Pastel Ombre Peep Cake

I know it’s a little bit early for Easter, but I made this cake last weekend for a potluck where the theme was “birds”. I’d seen a tutorial for making a beautiful swirled ombre cake from Sweetapolita, and have been dying to give it a try.

I started with a pallet of pink, yellow, and greenish blue pastel frosting.

You can check out Sweetapolita’s video tutorial for this frosting method here. She does a fantastic job of explaining each step, and it really was very simple! I started with a crumb coated cake, then slowly added stripes of blue, yellow, and pink frosting. As you smooth the cake, the stripes naturally swirl together to create this beautiful watercolor or ombre effect.

 

This cake’s color scheme reminded me of a pastel sunset.  I would recommend that you think of how the colors will look when they mix together, and that it will result in pretty shades, not muddy ones. Mixing complementary colors (red/green, yellow/purple etc) will give you a not so nice result.

After I was done creating my swirly pastel frosting, I still had to add the “bird” component. Easter is in March this year, so the stores are already full of Peeps! I considered using pink, yellow, and blue peeps on top, but the other colors were just too bright compared to the pastel cake. I decided on an all yellow cast of marshmallow chicks, and added a few colorful sprinkles to make it even more cheerful.

This cake would work with any number of pretty spring colors, so I hope that you enjoy it for Easter!

 

<3

Jillian Cupcake

Valentine Rice Krispy Pops

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a super easy (no bake!) treat perfect for this heart-shaped-holiday. These are just Rice Krispy treats dipped in pink chocolate and adorned with sprinkles. Change up the chocolate color, or even use (gasp) store bought rice treats, I won’t tell

What you need is pretty obvious, but here ya go:

 

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of crisp rice cereal
• 40 marshmallows (about 10oz)
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• Pink candy melts (or other chocolate of your choice)
• Sprinkles
• Lollipop sticks

Melt the butter and marshmallows together over low heat or in the microwave. Stir in the cereal and then pour into a parchment lined 9×9 pan. Press down firmly (butter your clean fingers to avoid sticking) and let cool.  Use a serrated knife to cut into squares.

Melt chocolate in a deep bowl or measuring cup in the microwave. To make pops, dip the end of the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and then press into the bottom of the treat (about halfway through the treat). Then, you have 3 options.

Dip the treat halfway into the melted chocolate, and gently tap off excess. While the chocolate is still melted, sprinkle heart sprinkles over the top.

For this look, dip the treat halfway into the chocolate and gently tap off the excess. Spoon a little bit of the pink chocolate into a baggie and snip off the corner. Gently drizzle the chocolate over the treat. Melt some white chocolate and repeat the drizzling process for a two toned effect.

For this design, skip the dipping and go straight to the drizzling! Spoon melted chocolate into a baggie and snip off the corner. Drizzle chocolate over each treat, and while the chocolate is still melted, add heart shaped sprinkles.

 

There you have it! Easy as can be, and everyone loves dessert on a stick!

I hope you all have a very sweet Valentine’s Day

<3

-Jillian Cupcake

 

 

 

 

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