While my kitchen was being put back together, I offered to co-host a baby shower for a good friend. It was actually a baby sprinkle since this was celebrating her second baby, and these are typically a paired down version of a baby shower. However, since she was having a boy this time around, we wanted to make sure that this mama and new baby got some special love.
Living in Southern California means most people love a good Mexican inspired buffet, so we got all the fixings to please a crowd at Costco – Premarinaded pollo asado, cheese, tortillas, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, chips and of course beer and margaritas for those who can indulge. It was super easy to grill up the chicken and set out the toppings for the buffet. Add some salad, fruit and everyone from grandmas to toddlers had something tasty to eat.
For desserts (my personal favorite part of any get together) we went all out with a dessert table with a special treat for any tastebud or stomach size. After all, we were pretty full from the yummy tacos, but there is always room for dessert or two or three!
First, I really lucked out and found a baby bottle-shaped cookie cutter in the clearance section of Michaels. I made a batch of Alton Brown’s sugar cookie dough and added the zest and juice of 1 lemon to give them an extra flavor kick. I used a shortcut and bought premade Betty Crocker royal icing in blue and white and piped along the cookie border. With so much to do, I didn’t have time for that extra step of making my own royal icing. I added blue and white sprinkles for an extra festive touch.
I think mini desserts look like you did something extra super spectacular. What is it about having a small, individual dessert that makes you feel special? Is it because it has the feeling that a caterer labored away making something just for you? Whatever it is, I wanted to bring that feeling to the dessert table. So I chose to make individual tiramisus and strawberry cheesecakes.
These mini tiramisus look super fancy, but they were straightforward to make. First I made the sabayon for the filling, which is the process of cooking the egg yolks. A completely old school traditional tiramisu does not have you cook the egg yolks but not only does this scare me, but I am serving this at a baby shower with other pregnant guests. I think it’s wise if everyone did this extra step. I made the sabayon by cooking the egg yolks and sugar over a double boiler until the eggs had a thick, ribbon texture and the temperature of the mixture reaches 165 degrees – about 10 minutes. While this mixture was cooling, I whipped the cream with a hand mixer until it reached stiff peaks. Then I added the Mascarpone to the egg mixture and combined. Next, I gently folded in the whipped cream into the Mascarpone until everything was evenly combined (Note: that tiramisu is usually made with rum, cognac, or coffee liqueur, but for baby shower purposes, I chose to omit this). I prepared this mixture the night before and popped it into my fridge. When it was time to assemble, I spooned the mixture into a large piping bag.
For assembly, I opened the box of Lady Fingers. You must use the hard, crunchy Lady Fingers known as Savoiardi. Anything soft like you see in the bakery section of your grocery store will instantly turn to mush once you assemble the tiramisu. You can find Savoiardi in the cookie section of your grocery store. To fit into my mini glasses, I broke 1 cookie in half and quickly dipped each side into the espresso. Now, I don’t have an espresso machine so I made super-duper strong coffee. I doubled the ratio that I normally would use (and I already drink strong coffee). Although it may not be perfectly authentic, it does the job. I have also gone to a coffee shop and asked for 10 shots of espresso, but that can get a little spendy.
I took the Savoiardi cookie and dipped each side into the espresso for about 1 – 2 seconds and placed it into my mini serving dish. I piped an elegant dollop of the Mascarpone mixture and then topped each with bittersweet chocolate shavings that I made by taking a vegetable peeler to the bar of chocolate. Then I placed in the fridge until it was time to serve.
After the tiramisu, I worked on my mini no-bake strawberry cheesecakes which are so easy to make but are a visual stunner. I took another shortcut here and made a box angel food cake. You can also buy premade in your grocery’s bakery section or be an all-star and make you own completely from scratch. I baked my angel food cakes in bread pans, for easy assembly later. To make the no-bake cheesecake filling, I took 1 cup of whipped cream and whipped until stiff peaks formed and then added the vanilla extract. Next, I mixed the powdered sugar with one 8oz packaged of softened cream cheese, then I gently folded in the whipped cream. I also made this the night before, left it in my fridge, and then placed in a piping bag when it was time to assemble.
The next morning, I cut the angel food cake loaf into 1″ slices and then cubed each slice. I placed a few cubes in each mini serving dish, piped on the cheesecake filling, then placed sliced strawberries on top. Finally, to show it’s a play on cheesecake, I topped each dish with crushed graham crackers. They look divine!
To give everyone at the party a satisfying sweet tooth, my cohost made delicious Rice Crispy Treats and I purchased premade macarons from Costco. They are delicious and authentic tasting! Costco is amazing!
Some shower decor ideas that we incorporated were decorating a clothesline with baby clothes. I went to my local baby resale store (I love shopping there because all proceeds go to a local foster care resource center) and bought about 10 baby outfits all with a water/nautical theme. The parents love the ocean and boats, plus it is the nursery theme. Then I hung up a clothesline and pinned the clothes with clothespins from the Dollar Store.
My son’s room is decorated in an adventure theme so I grabbed anything movable from there – airplanes, signs, etc. We used the arrow adventure-themed products from Hobby Lobby for the thank you cards, napkins, and decorative boxes. My personal favorite decoration piece to incorporate to a baby shower is a sign urging the guests to address their own thank you card envelope. From experience, it really helps the mom after the party. We couldn’t forget the future big sister and snuck in a little gift for her as well.
We sent all the guests off with bags of trail mix. We simply bought small decorative brown paper treat bags at Hobby Lobby along with a baby feet stamp and another stamp saying, “So begins this wonderful adventure.” We stamped each bag, filled with trail mix and sealed.
The taco bar tasted wonderful and the dessert table was stunning and delicious. The guests and parents-to-be had a great time. Mark another fun party in the books!
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