Mardi Gras Goodies

I know I'm a day late with this one, but with Fat Tuesday being...well, a Tuesday...life seems to get in the way. Next year maybe I'll get my act together a little earlier and come up with some sort of King Cake in cupcake form, but for now some festive decorations are as good as it gets. Luckily the vibrant colors of Mardi Gras make even the simplest toppings sparkle.

I found a bag of sour Skittles that came in the perfect shades of green and purple and then we added some simple fondant masks. A dusting of gold shimmer powder gave them the hint of glitz they needed. A few gold sprinkles later and it was officially a party!

Luckily these decorations will fit whatever flavor cupcake you want to make. We used a basic chocolate recipe just for simplicity, but pick your favorite and dress it up for the masquerade!

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"Schock-ingly" Awesome Downton Cupcakes

Downton Abbey.

It seems that every Sunday night and every Monday morning, it's all anyone can talk about. My best friend loves it. My boss adores it. My neighbor is borderline obsessive about it. A certain Congressman from Illinois clearly has a fondness for the British drama. Yes, even the hallowed halls of Congress aren't immune to the Dowager Countess's charms.



When Rep. Aaron Schock's vibrant red office was unveiled in the Washington Post a week and a half ago, it was all anyone in Washington was talking about. Most offices you find on the Hill are varying shades of beige with personal touches coming in framed pieces hung on the walls. Aaron Schock needed a change of pace from the dull finishes a Member's budget usually provides. Enter an interior designer from the Land of Lincoln with paint rollers, a penchant for gold and glitz, and what must be some sort of nostalgia for pheasant shooting in England.

Well this week PoppyCakes had a commission for a lover of all things political and Downton Abbey. Could we have ASKED for a better week for this order?!

Naturally we opted for red velvet cupcakes with a rich cream cheese frosting. Our favorite red velvet comes from Martha Stewart and is super easy to follow - which leaves plenty of time for mastering your decorations!

Aside from making sure we had the right "red room" backdrop, our focus was on the pheasant feathers that received such a prominent place in Congressman Schock's office. We used a pale brown tinted fondant and a leaf cutter to achieve the basic shape. Add a few cuts of a knife, some colorful stripes, and you've got yourself some Downton ready feathers! Of course the real icing on the cake was achieved with a few tricks in PhotoShop...

Dowager Schock may be having the "worst week in Washington," but we've clearly been having a blast (all in good fun of course).

Fwiw, I thought the office looked rad. http://t.co/dhDUoBMnNF pic.twitter.com/XKnK5yNori

— Ben Terris (@bterris) February 3, 2015

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