Little Baby Feet Cupcakes

Mom-to-be Brandy had her fall themed baby shower with an initmate group of co-workers and friends. These gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting were topped with fall cut outs of fondant baby feet was perfect for the expectant mother who wanted to keep the sex of her baby a surprise. Congratulations to Brandy and her family!

Bird Theme Baby Shower

A good friend, Carmin, hosted a baby shower and asked if we could make chocolate cupcakes for her long-time friend who is expecting her first child, a girl, this summer. Carmin didn't provide a specific color, theme, or ideas for the cupcakes. Bascially she said, "You are so talented, I trust what you can come up with." And then she added, "I was wondering if you know how to make cupcakes that are gluten free?" Thank you Carmin for making our brains work harder!


Mom-to-be Amy was registered at Target and that was how we found out the baby's nursery room theme: birds. We googled for bird theme cupcakes on Cake Central. The website is the best place to look if you need ideas for your cake. It is also a community center for cake decorating and non-cake decorating folks. We share advice, ideas and recipes. Now, isn't that sweet?

Speaking of the cupcakes, these were chocolate and gluten-free chocolate. Thank you Betty Crocker for one of the most simplest methods (all in a box) to make gluten-free goodies. Actually, the cake mix we bought was to make a yellow cake. We adjusted it by adding dutch cocoa into the mixture. We handmade the cupcake wrappers by using reversible polka dot gift wrap from Target. All you need is to print a cupcake wrap pattern and use scallopped craft scissor to cut the top edge and then attach both sides with double-sided tape.

We used our Cricut (Have you seen Cricut Cake? It is specifically made for cake decorating = awesome!) to get a bird and twig pattern. All birds and twigs were hand-cut with fondant by us!

Some of us prefer vanilla cake, we couldn't resist to include a small cake on the top. This was a vanilla cake with strawberry filling. The colors are perfect for a baby girl.

A display of the cake and cupcakes at the shower.

There was quite the spread of good food. All of us ladies had a great time eating, playing fun and silly games and socializing. Amy (and baby Sylvie) were undoubtedly showered with lots of love from all of us!

Ginger Cake Cookies

Not all cookies are made for everyone (i.e. We made these cookies out of guilt:-o)

Ginger cake cookies recipe from Cookies for Everyone! by Leslie Hammond and Besty Laasko. 150 delicious gluten-free treats that are safe for most anyone with food allergies, intolerances, or sensitivities. Allergy friendly treats.

Ginger Cake Cookies

Yield: about 2 dozen

3/4 C unsulfured molasses

1/3 C packed brown sugar

1/3 C water

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

Dash of salt

2 1/4 C Bob's Red Mill white or brown rice flour

1 C Bob's Red Mill tapioca flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground all spice

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. To make the cookies: with a mixer, cream together molasses, brown sugar, water, oil, and salt. Add remaining cookie ingredients and mix well. (The mix was somewhat runny, so refrigerate for a half hour before proceed to next step)

3. Use a large ice cream/cookie scoop or drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto a greased baking sheet and flatten slightly. Or, to make cut-out cookies, divide dough in half and pat each half into a disc. Roll each disk into an even 1/2 inch thick circle. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the dough. Place each cookie shape onto a greased baking sheet.

4. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden around the edges and puffy in the middle. Let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to cool wire rack.