Tales of an Overtime Cook

There are no recipe in this post, so if that’s all you’re here for, sorry to disappoint. However, I am going to show you what I made for my sister’s engagement party and how I displayed it. Partially as an explanation of why I disappeared for a couple of weeks, and partially in case you want ideas of something to make for a party.

Edit: by request, I have added freezability (I don’t think that’s a real word) information to each item. Please comment or email me for more details.

(Excuse the poor quality of the pictures. By the time I had finished setting up I had a very short window of time to take them before people arrived and started to demolish the treats.)

Firstly, the set-up. My mother, together with a family friend who helped with the arrangements got the tablecloths and arranged for people to make real foods. My job was the desserts. I set them up on three tables.

First:

Second:

And third:

Now, let’s break it down. I will show you close up pictures and links (if I have them!). Here goes:

On the first table:

Mini Double Chocolate Trifles – I made these pretty much the same as the link, except that I piped the cream on the top differently. They were very popular, as always.
Freezer info: I made these the day of the event, using brownie scraps from the heart shaped brownies, below.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – While these were the dreamy kind of delicious, I think the presentation made a big difference here. I bought these cupcake liners from wilton, alternated black and white, then I colored fondant black, rolled it out, and stamped out the letters “mazel tov.” (For my non-jewish readers, that is the traditional greeting when someone gets engaged. It would also work with congratulations, or some other relevant phrase.)
Freezer info: I made the cupcakes in advance and froze them. I made the frosting the day of the event. I made the fondant cupcake toppers a couple of days before the party and kept them in an airtight container.

Mocha Bundt Cake with Coffee Glaze – this is a family favorite that I somehow never posted. (Must remedy that soon!) It looked nicer in real life than it does here, I promise!
Freezer info: I made the cake well in advance and froze it. I made the glaze a couple of days early and kept it in the fridge.

Glazed Raspberry Cookies – As I state in the original post, these are beautiful and easy to make. What more could I ask for?
Freezer info: I made and glazed these in advance, and froze them.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies – Easy and delicious- real crowd pleasers!
Freezer info: I made and froze these in advance.

Mini Mocha Cheesecakes with Oreo Crumb Crust – One of the options on the original post was to bake them in mini muffin pans. Perfect size for a party, plus everyone adores this recipe.
Freezer info: I made these and drizzled melted chocolate over them and froze them completed.

Almond Covered Sugar Cookies – I had extra roll out sugar cookie dough from the royal icing cookies, so I rolled it out, brushed it with an egg, sprinkled sliced almonds on it, dusted it with cinnamon and sugar and baked it. Simple and yummy!
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Cannolis (for lack of a better word) – I used store-bought (don’t tell anyone!) wafer shells, dipped them in melted chocolate, then filled them with sweetened whipped cream. Needless to say, these were super popular.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them. In fact, the freezer helped these keep their piped details nicer.

Next table…

The centerpiece of this table (and possibly of the whole buffet) were the royal icing cookie hanging from the branches you see in the center. I will be dedicating an entire post to those, so we will go right on to…

Cappuccino Cookie Cups – I made them exactly like the recipe, but I wanted to tell you a funny story. These were in the magazine the week of the party, ( I had actually made the cookies in advance and put them in the freezer, then stuck the cream on the day of the event.) Someone told me that she also saw them in the magazine and was thinking to try them. I was like “yeah, I wrote that.” I am a showoff at times, I guess I can’t help it.
Freezer info above.

Mini Cherry Pies – I plan to post the full recipe eventually (along with some pictures that actually do these beauties justice!) but for now, here’s a link to my pie crust recipe, and a tutorial on making good pie crust.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Chocolate Covered Oatmeal Bars – Again, easy, delicious and pretty. Are you noticing a theme here?
Freezer info: made these in advance and froze them whole. I should have cut them up before freezing. Learn from my mistakes!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Candy Bars – I have to post the recipe one of these days, these were super yummy, and no bake to boot!
Freezer info: I made these and froze them whole. Bad idea. See above.

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies – These were my first venture into the world of shortbread, and I definitely plan to be back, with all kinds of awesome variations. Their flaky texture is amazing.
Freezer info: I froze these already dipped in chocolate.

And finally, the last table. There was actually one thing on this table that I didn’t make (shocking, I know. But it was a gift and we had to put it out.)

Heart Shaped Brownies – The recipe isn’t as important as how I decorated them. I baked the brownies in a wider pan, so they were more shallow than average. Then I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. The glaze is the same as the one I used for the raspberry cookies. I don’t know why I didn’t get a picture where you could actually see how gorgeous they were, so you will just have to take my word for it. Or make them and see for yourself.
Freezer info: I made these and glazed them and froze them after the glaze set. And I used the scraps for the trifles.

Rugelach – Another recipe which I will have to post eventually. Though these don’t really need an introduction or an explanation.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

Nutella Puff Pastry Roll Ups – These Nutella Puff Pastry Pockets were one of the most popular posts ever on my blog. I decided to take them and make something bite sized and a little bit prettier out of them. This is what I came up with. As you can imagine, they were as popular at the party as on the blog.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them.

The fourth compartment was filled with a wafer cake that someone sent from a bakery. I won’t glorify it with any more blog space.

Now on to the items directly on the table:

Vanilla Bundt Cake – another family favorite which I somehow never posted. It’s actually a real favorite of my sister (the bride) so I decided to make it. Those are pink sugar pearls decorating the top.
freezer info: I made the cake in advance and froze it. I made the glaze a couple of days in advance and refrigerated it. I decorated it the night before the party.

Maple Sandwich Cookies with Toasted Pecans – I made these mostly because they are so impressive looking, but you wouldn’t believe how wild people were over them. Not until you taste them, then you’ll be totally in love too. With a cookie. It happens.
Freezer info: I made these in advance and froze them whole.

Mini Maple Bundt Cakes with Bourbon Glaze and Toasted Pecans – Yep, these are every bit as good as they sound. You’ll have to take my word on that, because the recipe is my original one and I haven’t posted it yet. I’ll get there. Eventually.
Freezer info: as with the other bundt cakes, I froze the cake, refrigerated the glaze and put it all together the night before.

Anyway…that’s pretty much what kept me busy for the two weeks following passover. That and the cookies I hope to post next. And buying a new dress to wear, picking out paper goods, borrowing and collecting props, and some other things, such as working 9 hours a day and commuting 3 hours a day. No biggie.

Hope you get some good ideas from my insanity! Come back soon for the royal icing cookies, plus some super delicious recipes! -Miriam

Read Full Post »