The Kids’ Masterpieces 

Check in station

We hosted a Cake Wars birthday Party for 17 young girls a few weeks ago.  What a blast.   We had three teams, each with personalized colored aprons.  Each team had to make one dessert treat, and their second event was to decorate a birthday cake.  We measured out in advance all the ingredients for Event 1 to help save time.  However the teams did most of the steps on their own except when using an oven or stove top.

For Event 2, we did buy the vanilla cakes (pre-cut in layers) along with icing and toppings.  That saved a bunch of time.  I bought disposable icing bags for the icing along with a bunch of fun decorating tips.      Two mistakes I made were:  having the kids decorate a three layer cake (two layers would have been plenty) and the kids went bonkers with the toppings.  They still could have had crazy fun cakes with half the amount of toppings we set aside.

Below was the game plan for the party.  I suggest allocating 2 1/2  to 3 hours.  Make sure to put some tarp or covering on the floor to make cleanup easier.  Also cover any tables to be used for activities, again to speed up cleanup.

Activity 1

Make A Dessert

Participants had 30 minutes to get a dessert in the oven or waffle iron.  This was doable but they needed extra time when done to decorate.

Activity 2

Decorate A Birthday Cake

Participants had 30 minutes to decorate a birthday cake

Judging

Dinner

Hotdogs, Hamburgers, Fruit, Vegetables

 

Dessert Waffles (5-6 waffles)

Dry Ingredients

2 Cups Flour

½ Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons of Sugar

3 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

Wet Ingredients

1^½ Cup Milk

2 Eggs

½ Stick Butter

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extra

Available Toppings

Strawberries

Chocolate Syrup (homemade)

Whip Cream (homemade)

Sprinkles

Ice Cream

Waffle Steps

1. Melt Butter on stove. Set aside to cool
2. Mix Dry Ingredients in large bowl, set aside
3. Crack Eggs (2 small bowls)
4. Mix Milk and Eggs (medium bowl)
5. Stir in Butter and Vanilla (into medium bowl with milk)
6. Pre-Heat Waffle Iron
7. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients (large bowl)
8. Drop Batter onto hot waffle iron (1/4 to 1/2 cup depending on size of waffle iron)
9. Add Dessert Toppings as you wish

Whip Cream

Heavy Cream (2 cups)

3-6 Tablespoons of Sugar (based on desired taste)

Teaspoon of Vanilla

Whip Cream Steps:

1. Place Kitchen Aid Mixing Bowl and Whip in Freezer Half Hour
2. Place all Ingredients in Kitchen Aid Bowl
3. Turn Speed to Medium until Cream Thickens

Chocolate Sauce

4 Ounces Semisweet Chips

4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

¼ Cup Sugar

Pinch Salt

¼ Cup Water

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Steps:

1. Combine All Ingredients Except Vanilla Over Low Heat – Cook until Smooth
2. Add vanilla and serve immediately or keep warm over hot water until ready to serve

Chocolate Chip Cookies (about 30-40 cookies)

Kids baked one rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  We froze the rest of dough.

Dry Ingredients

2 ^1/3 Cup Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

¾ Teaspoon of Salt

Wet Ingredients

2 Sticks Butter, Softened

1 Cup Brown Sugar Packed

½ Cup White Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

12 oz Chocolate Chips

Cookie Steps

1. Preheat Oven to 350; Line cookie sheet with parchment; Soften butter
2. Over parchment paper sift dry ingredients, return to a large bowl that is easy to pour
3. With electric mixture, paddle, speed 2 mix butter for 30 seconds
4. Add sugars and beat about a minute- taking up speed one if needed. Should be light and fluffy, scrape side of bowl as needed
5. Add eggs one at a time
6. Add vanilla, stop to scrape
7. Slow mixture down to first level, and slowly add flour a little at a time from large bowl (6-8 times total)
8. Remove bowl, hand fold in the chips a ¼ of bag at a time
9. Space 1 set of cookies – around 16-20 cookies (freeze rest of batter)
10. Cook for 11 ½ – 12 minutes; Adult Remove (cookies should look slightly underdone)
11. Let tray sit on cooling rack for 5 minutes
12. Remove cookies from baking sheet and place on cooling rack direct.
13. The kids on their own chose to make ice cream sandwiches and poured chocolate sauce inside the ice cream sandwich and decorated the plates with chocolate sauce

Ina Garten (Barefood Contessa) Skillet Brownies

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/skillet-brownies

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 sets of 4 oz (½ cup) semisweet chocolate chips

1 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 eggs

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon of sugar

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon flour, divided

1 teaspoon of baking powder

¼ teaspoon of salt

Ice cream or dust powder sugar

Brownie Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Heat the butter, 4 ounces chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate over double broiler until chocolate melts
3. Remove the bowl from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes
4. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) eggs, coffee powder, vanilla and sugar
5. Stir chocolate mixture into egg mixture and set aside to cool to room temp.
6. Medium bowl sift ¼ cup of flour, the baking powder, salt —— stir into chocolate mixture
7. Toss the remaining ½ cups of chocolate chips and one tablespoon of flour together into a medium bowl
8. Stir them into chocolate mixture
9. Spoon into 4 skillets and place on a sheet
10. Bake 22 minutes and test with toothpick
11. Serve with ice cream if desired or dust powder sugar
12. Kids once again got more creative than we imagined with the treat.

Vanilla Cake and Frosting Recipe (Chocolate, Vanilla)

Cupcakes (Makes 20-25) or Cake

2 cups-flour

1/2 tsp-salt

2 tsp-baking powder

1/2-butter (soft)

3/4 cup-sugar

2-eggs

1 cup-milk

1 tsp-vanilla

Vanilla Cake Directions:

1. Mix dry flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy
3. Add eggs 1 at a time to butter mixture until combined
4. Add flour mix and milk alternately to the butter mixture until combined
5. Add vanilla
6. Scoop into cupcake lined molds
7. If cupcakes, bake at 375 for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Vanilla Buttercream Icing (Makes 4 cups)

1/2 cup-butter (soft)

1/2 cup-shortening

1 tsp-vanilla

4 cups-confectioners sugar

4 Tb-milk

Directions:

1.Cream butter and shortening

2. Add vanilla

3. Add confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time until combined

4. Add milk, mix until light and fluffy

Chocolate Buttercream Icing (Makes 4 cups)

1/2 cup-butter (soft)
1/2 cup-shortening
1 tsp-vanilla
4 cups-confectioners sugar
1/4 cup-cocoa powder
4 Tb-milk

Directions:
1. Cream butter and shortening

2. Add vanilla

3. Add cocoa and confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time until combined

4. Add milk, mix until light and fluffy

Hamburger Sliders (made about 36 kid size sliders)

5- 5.5 Pounds Ground Meat

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons of Grated Parmesan Cheese (super fresh)

2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder

2 Teaspoons Salt

2 Teaspoons Ground Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Onion Powder

Directions:  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Form patties and set in fridge for at least an hour before grilling.

Each kid received a take home apron with their name on it as well as a party favor lipgloss in the shape of a cupcake.

Prep work prior to party for Event 1

Skillet Brownies

Dessert Waffles

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

For Event 2, each team received a cake box with some starter icing, four toppings, and a mystery topping unique to that team.

Extra colorful icing to share for Event 2