This past weekend we had my youngest daughter’s birthday party. I chose a Minnie Mouse theme because my baby loves Minnie! I had in my mind the way I could do cupcakes that would look like Minnie and I wanted Babybee to be able to recognize it right away. Of course things don’t always go as planned,for example, I couldn’t find bow candy molds or a bow mini-cookie cutter so I chose the next best thing: 
a dog bone. Then I got a food pen to try and draw details on said bones to make them look like bows. I do think they ultimately turned out okay. And the most important part, they tasted amazing – homemade strawberry cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting – yum!
Sometime last year Emily hosted a Harry Potter party at her house and I volunteered to make dessert because I had seen some darling owl cupcakes on-line. I suppose I could have called the first part of this blog: how to decorate cupcakes with oreos. Moving on….
So that’s some of my cuter baked goods and then we’ve had the flops, which oddly enough usually happen at Christmastime. One year I tried to make those little ball cookies where you hide hershey kisses inside…they didn’t work, instead I ended up with nipple cookies.
Then this past year, the first year I made my famous sugar cookies as a mother and Busybee asked for Rudolph cookies. Well, I don’t have a Rudolph cookie cutter, but I had seen elsewhere that you could use a gingerbread man cutter and just flip it upside down. Mine look like naughty women. So see, when I try to get creative with my baked goods, I tend to get pornographic.
Have you ever made something that didn’t come out just right? Did it taste good, but just look ugly? Share your story so you can entertain me while I’m rushing to the end of my deadline…
I’m Robyn DeHart, AKA Basket-Case Mama, but not because I’m crazy (though really, what mom isn’t?) but because I have a slight obsession with baskets, well containers really. I’m a bit of an organization nut and I love to containerize stuff. And yes, I’m authorized to use words like that because I am also a writer. But back to the kids, so I’m mom to two ridiculously beautiful little girls and I can say that without bragging because I didn’t actually make them. Last year my husband, The Professor, and I adopted said little lovelies from the foster-care system here in Texas and now we’re a big happy forever family. Busybee is three and so full of joy it just oozes from her. Babybee is a walking-talking toddler who has a heck of a temper but is so cute, it almost keeps her out of trouble. Though neither of my girls are newborns, I’m fairly new to motherhood compared to the other peanut butter moms, but we’ve settled in as a family as if we’ve always been together. When I’m not trying to keep up with my two bundles of energy, you can usually find me on my laptop on Pinterest, no, that’s not right, um…you can find me writing, yes, that’s it, writing my latest historical romance. www.robyndehart.com
Those Minnie Mouse and Harry Potter cupcakes are adorable! And I had to laugh at the nipple cookies! I never woulda thought of that…LOL!!! And I think the reindeer cookies turned out great!!
Okay, my biggest cooking disaster happened at a party where I volunteered to bring my Amish sugar cookies. These are the best cookies in the world! But as soon as everyone bit into them, they made big faces and spit them out. Well, it turned out I’d bought self-rising flour instead of all-purpose. The cookies tasted like salt and bitterness from all the extra baking powder and salt in them! I was so mad at myself!!
I have one cookie where everyone treats me like a goddess if I make them. I have people I barely know emailing me for the recipe. I think they’re a lot more common now, but when I started making them, no one else I knew had ever heard of them. They’re basically chocolate brownie cookies with Rollos inside and white chocolate drizzled on top. So when you bite into the cookie, you get a gooey center.
But nothing beats the super easy peanut butter kiss cookies we make. Only five ingredients and they’re delicious.
I love baking and baking stories!!! Kids do, too. Thanks for sharing yours, Robyn!!!
LOL, Kieran, I’ve had some other baking mishaps like that too, but mostly just for family, not in a big group. Your other cookie sounds great though, never heard of those. And I think I’ve been scared off forever from using kisses in cookies, though I do enjoy the peanut butter kiss cookies.
Lol, that’s funny– thanks for sharing! And the Minnie Mouse and owl cookies are so cute! As for me, I’ve had (and still have) so many awful looking desserts, that I can’t even think of a specific one.
Oh hugs, Geraldine on your own baking disasters. At least they’re fun to laugh at though. And thank you, I thought my cupcakes were pretty cute too.
I have always loved to cook and bake and pride myself on doing a fairly good job. However – isn’t there ALWAYS a however?
– many years ago, I decided I was going to bake bread. Out came my favorite cookbook and I followed the directions to the “letter” – or so I thought. When I took the loaves out of the oven, they immediately fell into a heavy block. My sister lived around the corner from me, so I took them over to her for sympathy. Sympathy? Ha! Her husband, my late, funny and wonderful brother-in-law tried to console me with a straight face. He said he would shellac them and I could use them for doorstops! Then, he laughed his head off. To this day, I have never again tried to bake bread! 
Oh no, Connie! Now that sounds like something I would do. Only way I’ve ever made bread is in a bread machine. Family is always so helpful when we’ve made an embarrassing mistake. I was making a pie at Thanksgiving one year and was distracted and I mixed up two ingredients and ended up adding way too much melted butter. I scooped out what I could, but my brother dubbed it butter pie and we all ate it anyways. It was pretty tasty.
I leave the baking to my husband, he makes the kids birthday cakes and does an absolutely amazing job. I’m pretty disastrous in the kitchen full stop! I love anyone who can transfer an idea from the mind to reality. Loved the Minnie and Owl cupcakes.
Thanks Nicki. And what a nice treat you have with a baking husband. My husband, not so much, but he makes great scrambled eggs. My mom’s dad made great cakes from scratch and we sure wish we had all his recipes. Your husband is making great memories for your kiddos.
Funny, Robin! And a little scary…think I’ll just stick to chocolate chip and innocent sugar cookies!
You just never know what’s going to happen in my kitchen…
They all look yummy. I have to cook chocolate brownies for a charity function tomorrow. I’m pretty nervous because all my flops occur when it matters. But I will have my kitchen diva No. 7 helping so it might be ok.
Good luck with your brownies today, Princess. I always used the double chocolate Ghiredelli brownie mix, can’t go wrong with that.
How much time do you have? Baking and me do not go together. Almost nothing I bake outside the microwave turns out well. I have a burned thumb.
heh….well, let’s just say last Saturday was a wash when it comes to time. Thank goodness the birthdays only come once a year. My tip for not burning stuff, set your timer for a few minutes before the directions instruct and check your item. All ovens bake at slightly different temps, if you find you always burn, your oven might run hot. Of course if you just hate to bake, then burning is a great excuse.
OMG…you have me laughing out loud! Love the naughty reindeer/lady and nipple cookies. The flops are usually the ones that make the best memories. My sisters still talk about my sugar cookies turned meadow muffins I made in high school, lol.