Superhero Party!

If you have seen my boards on pinterest you'll know that I'm obsessed with ombre cakes, ruffle cakes and Jacob's superhero party.  When my nephew Jacob was born I could not wait to plan his dessert table, within the first month I thought it would be great to have a superhero party for him.

There are some great superhero parties out there!  I was truly inspired.  I worked on some macarons a week before the party, and I wish I started earlier.  I had problems with getting the coloring just right.  I made macarons and colored them blue, red, and yellow.

I started with the blue first.

I used navy blue gel coloring for this batch.  I was pretty happy with the color because it was the superhero blue I was looking for, not too bright, not too dark.

Here is a close up compared to the blue paper I had.  Once it was baked, it turned into something different.

See the difference?  I bought sky blue powder coloring the next day with the intention of redoing the cookies, but didn't have time.

My next macaron was the red macaron.  I was nervous about this batch because I have been struggling with getting red macarons super red.  I used what was left of my fired engine red powder coloring and some super red gel coloring and prayed it would work.

My prayers were answered.  Mixing the food powder coloring into the powdered sugar and almond flour mixture and the gel coloring into the meringue mixture worked perfectly!  This was the super red that I have been trying to achieve.  I always worry about putting too much food coloring (especially gel) into a batch, because when I put too much food coloring it always effects the cookie in a negative way.

The last batch of macarons I had to make was yellow.  

I added about a teaspoon of yellow gel coloring to the mixture because I wanted the yellow to be really bright.  I cooked the first batch and once they came out the oven the yellow cookies looked more mustard.  For the second batch I took the cookies out a little bit earlier and they were undercooked and hollow and I had to redo them.  I used less coloring the second time around and they came out fine. 

The cookies do brighten a bit when you put them in the freezer.  Here is the end result, which I am very happy with! 

I filled the yellow macarons with lemon curd (I made three batches before getting it right.)  For the blue macarons I made a swiss meringue buttercream and mixed in blueberry jam.  For the red macarons I used a swiss meringue buttercream and mixed in raspberry jam.

Here's a close up of the macarons.  The blueberry was really subtle, I'd like to try and make it again with blueberry pie filling.


I also made Oreo cake pops.  

Oreo pops are always a hit.

And so are superhero dessert tables.  This table was really nice and simple.  I also made the smash cake in the back.  I need to work on my frosting!  Jacob's aunt Anita made the cupcakes.  Orange creamsicle, salted caramel, and nutella cupcakes.  My sister ordered the birthday cake from a local bakery and they did an excellent job!  The cake was also delicious and moist.  At the end of the party all the kids suffered from a sugar crash.  And when I say kids, I mean my friends and I.