Cucumber sandwiches, babyshower, cupcakes and more

Bake a cake, invite some girls, get some decoration, look for an excuse to make the future mommy to be to come to the party and your baby shower party is almost done... Well, almost...there some other steps you should consider to make the whole deal a success.

Last Saturday we organised a surprise baby shower party for a colleague of us and today I am going to share some tips and some recipes with you.

1. Decide on the location, it should be big enough and kids friendly: In our case we decided to have a brunch picnic in a park with a big playground and a picnic area

2. Prepare a list of food, drinks, tasks and share it with the rest of the guests so everybody get a chance to contribute. You will be amazed how many girls  would volunteer to prepare a cake, get the decoration, prepare sandwiches or drinks

3. Think about some games, to bring some fun and laughter to the party

And...

4. Invite enough girls who does not have kids yet: This step is very critical and I would urge you to follow it. The reason is simple, most likely (we) mommies will show up with our kids (everybody who has kids knows already now, where I am going with this). Showing up at the party with kids, means being on guard most of the time (if not ALL of the time), to avoid this and to give your mommies the chance to enjoy the party too, invite enough not mommies yet and they will gladly take over the "guarding part" of the kids. Mommies can relax, enjoy and brag about their lovely kids, sharing nice and useful tips with the future mommy to be and gave the not mommies yet a small glance of a motherhood...a win win for everybody.

My contribution to the party was a cake, cupcakes, cucumber sandwiches, mini pizzas and pigs in a blanket.... Quick, easy done and great for a picnic.

Mini pizza

• pre-made pizza dough (can be bought in a supermarket)
• tomatoes sauce
• fresh tomatoes
• cheese
• oregano

Preheat your oven to 180 C. Cut the pizza down in squares (as small or as big as you want), slice the tomatoes, add some spices to the tomatoes sauce (salt, pepper, garlic etc.) and grate the cheese. Place the dough squares on a baking sheet, spread some tomatoes sauce on each square, put 1-2 tomatoes slices on top, sprinkle with some grated cheese and dry oregano. Bake for 15-20 minutes, till golden brown. Let is cool completely on a cooking rack, before packing it for the picnic.



Cucumber sandwiches
(for 14 sandwiches)

• 14 toast bread slices (crust less)
• 100 g cream cheese
• 2 table spoons mayonnaise
• fresh dill
• 1 big cucumber
• salt, pepper

In a bowl mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, chopped dill, salt and pepper to a smooth and creamy texture. Take the skin from the cucumber and cut it thin round or square slices (as big as the toast bread slice). Spread some cream on all toast bread slices, put the cucumber slices and top it with another toast bread. Cut in squares or triangles.



Pigs in a blanket

• pre-made pizza dough
• mini sausages

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Cut the dough in thin stripes and cover partly the sausages. Put the sausages on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, till the dough is golden brown. Let is cool.



Vanilla cake with mascarpone frosting and berries

• 4 eggs
• 120 g sugar
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• 120 flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180C and line your baking form with baking paper (do not grease it!). In a bowl beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla seeds for 3-4 minutes with an electrical mixer, till double in size. Sift flour and baking powder and add to the egg sugar mixture, combine everything careful with a spatula. Pour the batter into the baking form and bake for 25-35 minutes, till golden brown (make the stick test). Take it out on the cooling rack and let it cool completely. Depending how big your baking form was, cut the cake in 2or 3 layers (I used 20 cm round form and cut the cake in 2 layers)

Mascarpone cream frosting

• 250 g mascarpone cheese
• 100-150 g powdered sugar
• remaining vanilla pod
• milk or cream
• fresh berries (blue berries, raspberries, strawberries)

In a bowl combine the mascarpone cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla seeds. Start add milk or cream to the mixture to make is smooth and fluffy, spoon by spoon. It might take a bit of time, but it is important to add the milk in a small portion to avoid a runny filling. Add as much milk or cream as needed to get a creamy and easy to spread filling. Divide in 2 or 3 portions (depending how many layers you will use). Spread each portion on a cake layer and top it with berries, continue doing this step till all layers are build. Top it with a nice cake toper, fitting to a theme.

"How big is the belly" game, one of the favorite games on a baby shower. Each guests will get a paper tape and shall guess how big is the belly of the mommy to be...they can use their own waist to decide on the measurement. The quest who guess the closest is the winner....





"Change the diaper".. Take some dolls, teddies and diapers and make a "change the diapers" competition between the girls. Mix the groups with experience and none experience girls, to make it more funny. It´s funny to see what kind of mistake can be done (we all have been there), how people act under pressure and how chatty the mommies become sharing the tips on how to change the diaper correctly...

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla cream frosting

• 150 g dark chocolate
• 125 g butter
• 150 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt the chocolate and the butter on a low heat in a pan. Take it from the heat and add the sugar, whisk together. Add the eggs (one at the time) and mix everything good together. Sift the flour and the baking powder, add to the chocolate butter mixture, combine till everything is mixed. Line your muffin thin with the paper cups and divide the butter in 12 equal portions (use an ice-cream scooper to ensure equal amount of the batter). Bake for 20 min, make the stick test. Let is cool completely.

Vanilla frosting

• 100 g butter soft
• 150 g powdered sugar
• 200 g cream cheese
• fresh vanilla pod

In a bowl whisk together the butter with the powdered sugar, till light and fluffy. Cut the vanilla pod open and scrape the seeds, add it to the butter and mix well. Add cream cheese and whisk for additional couple of minutes. Frost the cupcakes...



It was a great day and a great party. We did enjoy the occasion and the opportunity to spend some time together. Future mommy to be was pleasantly surprised and we all very happy to see the party being such a success....

Thank you girls...YOU ARE GREAT!!! I might consider your organizational skills for future events too :-) Silja this post is for you!!!!!

Enjoy