Birthday Dreams - Football Cupcakes

I had already signed up last week for a cake for Birthday Dreams (bringing birthday's to homeless kids).  Then I saw a SOS on Facebook that they were needing two more cakes for that week.  So I said I can do one more.  LOL just have to giggle when I took on this new volunteering gig I promised Rick I would do only one a month so I didn't overwhelm myself. Somehow I have done about one a week and loved every minute of it!  On facebook they posted it was a sports themed party, so I went on the hunt for a easy cupcake to make. Then I got the info on the party it was a football themed for a 16 YEAR old.  Change of plans! I loved the Candy Clay I made for the previous cupcakes so I decided I could make a football to go on the top of a cupcake!

What I Made

Football Cupcakes:

My first plan was to make these on

Penny's Food Blog Janson's Birthday

What you need:

Cupcake

Frosting

Candy Clay - Brown

Candy Clay - White

Brown sprinkles if you want

I had made a double batch of the Easy Chocolate Cupcake recipe so I made these chocolate also.  I frosted with my Sturdy Buttercream frosting.

Candy Clay:

12 oz (1 Bag) Candy Melts (Color you want - I use Wilton)

1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup

Melt the candy melts in your microwave (mine takes 1 minute 30 seconds). I mix it up to make the chocolate smooth and then add the corn syrup.  It's going to get thick and become a ball.  Put on a piece of plastic wrap and make it flat, wrap up and keep it in a cool place for a few hours or overnight.  I found mine had to sit overnight.  I did a bag of brown and a bag of the white.  I used a little powered sugar to roll out and took a cookie cutter to make the football shape.  I made the lines with the white just by rolling a small piece and placing on the football (see pictures below).

Place on top of the frosted cupcake, I found this clay is perfect and sturdy!  So much easier than the fondant I usually use.  I can't say it enough I'm loving this new technique!

All Boxed up and ready to go:

Thanks for stopping by

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Recap of Football Treats Made

We have been very busy at work and then after work between the tutor for Cole and the YMCA activities I'm running around crazy.  BUT loving it!  I'm getting exercise, so are the boys and the tutor is helping Cole keep on track with his homework. 

So with little time to write up something whitty and clever I'm going to recap the football treats I've made so far :).  I did find out that there is one more game but yet again practices where cancelled this week (pointless).  And the coach that is never at games that has a teen step in and coach never puts Cole in just uses the top 5 kids every game over and over again.  YUP I'm done and I think so is Cole.  So we're going with no last game, just be done with it.  PLUS Saturday I have the boys signed up at the YMCA for swim and a tumbling class.

Football Cookies (Funny Faces)

Football Whoopie Pies

Almond Football Cupcakes

Football Brownies

Football Helmet Men

Football Cream Puffs


Hope you enjoyed our fun Football Treats!
And maybe try one or two :)

Ready for a Touch Down ... Football Mini Cream Pies

And we finish our Football themed treats with a yummy one.  I found the idea for Football Mini Cream Pies on Bubbly Nature Creations.  Now I've made cream puff's before when I made the Cream Puff Bunnies, but this was another game scheduled for 11am and I work until 9am on Saturdays.  Knowing my time would be stretched, plus poor Caden had been throwing up the previous days I went with the Semi-Homemade way thank you Sandra Lee for letting us know that is an ok way to go sometimes!

So I started with a simple Mini Cream Puff recipe on Kraft's Website. 

For Cream Puff:

What you need

1

pkg.  (2-layer size) yellow cake mix

1

pkg.  (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1

cup  cold milk

1-1/2

cups  thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

1

pkg.  (4 oz.) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

make it

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PREPARE cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes. Cool completely.

BEAT pudding mix and milk with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, use serrated knife to cut cupcakes horizontally in half. Whisk 1/2 cup COOL WHIP into pudding; spoon onto bottom halves of cupcakes, using about 1 Tbsp. for each. Cover with cupcake tops.

MICROWAVE remaining COOL WHIP and chocolate in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until blended. Let stand 15 min.; spread onto cupcakes. Refrigerate 15 min.

For Football Themed Cream Puff:

With a piping tip or a ziplock bag cut at the end pipe lines on the top to look like a football.

ALEXIS Notes: I used Wilton White Frosting, added a tip and decorated.

Another simple one to make!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Ready for a Touch Down .... Football Helmet Men (or to be PC I should say People right?? LOL)

Next on our list is some super cute Football Helmet men/people (LOL I'm so not a good PC person).  These Cute little Helmet Men I found on Spoonful (one of my favorite places to go for ideas).  For their men they used pre-made cookies, Most of you know me and know I rather just make my own.  So I found a yummy recipe for Knockoff Swig Sugar Cookies (aka literally the best cookie known to man) on Vintage Revivals site.   Those where their words but I did take a taste and they are pretty darn good.  Since I'm at a standstill with my diet I've decided I'm going to eat right with some little pleasures and keep on exercising and see what happens (1 1/2 years on this diet and I need a break ... ok enough about me). 

Here are the men I made 

(I ran out of red Wilton Icing Color used Maroon so it was a little on pink side):

For Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 C Butter (room temperature)
3/4 C Vegetable Oil
1 1/4 C Sugar
3/4 C Powdered Sugar
2 T Water
2 Eggs
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Cream of Tarter
1 t Salt
5 1/2 C Flour

Cream together Butter, Vegetable Oil, Sugars, Water, and Eggs. Combine dry ingredients and slowly add to butter mixture. Mix until everything is combined.  Your dough should be a little crumbly and not sticky at all.  Roll a golf ball sized ball of dough and place it on your cookie sheet.  Put 1/4 c of sugar and a pinch of salt in a dish (this is in addition to the sugar and salt listed above.)  Stick the bottom of a glass in it.  This is going to be your cookie press. Firmly press it into the center of your dough ball.  You want your dough to spill out over the sides of the glass.  If there is a lip its even better.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  They should just barely be browning on the bottom.    Move cookies to a cooling rack.  Once they are cool put them in the fridge.

Alexis Notes: Instead of rolling into balls.  I rolled my dough out and then used my circle cutter to make sure all the men where the same size and shape.  For the top part the helmet I took a knife and cut out a square where the face would show through (see picture below to see shape, this was the only part that wasn't uniformed in shape, since I free handed each one). 

 For Men:

What you'll need

• Large, soft cookies (we used Archway oatmeal cookies)
• Frosting
• Food coloring
• M&M's Minis
• Black decorator gel
• Black licorice

How to make it

To make each one, first spread a thin layer of frosting on a large, soft cookie. Cut a square from a second cookie to create a helmet shape and set it atop the first.

Coat the helmet with frosting tinted the color of your family's favorite team, then add eyes (M&M's Minis with black decorators' gel dots), a black string licorice face mask, and 2 more M&M's Minis for the helmet's ear holes.

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Alexis Notes: As mentioned above I made the cookies instead of pre-made ones. I used Wilton Icing Color tried my red didn't have enough so I used my maroon and got pink oh well! I used black icing gel for eyes and cut strips of Wilton licorice for the face mask.  I skipped the helmet ear holes.

Another simple one to make!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Ready for a Touch Down ... Brownie Football's

I finish my football creations this week with 3 new creations that I made for Cole's Flag Football team.  We wrapped this past Saturday with our last game of the season.  Things we have learned:  Don't take Flag Football through boys and girls club.  A great place but since run by volunteers that is what you get no real coach and no coach that can show up to games. $70 is a lot to pay when there is no organization and you don't get to keep the jersey like you were told.  Plus they cancel every time it rains ... news flash we live in Washington it's going to rain suck it up and play in the rain! Ok enough on this, onto the recipe!

This was a simple one, I used a box mix which is usually no go in my house but I just returned from my business trip a few days before and was burned out so easy was the way I went.  Along with the game was at 10am and I work until 9am on Saturdays, so give me a break ... lol.

I found this recipe on for Touch Down Brownies on Betty Crocker's Website so of course that is why you see the use of a box mix.  The say to use Betty Crocker Icing, but I stick with my Wilton Icing.

What you Need:

1

box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix

1/4

cup water

1/4

cup vegetable oil

2

eggs

Wilton White Icing Tube

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Line 9-inch square pan with foil, letting foil hang 2 inches over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, chocolate syrup, oil, water and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan.
3. Bake 34 to 37 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Using foil to lift, remove brownies from pan. With football-shaped cookie cutter, cut brownies into football shapes. Pipe on decorating icing to look like football laces.

Alexis Tips: I used Wilton's Pan Release and they just popped out (love this stuff see pic).  I was able to get 10 footballs per pan.  I used my Wilton Piping tip that goes on their tube and piped on the laces.  

Another simple one to make!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

What is on for the Weekend ...

It is our last weekend of Football games this weekend!  And I must say I am happy it is over the $70 was a waste of money for a very unorganized system that we don't get to even keep the jersey's like they said we would be able to when I paid the money.  I will stick to the items that can be done at the YMCA that are free, well included in our monthly fee we pay.  Sadly due to the football game we will miss our Swim and Tumble lesson's this weekend.

We had hip hop class sch for Thursday night but Caden got a tummy ache and threw up all over my car ... ugh.

For this weekend I do plan to do one last football themed item.  Thinking Football Cream Puffs will be on the menu!

I found this idea on Bubbly Nature's Creation

We have a Birthday party at the Pumpkin Patch that the boys are super excited about!

I also need to make something yummy for our amazing tutor who is going over and beyond to help Cole!

PLUS the house is cleaned since the house cleaner came in on Thursday.

I am truly blessed and so happy to say I needed a little help and took the advice to get some!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!