To go along with our vintage bubblegum blow-out birthday theme, we served Emma's Soda Pop in repurposed Starbucks Frappuccino bottles. I amassed a collection of more than 30 bottles with help from friends and plan to keep them for future parties. In fact, I have already loaned them to a friend who plans to use them for a vintage-inspired bridal shower.
We served pink lemonade punch for the party. I mixed up the concentrate ahead of time and filled bottles at serving time with a third of the concentrate and two-thirds Sprite
Kool-Aid Punch
3 packets Kool-Aid, any flavor (we used Pink Lemonade)3 cups sugar1 large can unsweetened pineapple juiceWaterSprite (Three 2-liters per gallon of concentrate)
Combine Kool-Aid packets, sugar, pineapple juice and enough water to fill a gallon container and chill. This will be the punch concentrate. To serve, combine 1/3 gallon of the concentrate, one 2-liter of Sprite and ice. Refill as needed.
A Bottle of Giggles
When Emma had a friend over for a playdate last week, I gave them bottles of leftover punch with lunch. "Mmmm, I really like your soda pop, Emma," I teased.
Emma's friend's eyes widened. "Emma, you have your own soda pop?" she asked.
Emma looked at the label, calling out "E-M-M-A" as she traced her finger across the text. "I guess I do," she confessed with a shrug.
Alyssa was quite impressed!
(Labels from Katy Larson and straws from The Sugar Diva.)
In keeping with our bubblegum theme, I just had to try making bubblegum ice cream. I found a recipe here and tried it the weekend before the party (shown above). The flavor was interesting, but did not live up to my expectations. So in the end, we served a bubblegum-pink colored strawberry ice cream. Strawberry ice cream was actually a much better complement to our strawberry lemonade punch and pink lemonade cake with buttercream icing.
For years I have wanted to make a gumball machine cake. I made our cake with alternating layers of lemon and strawberry cake, for a total of six 6-inch round layers. I had a lot of trouble with my icing this time, but simply did not have time to start over. I was disappointed with the results, shown below, so I might have to give this one another go down the road.
Wooden dowels inserted into the cake support a round vase of gumballs topped with a planter lid and ceramic knob. I wasn't pleased with the finished look of the cake, but it tasted great and was a hit with the Birthday Girl.
Emma requested a #5 candle for her birthday. After we sang "Happy Birthday," she lingered in front of the cake giggling bashfully before we finally coaxed her to blow out the candle. I think she was savoring the moment!
Still to come, more fun and favors. Happy weekend, friend!
