The Birthday Cake

Happy weekend, Friends!

This recipe is definitely a gift to you for the weekend. I hope you have a chance to make it sometime. Oh, these cupcakes were the cutest and yummiest things ever. Ok, the mini chocolate peanut butter ones are really good too. But the little lady bug truffles were so adorable and yummy and the strawberry frosting had some serious goodness going on too. The truffle centers were cookie dough. Yep, now you have a perfectly good excuse for eating raw cookie dough. You should have seen the princess and warrior and their little friends hanging around while I made the little lady bugs the day before the party. They were all over some cookie dough action! I used a chocolate cake recipe that I found on another food blog. It was tasty, but not my recipe. If you want a good chocolate cake recipe, try The Very Best Chocolate Cake here, it really is the very best that I have found...so far! The Frosting is my recipe and so are the lady bugs. I am so pleased with how the little lady bugs turned out, I'm so glad that I made them, I feel like they were practically guests at the party! And you know you can't go wrong with a chocolate and strawberry combo. And have I mentioned how adorable the little ladybugs were, they seriously made me smile every time I looked at them! Ok, enough rambling...my weekend gift to you!

Lady Bug Cupcakes

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 8oz pkg strawberry cream cheese, room temp

6 Tbl butter, room temp

1/2 c strawberry preserves

4 c powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add the strawberry preserves and mix until well combined. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until you have the desired consistency. There you go! Super simple and better than anything you're going to get out of a can!

Cookie Dough Lady Bug Truffles

Ingredients

1/4 c butter, room temp

1/3 c brown sugar

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 c mini chocolate chips

1 lb Red vanilla candy coating

2 pkg Hershey's Drops Candy

Candy eyes (from Michaels)

more mini chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the milk and flour and beat well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Roll the dough into little balls and place on the waxed paper. Set in the freezer for about 15 minutes, for easier dipping.

In a zip-lock baggie, melt about 1/4 cup chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds. Snip a tiny corner off the end with scissors. Lay the Hershey's Drops out on the working surface. Squeeze two small drops of melted chocolate on the round candy Drops and place a candy eye on each drop to make the head with eyes. Prepare all these ahead of time because the candy coating hardens quickly and you won't have time to do it as you are dipping.

Melt the chocolate or candy coating according to package directions. Take a few balls out of freezer at a time and dip into the coating, remove as much excess coating as you can and set on a sheet of waxed paper. Place a head with eyes on one end of the ball and hold it in place for a few seconds then place mini chips, flat side up, on the back of the lady bug for black dots. There you go!

Perfect little Lady Bugs!

Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary