Just Too Sweet Recipes

For the Just Too Sweet baby shower I wanted to make sure that the dessert table was extra sweet.  So I made fun fresh desserts with a lemon and strawberry base to them. 

I wanted to make cute little favors for the guests.  So I used spice jars from IKEA and filled them with candy that matched the color scheme and then cut squares of burlap and covered them with ribbon. Such a darling idea thats cheap and easy to do!  

For the Lemon Vanilla Cupcakes I used the same vanilla  bean cupcake recipe that I have used on many of my previous cupcakes but tweaked it by adding 2 tsp of lemon extract and  the zest of 1 fresh lemon.  The rest of the recipe I followed exactly.  It makes a lot so I used it to make all the large cupcakes and the mini cupcakes.  You can find the recipe HERE!

Lemon  Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
2 cubes of Butter at room temperature
1 pkg Cream Cheese at room temperature
2 tsp of Lemon extract
1 tsp of Vanilla extract
4-5 C. Powder Sugar
3-4 tsp of Whole Milk
Start with the butter and cream cheese in the mix and mix together until it comes together smoothly.  Add the extracts and mix together.  Next add a little powder sugar and a little milk, repeat process until you have added all of it. Whip the frosting on high for about five minutes until it gets light and fluffy.  

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 C.  unsalted butter

2 C. Sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/4 C. Sour Cream

5 C. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

In a mixing bowl add butter at room temperature and mix together.  Then add 2 cups of sugar mixing until the mixture because nice and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing on a low speed.  Once all the eggs or incorporated into the mixture, beat on medium speed for 2 more minutes, until it becomes nice and fluffy.  Add the extracts to the mixture and sour cream, and mix until its fully blended.  

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt and sift together.  Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until the dough is finished.  Let it chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour (or over night,) 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

2 cubes of butter at room temperature

1 pinch of salt

1-2 tsp Vanilla extract

4 C. Powder Sugar

2 T. Heavy Cream

Start by mixing the butter together, then add the salt and Almond extract.  Mix until well blended, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and add 2 cups of powder sugar.  Mix on a LOW speed and until it has blended in with the butter.  At this point it should be a very thick frosting.  Add the last two cups of Powder Sugar with 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream.  Mix well until blended together, then put on a medium high speed for 5 minutes.  This will make the frosting very fluffy! 

Strawberry Pie Parfaits

1 pkg Graham Crackers

1 pkg Strawberry Pudding Mix

1 C. Whole Milk

1 container of cool whip

6-8 fresh strawberries cut up.

In a bowl combine Strawberry pudding mix with one cup of whole milk and whip together until combined.  Set aside in fridge for one hour or until it sets up.  

In the meantime, take your package of graham crackers and crush up into a fine crust.  I use a blender to do this so it gets chopped into fine crumbs.  You can also make it takes more like crust by adding 2 teaspoons of melted butter and a 1/4 cup of sugar and mixing it together, but I didn't.  Set aside when finished.

Once your jello pudding has set up, add one cup of cool whip to the pudding and fold it in.  This makes it nice and fluffy.  

Cut up your strawberries into little cubes and set aside in a bow.

Next, assemble the parfaits by layering a little crust, then pudding mixture (I use a pipping bag to make it easier,) then strawberries.  Repeat process until parfait cups are full.  Top with a strawberry and refrigerate until its time to eat.

CHEESECAKE BALLS

! pre-made cheesecake, I used Costco's.

1 pkg. of White Chocolate

Sprinkles

This was a much better idea in my head then it actually worked out.  THey tasted great, but they were a little messy.  So what I did was take the whole cheesecake throw it into a bowl and mix it all together.  Then I rolled the cheesecake into balls and put them on parchment paper and let them freeze over night.  The next morning, I rolled them in melted white chocolate, dipped them in sprinkles, pushed a stick in them and let them harden up in the refrigerator. I'll be honest, not ALL of them turned out.  So it wasn't the best dessert to make, but it tasted really good!

To View the Party click on the link HERE!