This idea will work well as part of a school Valentine party or childrens holiday party.

1.  Make or buy plain cupcakes or cookies for each person who will be attending the holiday party. Buy one or two per person and allow for extras in case of less-than-perfect quality control.

2.  You will also need two or three kinds of frosting, a variety of holiday sprinkles, mini M & Ms, tiny chocolate chips, toffee pieces and nuts. Choose the ones you want for the cookies or cupcakes you will be decorating.

3.  Be sure to bring or provide containers for the toppings and knives, paper towels, waxed paper, and a small paper plate for each child.

4.  Prepare a holiday cookie or cupcake menu for each child. Each child will check a box or line for kind of frosting and sprinkles desired. There should also be a space for their name. Have each child fill out the menu and collect them.

5.  Choose a holiday foreperson. This person is in charge of holiday decorating crews, job assignments and quality control. The child chosen should be able to work well with the other children.

6.  Assign children to groups of four or five. Introduce them to the foreperson and explain that they will be filling the holiday cookie or cupcake menu requests. You might want to complete one of the cookies or cupcakes as an example.

7.  Give the first group four or five holiday menus to complete. Each child will have a job, a kind of frosting or a specific type of sprinkle or topping to apply. Make sure they understand what their job is and that it is important to listen to the foreperson and work together.

8.  The foreperson will make sure each person does their job and that the assigned menus are completed successfully. Explain to the foreperson the importance of being firm but kind and encouraging. Help them understand the power of positive role-modeling.

9.  Have an activity planned for the groups that are waiting to decorate the holiday treats such as a puzzle, crossword or game. This will keep everyone busy and having a good time.

10.  When all the holiday treats are frosted and sprinkled, take each childs menu and pass out the cookies or cupcakes. Its fun to see if everyone gets the treat they ordered. Let the children know the good things you noticed while they were working together.

This activity can be tailored to any holiday celebration and is fun and a good way to provide a learning experience.

When it is time to bake cookies, we usually think that it is complicated, that it takes a lot of time. In one word : that it is not worthwhile ! We will show you hereunder that it is simply not true. Baking cookies is easy, fast and, most important, fun. Come and join all our readers who decided to give it a try and now, just cannot stop trying to find new recipes, new ways of preparing delicious cookies for all occasions.

It is Christmas time and you decide to bake some cookies. You never did it and you think that it might be complicated. It certainly takes long to prepare and you will need a lot of ingredients. Which ones ? Where to find the exact quantities ? How will it come out ? Will the children like them? We also asked those exact questions….and some more ! We found answers and we bring them to you for a fast and easy review.

Contrary to what we usually think, it is not at all difficult to bake cookies. We find great recipes with the exact ingredients and quantities. We just have to follow them step by step. The result will be delicious cookies that will please the children…and their parents !

We can even find non-bake recipes. That is really easy and fast to prepare! You could organize the preparation of those cookies with the children. They love to give a hand and to taste those great cookies afterwards.

We can prepare cookies with almost any ingredient. Just name it : Chocolate comes first to mind but we can also prepare cookies with granola, with pumkin, etc. You will discover recipes that were used a lot by our grandmothers and you will retrieve the smells of your childhood.

Imagine taking out the hot cookies that you prepared from the oven. Your kitchen, and maybe your house, smells like it used to when you mother or your grandmother prepared cookies. Imagine how the whole family will enjoy eating those great cookies that you prepared.

It is much easier to prepare cookies, baking them or even non-baking them, than it is usually thought. I put a lot of recipes and information on one site for you to review. On this site, recipes are added daily ! Information about baking and even cooking is given several times a day.

If you’re like a majority of people you’re on a health kick to enjoy life more. Of which one problem that you may face is giving up all of those sweet cookies for a healthy cookie. For sure you may not believe that any cookie without tons of sugar can be good. However this may not hold true, and besides eating a healthy cookie is certainly best for you. Find out more about some of the cookies you can eat, and why they’re good for you.

Sure, its hard to change a life time of bad eating habits with sweets, but remember it CAN be done. Nevertheless if Cookie Monster from Sesame Street can do it, surely you can too. Just because you choose to eat a healthy cookie doesn’t mean that you’re going to be limited on taste. There are dozens of recipes that exist on the Internet and in a number of cookbooks that include delicious flavors that taste sweet. A healthy cookie means digging into oatmeal, raisins, bananas, coconuts, or even apple.

You will definitely need to know the inside secrets if you are still trying to figure out how a cookie could taste so good even with all the fruit. For starters, substitution of hard granulated sugars can be replaced with artificial sweeteners. At times the use of pure white sugars that are less refined are used too. Brown sugar is used in a lot of cookies, and amazingly its good for you too. In other words there’s not as much sugar in the sugar, and the cookie turns into a healthy cookie to eat. In addition raw honey also plays a part to in making a healthy cookie because its not processed.

Cookies can be made too with no white refined sugar when you mix a lot of different types of fruit into it. Raisins, apples, and dates have a distinctive flavor and they are a very naturally sweet dessert. Also raw coconut makes a superb flavor for a cookie. In fact one very healthy cookie is a Coconut drop which is just naturally sweet. You can either put into the mixture, or browned and then topped on top of a sugar free cookie to give it that most excellent taste. Oils play a part in making a cookie sweet, so use it as much as possible in your baking.

Lastly, you can even cut down oils too. If you do not want to add any type of hydrogenated oil or trans fats, its easier to eat a scrumptious cookie. All you have to do is to add some light chocolate, a few fruits of berries and nuts. Sometimes you may just want to eliminate the flour too, and eat it as a bar dessert. Whatever type of healthy cookie that you decide to make or purchase, make sure that you enjoy it. Its hard enough to give up the old habits of past for a healthy choice in our day.

Once the wedding is over then the partying begins, it is your reception and what happens there? You cut your cake. Many people order in cakes from large bakeries and wedding shops but they can be made just as nice at home or from a local baker. Many couples have tiered wedding cakes which usually consist of three tiers and a model bride and groom at the top.

When choosing your Wedding Cake Designer you should give at least 6 months notice. Not only does this give time for your fruit cakes to be matured but good cake designers do get booked very quickly. Some take bookings a year or more in advance. Some people stick to the usual fruit cake but others like to be a little bit more experimental and have maybe a flavoured sponge or even more daring than that, a carrot cake!!

The new trends in wedding cakes allow brides to have a cake that not only looks good – it tastes good too! Brides dont need to settle for the traditional white vanilla cake with the plastic bride and groom on top any more. So go all out and get cheesecake or crumpets! All that matters is that it tastes and looks good.

Wedding cakes are a special part of the wedding, this is where the bride and groom do their first real action together as a married couple, they pull together and cut a cake, although it does not seem much to the ordinary person but its significance is highly relevant!

The wedding cake is unique to all couples, they choose their own decorations, style and taste. Usually most of the planning is left to the women when it comes to wedding so the cake usually matches her tastes!

Weddings are beautiful and wonderful places to be, they are full of happy thoughts and feelings. A wedding is a joyous time for family and friends to get together to celebrate the marriage of two people that they care for, so why not celebrate it with cake?! We celebrate everything else with cake!

Wedding cake toppers have long been the traditional symbol of married couples as they were symbolically placed above the wedding cake for everybody to see.

Wedding cake toppers are available in a wide array of designs, colors, and styles wherein couples can choose whatever they think would best portray their marriage.

So, for those who want to know some tips regarding the right way to choose wedding cake topers, here are some tips that you may use:

1. Never use wedding cake toppers that are made of plastics, especially the cheap ones.

Even if you are tight on a budget, it is best not to choose wedding cake toppers that are made of plastics. Usually, these are the ones that are readily available in the department stores.

Wedding cake toppers should be as exceptional as your wedding cake. Therefore, it is best to use wedding cake toppers that is out of ordinary and never before seen in any wedding. This may cost a little bit more than what you have intended to spend with but would definitely convert your wedding cake into something wonderful, one that would definitely make your wedding truly a memorable event.

2. Be creative.

It is best if the wedding along with your wedding cake and cake toppers are all personalized. This means that the designs and styles are creatively made by the couple. This will add more romance and glamour on the wedding itself.

Best of all, do not be constrained with the traditional and classical designs of wedding cake toppers. You may deviate from the customs and have your very own wedding cake toppers.

Today, there are many contemporary designs that the couple may use. In fact, they can even have their own ideas. All they have to do is to ask their baker to make the concept and use it as their wedding cake topper.

3. For the budget conscious couple, you can use your parents wedding cake topper if it is still available. This will truly make your wedding cake very special because of the hand-down generation.

The point is, whatever designs or styles of cake toppers you choose to have on your wedding cake, the fact that it symbolizes your marriage is already a special concept that no other item can replace.

Wedding cake toppers are not just sheer embellishments in a cake but more of an emblem, one that best represents the love that is flowing in the hearts of the couple.

Planning and preparing for a baby shower can be a big chore. There are many, many things that need to be done leading up to the big day, this article will provide some helpful advice for a particularly important part of the baby shower planning process… choosing a cake.

For the party, you will think about what decorations to use on the place, what will be the program, what games to have, what baby shower favors to give, and, what to serve.

During the baby shower party, the table centerpiece is most likely to be a baby shower cake. The baby shower cake cannot be similar to the cake that can just be bought from the local bakeshop.

It is better if you or one of the guests baked the baby shower cake. Doing so will also assure you that the cake that will be served as a table centerpiece is in accordance with the theme that you have conceptualized.

Of course, preordering the cake will also be fine as long as you give enough time for the cake to be prepared and that you have discussed with the person who will prepare the cake the concept of the baby shower party and how you would like the cake to look.

However, if you have some baking skills, or if you can follow instructions from cookbooks well, it is advantageous to prepare the cake yourself. You can use your creativity for the design and you can always ask for help from friends. Needless to mention, it is also less costly.

To prepare the baby shower cake, check online for tried and tested recipes and designs. You can also choose the flavor of the baby shower cake.

Usually, the designs and shapes of baby shower cakes are nursery items. These are flowers, birds, butterflies, baby-shaped, toys and other kid stuff. The most common icing colors are yellow, pink, blue, green and white.

In addition, if you have scheduled the baby shower after the baby was born, you can also ask for the babys picture and have professional cake decorators create and edible cake design using the babys picture.

Another idea for the baby shower cake is to use diapers. Thats right diapers. Of course, this cake is not for the guests to enjoy. However, the mom will definitely appreciate it if there is already a stack of diapers prepared for the baby.

To prepare a diaper cake, all you need to do is carefully stack rolled diapers into several levels (having three levels is suggested). You may use laces and ribbons to keep the diapers in place. However, make sure that you did not tie the diapers too tightly together to prevent them from being deformed. Deformed diapers will be useless and will just end up in the garbage bin.

The diaper cake can also be placed as a table centerpiece. If you still prefer to have a real cake for the baby shower, you can bake or order a simple cake from the bakeshop.

After preparing the table centerpiece, you need to combine it with good baby shower food. Most of the time, snacks, tea, desserts and punches are served. You can also have some barbecues and grilled foods, in case you have invited some male guests. The dads can bond and have some conversation while attending to the grills. This way, everyone can participate in welcoming the new member of the family.

If you are planning a birthday party, a wedding or an event that requires entertaining others for any reason, then you know well what a challenge it can be to create a party that everyone will enjoy. You know all the details that go into planning a perfect event, and you are well aware that you cannot plan a great party carelessly. Instead, you need to be cautious about the details and take your time with each aspect of party planning. Choosing a dessert can be one of the most important yet hard decisions that gets made for events, but you cannot go wrong by choosing a chocolate cake.

The thing about all parties is that people expect to come and be filled with good food. You can have the most special games and activities planned for your party, but without a great menu in place people will leave your party disappointed and regretful. That is why it is important to take your menu planning seriously from appetizers and drinks to entrees and desserts. As a professional party planner, I often advise my clients to conside serving a chocolate cake for dessert. In fifteen years of planning great weddings and other parties, I have learned that offering a chocolate cake is a decision that rarely goes wrong.

People of all ages love chocolate, this we know, so doesn’t it make sense that we would use chocolate for life’s most special events? I am always in awe when people think that it is a good idea to make the menu for important parties entirely different from the things that people would normally eat. This is no way to keep people filled and satisfied. It is always wise to have at least a few things on a menu that people are familiar with and used to eating. Surprises are great, but not when it comes to a significant piece of the menu like the dessert. This is why a chocolate cake is the choice for all celebrations.

The whole point in planning great parties is for people to enjoy themselves. I guarentee that people of all ages and walks of life will enjoy a tasty chocolate cake. Now I am not suggested that you throw a couple of boxed cake mixes into the oven when you are planning your wedding, yet I am suggesting that you make the best chocolate cake possible because you know that everyone will love it.

Birthday candles appeared once the very practical side of candles disappeared. No longer used to bring light to people’s homes, candles were given other roles. The birthday custom of decorating the cake with candles counting the number of years was not present two hundred years ago; it is actually of a very recent date. Birthday candles are an important accessory for any party that celebrates some ones anniversary, children usually love them but there is no age limit. Some adults really enjoy blowing them out and make a wish.

Birthday candle types

A burning candle always brings a ray of joy to any party and a warm feeling of happiness. The blowing off tradition is a very spread custom present in many cultures and countries, it is almost a general fact to see birthday candles on party cakes. Some say that candles will bring light and joy to the celebrated person who will blow all birthday candles at once. Research has shown that such candles were used for the first time by the Greeks who lit candles on the ceremonial cakes made especially for Goddess Artemis. Though is not a Christian habit, this custom was later accepted by most Christians.

Some of the best birthday candles are made by the Germans who are famous for the variety of decorative items that can be used as ornaments on a cake. There are several types of birthday candles; the age candles are usually used on birthdays, the number of candles placed on the cake stand for the number of years of the celebrated person, if it is too large a number and you can’t actually place 40 candles on a cake because you risk to ruin the cake, a number birthday candle can be used.

Other types of candles are party candles and character birthday candles. Party candles are especially used at carnivals, and they come in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes. Character birthday candles are preferred by kids who usually love to see their favorite cartoon or story character on their birthday cake. It is both innovative and fun.

How about trick birthday candles?

The funny thing with this kind of birthday candles is that when you blow them they re-light themselves, they are a big surprise not just for children, but for grown-ups too, you can really make a funny joke if you play the trick on someone close to you. The thing that makes the fire come back is that the wick contains magnesium that can re-light it several times.

What makes a birthday cake special? Its got to taste great, no doubt, but visual appeal makes a cake truly dazzle. In Portland, Oregon, Papa Haydns is famous for incomparable birthday cakes that look as fabulous as they taste, so we asked co-owner Evelyn Franz to share a few of her secrets for cake decorating success.

Evelyn helped her sister and brother-in-law Heidi and Jeff Van Dyke, who founded Papa Haydns in the late 1970s, create their legendary dessert menu. Since then, Papa Haydns has become Portlands dessert destination, consistently winning awards and accolades from food lovers and restaurant critics alike.

With an MFA in sculpture and a lifelong love of baking, Evelyn guides her pastry staff in combining visual appeal with exceptional flavor and texture. I think its as important to pay attention to looks as it is to flavor, she says. The looks can make a huge difference in terms of what you actually taste on your palate. I dont think its a successful dessert unless it looks as good as it tastes.

If you want to try your hand at creating spectacular cakes for the birthdays, anniversaries and weddings in your life, consider these helpful hints from Evelyn.

Tie a yellow ribbon: An easy and elegant way to jazz up birthday cakes is by tying a colorful ribbon around the bottom of the cake. You can use chiffon or just a French ribbon to really doll up any cake, says Evelyn. Just remember to remove the ribbon before serving.

More terrific toppers: Check out cake decorating stores for ideas, says Evelyn, who likes to adorn birthday cakes with dragees or candy pearls. Silk or edible flowers also make elegant cake toppers, turning an ordinary layer cake in to a birthday cake to remember.

Fabulously frosted: With a little practice, you can turn frosting into an intricate birthday cake design. By alternating vertical and horizontal ribbons of frosting, for example, youll create a delicate woven pattern that dazzles the eye. Even simpler designs can be achieved by creating swirls or peaks with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Wrap it up: For the more advanced pastry chef, wrapping a cake in a thin layer of another cake can add an elaborate touch that dazzles even after a birthday cake or anniversary cake is sliced. Papa Haydn features such delicacies as White Chocolate Mint Truffle Torte, wrapped in a patterned chocolate sponge cake, Hazelnut Mousse Torte, wrapped in a striped almond sponge cake, and Georgian Peanut Butter Mousse Cake, wrapped in a polka dot sponge cake and topped with ground peanuts. It takes some practice, but the effect is well worth the effort.

The fine art of chocolate: Evelyn and her crew are well-practiced in the art of decorating with chocolate, too. Simply spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on a cooled marble slab or baking sheet, then carefully make curls or ribbons with a metal spatula to decorate your special cakes. For birthday cakes, you can cut out rectangular banners of dark chocolate, write a Happy Birthday message with white chocolate or frosting, then place the banner upright on the cake for an edible birthday greeting. This, too, takes practice, but once youve mastered the technique, youll be a cake decorating star.

Designing from the ground up: Another way to create dazzling birthday cakes is to layer different cakes and fillings for a variety of flavors and textures. Well do a cake that has meringue in it as well as chiffon and maybe a flourless chocolate cake, says Evelyn, to give it a nice texture and a little crunch. Using cakes and fillings of different colors adds to the visual appeal as well as the taste.

If you approach cake baking and cake decorating as Evelyn Franz does like a true artist your birthday cakes, anniversary cakes and even wedding cakes will dazzle your guests before, during and after they enjoy the delicious taste!

A unique and festive holiday tablescape can easily be created with some planning, simple materials and your imagination. Just like dressing up for special occasions, little touches can make a big impact on how your table looks to your guests.

One design trick to add height and visual interest to your tablescape is to use a pretty cake stand as a focal point, or several of varying heights if you have a large table. Cake stands are now readily available in many different styles, shapes and price points. A cake stand will make whatever is placed on them seem more important — and this need not be a cake! Hostesses now use cake stands to hold all types of foods — hors d’oeurves, vegetables, cookies, pies or tarts. Besides presenting edibles, cake stands can also serve as a base for other centerpiece designs. Put out a selection of candles of the same color but differing shapes and heights, or fill a tiered stand with matching votive candles instead of cookies to create an eye-catching centerpiece.

Another favorite way to relieve the monotony of a flat tablescape is to cover your table with one tablecloth. Then place plastic or cardboard boxes (like ones for photo storage, or whatever you have handy) in a few different spots at varying heights, one or two boxes high. Drape another tablecloth over these boxes, and you have a much more interesting space to display your delectables on. You may either use a matching tablecloth or one in a contrasting shade and mold it around the boxes. Be sure the boxes are sturdy enough for the serving dishes or arrangements you place on top.

Other table decorating ideas are to fill clear crystal bowls or vases with one of these: candy canes, peppermint candies, a dreidel collection or glass ornaments tied to a ribbon garland. Glass creamers and footed bowls can also be used as containers for crab apples, mini-artichokes, other fresh fruits and nuts. Or put together some pinecones, cinnamon sticks and greenery in a pretty decorative bowl.

Trays or mirrors also work very well as a base for holiday table arrangements; the mirrors reflect whatever is on them, adding even more depth. Place red, green or white pillar candles in a bed of nuts and tiny red or green ornaments. Shiny beads in silver, gold, red and green are also perfect touches to weave into these arrangements. Some hostesses prefer a blue, silver, gold and/or white color scheme for Chanukah celebrations.

There are a wide variety of greens, either live or artificial, to design with: pine, holly, white pine, boxwood, cedar, berries and noble fir. Consider using rosemary topiaries as well.

A simple yet dramatic table statement can be made by placing large, glass holiday ball ornaments on top of crystal candlesticks of varying heights. Wired ribbon tied on to and running between the candlestick bases is another touch for this elegant arrangement. Be sure to use earthquake or museum wax to secure the balls to the candlesticks to prevent them from being knocked off.

Using favorite collections are either great accents or focal points for a centerpiece. Holiday villages or various styles, colors and sizes of dreidels or menorahs work well for this creative idea.

Some other general centerpiece hints are:

Consider have several smaller arrangements on your table rather than one large one.

If it is for the dining room table, the arrangement should be either low enough for guests to talk over, or high enough to talk under.

If your centerpiece is going to sit in the middle of a table, it must look attractive from every viewing angle.

Water any fresh flowers or plants used in your centerpiece daily.

Centerpieces with fresh flowers and plants will last longer if kept away from direct sunlight and heater vents that may blow hot air.

If you use candles in the centerpieces do not leave them unattended and be sure the candles are not near any flammable materials in the arrangement, such as ribbons.

Let your imagination soar as you capture the magic of the holiday season!