Party, party, party

Missy Moo turned 5 today.  She had some friends from daycare over for a party.  Too bad about the rain though!  I'd planned a painting activity for outside but it was just too wet and cold so I had to improvise inside.  The kids were so good though.  They played so nicely and didn't make a huge mess.

I made Miss5 a castle cake and some cupcakes with Tinkerbell toppers.

I also made cake pops for the first time ever.  It took me two attempts because the first lot I tried to dip in the melts were too soft and wouldn't coat nicely.  So I froze them completely and tried again the next day with partially thawed cake balls.  This worked a lot better.  What also helped was the addition of Kremelta (vegetable shortening) in the candy melts because it made the dipping mixture slightly thinner and easier to coat.  They still weren't as perfect as Bakerella's but I was pretty pleased with the way they turned out.



I'd make them again.  I used a packet cake mix this time because I didn't want to waste my time on a home baked cake if they turned out to be a disaster.  Next time I'll use a home baked cake - one with a fine crumb would be good I think.  I think next time I'll get the longer lollipop sticks too.  I got the supplies for the cake pops from Kiwi Cakes, an online seller who is extremely quick in delivery!  She seems to have expanded her stock a lot this past 12 months, and has all you need for cake pops and any sort of cake decorating supply.  I like to support local (as in New Zealand) sellers.  I see she has fruit powders now which would be great for macaron making if I can bring myself to make an attempt at those again.

I had grand plans for my menu tonight but I'm tired from dealing with par-tays so we had takeaways instead.  :-)