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Molly Allen from CakeFYI is back with an awesome dessert for Mother's Day... chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes! Big yum from me on this one, Molly!!

When it comes to dessert, there’s nothing more elegant than chocolate covered strawberries. From Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day, chocolate covered strawberries are the perfect treat to show your love. Why not take it to a whole new level with chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes? These are sweet strawberry cupcakes topped with chocolate glaze and decked with a homemade chocolate covered strawberry!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C Butter
• 1 1/4 C Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/4 C Flour
• 1 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 C Pureed Strawberries

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time. Then add the vanilla extract and mix well.

Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated.

Add half of the pureed strawberries and mix well.

Add another third of the flour mixture, mix, and then add the remaining pureed strawberries. Add the remaining flour and continue beating until well mixed. Using a measuring cup, pour batter into a lined or greased cupcake pan.

Bake for 16-18 minutes until golden.

While cupcakes are cooling, make the Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Makes 12 chocolate covered strawberries

Ingredients:

• 12 Fresh Strawberries
• 2 C Milk Chocolate Chips
• 1 Tbsp Butter

Directions:

Wash the strawberries and dry them well with a paper towel. Place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

Microwave chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. Once melted, stir in the butter until smooth.

Holding the stem, dip each strawberry in the melted chocolate. Swirl the strawberry to remove any excess chocolate.

Place the chocolate covered strawberries on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate hardens, about half an hour.

While Chocolate Covered Strawberries are hardening, prepare the Chocolate Glaze.

 

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 Tbsp Butter
• 1 1/2 C Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Milk

Directions:

Microwave chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. Once melted, stir in the butter until smooth.

Combine melted chocolate, powdered sugar, and milk and whisk well.

Assembly:

Once cupcakes have cooled, use a spoon to smooth Chocolate Glaze over top. Drizzle with additional melted chocolate, if desired. Top each cupcake with one Chocolate Covered Strawberry.

Thanks Molly, for the delicious Mother's Day treat! To learn more about Molly check her out at CakeFYI.

For more Mother's Day ideas, check out these amazing Mother's Day parties on our site and our Mother's Day free printables!

As promised, my 4 favorite parties of the week. Here's a fun and girly indoor camping party, a beautiful Dora mermaid birthday, a very cool Minecraft party, and a super sweet Very Hungry Caterpillar baby shower. Enjoy!

Clockwise from top left:

• Beth K's Camp Delaney
• Just Image It's Aliyah's 3rd Birthday Under the Sea Adventure featuring Mermaid Dora
• Sunny D's Minecraft Inspired Party
• Anna E's Jeniffer & Jeremy's Baby Shower

Let's see what gets added this week. Can't wait!

Here are some fun posts I did for Spoonful this week...

Gender Reveal parties are a popular (and very fun!) baby shower theme right now. Cinco de Mayo will be here soon. See how to throw a Fantastic Fiesta! Big straw hats and red roses are only part of the festivities at a Kentucky Derby party.

For more party planning inspiration, check out all my posts on Spoonful!

Can you believe the school year is almost over? Well, for those of you planning graduation parties, wait until you see this collegiate collection of 2013 graduation party printables designed by Shana of Unlimited Party Themes!

This collection is loaded with everything you'll need for your upcoming party: "Congrats Grad" banner, pennant flags and banner, bottle wraps, large and small candy wraps, Hershey Kiss stickers, cupcake wraps, party flags, favor boxes, food labels, party circles, 8x10 welcome sign.

Plus there is an editable invitation. Just open it in Adobe Reader and edit the highlighted fields. Your invitations will look fantastic!!

DOWNLOAD THE HIGH RESOLUTION FILES FOR PRINTING

• 2013 graduation party printables
• Editable invitation
• "Congrats Grad" printable banner

Thank you, Shana, for this complete (and then some) collection of printables! To learn more about Unlimited Party Themes, please check out their blog and visit them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

I'm so excited to share this video, because if you watch it, you might notice I'M IN IT!

A few weeks ago, I headed down to LA to be part of a Sauza Tequila video shoot with Jennifer Sbranti from Hostess with the Mostess, Candice Kahn from Fashionably Organized, Jenny Wu from Good, Bad, and Fab, Christi Johnstone from Love from the Oven, and Marisa Guerrero from Margaritas in the Rain.

I was nervous about it. It just seemed weird to pretend I'm having a Cinco de Mayo ladies night in a rented house with a bunch of women I don't know. My daughter even made me this sign back at the hotel to give me strength.

But then I got there, and I met the women, and we started hanging out...

If you've ever been to a video shoot, you know how long they take. We got there at 2:00pm and weren't going to be finished until 10:0pm. So what did we do to fill the time?

We chatted about our lives, our families, our kids, our blogs, our husbands. We talked about food and fashion and business. We got our hair and makeup done, took photos of each other and posted them on Instagram. We ate a ton (a real dinner and a staged dinner and we ate them both). And we even almost froze to death because it was 50 degrees outside when we shot the last outdoor scenes.

But the truth was, it turned out to be a blast!

You see, I spend so much of my time at home alone in my sweatpants in front of my computer, and people in my everyday life don't quite understand what I do. So to hang out for a day with these interesting women who know exactly what I do because they're doing the same thing, made me feel like I belonged. It was an instant bond!

Thanks Sauza Tequila, because by the end of the night, we really were girlfriends at a Cinco de Mayo party enjoying delicious margaritas (recipe at the bottom of the post) in an awesome house with a great view of LA. And I was so glad I did it!

SOME PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS...

Here's the insane house with the swimming pool in the living room, no joke.

Jenn and me posing for the camera.

The gorgeous dinner table. It really did look like a fiesta!

Candice, Christi, and Jenny goofing off between shots.

Marisa pouring more yummy margaritas. This will definitely be my go-to margarita recipe from now on. It has beer in it!

And here we all are posting photos and then commenting on them. Thanks, ladies, for the good times!

SAUZA-RITA RECIPE

• 1 can Sauza® Blue Silver 100% Agave Tequila*
• 1 bottle light beer
• 1 can frozen limeade
• 1 can water

He's equally talented in the saving of lives and the ways of love. And best of all? He's ready to pour you a Sauza-rita, and listen as you pour out your feelings. This perfect man is perfectly prepared to help make your ladies night unforgettably fun - with Sauza Blue, of course. Check us out at http://facebook.com/SauzaMargaritas.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Sauza® via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Sauza®.

I'm so excited to be part of this giveaway sponsored by Familiar, a free and private way to share your photos with your family.

If you're looking for an easy way to share photos with family members (especially grandparents who aren't very tech-savvy), or if you want to share photos privately instead of blasted across Facebook, Familiar might be the perfect site for you.

It turns the screens you already have into picture frames, allowing you to see family photos no matter where you are. Cool, right?

Fabulous Mother's Day Giveaway from Familiar

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We're giving away one iPad Mini and one SHUTTERbag for you- and then one iPad Mini and one SHUTTERbag for you to share with someone special for Mother's Day!

What an amazing gift that would be- whether you give the second iPad mini and SHUTTERbag to your mom or your stepmom or grandma or daughter... whomever you would like to honor this Mother's Day! All while winning one for yourself, too!

Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Download the app. Upload pics. Invite family and close friends to join. Photos start showing up instantly in computer screensavers and smartphone/tablet photo wallets.

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Get familiar with Familiar and download the free app now.

Terms and Conditions

This giveaway is sponsored by Familiar, a free and private way to share your photos with your family.This promotion is sponsored by Familiar. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this Facebook page and not to Facebook.

This promotion is powered by Rafflecopter. Metric Feat LLC (“Rafflecopter”) does not sponsor, administer, or endorse this promotion. Participants must read and agree to Rafflecopter’s Privacy Policy before entering and participating in this promotion.

Promotion available to those ages 18+ and US Only.

This Giveaway will run for 11 days starting Tuesday, April 23 at 5:00 AM PST and ending Friday, May 3 at midnight PST. Once the giveaway ends, one winner will be chosen using Random.org and contacted within 24 hours by email. This post will be updated with the winner’s name once we’ve heard back from them. The winner will need to respond within 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen. For more on our giveaway policies, go here.

If you follow my blog, you know that I've been trying to be more adventurous in the kitchen. I recently tackled chocolate soufflé and tarte Tatin, and was very proud of myself. So when Velveeta asked me to come up with a unique recipe using their "liquid gold" Velveeta, I thought... Why not Velveeta cheese souffle? Crazy?! Would it be?

People think a cheese soufflé has to be this challenging dish with lots of stinky French cheese, but honestly, I'm not a fan of stinky French cheese and now, with my chocolate soufflé experience, I don't think soufflés are so tough (just make sure not to get any yolk in the whites). So I thought I'd give it a try. And did it work? The answer is a resounding... YES!

It is easy to cook with Velveeta because it melts easily and it is very creamy. I do think it helped, because the end result was a light, fluffy, creamy soufflé that tasted great! Plus I wowed my daughter's babysitter with the end result!!

And don't you love the crispy brown top it made? That's my favorite part. :)

VEVEETA CHEESE SOUFFLÉ RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces of Velveeta (you can substitute cheddar or other cheese that melts nicely)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan for the ramekins
• 1 tablespoon of butter to grease ramekins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Grease four 3 1/2 inch ramekins with butter, add the finely grated parmesan cheese, and toss to coat the inside. You can cover with saran wrap to keep from making a mess. Put the ramekins in the refrigerator until you are ready to add the soufflé mixture.

In a saucepan, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Let the water cook off, but don't brown the butter. Mix the flour, mustard powder, salt, and garlic powder together, then whisk it into the melted butter. Whisk in the saucepan for about 2 minutes.

Heat the 3/4 cup of milk in a separate pan (or microwave), then whisk it into the saucepan. Keep whisking on medium-high heat until it just starts to bubble then take the pan off the heat. You've made a white sauce at this point, and we just need to add the egg yolks and cheese.

Beat the egg yolks until creamy, then add to the sauce. You can temper the yolks to keep them from curdling by mixing a bit of the sauce to the eggs, then mixing the eggs back into the sauce.

Melt the Velveeta, either in a pan or microwave, then stir into the white sauce. Now you have the base for the soufflé, and just need to add the whipped egg whites.

In a clean bowl, add the three egg whites and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar. Mix on high until the the eggs have formed a nice hard peak. Take about 1/4 of the egg white foam, and thoroughly mix into the cheese sauce. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites to the cheese sauce in three batches.

Add the mixture to the ramekins, filling to just below the rim. You can run your finger around the inside rim to create a little but of space between the mixture and the edge to get some additional lift.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, and serve hot!

And here was the finished product! I couldn't believe how fantastic it looked and how much it rose!!!

If you love Velveeta, you can definitely impress your friends with this easy soufflé!

Velveeta asked me if I knew any Liquid Gold Diggers. I'll know more soon once they taste these dishes! Why? Because Liquid Gold Diggers love the Liquid Gold of Velveeta.

 

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Velveeta via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Velveeta.

I was given this challenge from Kraft to "zest up my life" and I choose to step out of my comfort zone and bake things I've never tried before.

My first attempt was chocolate souffle and I have to say I really surprised myself. It turned out wonderfully, and wasn't anywhere near as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, I've already made it twice since I first posted.

My second challenge was to try my hand at a tarte tartin, which is fruit tart usually made with carmelized apples, that is cooked upside down and flipped before serving.

Again, I've always put this on my list of things to try, but have never been courageous enough to actually do it.

I have to admit, before starting this I was nervous. There were so many unknowns... How long do I cook the apples in the caramel sauce? How do I successfully press down the puffed pastry to make a seal? Will it really flip out of the pan and look somewhat like all the photos I see on the Internet?

And guess what... It worked (pretty much)! I can't tell you how excited I was yesterday when I was tasting my very first homemade tarte tartin... so fruity and carmely!

So what are my lessons from these two challenging desserts. I have two...

The first is that I've just got to try. I know it sounds trite, but it's true.  I have to get out of my own way, risk the possibility of failure, and get on with it.

And second, I learned that in order to get good at a recipe, I have to do it over and over again. Sounds like life, doesn't it? As I mentioned, I've now made the chocolate souffle twice since my first attempt, and each time it's gotten easier and better. I'm already looking forward to my next tarte tartin, because I know what to expect and what I might do a little differently.

I am definitely a more confident pastry chef today than I was two weeks ago.

I still have one recipe to go for the challenge. I think I might try my hand at crème brûlée or French macarons. I'm actually excited to conquer it, what a change! I'll keep you posted...

APPLE TARTE TARTIN RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 package frozen pastry dough
• 4 large apples (Granny Smith or another hard, tart variety)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Quarter apples and core them. You can see my apples are already browning. Toss them in a tablespoon of lemon juice to stop them from browning and to give them a little extra tartness.

Roll out the pastry dough. I used a 10 inch plate to cut out the top to my tarte.

In a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe pan), melt 1/4 cup of butter over medium heat. As soon as it is melted, stir in 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Keep stirring until it starts to thicken and turns light brown.

Add the apples to the pan in a flower shape. I made a few smaller slices to place in the middle. Cook for 15 minutes until the apples are soft.

Remove from heat and carefully cover with pastry dough. I used the end of a fork to press down the edges around the apples, an improvisation that actually worked. Poke some steam holes in the dough.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the puff pastry is nicely browned. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes.

Hold the plate over the skillet, and with oven mitts on, carefully turn it over. A few of the apples stuck to the pan so I used a spatula to get them off and place them on the tarte. But I'm still impressed with how it turned out and I seriously wish you could have tasted it!

Kraft Italian Dressing only has one goal in mind... tantalizing your tastebuds. And we're always looking for new ways to help you amp up your zest appeal. Like what you see? Let our Zesty Guy show you even more ways to spread a little zest at getmezesty.com.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Kraft via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Kraft.

Have you seen how popular gender reveal baby showers have become? For those of you who don't know, a gender reveal baby shower is when the mommy-to-be and daddy-to-be reveal the gender of their baby at the party. I really think the added element of surprise brings a lot of fun to these showers, especially when the guests get in on the guessing.

Michelle at Printabelle designed this incredibly cute "Who Will it Be?" gender reveal printables collection and I'm excited to be giving them away!

This collection includes: invitations, welcome sign, cupcake toppers, water bottle labels, gift bags tags, mini candy bar wrappers, and a fun "Who will it be, a He or a She?" banner.

DOWNLOAD THE HIGH RESOLUTION FILES FOR PRINTING HERE:

• Gender reveal baby shower printables
• Gender reveal baby shower banner

Here is the whole collection...

Here are the individual files...

And remember, if you’d like any of these printables personalized, Michelle will do it for $3 per file! To learn more about Michelle and see all the printable collections, head to Printabelle and the Printabelle Facebook page.

For more inspiration, check out all these incredible gender reveal baby showers on our site!

I'm excited to share my favorite parties added to our site this week... A totally rad motorcycle party, a Cat in the Hat 1st birthday with an amazing cake and balloon figures, an Avenger birthday with tons of DIY details, and a birthday party for twins that will take your breath away...

Clockwise from top left:

• Frog Prince Paperie's Motorcycle Birthday
• Carol C's Cat in the Hat Birthday
• Jessica G's Avengers |Super Hero| Party
• Lillian O's Aurelia & Indiana's 3rd Birthday

I'm always blown away by your creativity. Can't wait to see what parties you put up this week!