This weekend is the 4th of July and here at Half Baked, we’re ready to go!  You may have spotted our Stars & Stripes Cheesecake Shots over at Hostess with the Mostess. (Yay! Thanks for the feature Jenn!)  I created this cheesecake shot recipe for the Milkaholic Baby Shower that I hosted a few months ago and was thrilled to recreate these treats with a patriotic twist.  Cold shot glasses filled with creamy cheesecake filling, graham cracker crumbs and topped with berries.  To give it an extra special touch for the 4th of July, I added small puff pastry stars.  And to wrap up a great week, I have the recipe for those stars!

Frozen Puff Pastry (Pepperidge Farm), thawed overnight in refrigerator
Sugar
Sanding Sugar
Cream Cheese Filling – Recipe HERE ( it’s the same filling as the cheesecake shots!)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a board dusted with sugar until it is 10 by 12 inches.  Sprinkle entire sheet with sanding sugar.  Using a star shaped cookie cutter, cut stars and gently move onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  If puff pastry is warm from handling it, refrigerate entire tray for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes until puffed and sugar is slightly browned and caramelized.  Cool for a few minutes and then remove from tray and cool completely.

For Large Star Sandwiches: Separate top from bottom by cutting star in half using a serrated knife (think oreo cookie halves).  Spread cream cheese mixture onto both halves and put back together.  Using a piping bag with small round tip helps to keep your final treat neat and clean around the edges.  {For an extra special treat, add a layer of fruit in your sandwich like sliced strawberries or small raspberries and blueberries.  So delish!}  Refrigerate 4 hours or until cheesecake mixture is firm.  Serve chilled.

For Small Star Toppers: Keep sealed in an airtight container until ready to use.  These make the perfect little topper for our cheesecake shots (recipe HERE), cupcakes, ice cream cones and more!

A special thank you to Jenn and her team over at Hostess with the Mostess for featuring our Stars & Stripes Cheesecake Shots!  If you missed it, you can find the post and recipe HERE.  Wishing everyone a safe and fun filled 4th of July Weekend! 

Enjoy!

	Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, The Bride and Bloom, on DIYnetwork.com, TLC’s Parentables and more. Read more about Carrie on her bio page.

Attention!!  It’s Friday and there’s a party ahead…. a Bird’s Party, that is.  We’re kicking off the the long holiday weekend with a bang!  It’s a Red, White & Blue GIVEAWAY for You!  That’s right.  Thanks to our lovely sponsor, Bird’s Party Printables, one lucky Half Baked reader will win a $100 Gift Card to Bird’s Party!!! Choose from any of the incredible printable party collections at Bird’s Party!

Visit Bird’s Party and Leave a Comment below telling us which printable party collection has your name on it!   Earn an extra entry by doing any of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each of your entries. Maximum of 4 entries per person.

• Sign up to follow Half Baked on Facebook
• Sign up to follow Half Baked on Twitter
• Sign up to follow Half Baked via RSS
• Post about this giveaway on your blog – include a link to this post
• Post about this giveaway on your Facebook – include a link to this post
• Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter – include a link to this post

Giveaway ends Thursday, July 7th at midnight CST. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Friday, July 8th . The winner must claim their prize before Tuesday, July 12th or a new winner will be selected. You must be 18 years old and either a U.S. or Canadian resident to enter. Maximum of 4 entries per person.

Good luck everyone! Enjoy swooning over all of the adorable party collections at Bird’s Party!  Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Vendors & Credits:
Styling, photography and printables: Bird’s Party
Cake: Bird of Bird’s Party
Cookies: Whatever Whimsy

When I put together the Milkaholic Baby Shower for our friends, I had no idea the overwhelming response it would receive!  So many of you have left kind comments and inquired about everything from the invitation to the food labels, patterned papers and milk bottles.  I am currently working to make the invitation available for purchase (via a third party…  more on that to come! ).  But for now, I thought we’d start off with the milk bottles.

So today we’re sharing instructions for the milk bottles along with a FREE PRINTABLE file for the labels.  Here is everything you’ll need to make some MILKaholic bottles of your own!

Frappuccino Bottles
Black Spray Paint
MILKaholic Labels {free printable here}
Adhesive Remover
Black Sharpie

DIRECTIONS

1. Enjoy a bottle of Frappuccino!
2. Rinse bottle. Remove label. Spray with adhesive remover (like goo-gone) and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Scrub off adhesive residue with a sponge or cloth.  Wash the entire bottle and lid in dishwasher.  Let dry completely.
3. Spray paint lid black.   Let dry completely.
4. Print Milkaholic labels on sticker paper.  Get the FREE PRINTABLE labels here.
5. Punch out labels with 1 3/4″ circle punch.  The outer black boarder is thicker than necessary to give you some room for error on the punch.  The final label will have only a thin outer black border.
6. Affix a label on the top of lid and front of bottle. Enjoy!

TIPS:
If your circle punch is old and dull like mine, the outer black border of the label may have some unsightly white fringe.  Before attaching label, use a black Sharpie marker to touch up any white areas. This will make your final product look more polished!

Don’t fill the bottles with milk until you’re ready to use them. The labels will wrinkle with the condensation that pools on the cold bottle!

FREE PRINTABLE Milk Bottle Labels Here!

	Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, The Bride and Bloom, on DIYnetwork.com, TLC’s Parentables and more. Read more about Carrie on her bio page.

Half Baked is thrilled to announce another great addition to our growing list of sponsors. Just in time for all of your summer parties and events, we’re excited to welcome Bundles of Cookies! Just take a look at these adorable patriotic cookies, perfect for the 4th of July!  From Uncle Sam and Old Glory to fireworks and Declaration of Independence, these cookies are red, white and blue with a sweet coating of delicious!

How adorable are these cookies?  I love the striped sandals and swimsuits!  How perfect would these be for a 4th of July pool party?  It’s pretty easy to see why these cookies have been popping up everywhere to include the Rachel Ray Show, Modern Bride, The New York Times and Southern Living (just to name a few!).

A few thoughts from Sarah, the owner of Bundles of Cookies:
“Cookies are for both the young and young at heart …and since there is a self proclaimed cookie monster in all of us, we took the ordinary and made it extraordinary! We hire talented artists to decorate your personalized one-of-a-kind cookie arrangement. Each cookie is hand rolled, cut and decorated for your custom order. We pride ourselves on creating edible works of art.”

No matter what the event, Bundles of Cookies will have a cookie suitable for the occasion.  From holidays to baby showers, weddings, birthdays and more… they’ve got it covered (literally, covered in icing!).  Cookie arrangements and favors are shipped, delivered or given to the recipient with one objective in mind – to make them smile.  You can see more of these clever cookie creations on the Bundles of Cookies website, blog and Facebook Page.

A special thanks to Bundles of Cookies for partnering with us!  Welcome to Half Baked!

Half Baked is thrilled to welcome another great vendor to our growing list of sponsors.  Thunder Bay Press has released two great baking kits, written by Anneka Manning, that are right up our alley!  Cookies and Cupcakes!  Easy-to-follow recipes for downright delicious treats that will have everyone begging for more.

Cookies features more than 40 fun recipes including classics such as chocolate shortbread, jam thumbprints, gingerbread and inventive takes such as cardamom crescents and tiramisu creams.  With recipes for simple, “plain jane” cookies as well as dipped and drizzled delights, Cookies offers options for every schedule and skill level.   It also comes with four brightly colored cookie cutters to help you get started!  With color photos and serving suggestions, you’ll be serving up your best cookies ever.

A special thanks to Thunder Bay Press for partnering with us. You can order both Cookies and Cupcakes on their website, here.  Welcome to Half Baked!

Yummmm!  Chocolate and raspberry has always been a great combination and the recipe we have for you today is definitely a winner.  Literally!  This delectable tart, created by Kimberly Vardeman of Lubbock, Texas, won the grand prize in the Callebaut Chocolate Recipe Contest.  It’s not hard to see why this chocolate creation won top honors with its homemade chocolate crust and rich chocolatey filling.  Topped off with raspberries and whipped cream… oh my goodness!

As the grand-prize winner, Kimberly will receive a trip for two to Brussels where she will be treated to a tour of the Callebaut Chocolate Factory and a pastry class at the their Chocolate Academy.  Talk about a chocolate lover’s dream!  And for the rest of us chocolate lovers, we can indulge in Kimberly’s Double Chocolate Raspberry Tart recipe!

Ingredients:
1 extra-large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Callebaut cocoa powder
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, diced
6 oz. semi-sweet Callebaut chocolate
6 oz. bittersweet Callebaut chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur

For the Crust: Combine cream and egg yolk in a small bowl. Place flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt in bowl of food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter pieces of butter over flour mixture. Process in one-second pulses until butter is incorporated. While processor is running, pour egg mixture through feed tube. Process until moistened, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough into a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Gently press dough into an even layer against the bottom and sides of pan. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with nonstick cooking spray and set inside pan, against the crust. Freeze for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Place tart pan on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until crust is set. Allow to cool.

For the Filling: Chop the chocolate. Place chocolate, butter, and salt in a large, heatproof mixing bowl. Bring heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour heavy cream over chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes to melt chocolate. Add raspberry liqueur. Gently stir until combined. Pour mixture into cooled tart crust and smooth top with an offset spatula. Chill tart in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Before serving, allow tart to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Serve with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

Special thanks to Callebaut Chocolate and Kimberly Vardeman for sharing this Double Chocolate Raspberry Tart recipe with us.  We hope Kimberly enjoys her amazing trip to Brussels… I know we will enjoy her amazing recipe!

It’s Friday so I thought we’d have a little fun today!  If you were a fan of the original, I probably don’t need to tell you that Cars 2 opens today.  The long awaited sequel hits the screen 5 years after Cars made its debut in the summer of 2006.  I’m sure if it is anything like the first film, children everywhere will dream that Lightning McQueen makes an appearance at their next birthday.  And well, you can’t do a Cars 2 themed party without a Cars cake!

I am a huge fan of Rebecca Sutterby’s work!  I’ve followed her cakes for years now… her designs have inspired other cake designers all over the country, including myself.  Her talent never ceases to amaze me.  Rebecca is one of my first cake crushes as she is truly one of the leaders in ‘the cake revolution’ over the last 5+ years.  I was beyond thrilled when she agreed to share her incredible Radiator Springs Cars Inspired Cake with us today!  You can see more of Rebecca’s amazing cakes on the Sugar Creations Website and on Facebook.

If you go see Cars 2 this weekend… I want reviews!  Happy Friday everyone!

Half Baked is excited to announce the newest addition to our Top Tier Directory… The Hudson Cakery!  This boutique cake shop located in New Jersey knows a thing or two about great cakes!

What do you get when fresh ingredients meet modern style?  Deliciously beautiful cakes that taste as good as they look.  Jennifer Bunce, the owner and head designer at The Hudson Cakery, has loved baking (and eating) desserts since she was a child.  Maybe that is why The Hudson Cakery puts an emphasis on taste!  After learning from some of the very best in the cake biz (including Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes, Kate Sullivan of CakePower and Toba Garrett…oh my that is an impressive list!),  Jennifer now creates edible masterpieces of her own.  Jennifer’s work has been featured in numerous print and online publications and it’s easy to see why!

We were honored to showcase one of Jennifer’s cakes last spring in our Super Bowl of Cake.  You all loved it and I knew right away that The Hudson Cakery was a Top Tier cake shop!

Special thanks to Jennifer and The Hudson Cakery for joining us. We can’t wait to feature more of your spectacular work!

I’ve been dying to share this event with you for months!  It debuted yesterday on Hostess with the Mostess (yay!) and I’m thrilled to share some additional images and details with you today.  My husband and I hosted a co-ed baby shower for our friends, Ted and Meredith, in honor of their newly adopted son, Colin.  Ted and Meredith anxiously waited for Colin’s birth and we were all thrilled when he officially became their son.  We were honored to welcome Baby Colin with this modern Milkaholic Sip & See baby shower.

‘Milkaholic’ just seemed fitting for a Sip & See considering how much time a newborn spends eating!  That meant baby bottles, milk and cow print.  Yes, cow print!  (I was slightly nervous about the cow print but it stepped up nicely into this mature and modern role).  The color scheme was black and white with pops of turquoise.   Swiss dots and stripes were used throughout to add a fresh and modern feel.

I designed the invitation and let it set the tone for the party decor.  Sleek and modern yet baby themed was the intent.  The Milkaholic baby bottle became a logo that was used throughout the party.   The back of the invite featured cow print and a turquoise “I ♥ MILK’ stripe that matched custom address labels from Minted.

With this being a co-ed event, we wanted to keep the decor more modern and less traditional ‘baby’.  To create a unique backdrop for the dessert table, I painted a canvas to match the party invite.  Black and white patterned bunting was hung along the wall above the painting.   Mini bottles were filled with milk and given sleek milk labels.  The bottles were stacked in tall vases on ice and also mixed into the tub of adult beverages.  The theme even permeated the coffee station with mini milk bottles serving up the cream and sugar.  The Milkaholic logo was updated to include the baby’s name and then framed for additional decoration.  White hydrangeas were arranged in tall cylinder vases tied with black satin ribbon.

We wanted to provide an array of miniature desserts so that  guests could sample several different items.  Delicious sweets from Caramel  Swirls were served including their Little Treasures (milk caramel and shortbread cookie dipped in chocolate – yum!), Cafe Caramel Cookies and Espresso Brownies.  Adorable custom sugar cookies were created by The Cookie Jar to match the theme.  Sweeties by Kim created chocolate-covered Oreos to match as well.  Of course, I designed the cake!  Additional desserts included meringue cookies, white chocolate pretzels, cream puffs and cheesecake shots.  Cold milk shots were served to wash it all down (along with some adult beverages and coffee).

So many delicious treats! And with the boys around… we made a serious dent in this dessert table!

Activities for a co-ed baby event can be tricky.   Not wanting the male guests to feel awkward, I opted for non-organized activities that would still be fun and entertaining.  Guests were encouraged to write humorous thoughts onto diapers to provide Ted and Meredith a little chuckle later on.  The Diaper Thoughts station gave the men an avenue to showcase their best and most clever diaper humor!  A Well  Wishes station encouraged guests to write something sentimental on keepsake cards which were then placed into a glass bubble bowl. Of course, the main activity was oohing and awing over the guest of honor, Baby Colin!

Guests were given a small box filled with ‘Kisses from Colin’. Hershey Kisses with patterned labels inside a white box wrapped with coordinating paper and tags.

Everyone had a lovely time meeting Baby Colin and indulging in some sweets.  We could not be more thrilled for Ted and Meredith and were honored to welcome their son Colin into this world!

A very special thank you to all of the amazing vendors involved in this modern Milkaholic Sip & See!

Vendors & Credits:
Party Styling & Decor: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Invitation & Paper Goods: Half Baked on Etsy
Address Labels: Minted
Decorated Sugar Cookies: The Cookie Jar
Chocolate Covered Oreos: Sweeties by Kim
Caramel Desserts & Espresso Brownies: Caramel Swirls
Cake: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Painted Canvas:  Original by Carrie Sellman.  Duplicates now available for purchase at djDecor.
Milk Bottles: DIY found HERE

	Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, The Bride and Bloom, on DIYnetwork.com, TLC’s Parentables and more. Read more about Carrie on her bio page.

Hello Cake Blog readers.  It’s Lauren from Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. I want to start off first by thanking Carrie for asking me to be a part of her amazingly gorgeous and always inspiring cake blog!  I am honored to be a new contributor on The Cake Blog and look forward to sharing many great cupcake recipes and photos with you monthly!   Today I am sharing my first cupcake creation to kick off summer, Honey Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting!

The star ingredient is fresh local honey that I picked up at our local farmer’s market a few weeks ago.  While my husband and I were scoping out all the vendors we were quickly persuaded to sample some fresh honey.  After one taste of a sweet wild flower honey I was sold and quickly purchased a mason jar full!  Honey is an ingredient I always keep on hand (usually in the shape of the honey bear) to add some sweetness to smoothies, corn bread, a bowl of oatmeal, homemade granola bars or even dog biscuits for my black lab.  Everything tastes better with a little honey right?  All it took was one spoonful of honey and I was inspired to create a honey cupcake that I hope you are going to love!

Before we jump right to the recipe, I wanted to share with you some basic tools I use all the time when making cupcakes.  I find that using a standard size ice cream scoop with a release mechanism is very helpful when filling the cupcake liners and making uniform sized cupcakes.  I picked up my scoop at a grocery store a few years ago for just a few dollars and it is one of my absolute favorite kitchen gadgets!  When it comes time to decorating cupcakes I absolutely love using a large round piping tip to create a tall swirly design like on these cupcakes!  Don’t have a piping tip, just scoop your icing into a large zip lock bag, snip off one bottom corner and start swirling away!

Just looking at these cupcakes makes me happy!  These little cakes are extra special because you get a double pop of honey in both the cake and frosting!  Add some sugar sprinkles on top and you’ve got a vibrant sweet that is perfect for those bright summery days!  Honey Cupcakes would be the perfect addition to a summer picnic or family reunion.  You could even add some fresh lemon juice or zest for an extra punch of flavor!  Don’t let summer pass you by without giving this recipe a try!

HONEY CUPCAKES WITH HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
a recipe by Lauren Kapeluck
{makes 1 dozen cupcakes}

For the cake:

1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In medium bowl mix together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In small bowl mix together wet ingredients: buttermilk, honey and vanilla, set aside.
4. In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and sugar on medium speed until combined.
5. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
6. Gradually add the dry and wet ingredients, alternating starting and ending with dry ingredients and mix until combined.
7. Using ice cream scoop fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
9. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
10. Once cupcakes are completely cool, ice with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.

For the frosting:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 Tbsp honey
yellow food coloring (optional)
yellow sugar sprinkles

1. In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and cream cheese until combined.
2. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and continue to mixing scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
3. Mix in honey.
4. If desired add a few drops of yellow food coloring to slightly tint the icing.
5. Place the icing in a piping bag fitted with a round decorating tip and swirl the frosting on top of the cupcake going in a circular motion.
6. Add some yellow sugar sprinkles and enjoy!

These cupcakes are amazingly delicious and absolutely scream summer time!  Enjoy!

	Lauren Kapeluck Lauren is a monthly contributor for The Cake Blog. She is a self-taught baker and lover of all things sugar. Read more about Lauren on her bio page.