Rebekah’s 4th Birthday {Cupcake Par-Tea!}

Rebekah turned 4 on the 12th, and we celebrated a little early with a cupcake par-tea!  We invited all her girl friends and their mums for a mid-morning tea party.  Most wore frilly dresses, and all enjoyed the cupcakes, scones, cherry tea, and cherry lemonade!  I got a ton of ideas from this amazing party site.

The day and night before, Phyllis and I made 48 cupcakes and 16 scones.

What you need to host a British Cupcake Par-tea

• Cupcakes, frosting, and decor {we did strawberry with strawberry frosting (recipe below) and a white box mix with this butter cream frosting}
• Scones & clotted cream
• Yummy tea
• Juice or some other option for little ones
• Plates, cups, napkins {we used a combination of china and paper}
• Cupcake decorations {banner, streamers}
• Tissue Pom-Pom Decorations {go here for a tutorial}
• A craft {we did foam stickers on a foam door hangers}
• Party Favours {we gave away a china cup & saucer, a cupcake apron, and a pink beaded bracelet}

Recipes

Ponchatoula Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

cupcakes

• 2 1/2 c cake flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/3 c buttermilk
• 1/4 c veg or canola oil
• 1t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t almond extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c mashed fresh or frozen berries
• 1 t grated orange zest

frosting

• 1/2 c chopped fersh or frozen strawberries
• 2 T strawberry jam
• 1t fresh lemon juice
• 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese (Phyllis used half a UK package)
• 1 stick butter (calls for 3 sticks, but Phyllis used 1)
• 4 1/2 c pow’d sugar (calls for 4, but Phyllis used 4 1/2)

For cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350, line cupckae tin with cute liners.

Mix flour, soda, and salt.

In another bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, and extracts and mix until fluffy.  Set aside.

With a mixer, in yet another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light anf lfuffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Gradually add buttermilk mixture.  Beat 1 minute at med speed.

Reduce speed and add flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Stir in the berries and zest.  Spoon into liners, about half-full.  Bake 18-20 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes.

Frosting

In a small suace pan over med heat, combine strawberries, jam, and lemon juice.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until the jam is melted and the berries are soft.  Press any big bits with the back of a spoon to mash.

Mix the cream cheese and butter at med speed with a mixer until creamy.  At low speed, add pow’d sugar until combined completely.  When the cupcakes are completely cool, frost.

Box {gasp!} Cupcakes

For time’s sake, I made 24 more cupcakes from the box.  You can choose any flavour of course.  We did white.  I then modified this vanilla butter cream recipe to make it chocolate.  I followed it exactly, but at the end when you’re supposed to add a final 1/2 c of pow’d sugar, I did 1/4 c baking cocoa and 1/4 c pow’d sugar.  Having the butter cream frosting was a nice contrast to the cream cheese base in the strawberry cupcakes.

Chocolate Chip Scones.  I also did cherry/coconut scones by adding in a handful of glace cherries and 1/2 c shredded coconut.

Drinks

I used Japanese Cherry tea, which was a fun, light, and girly tea.

As an alternative option to tea, I used lemonade and added 1/2 a jar of maraschino cherries and a couple tablespoons of cherry grenadine.

How-Tos

For the banner, I used this template to cut out 12 cupcakes from scrapbook paper 9I just did a 1-dimensional version).  Then, I printed off “Hello Cupcake” in Gigi font and cut and glued one letter per cupcake.  I then hung the cupcakes on a polkadot ribbon which I hung by the food table.

For the streamers, we just cut out cupcakes from wrapping paper and punched holes in the tops and bottoms.  Then, we strung them on ribbon.  If you really want to perfect this one, tie knots above and below the holes so the cupcakes don’t move on the ribbon.

For the tissue pom-poms, Kate, Phyllis, and I used Martha Stewart’s tutorial.  They were too pretty to discard, so we hung them in Rebekah’s room.  ;)

For the aprons, you’d have to ask Rachel.  However, I am pretty sure she cut tea towels in half and the hot glued a ribbon for a sash, as well as for a seam.  Christy has an even easier tutorial for making aprons!  Make sure to check it out.

For the cupcake tiered plate, I refused to pay more than 5 GBP.  So, I got a 5-pound tiered plate at Morrison’s and tied Rebekah’s cupcake hair thingy to the ring at the top.  Very frugal-savvy, if I say so myself {and I do}.

Related posts:

1. Cyber Mummy via Cupcake
2. Menu Plan Monday: 4th Birthday & London!
3. TILT: Cupcake!
4. Strawberry Patch & BBQ!
5. Surprise Party Play Group {Cookie Dough Cupcakes!}