Butterfinger Cake

So this cake was experimental. Not the brightest idea when planning on serving it to 2o people, but with Butterfinger candy bars and chocolate cake, it was a risk I was willing to take, lol. I used 2 round cakes, each divided and filled with chocolate fudge icing and a crushed Butterfinger. I stacked them, then frosted the entire cake with homemade chocolate buttercream icing, covered with another crushed Butterfinger, then added a shell border in the buttercream icing. It turned out REALLY good! I was worried about an hour after applying the crushed pieces because they started to get really sticky. The moisture from the frosting (and the fat) combined with the candy pieces and the texture started to change, but it blended with the frosting flavors and gave the entire cake a rich butter flavor. So it all worked out!

Just don't look too closely at the lettering. It is hard to add lettering on a very textured surface!

 

Frozen Grape Pops

What started out as a fun summer snack ended up also being a great creative activity! I showed the kids how to stack the grapes on the sticks and then set them loose. Within minutes there were grape people with sticks coming out all over the place, Pokemon grapes, alien and robot grapes, grapes arresting other grapes. It was crazy! They are now headed to the deep freeze and will make a great snack later on! I got the idea for grape pops from Make and Takes.

Salt Dough

Aaron and I talked about reptiles today. He made this salt dough turtle by himself today. I thought it was so cute! We like salt dough because you can bake it and it lasts without getting crumbly like play dough would if you tried to keep it.

Salt Dough

2 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

3/4 c. hot water

Mix together and form into a ball of dough. Shape as desired, then place on a microwave safe plate (not styrofoam or paper). Microwave on high for 60 seconds at a time until firm and dough begins to dry. For this turtle, we cooked it 60 seconds at a time for 6 minutes. For smaller, thinner projects like ornaments-- it takes 3 minutes or so. If you have thick areas like arms and legs, poke a hole through the thickest section with a toothpick so that it doesn't bubble.

When cooled, paint with acrylic paint and decorate as desired! Aaron found some eyes in the office and glued them on himself!