of macarons, check out images on Flickr.

Images: Top Louis Beche via Flickr ; Middle Marc Kjerland via Flickr ; Bottom ShironekoEuro via Flickr