“New Seashells?”

That famous line squawked by Ariel’s feathered friend, Skuttle, made my cupcake design decision simple for my daughter’s Little Mermaid-inspired birthday party. With the use of Wilton brand seashell chocolate mold, making these cupcakes were three-steps simple!

Today I’ll share a quick photo tutorial of how to make these yummy sea-side treats.

You’ll need the following items before you get started.

• 24 cupcakes cooled and ready for icing
•  white icing
• Wilton large open star icing tip (I used tip 1M)
• purple seashell chocolates (made from the above mentioned mold)
• 1 box of cinnamon graham crackers
• sealing gallon size storage bag
• rolling-pin

Step 1: Using your over-sized open star tip, create an ocean foam-like topping by pointing your tip and piping bag of icing straight at the center of your cupcake, squeeze the bag and allow the large star to develop into a hefty amount of icing that resembles ruffles at the edges.

Step 2: Place half of your box of graham cracker sheets into a gallon sized storage bag. Zip close the bag and use a rolling-pin to crush the crackers, creating your sand. Once half the crackers are crushed, add the remaining crackers to the bag and roll away! Once all the crackers are crushed, sprinkle all of the cupcakes with the crumbs. Before moving to the last step, take a minute to shake off the excess crumbs.

Step 3: Add your purple seashell and starfish chocolates. That’s it!

Super simple and oh-so-yummy, the combination of graham crackers, vanilla icing and cake is delicious and the presentation is perfect for any beach themed get-together, including my daughter’s Little Mermaid inspired birthday party!

Looking for more Little Mermaid inspired party food? Check out my Little Mermaid-inspired party food post from last week.

http://www.mouseearsmom.com/2015/07/31/little-mermaid-party-food/

Until next time, I hope your days are magical!

Happy 54th Anniversary Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians!

Last night my family and I celebrated this classic family friendly movie during our weekend moving night. Watching fashion-forward Cruella and the adorable spotted puppies, on their wild adventure through London, brought so many smiles and laughs (some of them full belly, I might add) that it’s hard to believe this film was release to theaters over five decades ago!

Of course, with every Disney themed movie night, one MUST have character-inspired treats! Should we go Villain or Hero?

These Cruella de Vil and her captured puppies cupcakes are super simple to make and I think, look fantastic!  Want to see how I created Cruella’s infamous hair? You can find my tutorial here.

Here’s a healthier alternative to cupcakes and they pay tribute to Dalmatian heroes, Pongo and Perdita! Dalmatian Tails (white chocolate covered bananas) are so easy to make!

To make this tail-waging treat, you need these three ingredients:

• Bananas
• White chocolate melts
• Candy sticks

1. Cut your bananas in half and insert sticks in the bottom.
2. Place the bananas on a wax-lined cookie sheet.
3. Put the cookie sheet with bananas in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
4. Melt your white chocolate in a shallow pan that you can roll your banana in or a deep enough cup that you can dip the entire banana directly into cup.
5. Take the bananas out of the freezer and dip or roll each one in the bananas in the melted chocolate until their covered.
6. Place them back on the wax-lined cookie sheet and place them in the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens.
7. Enjoy! If you’re not ready to eat them, keep the “Dalmatian Tails” in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until later that day.

Have you watched Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians with your family? Why not pull the DVD out this afternoon, whip up a batch of “Dalmatian Tails” and enjoy the movie!

You have to admit, Cruella sure looks great for 54!