Showing posts with label Cinco De Mayo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cinco De Mayo. Show all posts

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Homemade Cactus Piñata Cookies

Hello everyone!
Cinco de Mayo is only a couple of weeks away.
You know Erik and I love any reason to celebrate.
And we usually celebrate with dessert...
I have wanted to try my hand at piñata cookies since I made a piñata cake, and thought this was the perfect opportunity.
And thus, these cactus piñata cookies were born.


You will need:
3 Cups of Flour
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Cup of Shortening
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
3/4 Cup of Milk
Buttercream Frosting, for Decorating
Green, Pink, and Purple Food Coloring
Black Jimmies
Filler, I Used 3 Different Types of Sprinkles


Make the cookies.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and shortening until a crumbly mixture forms. 
Add in the egg, vanilla, and milk until well combined.
Form the dough into a flat disk, wrap in saran wrap and place in the fridge to chill for one hour.
Preheat oven to 375o.
Roll the chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 an inch thick. 
Cut out cookies with a cactus cookie cutter.
You will need 3 cookies to create one pinata cookie.
A top, a middle, and a bottom.
Cut out the centers of 1/3 of the cookies.


Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and place in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes. 
This will help them keep their shape.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are firm to the touch but have not turned golden brown.
Let cool.
Place 2/3 of your buttercream frosting into a bowl and color green.
Split the remaining frosting in half and color pink and purple.
Place the green frosting into a piping bag with a #102 Petal Tip. 
Pipe an outline around the edges of one of the whole (uncut) cookies.


Stack a cutout cookie on top.


Fill the hole in the center with your filling.
I used 3 different types of sprinkles.


Pipe an outline around the edges of the cutout cookie.


Place a whole cookie on top.
Pipe long lines of frosting vertically along the top cookie to create the look of a cactus.
Add a few black jimmies to represent the spines.
Place the pink and purple frosting into their own piping bag with a #224 Drop Flower Tip.
Pipe small flowers onto the tips of the arms of the cactus.


Repeat until all of the cookies are decorated. 
Enjoy!


These cookies turned out SO fun and festive.
I love the simple look on the outside and the surprise filling on the inside.
It's safe to say that any piñata baked good is going to be a hit in my book.
What should I make next?


All my love,
Autumn

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Sunday, May 5, 2019

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Hello everyone!
And Happy Cinco De Mayo!
You know that Erik and I love any reason to party.
We have celebrated Cinco De Mayo since we were dating. 
Since our "celebrations" usually consist of just Erik and I in our decorated house, I wanted to make a treat that was a little easier than our homemade churros last year.
I had seen Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies on the menu for Fiesta parties online and was interested in trying them out.
I have loved Lauren Conrad since I was a teenager and trust anything she recommends. 
After finding this recipe on Pinterest and realizing it was from her website I knew it was the one for me.


You will need:
1 Cup of Sugar
1/2 a Cup of Canola Oil, I Used Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
3/4 A Cup of Flour
3/4 A Cup of Cocoa Powder
2 Teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon 
1/2 A Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
1 Cup of Dark Chocolate Chunks, I Used Dark Chocolate Chips
Mini Marshmallows, Optional


In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil until well combined. 
Whisk in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. 
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and baking soda together. 
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined, you don't want to over mix your dough or it will turn rough. 
Add the chocolate chips and fold in gently until evenly combined. 
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough on the the parchment paper about 1 and 1/2 inches apart.


Place the baking sheet in fridge for 10 - 15 minutes to help the cookies harden.
The dough will be looser than your average cookie dough. 
Preheat oven to 350o.
Remove cookies from the fridge and flatten them down with the palm of your hand.
You want them to be flat instead of dome shaped.
Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle is no longer raw.


Since these are "hot chocolate" cookies I thought it would be fun to top the cookies with marshmallows.
The cookies can be a bit bitter with the dark chocolate and cayenne pepper and the marshmallows help balance that out. 
Let the cookies cool and harden.
Place a few mini marshmallows on top of the set cookies.
Broil in the oven for 2 minutes or until the marshmallows turn golden brown. 
Make sure to watch closely because those marshmallows can burn within seconds!
Let cool.
Enjoy!


I think both of the cookies turned out delicious.
We put marshmallows on half and left the other half plain. 
The plain cookies have just the right amount of heat.
The marshmallow topped cookies have just the right amount of sweet.
We will be enjoying both for dessert this Cinco De Mayo!


Do you have any plans for Cinco De Mayo?
If not these cookies are a perfect treat to whip up on a Sunday afternoon.
Just saying...


All my love,
Autumn
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Friday, May 4, 2018

Festive Homemade Churros

Hello everyone!
Cinco De Mayo is tomorrow!
Erik and I like to celebrate every year by decorating our house and enjoying a festive dinner.
The last few years I have tried to get over to Trader Joe's and buy their mini churros but I am never quick enough.
So this year I decided to make my own using this recipe I found on Pinterest. 


You will need:
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
1/2 a Cup of Unsalted Butter
1 Cup of Water
1/4 a Teaspoon of Salt
3 Large Eggs
Sugar and Cinnamon to coat
5 Cups of Oil for frying

Combine the sugar, butter, water and salt in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
Add flour, stir well, and cook the mixture over low heat for two minutes.
Place the mixture into a large bowl and let cool for ten - fifteen minutes. 
Once cool, add in eggs one at a time and mix well between each addition.
If you place the eggs right into the hot mixture they will cook.
Make sure your mixture has had plenty of time to cool. 
Place dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. 
Add the oil into a large saucepan over medium high heat.
Heat the oil until 350o Fahrenheit.
Pipe three to four inch sections of dough into oil. 
Fry each side until light golden brown, about one to two minutes.
Remove the churro from oil and place on a paper towel to cool for one minute.
Toss in cinnamon sugar.
Enjoy!


These turned out so delicious.
Who doesn't love a warm churro?
I wrapped my churros in doilies and added twine for decoration.


Also, since today is May the Fourth I decided to make a few lightsaber churros for Erik and I to enjoy while we watch Star Wars tonight.
Just divide your cinnamon sugar into separate bowls and add in colored sanding sugar.
Toss your churros in these fun colors to make them look like lightsabers.
I added these napkin wraps to the bottom to complete the look.


So many fun events this weekend!
Do you celebrate either of these "holidays?"
I'd love to hear how!

All my love,
Autumn
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Friday, May 5, 2017

Cinco De Mayo Crepe Paper Backdrop

Hello everyone!
Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Erik and I celebrate every year by grabbing some Cafe Rio and watching a movie at home.
We put up a few decorations to make the house feel more festive.
While organizing my craft room a little while ago I discovered I had a lot of crepe paper.
Like a lot...
What was I going to do with all of it?
I thought it would be perfect to create a Cinco De Mayo backdrop!


I started by creating a pattern on the wall.
Three strips of green crepe paper, three pink, three orange, etc and cut them to my desired length.
Then I went over the top of the pattern layer and added in single strips of crepe paper.
I didn't really use a pattern for the single strips layer.
I just tried to make it so that there was a mixture of color.
I love how it turned out!


This was my first time doing a crepe paper background.
I usually place a single colored tablecloth behind the table as a backdrop.
About half way through creating the backdrop I realized there was an easier way.
I should have still used a tablecloth, taped the crepe paper to it and then hung it up.
No up and down on my ladder!
I was already half way through so I continued onward and gave my legs a killer workout.
After the background was finished I set up our banquet table with our Cinco De Mayo decorations.


 

And that was it!
The process was so easy but it was a little time consuming.
I would do it again just maybe all on the tablecloth as we discussed.
What do you do for Cinco De Mayo?
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