Planning a 21st Birthday Party

For most young adults - no birthday is more important that their 21st. If you have been asked to plan or host a party for a friend or relative that is turning 21, the following tips will help you plan and pull off a terrific 21st birthday party!

Send out invites a month in advance: Whether you send e-vites or mailed invitations, you want to invite your guests at least a month in advance to ensure that they save the date for your party. Both types of invitations are acceptable. Make sure that you provide the date, time, and location of the party on the invitation, as well as specific RSVP instructions. For example - provide the name of the person that recipients should contact as well as the preferred way of contacting them (email, phone, or both). Or, to make it simple for yourself and the guests, ask those invited to RSVP only if they are unable to attend.

Bakeries

Other things to include in the invitations if they pertain to your party:

• If you do not want guests to bring gifts then make sure you state on the invitation "Please, no gifts" or "All we request you bring to the party is yourself".
• Request for guests to bring something specific to the party - whether it is an picture of themselves with the guest of honor to make a collage, a dish to pass, or a 'beverage of choice' to give to the birthday boy or girl in honor of becoming 'legal'.
• Directions to the party.

Decide on food and beverage to serve: Let's assume that your party is being held in a home or clubhouse type of setting - so no formal sit-down meal. Do you want to offer finger-type food that people will snack on all night long? Or will you offer a full meal buffet-style. Which ever you decide - make sure that you have enough to serve everyone - better to have too much than too little. Believe me, if there is food left over at the end of the party you will have plenty of guests that would love to volunteer to take it off your hands. Bring inexpensive disposable bags and containers so that you can easily pack up leftovers.

Make sure that you remember the plates, napkins, and utensils needed. Plates and napkins that feature a nice design on it are always nice and add a festive look to the presentation of the food- but it can be expensive. One option is to buy the plates and napkins in a solid color to save on costs. Or perhaps only splurge on the smaller, decorated 'Happy Birthday' dessert plates.
And a birthday cake is always a must - although now days 'cupcakes' are also the rage. Although bakeries may offer fancy varieties - they often come at with a hefty price tag. So if your budget is limited, don't hesitate to order a large cake from your supermarket or warehouse bakery. And if you have something special or unique in mind when it comes to how you would like the cake decorated - don't hesitate to ask them if they can accommodate you. I've seen supermarket bakeries do great "beer" and "cocktail" related decorations on their cakes. Remember to give them at least several days notice for your order.

As for the beverage - of course there must be a toast to the guest of honor at some point in the evening. Wine, beer, mixed drinks or champagne are all appropriate to toast with (as, of course, is any non-alcoholic beverage for those guests that prefer not to drink). Prior to the date of the party, decide who will be toasting the birthday boy or girl and asked them to prepare ahead of time a short toast. When he or she finishes with their toast - have them ask all guests to raise their drinks to the guest of honor.

For the rest of the night - make sure there is plenty of water and soda on hand. Lemonade or ice tea also go over well. As for alcoholic beverages - see what your budget allows. The "21" age group will probably be happy with just beer, however some of the older guests may prefer wine.

Ambiance: Although decorations aren't necessary - they do help set the stage for a festive get together. They can be as simple as a few balloons bouquets strategically placed throughout the room. Also - a balloon bouquet on each side of the entrance to the party shouts 'Party' and also makes it clear to guests that they have arrived at the right location. A few vases of fresh flowers are also a nice touch. Party supply stores have great "theme" decorating items (sports, beach, etc.) that can also add flair to the event.

Music also plays an important role. Should it just play in the background or does it have a major role in the event such as in the case of dance music? Think through the music choices ahead of time, as well as the sound system if the party is not being held in your home. Ahead of time assign one person responsibility for the music throughout the duration of the party. And remember - there's a whole slew of 'drinking' related songs out there (type in "songs about drinking" in a search bar and they'll be at your finger tips).

Do you want to play drinking games? If you only know of the same or two that everyone else knows just go to your favorite search page and type in "drinking games" and you'll have access to more games you ever thought were possible.

Always keep in mind the guest of honor when planning the party: Take into consideration the likes and dislikes of the celebrant throughout all of your planning. If he or she has a hobby, a favorite food, a favorite city - all these things might spark ideas of how to incorporate it into the party theme. For example let's say that the birthday boy is a sports fanatic. You can send out 'sport ticket' invitations to the party and decorate in his favorite team's color. Or the birthday girl has a favorite singer - you would want to make sure that songs from that artist are included in the party's music mix. Or perhaps she's a chocoholic. Make sure the birthday cake is chocolate fudge and hand out take-home gift bags with her favorite candy.

A little bit of up-front planning can save you time, hassle and money in the long run.

Cool Party Favor - Copyright 2009

Planning a 21st Birthday Party

Debra Rosenberg is an avid home entertainer and a party consult for Cool-Party Favors and recommends martini party favors and chocolate number favors as party favors for a 21st birthday party.

The Best Cupcake Recipe is From Magnolia Bakery

When I was searching for the best cupcake recipe for my daughter's birthday party I thought I'd find a handful of different versions of some textbook cupcake that I could dolly up and make pretty. I was going out of my way to even look for a recipe, it would have been far easier to grab a premix at the grocery store. However given the enormous importance of a little girl's birthday party the search went on for the best cupcake recipe. Never would I have imagined the 100's of different recipes, frosting, decorations and the craziness surrounding this baby cake phenomenon.

Which rock had I been hiding under? All of a sudden we'd gone from enjoying the humble slice of carrot cake with cream cheese icing to these amazing designer cupcakes with unimaginable flavors, designs, swirls and sprinkles and names like 'Red Velvet'.

Bakery

So after a little more research of this delectable gem I stumbled across what I guess you could call a branded or trademark cupcake from Magnolia Bakery located in New York. This was my first attempt at making cupcakes and I'm delighted that the Magnolia Bakery vanilla cupcake is the one I set my benchmark with.

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake Recipe (makes 24)

1 C Unsalted Butter, Softened (225gm)

2 C Sugar

4 Large Eggs (room temperature)

1 ½ C Self Rising Flour

1 ¼ C All-Purpose Flour

1 C Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).

• Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

• In a large bowl, on medium of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.

• Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

• Combine the flours & add in 4 parts, alternating with the milk & vanilla extract, beating well after each addition.

• Spoon the batter into the cups about 3/4's full.

• Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20 to 22 minutes.

• Remove cupcakes from pans and cool COMPLETELY on a wire rack before icing with butter cream frosting.

Personal Tips to ensure success with this recipe

- Use unsalted and room temperature softened butter.

- Avoid putting all ingredients in a bowl and mixing, butter must be creamed first, then follow instructions on adding different ingredients.

- Use natural vanilla extract instead of vanilla essence, it costs slightly more but it makes the difference between a beautiful cupcake or an artificial flavored tasting cupcake.

My vanilla cupcakes turned out light and fluffy, golden and tasting perfect especially accompanied with a huge swirl of butter cream frosting. The best cupcake recipe from Magnolia Bakery was delicious, it had the perfect texture, appearance and taste. The compliments and request for more at my daughter's birthday is a testament to this little beauty.

The Best Cupcake Recipe is From Magnolia Bakery

For the best butter cream frosting to compliment your cupcakes visit http://the-best-cupcake-recipe.com/magnolia-bakery-vanilla-cupcake-butter-cream-frosting/

For the Magnolia Bakery chocolate cupcake recipe Visit http://the-best-cupcake-recipe.com/magnolia-bakery-chocolate-cupcake-chocolate-butter-cream-frosting/

Design Ideas and Tips for Bakery Logos

Once you have decided to open up your own independent bakery or cake shop, one of the first things that you will need to organize is a logo design. In this article we look at the importance of cake shop and bakery logo design and we offer some ideas and tips on how to go about getting a design that is right for your business.

Why You Need a Great Looking Logo Design

Bakeries

There are many different kinds of bakeries and cake shops that target all sectors of the market. Once you have a good understanding of what kind of bakery or cake shop you want to be, and understand who your customers are you can then work on developing a brand.

A professional looking logo design is one of the key components of your brand development strategy. It can help to bring new customers into your shop and it can encourage existing customers to remember you and to return. It will help people to identify exactly what kind of bakery you are and it will help you to stand out against the competition.

A Variety of Uses

A bakery logo has to serve a variety of purposes. The most important uses for a bakery or cake shop are typically on signage and the bags or packaging that are used to sell products. Of secondary importance are business cards, advertising and other marketing purposes.

Common Images on Logos for Bakeries

It is helpful if people can quickly glance at your logo and immediately determine that you are a bakery or cake shop. The best way to do this is to use an image or symbol that is related to baking. The problem with this approach though is that some images such as a bakers hat, a cake or a loaf of bread have really been overdone and would make it difficult for your logo to be truly original. However, a talented designer should be able to put a unique angle on one of these cliched images and come up with something that looks fresh.

Look at a variety of bakery logos and you will soon get an idea of what works well. Aside from the obvious, some bakeries have gone for images that match their name or their location. Some bakeries that focus on a certain theme such as 'French' or 'Italian' bakeries have a logo that enhances their theme.

Usage of Color

A good designer will keep color usage to a minimum as this keeps a logo simple and reduces printing expenses for bags, packaging and promotional materials. Two colors is fine and three should be the maximum.

Bakeries typically stay away from brighter colors, preferring natural colors or pastel shades. Cake shops on the other hand tend to favor brighter colors. These colors relate to the products in general but there are no rules really when it comes to color and anything can work well if the overall design concept is sound.

A Font Can Send a Message

The style of lettering that is used on a logo is important as different styles can convey different messages about a business and its products. One thing that we picked up on with bakeries and cake shops is that they either brand themselves as being old fashioned or modern. There are some great old style cursive scripts that can convey the message that your shop sells baking just like grandma used to make. On the other hand, other more contemporary looking fonts can convey the message that your bakery or cake shop is modern, fashionable or organic.

Tips for Choosing a Designer

The best option for getting a logo design online is to use a custom logo company. With the custom approach you will get an original logo that is tailor made especially for your business. You also get input into the design process and can make alterations to your design until you are satisfied.

Most custom logo firms have extensive portfolios of their work on their websites. Check out their previous work for samples of bakery or other food and beverage industry logos to get an idea of what they are capable of.

Let your designers know who your main competitors are so that they can come up with some concepts that will stand out in your local market. Give them as many details as you can about your bakery or cake business and the kind of customers that you hope to attract.

Design Ideas and Tips for Bakery Logos

To find out how to choose the best company to design your bakery logo visit - www.Logo-Reviews.com

We have reviewed many of the top online custom logo design firms.

Micro Entrepreneurs

Micro entrepreneurs are the owners of small businesses that have fewer than five employees and have startup costs of less than ,000 and annual revenue of less than 0,000. There are nearly 21.5 million micro entrepreneurs in the U.S. Examples of micro entrepreneurs are owners of bakeries, beauty parlors, child care facilities, repair shops, arts and crafts shops, painting businesses, contracting businesses, family-owned shops, auto body shops, small-scale restaurants, and small-inventory trading businesses.

Micro entrepreneurs face many hurdles in getting startup financing, and they sometimes lack the skills necessary to manage the financial aspect of their business. As a result, many micro entrepreneurs cannot grow and develop their business beyond a micro enterprise. Various micro enterprise development programs have helped micro entrepreneurs achieve great success and growth. These micro enterprise development programs have immensely helped micro entrepreneurs who lack collateral needed to secure a loan or those who have low or no credit by providing them with training, support, help in developing a solid business plan, and assistance in building their businesses. Successful micro entrepreneurs have contributed much to society by creating wealth, economic assets, and jobs.

Bakeries

How To Become A Micro Entrepreneur

It is essential to study the market thoroughly and understand that market's customers before deciding on the type and kind of product or service to be offered.

Here are some suggestions:

Work out a sound business plan by doing extensive research and seeking help from the various micro enterprise development programs.

Make arrangements for the startup capital by using savings, opting for a micro loan program, or applying for a grant.

Do extensive market research, get the necessary training and skills required, and learn how to use technology to help run your business easily.

Study the competition and analyze how you can better them.

Get a good retail space to run your business as well as decide on the price, making sure it is right and has a profit margin; decide how to utilize the profit, whether you want to save it or reinvest and expand your micro business.

Make sure that the quality of the product is never compromised and that your customers are happy, ensuring customer retention.

Assistance for Micro Entrepreneurs

Micro entrepreneurs in the U.S. are in need of training and skill development workshops as well as help in utilizing technology to help run their business. Some micro entrepreneurs need access to easily available funds for startup and growth. In order to encourage more people to become micro entrepreneurs, state, federal, and private sectors should make available ample funding for such enterprises.

With a little effort, you can find firms that sell their services as well as products to help run successful businesses. You can even seek professional help to arrange business credit for micro enterprises.

Micro Entrepreneurs

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at .95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

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How to Make Plain Sponge Cake the Traditional Way

When it comes to sponge cake making, there are a lot of methods which we can use; some are good, some not so good. But nowadays many bakeries and cake shops are using the familiar premix, which is very handy indeed and just a little faster, but not so much.

In my opinion I still think that when quality is our main concern, the traditional method is still the best. So please find below one very good traditional way to make plain sponge cake.

\"cake Recipe\"

Here are the ingredients needed for around 2 to 3 pieces (6" to 8" diameter):

Egg whole: 510g (around 10 pieces)

Castor sugar: 305g

Plain cake flour: 215g

Corn flour: 65g

Unsalted butter: 15g

As usual we turn the oven on first, with the temperature dial set to 180ºC (356ºF).

After that, we can sieve the flour and corn flour together.

Then we melt the butter and keep it aside near the oven, so it does not set.

Now is the time to place the eggs and castor sugar together in a bowl which can be attached later on to the electric mixer.

Then we start whisking them with a hand whisk on a hot water bath.

We keep whisking all the way through to stop burning occurring on the bottom of the bowl.

When the egg mix starts to become a little hot, say around 45ºC to 50ºC (113ºF to 122ºF) we take the bowl off the heat, and we attach it to the mixer and turn the mixer on at top speed.

When the egg mix starts to become very light and fluffy, it could take 7 to 10 minutes, we turn down the mixer to the 2nd gear, and keep it mixing to let the sponge cake mix cool down nicely.

This is when we have plenty of time to prepare the sponge cake rings or tins. If we are using bottom less rings, we wrap a piece of grease proof paper on the bottom without greasing the rings. If we are using full bottomed cake tins, we just place a round piece of grease proof paper on the bottom of each of them, without greasing them as well.

The reason we do not use grease is because this way the sponge cake mix will stick to the side of the container, keeping a very nice shape, otherwise it will shrink toward the middle. This is just a little trick.

By now the egg mixture should have cooled down enough, so we take the bowl off the mixer and fold in the dry flour mixture slowly mixing with a long spatula. We keep mixing slowly until smooth and last we add the melted butter and combine well.

Then, we fill all sponge cake tins or rings up to 2/3 of their height, and insert them into the hot oven straight away.

If the oven has a ventilation duct, we keep it shut during the 1st half of the baking and then we keep it open for the 2nd half.

The normal baking time should be 30 minutes; this is the standard baking time for plain sponge cakes.

If the sponge cake is not properly baked after 30 minutes, it is because the oven is not hot enough, exception made for super sized rings, of course.

If you are not sure about the baking state, please insert a small knife blade into the sponge cake and if the blade comes out clean, then it is baked.

So now, we take the sponge cake rings out of the oven and let them cool down at room temperature.

When cold, we unmold each cake with the help of a small kitchen knife blade that we pass around slowly between the cake and the ring.

I will now let your imagination run for garnish and decoration.

I really hope you enjoyed this traditional plain sponge cake recipe.

If you need more information about other recipes do not hesitate to contact me.

How to Make Plain Sponge Cake the Traditional Way

A Sample of a Bakery Business Plan

In a bakery business, preparing a business plan is very necessary, as it gives you and the investors an absolute idea about how you would realize and execute the entire business plan options. This vital part is commonly known as the executive summary of the whole plan.

Category of the Business

Bakery

Prior in planning anything, get acquainted with the diverse types of business you can start. There are three general ways you can start a bakery business.

• You can begin a retail bakery business, where customers can buy bakery foods from you in a bakery shop. You can also choose to have a bakery restaurant, where people can buy and eat in your restaurant.
• Another way, you can start a wholesale bakery business where you sell bakery products to the retail bakery shops and restaurants.
• Lastly, you can work as retail and wholesale bakery business entrepreneur. It helps you gain more revenues and earnings. It also helps you get the most parts of the prospective market and consumers.

Bakery Products and Services
After you decide which type of business to go for; you have to choose about cooking specialties. There are selection of bakery products, such as, cakes, pastries, breads and a lot more so you may choose only some specialty items or may go for all the bakery pleasures. If you choose to go for retail business with a shop or restaurant, it is best to keep array of products so that you can cater to different customer demands. You need to give meticulous consideration to all the products and services you will be providing to the customers.

Market Research
This part is one of the significant steps in any business plan. You need to know necessarily about your competitors that can be locally well recognized bakery shops or branded bakery products. You must be responsive of the business strategies, promotional plans and specialty products of your rivals. It helps you in marketing your products

Capital Venture
Your business plan must comprise the details about how you are going to put in money to the business. You should plan as to how many employees need to be selected and their salary, and a lot more. You will have to think about the land investment, whether you are going to buy, rent out a shop or place to put up business. You need to make preparations to meet these operating costs in the initial stage of the business.

Bakery Design
Every type of bakery business always needs different arrangements. Your work is moderately easy if you are going for a wholesale bakery business. All you need to do is, get the orders from retailers and provide them with demanded products with the help of skilled employees. You do not need to have an attractive spot, set up for wholesale bakery business. But if you are planning to start a bakery with a restaurant, then you have to give attention to a lot new details, such as, atmosphere of the bakery, sanitation of the bakery, chairs arrangement for customers, and eye-catching display of food products. You also have to think if you are going to keep waiters or adopting self service process.

A Sample of a Bakery Business Plan

The Crusty Baker
John Taberner

The author had been an expert in the bakery business for many years in the past. He is an expert in the field of bakery and knows what important factors are to be determined in starting a bakery business.

30th Birthday Cake Ideas

The most common theme for 30th birthday cakes is poking fun at the birthday boy or girl for getting "old!" An over the hill cake communicates to them that they are not as young as they used to be. By using black icing, you give the cake a grim and mournful appearance that says, "you are one more year closer to death."

Another old standby is to make two cakes in the shapes of the numbers "3" and "0". Start with a regular cake mix. Divide it into two parts, as you would when making a two-layer cake. And then carve each number out of each cake once it is cool from the oven. Frost them with festive colors and sprinkles and maybe a few candles.

Cake

Everyone has a hobby or personal interest like golf, sewing or just watching TV. Decorate your 30th Birthday cake with that theme. You can buy plastic figures playing golf and ice your cake to look like a putting green. You can make thread with a thin icing dispenser and a spool by icing a large marshmallow for the one who likes to sew. Or use the shape of a rectangular cake pan to form the screen of a TV or computer and write with icing "Warning, can cause eye strain" on the cake, with an inexpensive pair of reading glasses as a gag gift.

Perhaps a gift you would like to give the person turning 30 is a scap book of childhood pictures. You can make the cake look like the cover of a scrapbook with a photocopy picture of the person as a child in the center of the cake. Use an icing decorating dispenser to create a border around the picture. This will hold the picture on the cake, as well.

Popular today are cakes with a smooth surface. You may wonder how to create such a look with the icings that are available in your grocery store. The secret is simple: you don't use icing, you use marshmallow cream. You can buy the cream in a jar, or with water, melt some marshmallows in the microwave until they become like icing. Put in your favorite food coloring. And this type of icing is easy to apply to a cake a create that sleek surface that an expensive cake will have. The marshmallow icing is also easy to apply different colors in a pattern like stripes or diamonds.

30th Birthday Cake Ideas

Leefe Poche is the founder of http://www.cakes-you-can-bake.com

Famous Russian Desserts

If you like to learn about famous international desserts and make your own, it might interest you to know a bit about famous Russian desserts. In Russia, desserts are usually served at breakfast or eaten after an entree at dinner.

Pancakes, or blinis, are very popular. You might have tried these with smoked salmon or caviar but in Russia these little buckwheat pancakes are often served with honey, jelly or sour cream. Oladi are like blinis but thicker and more filling. Tvorog is Russian cottage cheese and this is served with berry jam or honey.

\"cake Recipe\"

Pastries are very popular in Russia, especially apple pastries. Syrniki are made with fried cottage cheese and served with jelly, sweet dressings or honey. Russian teacakes are little cookie which are rolled in powdered sugar.

How to Adapt Russian Dessert Recipes

You might like to make your own Russian desserts to surprise your family but perhaps you want to tweak the recipes a little. If you enjoy making jello recipes, what about combining it with Russian recipes?

For example, Russians love to eat fruit pastries and you can make your own pastries using jello to hold the fruit topping in place and to add flavor. Try making a strawberry pastry with fresh strawberries in a layer of strawberry jello.

You can also pour jello over Russian cakes to add flavor and texture. Another way to adapt classic Russian recipes is to change what they are served with. Honey is a popular accompaniment to Russian desserts but you can try maple syrup or your favorite ice cream syrup.

Recipe for Authentic Russian Fruit Cake

This delicious recipe is perfect for fruit cake fans. There are various types of fruit cake. Perhaps you enjoy fruit cakes with plenty of nuts and a touch of whiskey or fruit cakes with lots of cherries. This Russian fruit cake contains various fruits and nuts and sherry for flavor. This is an easy fruit cake recipe but you do need to let the fruit stand in the sherry overnight so start this cake recipe a day before you want to bake it.

What you will need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sherry
• 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chopped raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped candied fruits
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

How to make it:

Stir the fruits into 1/2 cup of the sherry and let them stand overnight. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Cream together the butter, spices and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then add the sourdough starter and stir the mixture. Add the almonds and fruit mixture. Sift the salt, baking soda and flour into the sourdough mixture and combine well.

Cover a cake pan with wax paper, and then grease it well with oil. Transfer the cake batter into the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until done. Let the cake cool on a wire rack, and then remove the wax paper. Sprinkle the rest of the sherry over the cake.

Famous Russian Desserts

Russian dessert recipes are full of flavor and fun to make. You can adapt classic Russian recipes with modern ingredients like jello. Sometimes you might want to make international desserts for the family and other times make something easy like a chocolate mousse instead, for variety.

We Don't Make the Products We Just Make Great Desserts with Them!

Soccer Cupcakes - My Favorite Soccer Cupcake

Soccer cupcakes and soccer cakes are very popular treat for parties nowadays. Whether a victory party for a soccer team, a children's party or a birthday party these cupcakes are great to enjoy for everyone.

Soccer cupcakes are soccer inspired finely decorated with an amount of icing and sprinkles. Basically these cupcakes come with a creatively made soccer ball icing decoration and baked in soccer baking cups.

\"Cake Recipes\"

There are so many soccer inspired designs of these cupcakes in the market today readily available for customers. You can purchase it online or you can order to your favorite bakeshops.

But isn't it great if we can try to make these cupcakes on our own? Yes of course, we can have a try and the procedures are quite easy.

First we have to prepare all the necessary tools and ingredients. The tools needed are; standard muffin pan, multi opening round tip 233, soccer standard baking cups, disposable decorating bags and a standard coupler.

The ingredients we need are; leaf green icing color, rainbow nonpareils sprinkle decorations, soccer ball icing decorations and a butter cream icing.

Firstly, bake the cupcakes and cool it in a soccer standard baking cups and prepare the butter cream icing. Add a little tint of icing green to represent the soccer field. Now use the green butter cream and tip 233 to decorate pull out grass on top of the cupcake. Put the nonpareils sprinkle décor at the top of the cupcake and lastly put the soccer icing decoration on the cupcake.

Soccer Cupcakes - My Favorite Soccer Cupcake

Learn more about soccer cupcakes.

Watch Live Soccer [http://internettvsitereviews.com/] on your PC.

Graduation Cakes

Graduation Cake Ideas and Suggestions

If you have a friend or relative who has an upcoming graduation, you may be thinking about baking them a special graduation cake. So how do you choose a cake which fits the occasion, do you buy your cake or make one yourself and what about decorating the cake. To help you decide its probably worth reviewing what the occasion is all about then thinking about making the cake as personal as you possibly can to the person graduation.

Bakeries

So what is it all about?. Graduation is happy time, it's a time to celebrate, meet with family and friends as well as look forward to a bright futures. If you know someone who is about the graduate and you are set on planning a special graduation party then one of the essentials is a really good graduation cake ideas, no pressure.

Graduations mark academic advancement and deserves real recognition and celebration. Graduation parties areas much for family and friends to enjoy as the graduate themselves and typically almost everybody loves cake so choosing the right graduation cake is an opportunity to please the crowd. One of the first decisions to make is whether to buy or bake your graduation cake. Professionally baked graduation cakes can be tailored to suit the person graduating and the more personalized the better. They can be decorated with cars or faces and be made in the shape of scrolls or graduation caps and any other objects you can imagine.

If you decide to buy your cake then be sure to plan way in advance of the event. Order your graduation cake well in advance as bakeries can often be busy particularly around graduation time. Be sure to contact your baker as soon as you have decided on a party date and make sure they have all of your cake specifications. Look out for recommendation from family, friend son the best bakery to order from. Don't order to small. By all means estimate the number of people who will be attending when thinking about the size of the cake but be sure allow for some extra bodies just to be on the safe side.

In choosing colours for the cake it is often a good idea to use the school or college colors. Colors can easily be incorporated into icing and other cake decoration. The graduate's name and the graduation date are also nice touches. For that extra measure of personalization why not have a picture of the person put on the cake. Most bakeries should be able to transfer a photo directly to the cake frosting so you could have fun with a childhood photo or a more serious one if you choose.

Making your Own

If you choose to make your own graduation cake it can take up a fair bit of your time but it is obviously less expensive and it will allow you to add some very personal touches. This method also allows you to be sure about the quality and freshness of the ingredients used to make up the cake so you can ensure it's fresh and tasty

Graduation Cake Decorations

The great thing about looking after the graduation cake is that you can be a creative and inventive as you like. As a basic rule of thumb - the more unique the ideas, the better. Personalizing the cake with the name of the person, the graduation date and the name of the school, college or university will add a great personal touch to create a great graduation cake but you need not stop there. Think about the person graduating and consider the following - the subject studied their personality & interests and so on. You will soon come up with unique ideas on how to approach your Graduation cake decorations.

The mortar board and tassel are the classic graduation cake toppings, but you don't need to stick with tradition. Fun patterns, school colours, polka dots and stars may meet other peoples tastes. For a child's graduation celebration a superhero design or cars and trains may be a better option. The choices for your cake design are as wide as your imagination. . If the graduate has career plans, maybe you could decorate the cake to reflect this choice. A Dollar sign for an accountant or a test tube for a graduate perusing a science career. A short quotation also provides an added touch of class. What about some Latin? Or a school motto?

Themed Graduation cake decorations are always a good idea. For example for a maths graduation you could decorate the cake in the cake in the school colors displayed with math symbols, everything from plus and minus signs to pi and square root signs. The same could be applied with Science - test tubes and chemical elements etc. I would check the Wilton cake decorating books. Also, go to your library and see what kind of cake decorating books that they have. Thirdly, I would consult with a bakery and see if they have any suggestions.

Graduation Cakes

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Sweet 16 Birthday Cake Ideas

A sixteenth birthday is always special. A 16-year-old is a class on his own - he or she is no longer considered a child, but is not an adult quite yet. This makes the planning for the birthday party hard, since you wouldn't want it to look like a children's party, but you don't want it to be too "adult" as well. Here are some sweet 16 birthday cake ideas that you can use.

Since the celebrant is young, color themes should also be young. Cake colors should be light, such as cream, pink, yellow and peach. Light blue shades as well as lilac and lavender may also be used. The colors and cake design must match the theme of the party. A layered fondant cake with pink or peach flower trimmings is ideal for parties with a costume ball theme. Celebrant can look like a princess with a balloon pink gown and tiara, and guests would wear costumes.

Cake

Another cake idea for the princess theme is to make small cupcakes and put them in a multi-layered cake stand. Trim them with little flowers made of icing. When arranged well, the cakes would look like little pots of flowers in a flower garden. You can use one color, or mixed pastel shades of pink, yellow and light orange. This cake would also be perfect if the party has a ballerina theme. A fairy theme would also be nice, with guests carrying wands and wearing shimmering pink wings.

With small round cupcakes, put colored frosting on top and arrange them so the cake would look like bubbles or balloons. This would look cute for a children's party theme, where guests can dress up like little kids. Instead of round cupcakes, you can also make square or rectangular ones, and decorate each with colored frosting to make them look like tiny gift boxes. With a little creativity, have fun with a frosting bag and create patterns to simulate gift wrapping paper and ribbons. Or you can decorate them to look like little colored trucks or cars. This cake idea can be used for any party theme.

For large parties, 16 photo cakes can be arranged to make a photo album cake. Photos of the celebrant from age 1 to 16 can be placed on each cake. Wouldn't it be fun for guests to see how the celebrant has grown and changed through the years?

So the next time someone turns sweet 16, finding birthday cake ideas should not be that difficult. You can browse through the internet and find pictures so you can show them to your baker. At this day and age, virtually any cake design is possible. So use your imagination, and be amazed at where it will take you.

Sweet 16 Birthday Cake Ideas

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Wholesale Bakery

There are many wholesale bakeries, like Sara Lee, that produce cakes and biscuits on a large scale for distribution purposes. Maintaining a wholesale bakery is not that easy, as it requires the knowledge of bakery management and the maintenance of hygienic conditions for the production of bakery foodstuffs.

To maintain a safe and clean bakery, it is necessary to assess your business procedures and to ensure that your employees are adequately trained. Make it a point to keep first aid kits in the wholesale bakery with a person who is well trained in first aid. This is important for any immediate care that may be needed if anyone gets hurt by the numerous knives, mixers and equipment found in the bakery. Another important procedure is to make certain that there are no food containers around in the bakery that are used to hold chemicals; a box may accidentally fall on the next batch of bread dough. There is always a possibility of a fire occurring in a bakery, so there should be maps of evacuation routes and outside gathering places posted at intervals for the staff to learn the fire evacuation procedure. Have all electrical equipment checked frequently to make sure that the cords are free of nicks, cuts or exposed wires. And, in cases where you employ more than ten people, it is vital to complete an OSHA 200 Accident log.

Bakery

Wholesale bakeries naturally require many types of equipment to run successfully. There are knives, dough mixers and mixers that help in the manufacturing process of the bakery. For the storage part of bakery items, there are many racks and trolleys for the stacking of bakery products. So the next time you happen to open a Sara Lee cake, just think of the numerous hurdles it had passed through before landing on your dining table!

Wholesale Bakery

Bakery provides detailed information about bakery, bakery equipment, bakery for sale, bakery management and more. Bakery is the sister site of Wine Picnic Baskets [http://www.e-WineBaskets.com].

Bake A Dog A Bone - From Your Home

What you think about starting a dog bakery business? To this question, some would define it as hard, whereas some would say why not I try. Well, honestly speaking, this business is quite simple and does not require rocket science knowledge to start with. Best of all, your investment is incredibly less than any other profits yielding business.

California the popular state in the USA is the 3rd biggest state having a wide land area next to Texas and Alaska. Climate here remains ever-changing from subarctic to Mediterranean. On covering a total area of about 163,696 square miles, California is the 3rd largest state in the US. Being a resident of California you can confidently start your pet bakery business even from home and can start making good deal of money. This is why, it is considered as the best home based businesses too. People of this state are well-known for their love about animals. Once you decide to start a baking business of animal food, your neighbors will first start to become your customers!

Bakeries

One of the most important factors you should consider while initiating your business is to make sure that your food is absolutely hygienic and prepared in a proper environment that is sanitized. Most of the pet owners will mostly be concerned on their pet's health and so you should consider giving the best service to your potential customers. If your product is of poor quality and less hygienic, your customers will quit buying your product. Taking all these into consideration, start your dog bakery business in California successfully now.

Bake A Dog A Bone - From Your Home

Find out more information on starting a home based dog bakery business in California.

Wedding Cakes - The Traditional Separated Cakes Are Being Replaced by More Modern Designs

The standard designs of wedding cakes from years past featured independently separated cakes. These cakes were separated by a system of plates and pillars. The pillars were either of Grecian design or Swan style. Perhaps you've seen cakes that had three or four separations, with cake sizes that ranged from eight to fourteen inches.

The bottom tier which would be the largest cake at fourteen inches may have been situated on the top of a fountain stand. In between the fountain stand could be a water fountain, with three cascades, and interior lights plus running water which was possibly tinted with color. On the very top of the smallest cake, the eight inch in this example, would sit a plastic bride plus a groom ornament. The cake itself would have had roses, pearl beading, foil silver or gold leaves, and so forth.

Bakeries

Today's brides are planning their wedding cakes with simplicity at heart. Their preferences are stylish, but simple and down-to-earth, including the dress, reception and most of all, the wedding cake. Straightforward, sophisticated designs decorate today's wedding cakes. Many brides would like cake decorations that replicate the lace plus beading on their bridal gowns, and many gowns feature clean, vintage designs. Requested decorations can be tailored to suit the couple's personalities. Gum Paste, fresh or silk flowers, ribbons, beads, tulle and lace are trendy for 2010.

All wedding cakes are not just white. Off tones, such as for instance ivory are getting increasingly accepted. Circular tiers for wedding cakes still continue to be a favorite choice, but square, octagon, elliptical, heart and hexagon shaped cakes are commonly requested. The flavor of the cakes and fillings differ extensively and brides are frequently requesting non-traditional cake varieties, for example cheesecake, carrot, red velvet, tiramisu and even chocolate cake. Icing requests also have become more varied.

In response, bakeries are not just offering traditional buttercream, but in addition Rolled Fondant, rolled buttercream, non-dairy, whipped cream, cream cheese, white chocolate and marzipan. Brides are requesting handcrafted gum paste flowers. Gum paste flowers are available in over a hundred 100 unique styles, and are purchased through cake decoration supply stores.

Stacked tiers or acrylic stands with separated tiers are fashionable styles. Sculpted cakes are also being asked for more regularly, often for themed weddings. A comparatively new concept that is increasing in recognition is stacked and tiered cupcakes as an alternative choice and a substitute for traditional wedding cakes. Numerous couples are also choosing different decorated cakes for every guest table.

Wedding cakes account for 8 percentage of an average full-line retail bakeries' sales, according to Modern Baking's Retail Bakery Survey. Separated cakes tend to be sold by the portion, so check your area for the going price and charge for the cakes accordingly.

Wedding Cakes - The Traditional Separated Cakes Are Being Replaced by More Modern Designs

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Cheesecake - Can It Be Frozen?

Yes cheesecake can be frozen and it freezes very well, if you are having a party next week and you won't have time to prepare your cheesecake at that time, as I'm sure you won't, you can bake your cheesecake a week or so in advance and freeze it, but you must package it properly, but not by wrapping it with tin foil as many people do.

Tin foil is a metal and will cause freezer burn, what you need to do is place your cheesecake in a freezer for 4 to 5 hours just to get it really cold, remove it and wrap it with a plastic film wrap and place it in a freezer bag, try to get all the air from the bag.

Bakery

Now place the wrapped cheesecake back to the freezer and let it alone until you need it.
The day of your party take your cheesecake from the freezer and unwrap it, place it in a container that fits it well and place it in your refrigerator until you are ready to use it ,it only takes a few hours to thaw out.

By freezing your cheesecake you have so much more time to devote to other things for your party, do you need a good recipe for a real gourmet cheesecake then go to.

Cheesecake - Can It Be Frozen?

Andrew Krause is a Chef and Pastry Chef for over 30 years, at persent I own a Gourmet Bakery called The Cheese Confectioner. You can visit my site at [http://www.andies.cashhosters2.com]

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