"My First Holy Communion" Party Favors

In addition to the Baptism Favors, I also made First Holy Communion Lollipop Favors for the Cake Reception following the girls' First Holy Communion and the baby's Baptism.  For these I used the Girl Communion Candy Mold (a boy version is also available), along with Lollipop sticks, white and pink candy melts.

You can see an example of how the multi-colored candies are made in this post.  I poured the melted white chocolate into the center of the mold first, let it harden in the fridge, and then finished the lollipops by filling the mold the rest of the way with the pink candy and adding the lollipop stick.   It would have been helpful to have more than one mold, but since I really couldn't make very many at a time (due to a little one who loves to be held) I made them four at a time over a three day period as I had little bits of free time.

I packaged the candy shells in Clear Treat Bags, tying them with Pink Curling Ribbon. I made similar tags to the Baptism favors, some reading "My First Holy Communion...Deo Gratias!" and some that were customized with "God Bless (Child's Name)"at the top, and the date of the First Holy Communion on the bottom.  I just used scissors to cut the circles, which really didn't take long, but I would love to purchase a 2" circle punch for the future.  I cut the 2 1/2" scalloped backgrounds using my Cricut, Winter Woodland Cartridge, and gold card stock.

Here is the link to my document for the "My First Holy Communion" tags, which I printed out onto white card stock, in case anyone would like to use them in the future:

My First Holy Communion - Girl

My First Holy Communion - Boy

I was planning on making a couple dozen Cross Lollipops as well, but ended up running out of time even thought they are quicker to make and also take less of the melted candy. These would be a great option if you need a lot of favors.

I wasn't sure how I was going to display the lollipops, and started looking for a styrofoam block.   I wasn't able to find anything, and wasn't about to spend $8-10 dollars for one from Walmart, so I ended up cutting down a shoebox (from a cute pair of new boots), to make it shallower, wrapped it in gold wrapping paper, and then punched holes in the top with a hammer and nail.  The lollipops didn't stand up completely straight, but I thought it worked well enough, especially since it didn't require purchasing any more supplies.  :)

Here are a few other First Communion Themed Candy Molds available:

"My Baptism" :: Scallop Shell Baptism Favors

In addition to making the Baby's Baptism Cross for on top of the cake, I also decided to make some Baptism Favors for the reception following our baby's baptism.  These were also inspired by Cupcake's Baptism Reception. The challenge was finding white candy melts, since the local store was completely sold out of them after Christmas and New Years, and I had used my stash for our Gingerbread Fun on New Year's Eve.  I was finally able to get to Michaels, when I went to town to order the cakes, and then started making a few candies at a time, when I had free hands.  Thankfully they are quick and easy to make, and between Sunday-Wednesday I had found the time to make about 50 Baptism and First Holy Communion favors. (This ended up being not nearly enough, but I had no idea we would have nearly 100 guests on a Friday morning!  Who says there isn't enough interest for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in our area?!)

There are a number of candy molds to choose from, but like Charlotte I decided to go with the Seashell Chocolate Mold, since it is the symbol of Baptism.

"Scallop shell: the sea shell, especially the scallop shell, is the symbol of Baptism, and is found frequently on Baptismal fonts. The dish used by priests to pour water over the heads of catechumens in Baptism is often scallop-shaped."

Charlotte made her shells a beautiful pink and white swirl.   They just didn't look right with blue and white, and I wanted to make them as quickly a possible, so I decided to make ours solid white.

I packaged the candy shells in Clear Treat Bags, tying them with White Curling Ribbon.  I then made my own tags for the favors.

I decided to create some tags that read "My Baptism...Deo Gratias!" and some that were customized with "God Bless (Baby's Name)"at the top, and the Date of Baptism on the bottom.  Here is the link to my document for the "My Baptism" tags, which I printed out onto white card stock, in case anyone would like to use them in the future.  These could also be used for cupcake toppers.

"My Baptism" Blue Printable Tag
"My Baptism" Pink Printable Tag

I just used scissors to cut the circles, which really didn't take long,  but I would love to purchase a 2" circle punch for the future.  I cut the 2 1/2" scalloped backgrounds using my Cricut, Winter Woodland Cartridge, and silver card stock.    I placed the favors in one of our Easter Baskets, placing the Joseph's Studio Baptism Wall Cross I found for the baby at our local Catholic Book store next to the basket.  I was very pleased with the results!

Here are additional Baptism themed candy mold options. I'll be back soon with pictures of the First Communion Favors we made for the girls.

First Holy Communion Cake and Link-up

As I mentioned in the Baptism Cake post, this past Friday my brother-in-law flew in to offer a traditional Latin Mass during which our two daughters received their First Holy Communions!  Afterwards we had a simple cake reception in the parish hall.

For the girls' First Communion Cake I ordered Costco's Chocolate Cake with chocolate mousse and iced with white buttercream.  (Normally I would have opted for the white cake, but I wanted to have a little variety, since the Baptism Cake was already white.)   Since I wanted to make a white Bread of Life Cake Topper, using my Communion Candy Mold, I needed a contrasting color frosting to place it on.  (I didn't think it would look that great placed on white frosting.   Originally I had planned to make my own cake for my daughter, frosting it soft-pink and placing the chalice on top, but since my options at Costco were limited to white or chocolate, I decided to have them decorate the cake with their "Bouquet" design (which is the same one I had chosen for our last First Communion) with Pink Roses and place the topper into the center of the roses standing up.   Didn't it turn out pretty?!   I also had them write "Adoremus in Aeternum Santissimum Sacramentum" which translates to "Let us for ever adore the Most Holy Sacrament."

Now it is your turn. If you have made a cake for a First Holy Communion reception, we'd love to see it! Please add your link below.

Baptism Cake and Link-Up

This past Friday, on the traditional feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, our newest little blessing was baptized by his Uncle, a priest with the FSSP who flew in for this occasion, in the extraordinary form of the sacrament following a traditional Latin Mass during which our two daughters received their First Holy Communions.  It truly was a day filled with blessings for our family!

Since it had been just over 3 weeks since I delivered our little one, we opted for a simple Cake Reception in the hall at our parish.  I decided to order cakes from Costco, adding my own little touches as well.

For the Baptism Cake I ordered Costco's White cake with vanilla cheesecake mousse and iced with white buttercream.  For the decorations I choose their "Roses" design with White Roses and Dark Green Leaves.  I had them leave the center blank.

Inspired by Charlotte's recent baptismal cake, I ordered the Baptismal Cross Candy Mold to create for the center of the cake!   Charlotte suggested using Dark Blue Candy Melts, which she and her husband even sent us (along with those beautiful flowers for their Godson!) since they aren't available here locally.    I used approximately 1/2 of the 16 oz. bag of candy melts for the cross.   It turned out gorgeous!

Now it is your turn.   If you have made a cake for a Baptism reception, we'd love to see it! Please add your link below.

Epiphany Tart

Inspired by our latest family read aloud, we looked into English Epiphany traditions and found that an Epiphany Tart (which we would consider just a simple jam tart) was considered a delicacy in the Victorian age. When done well, it is supposed to have at least 13 different flavors of jam and look like a stained glass window. Ours only had 6 flavors and while not lovely enough to hang in a Cathedral, it still looks good enough to eat!

Epiphany Tart

1 1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

9 Tbl. cold stick butter, cut into pieces

1 egg yolk

an assortment of jams

In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients to combine. Add butter and pulse until coarsely cut. Break up the yolk and add in parts, pulsing for 10 seconds after each addition. When the dough clumps, turn dough out onto a work surface. Knead lightly to mix in any unincorporated ingredients. Press into bottom and partially up the sides of a buttered tart pan. Shape the wise men's star with extra dough by pinching and pressing together. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. (I doubled the recipe and had some left over.)

Prior to baking

Preheat oven to 375. Bake tart for 25 minutes. Remove and fill sections with jam. Bake another 10 minutes until jam is set and tart is lightly browned. Cool on rack until ready to serve.

Twelfth Night Rum Cake

Since we are enjoying and adjusting ;) to having a brand new baby in our home, I haven't been doing much baking this Christmas season.   I did manage to bake a simple cake for today, the 12th day of Christmas and the traditional feast of Epiphany.

For this cake I used the same great Pampered Chef Silicone Crown Cake Pan that I used earlier this year for our Garden of the Good Shepherd Fresh Orange Crown Cake, this time slightly modifying a recipe for a delicious Rum Cake, complete with three chocolate coins, one to represent each of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.  I plan to give a small gift to each person that discovers a coin in their slice of cake.

Twelfth Night Rum Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix (plus ingredients to make cake)
1 tbsp rum extract, divided
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
Nonstick cooking spray with flour
3 chocolate coins
3 small gifts to give to those that find the coins (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray inside of Silicone Crown Cake Pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Combine cake mix, water, eggs, oil and 2 tsp of the rum extract in large bowl; mix according to package directions. Pour batter into pan. Bake 40-50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake pan from oven to cooking rack.

Meanwhile, for syrup, melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and water. Simmer 1-2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining 1 tsp rum extract.

Using dull end of a wooden skewer, pierce bottom of cake 50-60 times, inserting skewer halfway into cake.

Brush bottom of cake with 1/2 cup of the syrup and let stand 10 minutes to soak up syrup.

Using a butter knife, make three small incisions in the bottom of the cake to insert the three chocolate coins, one to represent each of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

Invert cake onto serving platter. Lifting straight up, carefully lift cake pan off cake. Brush top of cake with remaining glaze.  Dust with powdered sugar.

I also happen to have a bag of Peppermint Dipped Snowflakes, which I had purchased with the intent of using for our Jesse Tea this year (which never did happen) that made perfect "Star" garnishes for our cake.

*If you don't happen to have the Silicone Crown Cake Pan made by Pampered Chef, you could bake this cake in any Bundt Pan.   Nordic Ware also has some great pans that would create beautiful crown cakes including their Bavarian Pan, Cathedral Pan, and Fleur De Lis Pan.  Or, if you just don't have time to bake, you could even pick up a store baked cake and just insert the chocolate coins into the bottom of the cake before serving!  

An Epiphany Royal Supper

Here's an idea for Epiphany...
Have a "Royal Supper" in honor of the Magi making it the newborn Christ the King!

Epiphany Royal Supper Menu:

Crown Pizza

Golden Pear Winter Fruit Salad

Royal punch or Sparkling Cider

  King's Wine Cake

Crown Pizza
We just cut a family sized take-and-bake pizza in half, carving each half into crown shapes, adding olives!



Golden Pear Winter Fruit Salad

Combine the following ingredients:
Bosco pears
Ambrosia apples
Oats and Honey granola
Honey flavored Greek yogurt

Royal Punch
We used sparkling cranberry juice
The Epiphany~Manifestation of the Word made Flesh~ is reason to cheer!

King's Wine Cake

Ingredients:
Yellow Cake Mix
1 pkg. Vanilla Pudding mix
4 Eggs
1 Cup Dry Sherry Wine
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
Powdered sugur
{Garnish with gumdrops and Rolos}
*Beat all ingredients together on high for approx. 5 minutes*
Spray Bundt Pan and Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes
Sprinkle with Powdered Sugar
(We added "royal gumdrops" for the crown jewels and the rolos represented the gold brought to the Messiah)

Prayer for the Epiphany of the Lord

Dear Jesus, as You led the Three Kings to You by the light of a star,
Please draw us ever closer to You by the light of Faith.
Help us to desire You as ardently as they did.
Give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that keep us far from You.
May we, like them, have something to give You when we appear before You.
Mary, Our Mother, help us to know Your Son.
Amen.

Recipes for January ~ Month Dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus

The Month of January is dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

"For there is no other Name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." ~ Acts of the Apostles 4:12

"Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in My Name, He will give it to you." - Gospel of John 16:23

January 1st, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (New) and Circumcision of Our Lord (Trad):

• Lots of recipes can be found under the label for the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
• Blueberry-Strawberry Cobbler
• Blessed Mary Mother of God Brownies

January 3rd, Most Holy Name of Jesus (New):

• There aren't any recipes in the archives at this point for this particular feast, but all the suggestions from the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary could easily be modified using any of the symbols of Jesus: the Chi-Rho symbol, the IHS symbol, Ichthys, and the Cross.
• Most Holy Name of Jesus (Muffins)
  
  

January 4th, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (New):

• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Colonial Brown Bread
• Colonial Brown Bread
• Edible Crayons for the Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

January 6th, Epiphany of the Lord (New, Trad.)
(In the United States this feast is celebrated on the first Sunday following January 1st):

• Any of the Crown Cakes found in the archives!
• King Cake for Mardi Gras
• King Cake for Epiphany
• Star or Crown Shaped Cookies
• Nativity Cookies
• Gift of the Magi Bread
• Galette des Rois (Eileen)
• Galette des Rois for Epiphany (Charlotte)
• Epiphany Feasting (Honey Spice Bread)
• A Chocolate Nativity Scene
• 12 Days of Christmas Gifts

January 13th, Baptism of Our Lord (Trad.)
(On the New Calendar, this feast is celebrated on the Sunday following January 6th):

• Nacho Stuffed Shells
• Christ's Diapers

January 17th, St. Anthony, Abbot (New, Trad.):

• St. Anthony the Abbot
• Potato and Pork Chop Casserole

January 21st, Our Lady of Altagracia:

• Orange Rolls for Our Lady of Altagracia
• Our Lady of Altagracia Orange Smoothies
• A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia

January 21st, St. Agnes (New, Trad.):

• The Lamb, Symbol of St. Agnes
• Gluten Free Lamb of God Bread
• Lamb Cupcakes
• Lamb Cake
• A Little Lamb for Easter 
• Keep out the Lamb Shaped Cookie Cutter from the Nativity Cookie Cutter Set and decorate lamb cookies with white frosting and coconut!

January 24th, St. Francis de Sales (New):

• Saint Francis de Sales Honey Goodness Breakfast Bars

January 25th, Conversion of St. Paul (New, Trad.):

• Conversion of St. Paul
• Saints Peter and Paul Avocado Soup
• Saints Peter and Paul Cupcakes

January 28th, St. Thomas Aquinas (New):

• The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

January 29th, St. Francis de Sales (Trad.): See January 24th

January 31st, St. John Bosco (New, Trad.):

• Skillet Lasagna
• Stuffed Peppers for the Feast of St. John Bosco
• St. John Bosco's Feast Day (Bachelor Buttons)
• Breadsticks for the Feast of St. John Bosco

*Here is a picture of the above recipe, which I made for my family, substituting red peppers for the green.  It is a favorite! 

Blessed be the most holy Name of Jesus without end!

Happy Birthday Jesus Cupcakes & A Gingerbread Manger

+REJOICE+

There are still a few days left of the Christmas season so I thought I'd share a couple of things we made to celebrate the birth of Our Lord...It's not too late, you know:)

I know there are so many cute ideas for making birthday cakes for Jesus out there, so thought I'd share this cupcake idea...We made red velvet cupcakes and found these little plastic Nativity figures at our local cake decorating supply store.  However,  I noticed they can also be found online, if you care to order for next year:)  They were the perfect size for cupcakes!  The Star of Bethlehem cupcake toppers were found at the cake supply store as well.  I peeked around a bit online but couldn't find them.  I'm holding on to these so we can re-use them next year!

Gingerbread Manger

Can you say repurpose?

We transformed this Gingerbread House Kit into a stable!  

I found these adorable cake toppers so I couldn't resist the big shortcut!

The Claydough Nativity set can be found online here. By the way, mine came in a nice plastic encasement for storage and protection...That makes the price a little more bearable.  Plus, I will mention again that they sure are cute!

Our Dad is pretty good at this kind of thing. He has the patience of a trained professional*wink*  He wanted to create a humble and simple manger, without any gumdrops on the roof.  You know what that meant? Yep, more candies from the kit for the children to eat right away:)

As you can see, they used Nutella for the frosting and the "glue" for the Gingerbread Manger....YUM.  

We browned some coconut for the manger hay and this is the finished project, mostly edible! (Except for the claydough figures of course)

God Bless your final days of Christmas!