LilSugar

How to Make Cake Pops

Rebecca M Gruber — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 05:00:00 PST

The cupcake has been dethroned by the decadent cake pop. Where the muffin-sized cakes once reigned supreme a bite-sized ball of cake on a stick is all the rage at lil ones' parties. I've admired the treats from afar for some time now – staring in awe at their presence on Amy Atlas's designer dessert tables, and drooling over the creations in Bakerella's cookbook ($11) – but never considered trying my own hand at them until we started planning my son's upcoming birthday party. Determined to make them every bit as spectacular as those I've seen on the web, I tried a practice round this past week. They were easier to create than I had expected, but more time-intensive than I had planned. Check out the step-by-step instructions, as well as what I'll do differently next time (and stay tuned for next month when I'll share the ones I created for his actual party)!

Kiddie Soirée: Cakes for Kids

babysugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:00:16 PDT

Want to turn your child's birthday party into a bash, but you don't have much cash?

For mothers who must have a unique cake and can't shell out $5,000 for it, Cakes for Kids can come in handy.

The $15 book gives eager–to–please mamas step-by-step instructions to craft a sugary work of art.

Novice bakers need not worry as the levels of difficulty are spelled out simply.

So release your inner Martha and get to work!

View 4 Photos ›

Sisters of DC Cupcakes Share Valentine's Day Baking Tips and Chocolate Ganache Recipe

Rebecca M Gruber — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:16:28 PST

What's sugar and spice and everything nice? Cupcakes! And no one knows more about our obsession with the lil confections than Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis, co-owners of Georgetown Cupcake and stars of TLC's DC Cupcakes. The sisters, who learned their kitchen skills from their grandmother ("We followed her around the kitchen and always begged to help"), have been known to bake up to 10,000 lil cakes a day, much to the delight of the patrons who line the block of their Washington DC store. The duo - who just opened their first outpost in New York City - gave me a few minutes of their time to discuss their tasty desserts.

LilSugar: Cupcakes have moved from kiddie birthday party staple to a favorite of adults and kids alike. But kids aren't always willing to try new flavors. Which are most popular with kids?
Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis: Our Vanilla Birthday (vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow bobbles), Chocolate Birthday (chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow bobbles), and Milk Chocolate Birthday (vanilla cupcake with milk chocolate buttercream and rainbow bobbles) are the most popular with kids. We think it's the color rainbow bobbles!

LS: Moms are busy; what shortcuts can you recommend to making delicious, beautiful cupcakes without spending the whole day baking and decorating them?
SL and KK: Try to keep a stash of baking staples - butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, all purpose flour, baking soda/powder, salt, and cocoa powder/chocolate on hand in your kitchen at all times and you can make almost any flavor! Our recipes are very simple - we don’t use cake flour or pastry flour - just all purpose - we find that works best. Also, we're big fans of chocolate ganache icing. It's so easy - just two ingredients - chocolate chips and heavy cream. You just melt them down (two cups of chips to one cup of cream), and dip your cupcakes in and you've got a super fast and unbelievably delicious frosting.

LS: Do you ever make "healthy" cupcakes for those who want to skip some of the sugar? If so, what goes into it?
SL and KK: We have a carrot cake cupcake, which has fresh carrots and fresh apples grated in it. We skip the walnuts, to save on calories, and it's a light and delicious cupcake!

The new season of DC Cupcakes begins on Feb. 25, but if you're looking to create their Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes for Valentine's Day,

What's on Your Toddler's "Potty List"?

Rebecca M Gruber — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:17:32 PST

Every season my kids and I create a "bucket list" of activities we want to do before the weather changes. Right now, given that it's Winter, that list includes everything from building a family of snowmen to learning how to play hockey (never mind that my son doesn't know how to ice-skate yet!). While some moms I know have their own "40 before 40 lists" of the 40 things they want to do before hitting the big 4-0, I never thought about actually creating age-specific lists for my kids.

Across the pond, Cow and Gate, a British baby-food maker, surveyed 1,000 parents to see what they wanted their kids to do before they turned 3. Among the top 10 items were "making a mud pie" and "climbing a big hill." Nowhere on the list were the ultracompetitive milestones often overheard on the playground here in the states. Rather, the parents named timeless experiences we could all desire for our kids.

Keep reading to see the entire list and, tell me, what's on your toddler bucket list?

5 Desserts Inspired by Conversation Hearts

Leta Shy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:41:44 PST

One of my favorite parts of Valentine's Day is how everything becomes heart-shaped for a month, and that includes the candy! Conversation hearts are a seasonal staple, but while they're cute to give and get, the chalky taste can leave your sweet tooth unsatisfied. Instead of doling out the pastel treats, check out these five easy ways to make delicious heart-inspired desserts!

Source: Flickr User ellie

Paula Deen Becomes a Hot Topic on the View

YumSugar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:08:38 PST

In January 2011, Food Network host Paula Deen appeared on The View to promote her new children's cookbook. Those who caught it know that it wasn't pretty to watch. Put the sassy Paula Deen and the straight-laced Barbara Walters together, and you get an uncomfortable dynamic.

As the ladies of The View sit behind a stupendous spread of fried chicken and other Southern comforts, Paula licks strawberry cake off her fingers and pictures of macaroni and cheese grace the background. Walters then forces the queen of Southern cuisine to answer a rather serious question:

This is a cookbook for kids. Obesity is the number one problem for kids today. Everything you have here is enormously fattening. You tell kids to have cheesecake for breakfast . . . Does it bother you that you are adding to it? No? Not at all?

Stunned, Deen bumbles something about moderation - "you know, we don't eat this every day" - to an unconvinced Walters.

UPDATE: With the news that Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes, the women of The View furthered the debate on "hot topics" this week. Watch the video, and weigh in on your thoughts after the jump

Tori Spelling Shares Liam's New Year's Resolution

Tori Spelling — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:02:33 PST

We're excited to bring you a new post from mother and actress Tori Spelling! Every other week we're bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle advice from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, which is Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori shares her son Liam's new year's resolution.

Liam’s New Year’s "resolution" is a classic example of kid logic! Recently he asked me this:

"When you say New Year’s means a new, different year, does that mean I can eat more sugar now cause I haven't had any since last year?"

Hmmm…does that mean Mama can eat more sugar and still get her post-pregger bod back into fighting form? New Year’s cake pop party anyone?

How do you keep your kids’ sugar intake in check during the holidays?

More great articles from Tori Spelling
How to decorate a room over time
Create your own pull-string pinata
Sleep on it
What are your New Year's resolutions?
Tori and Dean's sTORIbook Weddings special recap

Lil Links: Does Your Baby Really Need Gifts This Holiday Season?

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:32:53 PST

Why your baby doesn't need any gifts - The Stir
Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen vacation as a family - Celebrity Baby Scoop
How the Duggar children are handling the loss of baby Jubilee - Celebrity Baby Blog
The truth about contractions - FitPregnancy
Kid-friendly holiday food - Parenting
Awesome birthday cake ideas - The Bump
Does acetaminophen give kids asthma? - Momformation
10 forgotten family holiday movies - Yahoo! Shine
12 festive holiday gift wrap ideas - Cool Mom Picks

How to Have an Old-Fashioned, Fun, and Frugal Christmas

LearnVest — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:15:49 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Ray-Bans aren't the only piece of the past worth revisiting.

There are also old-school photos, discreetly boozy drinks and Judy Garland. Let's go ahead and combine all three: It's Retro Christmas.

This year, we're planning to enjoy what we call "Retro Christmas": A return to holidays past, when the season was about togetherness rather than excess gifts, affection rather than perfection.

Although scaling down our celebrations means spending less money, that's not the point.

We’ve put together our plan for making this year special . . . and focused on elegance, simplicity and genuine holiday spirit. In the end, our goal is to spend time with the people we care about. Of course, while we call this "Retro Christmas," you can adjust most of our tips for whatever winter holidays you celebrate (except maybe for our advice on ornamenting your tree).

Here's to Christmas in sepia!

Gift as a Group

To make gift-giving as meaningful as possible, concentrate on quality rather than quantity. So, instead of buying something just because you need to get a gift, get one that you know will be cherished, even if that means going in with a group of family or friends.

One easy aid is Share a Gift, a website that allows people to make donations toward a communal gift. It uses PayPal and organizes money better than the usual cash collection.

Read on for more tips for a retro Christmas.

Glee-ful Highlights From Episode "Hold On to Sixteen"

Becky Kirsch — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:59:28 PST

Trouty Mouth is back in town, and just in time for Sectionals on Glee this week. The showdowns are abundant, as the Troubletones and New Directions square off for top honors, and Quinn and Shelby have yet another faceoff about Beth's future.

Not only is it good to see Sam again (though I didn't think I'd be seeing so much of him), the episode also nicely ties up some loose ends that should make fans happy before the imminent Winter hiatus. Let's break down the high notes and low notes when you