This is a fun DIY wedding project that will impress even your craftsy girlfriends. These pretty “baby cakes” or “cake bites” are a wonderful addition to a wedding dessert buffet or you could package them as an elegant and edible DIY favor. I found this easy-to-follow tutorial at cakejournal.com, an online journal of the very talented baker and designer Louise, who is from Denmark. The site is full of fun ideas, a confection gallery and lots of wedding inspiration, and Louise has a unique and engaging way of encouraging beginners to jump right in! Thanks, Louise:)
Have you ever wished you could whip up a chocolate cake in a matter of minutes? One that you might devour without having to share it with anyone? The following recipe is just that. You can scarf it down on your own in front of a movie or have an original idea for an activity at a shower or other event. What a wonderful favor this would make to include the dry ingredients and print out the recipe
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
When my family and friends threw my baby shower earlier this year, it was full of wonderful things that I will forever keep in a special place in my heart. One was the act itself with all my family and friends; not exactly a surprise but I put my high school acting skills to good use. Another wonderful thing was the distance they traveled (in a snowstorm) just to attend and to honor me and the life I was bringing into this world. The one thing that made the shower so memorable was the favor that my friend in California
click here to zoom
put together in her absence. Weeks before the shower, she had contacted everyone who was on the guest list – even those who couldn’t make it – and asked them for their favorite lullaby to include on a custom cd for me. She printed up the cd jacket with all the names of the songs as well as who chose them and put it in a cellophane bag with a photo album. She included a photo of me as a baby on the front as a tag. My mom chose “Baby Mine” by Bette Midler, which made me cry when I first listened to the cd, but at 8 months pregnant, it’s not much of a surprise.
Here is a list of the songs on my cd, to which my daughter has already fallen asleep many times:
Sleep, Sleep – Rosenshontz
Unicorn Song – Malarkey Brothers
Winken, Blinken and Nod – Kevin Roth & Janet Jackson Witman
Tala’al Badru Alayna – Yusuf Islam
Godspeed (Sweet Dream) – Dixie Chicks
Circle Game – Joni Mitchell
Baby Mine – Bette Midler
Lovely Evening – Lullaby Themes for Sleepy Dreams
Eidelweiss – Sound of Music
You Are My Sunshine – Elizabeth Mitchell
When You Wish Upon a Star – Johnny Mathis
Friends Lullaby – Hem
A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes – Hem
Al-Mu’allim – Sami Yusuf
Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair – Claude Debussy
Moon River – Audrey Hepburn
Lazy Eye – Hem
What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
I tried to post the above mix to itunes but because it was uploaded from a cd, it wouldn’t let me. Here is an imix I found on itunes that sounds like a good choice for showers.
