{ Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layer Cake }

As I've mentioned before, we always celebrate Bean's birthday with the family on Easter. Everyone is already here, so, why not? With the way Easter runs, it could be anywhere from a couple weeks early to a couple weeks late. This year, it's a couple weeks early.

Soon though, my boy will be 19. Nineteen? Isn't that like a real grown up? At least at 19 we thought we were real grown ups, right? At 19 I got married. It's crazy to think that he is now the age I was when I got married! This Is. Not. Real. Life. right???

Last year I made him a Reese's Cake, since Reese's are his favorite things ever.

Reese's Cake

This year I decided to another one of his favorite things, cookie dough. Layers of chocolate cake filled with a yummy cookie dough and topped with a cookie dough buttercream. Yas.

I love the look of cakes with exposed sides, or Naked Cakes as I prefer to call them.This is the perfect recipe for a naked cake. Slather it on if you like, but I think buttercream all over would be too much.

Naked Cakes are simple, pretty, rustic.

When you make this recipe, depending on how thick you go with your cookie dough, you may have some left over. I did, so I threw in some extra flour, rolled it up and dipped it in chocolate to make the Cookie Dough Truffles I have topping and sitting around the cake. They were a huge hit as well. I have a recipe on here just for those as well: Cookie Dough Bites.

While this looks like a big cake, I should note, this is three 6" layers. That equals out to two 8" layers or one basic recipe/box mix. I just like the look of the little 6" cakes, they are sweet and the extra layer makes them look impressive. This will work just as well with two 8" layers though!

Have a cookie dough happy day,

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Layer Cake

by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

1 recipe chocolate cake-baked and cooled  
Level layers but cutting any dome off the top 

*This is my go to chocolate cake, but a box will work.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Filling

1  Cup Flour

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Prepare filling:

Beat butter until creamy. Add in sugars and milk. Beat again. Add all other ingredients except chips. Mix until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Add desired amount between layers. You can also add some to the top, under the buttercream, or use any excess to make cookie dough truffles (see post above).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Buttercream
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Prepare buttercream:

Beat butter until creamy. Add in brown sugar and salt. Beat until fluffy. Mix in flour, then add powdered sugar. Add in milk and vanilla. If needed, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until reaching desired creaminess. Fold in chocolate chips. Pipe on top of cake.

Store cake in the fridge, until about 1 hour prior to serving.

{ Happy 95th Birthday! }

I'm a week late, but since today is Mother's Day, it seemed only fitting to post this today.

There is no recipe here or instructional post. I just wanted to share this photo of the cake I made my grandmother last week for her 95th birthday! It's just a simple, swirly rosette cake. They are lovely and easy for any occasion.

I wasn't planning on blogging any of this, so I only snapped a couple iPhone pics, but an event like this is too big to pass up- so here it is!

Happy Birthday, Mammaw, and many more!

Isn't she the cutest?

x, Tina

{ Reese's Cake }

Today is my Bean's 18th birthday. As ridiculous as that sounds, it is, in fact, true.

Last week I was reading the book Hyperbole and a Half  (so funny. SO. FUNNY. Also, a little sad, but mostly FUNNY. You should totally read it.) by Allie Brosh from the blog of the same name. One of the chapters was called God of Cake, and it seemed only fitting to talk about today.

You see, Bean loves cake.

Here is a peek at God of Cake:

drawings property of Hyperbole and a Half

God of Cake is actually a post she has online too. For the love of all that is good and holy GO READ IT NOW. DO IT. I'll wait here.

Ok, now that you are back, let me share this.

Instead of being his grandpa's cake, like in Allie's story, it was his dad's. Instead of being 4 like Allie, he was 3.

I caught him in his playroom with the entire cake, fork in hand. Yeah, that happened.

See the chocolate up on his forehead? #Cakeprobs. Major ones.

Since he's making a silly smooshy face, I have to show you a couple more adorable photos from the same age, then I'll get to the Reese's Cake at hand.

I mean, look at that. LOOK AT THAT FACE. Could I stay mad? Definitely not.

The boy loves cake, big time. He also loves Reese's. All things Reese's.

This cake involves most all things Reese's!

This is a 3 tier (6") chocolate cake. Between the layers is not only peanut butter buttercream, but a hardy sprinkling of Reese's Pieces. The outside is coated in more peanut butter buttercream, a deep chocolate glaze, and topped with Reese's Pieces and chopped up Reese's Cups.

I made the 18 out of one Reese's Stick & two Reese's Cups with the centers cut out which I put together with a bit of melted chocolate. It wasn't super neat and I fussed over it a lot, but didn't have time to fix it, so- there it is.

We celebrated his birthday with family on Easter. This cake was wildly popular!

Stay tuned, I'll be posting his birthday party (which takes place Saturday) sometime in the next week or so.

For now, I'll leave you with this, my adult child.

Quit it. No really, stop it now. Sigh.

Sigh.

Tina


Happy Birthday, Bean. You'll always be my baby. Momma loves ya ten thousand tons.

<3





Reese's Cake
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

For the cake, I used this recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes

I used the above recipe from Bakingdom
I used three 6" pans, but you can also use two 8" pans instead.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

2 sticks (1 cup) butter (softened, but still cold, not room temp)

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 Cup to 3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

pinch of salt

milk

Whip the softened butter in the mixer until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach a nice consistency. I normally use about 4. Beat until smooth. Start by adding 1/2 cup peanut butter- add more to taste. 

Chocolate Glaze

4 Tablespoons of Butter

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Cup Confectioners Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 Tablespoons HOT water

Melt the butter

Whisk in the cocoa, sugar and vanilla.

Add 2 tablespoons water. If it’s not enough, add the 3rd.

This should be runny, but thick enough to fully coat your spoon.

To Assemble:

Spread peanut butter buttercream between layers, sprinkle with Reese's Pieces

Frost outside of cake with peanut butter buttercream. After this, I place my cake in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.

Make chocolate glaze. After cake is chilled, glaze over cake. Top with chopped Reese's Cups and Reese's Pieces. Garnish with Reese's Pieces. Return to refrigerator.

Allow to sit out at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

Cake decor inspired by Make Bake Celebrate.

{ Budget Friendly Disney Party }

So, we've had a BIG secret for the last couple of months! We are taking Bean's girlfriend, a HUGE Disney fan and an EXTREME Potter fan, with us to Florida! Her birthday is Monday, but last night, I had her party. We started off with this video, made by my awesomely talented friend Darla and her hubster.

Forgive my shaky camera work on this. (Video doesn't seem to be available on mobile, sorry :( )

 I own no copyrights, all logos and music belong to the original owners. This was for personal entertainment use only.

She came into the house blindfolded so she wouldn't see the theme until after we'd watched the video. I told her it was a movie and it was going to show her the theme for her party. In reality, it was just over a minute long and told her she was going to Disney World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Happy Birthday to her, right?!

The themed I decided to go with was Casey's Corner/Mickey Mouse. Casey's Corner is a hot dog restaurant on Main Street, USA in the Magic Kingdom, and we are planning to eat there the day we go.

I used a Casey's logo I found on google images and made up a menu. (Note, these items are not all available at the real Casey's Corner).

This party is mostly brought to you buy the Dollar Tree (an everything's $1 store). I bought the little baskets in packs of 3 for $1, which I lined with red napkins (from the Dollar Tree), and chevron treat bags, just for color (from Pick Your Plum).

The hot dogs/sloppy joes were served in these.

You can see the Oreo pops right in front. Those are simple. Just use Double Stuf Oreos, dip a little chocolate on the lolly stick, poke it into the Oreo and allow to dry. Then use the mini Oreos for the ears. I only use the non cream side. Dip the edge of them in chocolate as well, and insert.

The hats came in packs of 8, but also had green in them. I only used the red, gold, and silver.

I added the ears and accents. Tutorial coming soon!

Her hat was individual and cost a whole $1 itself. I added the crown to it.

Behind the hats you can see the tiny, adorable cans of Coca Cola!

It's great for Disney parties because, one, it's the right color, and two, they serve Coca Cola at Disney World! I had planned to get the glass bottles of Coke, but ran into issues finding them. Then I saw the tiny cans (7.5 oz) and decided they were perfect (and, hello, cheaper! score!). I cut down my dotty straws a bit, and tied them on with bakers twine.

I have the old fashioned look tabletop popcorn machine. It just fit right in the theme. I found a Main Street USA sign on google and used it on the front of the machine.

I bought red, yellow, and white boxes to put the popcorn in, because, well, Mickey colors! You can see them here in the cupcake photo and also in the Coca Cola photo.

For the cupcakes, I did her favorite, chocolate chip cookie dough. Then I added the creamless side of the mini Oreos again (basically, I have a ton of cream sides still in the bag. Like that's a bad thing? Nope). These are SO cute and so easy! Any cupcake, swirl of buttercream, and Oreo ears. Bam. Done. I had a little tragedy when a couple fell off the stand. Don't look for them, ok? Ok.

I made this cute little centerpiece out of a mug I found for a few bucks, a $1 store Mickey, a Mickey hand I found and printed, little flags and a balloon I cut out, and ribbon. All of the objects are on a bamboo skewer inserted into a piece of styrofoam. I covered the skewers with paper straws.

I bought two sizes of black plates at the Dollar Tree. I just laid them out like this. They are not glued together or anything.

For wall decor, I just used bakers twine and scrap pieces of cardstock and paper I had. I cut out little pennants, and taped them on with Washi tape. I also stuck some stars on the wall (from Walmart, but still only $2 for 5).

That's pretty much it! A Disney Party on a budget. Including the food, I spent under $50 on this party. Can't complain about that.

And the birthday girl? Well, I *think* she liked it. ;)

Happy Birthday, Sid!

Love, Tina


See my other Disney posts here!

{ Happy Birthday, Dobby! Butterbeer Mini Cake}

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite characters in the Potterverse.

Dobby the House Elf.

Now, let me tell you a little secret. When Dobby first arrived in Chamber of Secrets Ididntlikehim.

What? C'mon. I am NOT alone here. He was a weird little annoying thing cause Harry all sorts of issues. I actually feared he was the Jar Jar Binks of the Wizarding World. Once he made it to the screen, I was even LESS convinced. However, time wore on, pages were read, love was built, tears were shed.

I apologize, deeply, and fully, dear Dobby. I'm sorry I thought such things of you. You were brave and loyal. You'd be a true Gryffindor. So, I made you some cake. It's Butterbeer flavor AND House Elf sized!!

I made this cake with a set of 4" Wilton pans. They come in a pack of three. Each pan takes about the same amount as 2 cupcakes. So, basically, this cake is 6 cupcakes big.

I used the rest of the batter to make cupcakes, because why not?

Happy Birthday, little guy! Tonight I raise a glass of Butterbeer to toast in your honor.

Want more Happy Birthdays to Dobby? Check out Darla's from last year! Butterbeer Krispy Cake!

Tina

See all of my Harry Potter recipes here.

See my Harry Potter Parties here and here!


House Elf Sized Butterbeer Cake
by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

Needed: 4" Wilton pans (comes in set of 3)
Butterbeer Cake & Butterbeer Icing recipe

{ Birthday Cake Pancakes }

 

Today is my Bean's 17th birthday. What? WHAT??!! 

17? I'm not even sure what to do with that.

This evening we are off to dinner of his choosing, but this morning, well, he had to go to school. To start his birthday off right though, I made him not only pancakes, but birthday cake pancakes.

These are basically my Grandmother in Law's pancakes, which you can find here, with a scoop of  yellow cake mix, sprinkles, vanilla, and a delicious glaze.

To make things quicker in the morning, I measure out all of the dry ingredients in a lidded mixing bowl. Then I just mix in the wet, combine well, and lastly, add the sprinkles. Be sure to wait til just before frying to add the sprinkles. The colors may start to streak in the batter.

This is a fast, fun, and festive take on pancakes. Perfect for special occasions.

Did Bean like them? He said, and I quote, "I feel bad for all of the other pancakes now.". Yeah, he liked them.

Here is his trying to think of a wish.

17 sure is crazy, but now, we all know, the Trace has broken and he can practice magic outside of Hogwarts, so, there's that. Carry on.

Happy Birthday to my Bean!

Love, kisses, and pancakes,

Mom



Birthday Cake Pancakes 

yield 6 medium sized pancakes

by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

For the pancakes:

1/2 Cup Flour

1/4 cup yellow cake mix

1 1/2 Teaspoons Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Egg

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon Oil

2-3 Tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Add all dry ingredients, except sprinkles, into a mixing bowl and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Slowly pour the wet into the dry and mix until combined. Add the sprinkles just before frying. Stir gently to avoid streaking of the colors.

Pour a bit of oil into your pan and let heat. Drip a drop of the batter into the oil. When it begins to sizzle, add your pancakes.

When bubbles form on the cakes, carefully flip them over.

Test center by poking a small hole in it. If batter comes out, cook another minute or so.

Place on a paper towel just for a second to absorb any extra oil, then place on plate and serve!

This is a small recipe, it makes about 6 medium sized pancakes, easily doubled, tripled, etc.

Serve with vanilla glaze

For the Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

2  Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon rainbow sprinkles

Add powered sugar and milk to melted butter. Whisk until smooth and glossy. Add vanilla and stir until combined. Gently fold in sprinkles to avoid streaking.

Serve over Birthday Cake Pancakes

{Mary Poppins Party}

Bean's girlfriend turned 16 yesterday. He came to me a few weeks back with the idea of having a surprise birthday party for her. Well, you know me... I like a good party.

She's into a lot of geeky things like we are: Harry Potter, Doctor Who, The Hunger Games, etc, etc... However, one thing that she loves is a little different. It's Mary Poppins. She loves Mary Poppins so much that she even changed her name in Bean's cell phone contacts to just that. Now every time she texts him "Mary Poppins" pops up on screen.

So, the idea of a Mary Poppins idea came to mind. I thought it would be unique and fun, and undeniably her.

I set to work and ended up what I think turned out to be a fun little party. I just invited my nieces & my niece's boyfriend, all of which are the Girl's friends. And.. myself, of course.

I started, of course, with the idea of a Spoonful of Sugar. This was super easy, just white chocolate sprinkled with regular white sugar. I added a little tag. Easy peasy.

I also found some cherries in the craft section, I thought they'd be super fun. Just a little souvenir.

I made labels for soda in glass bottles. Mary POPpins. Around these parts, we call it pop, however, it would be just as cute if it said Mary soda POPpins. To make these, I simply measured the bottle, then created them in photoshop. I printed them out, glued them on a blue cardstock and taped them to the bottles.

You can see the placecards I made as well.  They simply said ______'s Mary 16th Birthday.

I found the graphic of Mary on the internet.  I believe it's from the Broadway show.

This was not for profit. Don't sue me, please.

I threw some candy necklaces on the place settings as well. Not sure why, they just seemed Mary to me.

I popped up some Mary Poppinscorn.

flowers, whirlagigs, and books for the table.

Square marshmallows on skewers, dipped in chocolate and then topped with cookies and cream sprinkles for Chimney Sweeps

We had a "proper British tea", of course!

I had several selections of British tea for them to choose from.

At one point in the movie, they laugh so hard that they have tea on the ceiling. My friend Joyce reminded me of this. Bean found a bunch of silly jokes on the internet that he printed and cut. While waiting for the food to be ready, we passed the cup around and all drew jokes and read them aloud.

and here's the cake! It was just a 6" cake, 3 layers. White with maple buttercream.

I topped it with a banner I printed out which read "practically perfect in every way". I glued the banner to 2 stripey straws. The best decoration on the cake was not that, or the sugar pearls, or the sanding sugar, or the little flower cupcake toppers, it was the Funko Pop Mary Poppins I bought.

I LOVE Funko Pop. I only own 6 at this time (The Avengers, Dumbo, and The Little Mermaid), but my wish list for them is about 300 miles long. They are sooooo cute. Even though I'm not a huge Mary Poppins fan, I really wanted to keep her. I didn't though. I gave her to the birthday girl. Most reluctantly.

Here's the whole table.

I know most American's probably don't, but Bean has flags from different countries/eras in his room. He's got around 7 of them. 2 are even the curtains. He happens to have the British Union flag, so, that was perfect to use. 

I also purchased a hardback copy of the Mary Poppins book. We all wrote in it as a guest book from the event.

After we told jokes, ate, had cake, and watched present opening, we simply went and watched the movie (while eating the Mary Poppinscorn).

That was it, but it was super cute, a lot of fun, and the Girl LOVED it. She was so surprised!

We lured her here, dressed up as Mary Poppins on the pretense that I was doing a themed photoshoot of her as Mary & Bean as Bert.

....And so... I did.

She looked AMAZING!

She and her mom did the best job finding the outfit at thrift shops. 

 A little vintage Mary Poppins action on this one :)

So, there you have it.

Another party.

Yes, I know I've posted a lot of them lately, I'm a partying fool.

Too much party? NEVAH!

Tina