Category: Disney-Inspired Treats

Simple “Big Hero 6” Cupcakes

Big Hero 6 cupcakeThis past weekend my son, Gavin, and I saw Disney’s newest film, “Big Hero 6.” We loved it! Baymax was Gavin’s favorite hero. A funny robot with a kindness that’s pure with selflessness, Baymax has won my heart too.

When I mentioned to Gavin I’d like to make Baymax cupcakes, he jumped right into helping me. He and I created these simple Baymax-inspired cupcakes.  I’m proud to say that the design of the cupcakes came from Gavin’s suggestion and I think they came out adorable!

I started with a basic white cupcake in a Wilton white baking cup.

Baymax cupcakes  Next I applied white icing to each cupcake.

Baymax cupcakes

Using a spatula Gavin helped me smooth out the icing.

Baymax cupcakes

Using two brown M & M pieces and black licorice, we added Baymax’s eyes.

Baymax Cupcake

It’s that simple!  It took more time to divide the brown chocolate candies than to decorate the cupcakes!

 

 Did you see Disney’s “Big Hero 6” yet?  Which hero was your favorite?

Mickey Mouse Inspired Pumpkin Cupcakes

Mickey Mouse Pumpkin CupcakesHappy Halloween Week Everyone!

One of my favorite things about visiting a Disney Park during the holiday seasons is the festive cupcakes and treats that Disney sells.  While visiting Disneyland Resort I enjoyed seeing the Halloween creations made by Disney’s talented Cast Members and as usual, they did not disappoint.  Here’s a look at some of my favorites!

Halloween Treats at Disneyland ResortAnytime of the year you can find amazing character apples, but I think during the Halloween season the selection is Spooktacular!

Halloween Treats at Disneyland Resort

As soon as I saw Mickey Mummy treats I wanted to run home and make them!

Disneyland Halloween treats

However, first I decided to make my version of these adorable Mickey Mouse pumpkin cupcakes! They were so easy to make. It took less than a half hour for 20 cupcakes. Would you like to make some during this week of Halloween?

My simple version of Disneyland’s cupcakes have a marshmallow based icing. I used the “Super-Easy Marshmallow Icing” recipe by King Arthur Flour. You can check out the photo tutorial on how I made the cupcakes, including the icing below.

Gather your supplies. The icing recipe is for 24 cupcakes so that’s how many cupcakes I made.  However, I was only able to transform 20 cupcakes before running out of icing.

Mouse Ears Mom.com

You’ll need the recipe for the “Super-Easy Marshmallow Icing” and you can find it here:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/super-easy-marshmallow-icing-recipe .

  • Tootsie Rolls (Not Shown Below) are used for the pumpkin stem.
  • Chocolate wafer melts (Not Shown Below) are used for Mickey’s Ears.
  • Green icing- optional (Not Shown Below) is used to make the leaf.
  • The photo below shows you the ingredients I used to make the icing: Salt, Vanilla Extract, Heavy Cream, Powdered Sugar and Marshmallows.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/super-easy-marshmallow-icing-recipe ingredients

As the recipe states, make sure you continuously stir the ingredients while they are heating or the marshmallows will stick. It took a bit longer than I expected for the marshmallows to start to melt and then all of a sudden it started sticking at warp speed.

Mouse Ears Mom.com

Once the marshmallows, heavy cream, sugar, and salt have blended together this is what the icing looked like.Mouse Ears Mom.com

After I poured the mixture into a large mixer bowl, I added the vanilla AND equal amounts of red and yellow food coloring to create orange icing.

Mouse Ears Mom.com

As the recipe suggested, I covered the orange icing and refrigerated it overnight.

marshmallow icing

The next day I used my mixer to whip the icing into shape and I was ready to go!

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I played around with different icing tips creating different kinds of pumpkin cupcakes.  I found that I liked the Wilton #12 tip’s results the best.  I piled icing in the center of each cupcake and covered the center by starting at the cake and meeting the icing at the top.

Pumpkin cupcake. Mouse Ears Mom.com

After covering the cupcake with icing I pushed an unwrapped Tootsie Roll through the center of the icing.

Mickey pumpkin cupcake

Add a two chocolate wafers for ears and you’re done!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Let’s Celebrate with Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Attraction and Brownie Pops!

Happy 21st Birthday “Nightmare Before Christmas!”

Haunted Mansion Holiday

On October 13th, 1993 “The Pumpkin King” was introduced to Americans.  “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas” was such a phenomenal success that The Walt Disney Company decided to thrill obsessed Jack Skellington fans by creating a special attraction overlay.  This overlay shows Disneyland guests how Jack would celebrate Christmas in The Haunted Mansion. On October 3rd 2001, Disneyland opened an amazingly transformed Haunted Mansion, with the help of Jack Skellington of course, and called it “Haunted Mansion Holiday.”

Haunted Mansion HolidayHaunted Mansion Holiday is a seasonal attraction offered exclusively to Disneyland guests from the end of September through early January each year.

On my recent trip to Disneyland I was able to experience this enchanted attraction. Walt Disney Imagineering did a mind-blowing job bringing Jack’s special touch to every corner of the Haunted Mansion.  Would you like to take a look?  I promise brownie pops at the end!

Haunted Mansion Holiday Overview

 Jack welcomes guests to explore the grounds outside the mansion where decorations adorn everything!  Walking through the queue is almost as entertaining as the attraction!

Haunted Mansion Holiday

This is a side view of The Haunted Mansion.  As you can see, pumpkins, garland, and candelabras add Jack’s festive touch to the otherwise gray mansion and gloomy grounds.Haunted Mansion Holiday

At the entrance to the mansion a giant clock counts down to Christmas…looks like Christmas has arrived!

Haunted Mansion Holiday

Upon entering, guests will immediately notice the difference between the original version of the attraction and this special festive overlay. There’s a reason the attraction closes for a few weeks to transform. This is not a minor refurbishment. It takes the attraction to a level worthy of FassPass!  If you’ve never had the opportunity to see Haunted Mansion Holiday, I won’t spoil it for you by telling you every single difference, but I will say that the stretching room is so cool!

My camera didn’t take the best photos inside of Haunted Mansion Holiday, but I thought you still might want to see a few peeks at the attraction.

Haunted Mansion Holiday

The photo featured above is of the Doom Buggie loading area.

Haunted Mansion Holiday

Guests travel through all of the same rooms as in the original attraction.  However, each room has been decorated for the holiday celebration.

Haunted Mansion Holiday

When comparing attractions available at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Park attractions, there are quite a few attractions offered at Disneyland Park that are not at Magic Kingdom. Haunted Mansion Holiday is by far my favorite! OUTSTANDINGLY detailed with animatronics and special effects from not only Disney Imagineering but also Garner Holt Productions.  If I could pick it up and take it to Walt Disney World I would in an instant!

In celebration of the 21st anniversary of “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas”, let’s enjoy a tasty treat!  So simple to make, using a box of brownie mix, a bit of white and chocolate icing, you could whip them up for this evening’s dessert.

Jack Skellington Brownie Pops by Mouse Ears Mom.com

If you’d like to see the step-by-step directions on how I made these “Brownie Kings”, here’s the direct link!

 http://www.mouseearsmom.com/2013/10/21/jack-skellington-brownie-pops/

Enjoy!

Doc McStuffins Band-Aid Inspired Treat

Doc McStuffins Treat

 Do your kids love to watch Doc McStuffins?

My daughter has finally let Frozen GO and moved on to her new “favorite” Disney show, Doc McStuffins!  We start every morning with at least one “check-up”, followed by the request to watch “Time for a Check-up!” and then back to giving anything within a mile radius a check-up.  I have to admit, I think she’s adorable when she sings the Doc McStuffins theme song as she runs around with her “doctor tools” and I can’t help but love that she says she wants to be a doctor when she’s bigger. So last week, I decided to make her a Doc McStuffins inspired treat to share at a play tea party with her little cousins.

Graham crackers are a popular snack in our family, so I used a graham cracker sheet as a base to make a band-aid that’s “so much better” to enjoy than a real one!  If you have an aspiring doctor in  your home and would like to know how I made the treat, here is a step by step tutorial!

You’ll need the following supplies.

Doc McStuffins Inspired treat 004

  1. Red chocolate melts
  2. White chocolate melts
  3. Make and Mold small squeeze bottles
  4. Graham crackers
  5. Paper and wax paper

Create a Band-Aid Template

Doc McStuffins Inspired treat 020

Using a graham cracker to trace, create your band-aid template on a white sheet of paper. Once you’re done, place a sheet of wax paper on top of the drawings.  I placed both the wax paper and the white paper on a cookie sheet.  The cookie sheet made it easy to transfer the hot pieces of chocolate into the refrigerator for cooling.

Create the “cotton” white center of the band-aid.

Melt the white chocolate.  Using the melted chocolate, create a white square. I used a knife to smooth it out.  Once the chocolate has cooled and hardened, flip it around so that the smooth side is up.  To adhere the square to the center of the graham cracker use a few dots of hot white chocolate.

Doc McStuffins Inspired treat 015

 With the remaining melted white chocolate complete the bandage look by using the squeeze bottle to create the dots.

Doc McStuffins Inspired treat 017

Create a red heart with red chocolate melts.

Add red chocolate candy melts to the second squeeze bottle and melt them in the microwave.  Once the chocolate is completely melted, make a read candy heart with the use of your band-aid template.

My daughter, Victoria, shared these treats with her brother and cousins.  Since we were making them for boys and girls, she had me add sugar sprinkles to the girls’ hearts!

Doc McStuffins Inspired treat 025

 After hardening, secure the red heart to the white chocolate square with a few drops of red melted chocolate.

That’s it!  I hope your aspiring doctor enjoys the treat too!Doc McStuffins Inspired treat 030

Do your little Mouseketeers love Doc McStuffins too?  Have you made any themed treats for Disney Junior shows?  If you created one for your blog, please feel free to add your Disney Junior treat idea post’s link in the comments below!

Flying High with a Pizza Pie Planes Party! {Free Printable Menu Cards & More}

Planes Pizza Party

Are you going to see Disney Planes Fire & Rescue this weekend?  We’ll be there!

To say my son, Gavin loves airplanes, would be an understatement.  There isn’t a day that goes by when discussing planes or something that flies isn’t part of our conversation and aviation is a staple in almost every play activity.  This seven-year-old boy goes through flying toys as if he’s changing clothing.  It’s not because he doesn’t take care of his toys, he wears them out or the plane gets stuck in a tree.  With the movie release of Disney Planes last year (see my review here), Gavin’s love of airplanes unbelievably grew and he immediately started asking when Planes Fire & Rescue would be in the theater.  Well, the movie release week has finally arrived!

To celebrate this exciting event I put together a couple “Free Printable” Planes-inspired items that I created and party planning tips to help you host a Pre-Show “Flying High with a Pizza Pie” Planes Party for your little aviators and their friends!

 Planes Themed Pizza!

planes pizza menu

There are so many different types of pizza that you can have at a pizza party!  Try offering the kids specialty pizza and place these silly menu cards close by.  It’ll give young readers a chuckle or two before choosing their pizza.

  • Chicken Wing-man Pizza
  • Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Flying Pizza
  • Ham & Cheesy Flight Attendants Pizza
  • Pepperoni Pie In The Sky Pizza
  • Flying High Cheese Pizza Pie

I’ve created this set of FREE printable pizza party menu cards for you to use. (For Personal Use Only)  Simply print the Planes Pizza Party file (found below) on white card stock, cut the orange and blue colored cards out and fold along the white line.

Click on the Planes “Pizza Party Menu Cards” link for the five piece printable menu cards.

Planes Pizza Party Menu Cards

Dessert!

Planes cupcakesI made these Planes-inspired cupcakes for my son’s birthday party last year.  Check out the super simple cloud icing tutorial for these soaring cupcakes here!

Dusty cookie popsAnother Planes-inspired dessert option are these Dusty Cookie Pops.  You can see my simple tutorial here!

Decor! {Free Printable Template}

Now that you’ve got the food covered, time to decorate the food table! Add a simple planes garland to the front of your food table, to complete your pizza party table.

Airplane Garland template

You can download the airplane template here!

 Trace the template on orange and blue card stock for the airplanes to match the menu cards.  Then add blue and orange table wear and your party will be soaring!

Still looking for more Planes party ideas?

Check out my son’s planes-themed birthday party here!

Check In Desk (Presents!)

Now you’re ready to have the perfect Pre-show Planes-inspired Pizza Party!  Enjoy your party and then off to show!