a cake party

Danni and I have been wanting to have a HUGE cake party for like ever, but I was always busy with something or she was busy with something and we never got around to officially planning it. Thus, last minute we decided to throw a small one together filled with some blogging friends. The instructions: bring a cake and a cute cake stand! And that is just what everyone did...

My contribution was a triple layer strawberry shortcake, which I didn't even try that day because everyone else's sugary goods looked much more appetizing.

We even had a little crafting as Danni and I collected little plates and stands of sorts, so everyone could make their own mini cake stand. Mini cake stands are the cutest little things that can be used to hold desserts, or even jewelry, and they are so addicting to make once you start.

Before everyone arrived, Danni and were starting to get pressed time for time and I was running around in the kitchen and I told Danni to feel free to roam the house and bring out props to decorate. She did such a good job as she pulled some stuff from the main living areas, the girls' rooms, my work area and it all came together so beautifully! It pays to have a house full of vintage goodies. I like to stock up for occasions such as this.

The main course for the evening were all the cakes, but I did make sure to have some mini margherita pizzas on whole wheat bread for appetizers to give us all a little sustenance before the real indulging began.

We had lemonade and wine, but the wine never got cracked open! If I weren't pregnant, I for sure would have been indulging with some dessert wine too.

Of course, we had to have little favors for our guests, so we filled little bottles up with sprinkles, added a tag, and calligraphied everyone's names onto them. My calligraphy skills didn't want to work that day and I think I did everyone's name about five times until I got it right.

What happens when you get eight bloggers together for a party? This...

{picture taken from danni}

Of course, my BFF is the newbie blogger and was there with her little point and shoot. We are still trying to convince her to upgrade.

Naturally, we couldn't forget the kids. Henny brought her daughter along (not her son because it was a girl party) and I had little treats for them too. We set up a little kid table, put some kid vintage chairs around it (thankfully, I have 15 to choose from that are littered throughout my house), and I made each kid her own set of play dough. The kids even got their own mini pizzas, except theirs had pepperoni, which I think most adults were sneaking to get some.

After they ate, they all naturally lined up to fill their plates with cake too. It was a cake party after all!

This is what everyone's plates looked like... a little bit of everything. It was so bad, but so good!

Everyone made their own cake stands, mingled until the sun went down, and indulged in even more cake eating. Danni also had pink take home boxes to make sure that everyone would take home leftovers because we knew we would have them.

Half of every cake was gone and what wasn't was taken home. It was such a pretty party and meeting everyone was even better. We all talked about things we loved most like crafting, photography, blogging, and anthropologie. It is so much fun to be able to nerd out with other like minded individuals who enjoy taking a gazillion pictures of a table setting. I think we were taking pictures of everything for 30 minutes before we dare destroy the setup. I tell you, blogging folk are funny people!

I was so happy to make new friends with Lillian (unstitched), Lauren (lauren elise crafted), Myra (double sided tape), Henny & Lucy (utterly engaged gals) and of course I already loved Linda (parked together) and Danni (oh, hello friend). Some of the ladies have already blogged about the party (here, here, and here) and the others will have their own recaps coming later this week. Seeing the other versions are funny cause of all the things missing in my home, I don't own a cake cutter, so if you check out the other posts, you will see what we used in its place. Note to self: get a cake cutter.

We are ready to throw another get together cause it was too much fun and really nerding out with other bloggers is just the best. What theme should we do next time?

Triple Layer Strawberry Shortcake (from Cooking Light circa 2002, but changed up to add an extra layer, see original recipe and instructions here)

Strawberries:

5 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

1/4 sugar

Shortcake:

4 cups all-purpose flower

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp grated lemon rind

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

12 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

cooking spray

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

2 tsp sugar

Remaining Ingredients:

2 cups fat-free whipped topping

4-5 whole strawberries

1/2 cup honey graham crackers crumbled and broken up into bits

Instructions:

To prepare strawberries, combine strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Preheat over to 400° F.

To make shortcake, in a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and whisk together (from flour until baking soda). Next, cut in the butter that has been cut into small bits into the dry mixture with 2 knives. Then, add the buttermilk and vanilla extract, stirring dough until moist. The dough is really sticky.

Place dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead together with floured hands. Separate dough into two balls, with one ball being 2/3 of the entire dough and the remaining ball just 1/3 of the dough.

Using the 2/3 ball dough, place onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and pat into an 9'' circle. Brush top with egg white and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of sugar on top. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Carefully split shortcake in half horizontally using a serrated knife and allow layers to cool separately.

Once the top layer is cool, crumble the top layer into bits, sprinkle onto baking pan, and put back into oven for about 8 minutes. Take out and allow to cool and place crumbles into a bowl. Mix in with the crumbled honey graham crackers and this will be your second layer.

Using the remaining 1/3 ball dough, place onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and pat into a 9'' circle. Brush top with egg white and sprinkle the remaining sugar on top. Bake in oven for about 13-15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. This is the top layer of your shortcake.

Place bottom half of shortcake, cut side up on a cake plate. Spread 1 cup of of whipped topping over shortcake layer, and spoon half the strawberry mixture on top. Next, using the crumbled shortcake and graham cracker mixture, spread evenly on top of the strawberries. Then, spread the remaining whipped topping over the crunchy layer, and spoon the remaining strawberry mixture on top. Top with remaining shortcake layer with the cut side down. Garnish top with the whole strawberries, if desired.

p.s. My eyes are sleepy and I will get the strawberry shortcake recipe up on this post tomorrow. Check back... Recipe now up.