We’re daydreaming today of warm summer afternoons, listening to the laughter of the neighborhood children, bikers peddling past, as we sit sipping iced tea on the porch. We have about eighteen inches of snow in the front yard today, yes in April, but it’s never too early to gather some great summer recipes! Here come three sensational iced tea recipes. Stash these beauties away, or give them a taste test now, in sweet anticipation of hot summer days. You don’t even have to choose your favorite. Set a stunning iced tea bar, mix and match those ingredients, and invite some friends!

Raspberry Iced Tea

Pretty as can be, sweet raspberries transform your tea into a summertime treat. Get this gorgeous recipe from MyFoodBook.com.

Mint Iced Tea

Mint tea is a classic, cool and refreshing summer flavor. Grab this mint iced tea recipe with a hearty tea flavor from myrecipes.com.

Spiked Strawberry Iced Tea

Or, go for the gusto with this adults-only, simply lovely Strawberry Iced Tea from MintedMag.com…

For crystal clear iced tea, be sure to start with good water, and let the tea cool slowly to room temperature before chilling it.

Peaches, berries, citrus… you can’t go wrong. Pick your favorite fruits, add in some fresh herbs, and be sure you have plenty of ice!

Source: http://brownbear2.deviantart.com/art/Sprinkles-208468603

S-P-R-I-N-K-L-E-S spells party! They just make everything more fun. Here are some ways to use sprinkles at your next party, or just to add some fun to your everyday.

Source: http://tikkido.com/node/656

Sprinkles in a vase? You betcha!

Source: iamtough.tumblr.com

Cover the edges of ice cream sandwiches with sprinkles to transform a common treat into an uncommonly sweet party display. Simply unwrap each sandwich and roll the edges in a plate filled with sprinkles.

Cover the edges of a basic layer cake in sprinkles. Fill a squirt bottle with sprinkles and cut the tip of the bottle almost completely off. Hold the squirt bottle close to the cake and squeeze to spray the sprinkles into the frosting. It’s important to do this while the frosting is wet, so the sprinkles will stick.

Source: http://tikkido.com/node/669

Dip or paint treats in chocolate or candy coating and add some sprinkles to make them party worthy. Rice Krispie treats, cookies, and all sorts of baked treats look so pretty with a few sprinkles. They’ll even make darling party favors. Pull the treats out of a box, or make them homemade. Sprinkles will make them look special!

Source: She Knows

Or, use sprinkles to add a festive touch to edge of a glass for a fantastically fancy and fun party drink presentation. Visit She Knows to get this Cake Batter Martini recipe!

Here’s a recipe for Funfetti Blondies by the Cookin’ Cowgirl. Happy!

Sprinkle on!

With some surprisingly easy tips and tricks, your homemade cupcakes can be as tasty and gorgeous as the cupcakes from your favorite bakery. Must-have frosting techniques, sweet cupcake outfits, and delectable cupcake recipes made the cut!

Cupcake Recipes

Grab this recipe for Glory’s amazing chocolate cupcakes. We love the simplicity of the decorations on her lovely chocolate cupcake.

If you’re a unique flower, waiting to express yourself in your cupcake baking, these creative cupcake recipes are for you!

Get 33 more cupcake recipes! Ming’s cupcake recipes help you make chic, gourmet cupcakes right in your own kitchen.

How to Frost Your Cupcakes

While you’re visiting Glorious Treats, there’s no better place to brush up on some decorating tips and tricks. Learn which tip to use for the cupcake look you’re going for and get frosting recipes for decorating the perfect cupcakes.

Gourmet Cupcakes and Cupcake Decorating Inspiration

Just taking a stroll down Cupcake Lane...

We featured these gourmet cupcakes, on the EASY, a while back. Make a stunning display of cupcakes, with these quick cupcake recipes, in any flavors you choose… with almost no effort.

Feeling like a budding pastry chef? Well, either way, grab your apron.

Visit our cupcake board on Pinterest for even more cupcake inspiration!

Don’t forget to dress your cupcakes for the party! No soggy, little cupcake panties hanging out, now! (Wink, wink.) Find the perfect cupcake wrappers to complement your party décor.

Amazing what the humble sugar cookie can become. Vintage and modern at the same time, sit back and enjoy the parade of sugar cookie ideas coming your way!

Photo: Delicious inspiration

Gather a sweet recipe and a dose of retro cookie charm here.

Photo: Betty Crocker

Fancy-pants decorating makes the simplest of sweets into stunning treats. Learn the basics of cookie decorating.

Photo: food + words

Cookie bracelets? Sweet!

Photo: Roxana’s Home Baking

Elegant jam filled sandwich cookies join our cookie parade, complete with a recipe for these sweet and tart cookies.

Feels like Grandma’s kitchen!

Who says Christmas colors have to be red and green? We love this trendy pink and gold Christmas color palette with touches of green. Here are some ideas for pulling this off in your own home this holiday season.

Pink and Gold Christmas Decorations!

Get started by decking out the tree and the tabletop in glamorous gold and pink!

This captivating table, overflowing with sparkle and PINK, is by Carrie Darling Events.

Pink and green, a play on the classic red and green for Christmas, gets its glamor from the wash of gold over everything!

A Pink and Gold Christmas Party!

Throw a holiday spa party for your favorite girls, to relax after a big day of shopping. The Christmas party plan, complete with free printables, is yours for the taking!

The pink and gold Christmas cocktails:

Christmas cocktails to hand each guest as they come through your door can be festive and bright with just a couple of ingredients and a few tricks.

First, keep the liquor in the freezer. It’ll be perfectly cold when you’re ready to use it, and no, it won’t freeze. Then, keep some mixers on hand. Juices and sodas can be kept in the pantry or fridge, and a classy Christmas cocktail is just two ingredients away. Try this cranberry martini to keep with the color scheme.

Dust the rims of your glasses to make it a touch more special. Simply run a wedge of lime around the rim and dip the glass in some sugar for these gorgeously frosty pink martinis!

The gift wrapping for your pink and gold Christmas:

Gift wrap in gold with hints of pink make is playful and fun, yet still elegant. We used mostly gold with pops of pink and green. The cups in the photo above are filled with truffles (get a free downloadable recipe card!), and dropped into our Bedazzled cupcake wrappers. Placing the cups inside cello bags keep the truffles fresh, and we tied the bags with a pretty ribbon and tag to match. Be sure to snag the free download for gift tags for this pink and gold Christmas look!

We are giddy about these Christmas crackers from OhHappyDay.com! Just precious, and so fun! The colors caught our eye because they are perfect with our Pink and Gold Christmas, but you could make these in any colors you like. Get the full tutorial on Oh Happy Day to make your own.

The Bedazzled Christmas Collection…

Check out the Confetti Couture Party Boutique for glamorous gold and pink Christmas supplies.

If you missed our 2012 Christmas color palette post, catch it  here!

Cupcakes mean having a dessert all to yourself. No need to share. (It’s not often that we hear those words, right?) That’s the thrill of a cupcake!

Enter 33 cupcakes, and recipes for each one. Ming makes cupcakes!

We couldn’t help ourselves. Impossible for us to resist, this amazing list of cupcake recipes had to be paired with Mini Skirtz cupcake wrappers. Scrumptious sweets meet sensational style! Not so into pie? Serve cupcakes for Thanksgiving!

Here is a sampling of the culinary cuteness…

Thanksgiving cupcakes!

“Dreaming of the beach” cupcakes?

Jingle all the way cupcakes.

The big surprise cupcakes!

Simply can’t go wrong with chocolate cupcakes.

That’s it for our cupcake fashion show. Head on over to Ming’s site to collect the other twenty-eight cupcake recipes.

If you’re new to the game of hosting for Thanksgiving, or just looking for some classic, top-notch recipes, you’re in the right place.

Classic roasted Thanksgiving turkey recipe

If anyone knows how to roast a bird, it’s Ina Garten. Here’s Ina’s roast turkey recipe that comes with rave reviews.

Stuffing is tricky. Gotta get the temperature right, so you don’t make your guests sick! Furthermore, by adding the stuffing to the center of the bird, you’ll need to cook the turkey longer to get the stuffing up to the correct temperature, leading to an overcooked turkey. We recommend dressing instead.

Dressing is really just stuffing, but cooked separately from the turkey, and baked in the oven to get a deliciously crisp crust over a moist and savory dressing. Here is a collection of dressing recipes, so you can choose your favorite flavors for this classic Thanksgiving side dish.

Getting’ in your zone for hosting Thanksgiving dinner has never been easier. Use this Thanksgiving planning guide, and today’s tried and true recipes for a stress free Thanksgiving!

Check out our Thanksgiving Planning Pinterest board for even more ideas and recipes.

With three versions of this easy chocolate truffles recipe, your chocolate dessert buffet will be gorgeously filled to the brim. With a few tweaks, the same recipe can be used to create distinctly different chocolate truffle desserts and a will put a plethora of possibilities up your hostessing sleeve! Master a few easy chocolate handling techniques, and you’ll open the door to a gazillion possibilities from coating luscious cakes to creating these delectable delights.

Classic Chocolate truffles recipe

If you’ve never made chocolate truffles before, they may seem intimidating, but trust us when we say that once you have the basics down, it’s a snap. This chocolate truffles recipe and tutorial on truffle basics will give you all the details you need for making perfect chocolate truffles, every time.

Chocolate truffles on lollipop sticks

For this tray of chocolaty treats, we pushed a wooden lollipop stick into each chilled truffle before we dipped them in the chocolate coating. Go for gorgeous presentation with this cake pop kit, available in loads of pretty color combos, that makes it so easy to turn a few truffles into gorgeous chocolate party favors or display them on your chocolate dessert buffet.

Chocolate Truffle Recipe—Tiny Chocolate Almond Tarts

By adding a ¼ teaspoon of almond extract with the heavy cream in your chocolate ganache mixture, the very same truffle ingredients turn into a chocolate almond tart. Silky smooth chocolate ganache tops a simple shortbread cookie crust.

Easy shortbread cookie crust:

2 cups of crushed shortbread cookies
¼ cup melted butter

• Combine melted butter with crushed cookies.
• Press the crust mixture into the bottoms of each well in a mini muffin baking pan. 
• Bake for 5 minutes at 375, or until lightly golden. 
• Let the crusts cool completely and then pour the ganache mixture over each mini crust. Top each tiny tart with a toasted almond slice.

Spicy Chocolate Truffles

These truffles are kicked up a notch with the easy addition of some crushed Thai chilis. Add spice to suit your taste, and roll them in cocoa powder to finish these easy chocolate truffles.

One recipe… one entire chocolate dessert buffet! We love easy.

We brought these gorgeous salted caramel cupcakes to a girl’s night last week, and they were gone in a flash! With these gourmet cupcake combinations, the humble tray of vanilla cupcakes goes posh in five minutes. You can bake some basic vanilla cupcakes using your favorite cupcake recipe, or if baking from scratch isn’t your forte, try this amazing cupcake mix redo recipe. It’s a keeper. Easier yet, buy some basic cupcakes and dress them for party success. Here’s how to make standard, cake mix cupcakes into simply stunning gourmet cupcakes, in just five minutes. Really, 5 minutes!

Here’s how to make cupcakes gourmet in 5 minutes

With just two or three ingredients, and as much time as it takes to you to stop in at the bake shop, you can transform plain vanilla cupcakes into a va-va-voom dessert. We have three ideas to get you started, but are quite certain that once you give this a try you’ll see how easy it is, and how well it goes over at your event. You’ll be creating your own combinations in no time! Customize your cupcakes for the event by choosing the perfect Dessert Skirtz to dress them for the party. These pretty little cupcake costumes take your gourmet desserts from a birthday party to an elegant wedding.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

To create this chocolate cherry cupcake, just tuck a luscious chard of creamy dark chocolate into the frosting. Then, nestle a fresh cherry next to the chocolate for a cupcake that is high on style and flavor. We like the richness of the dark chocolate with the unexpected freshness of the fresh, ripe cherry. This cupcake is dressed in the Plum cupcake wrapper from the Jeweled Amethyst Dessert Skirtz collection.

Elegant Salted Caramel Cupcakes

This cupcake is topped with a rich caramel sauce and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. For a kiss of color, we added edible flowers. Customizing your colors for party or wedding cupcakes is so easy with a pretty flower and a stunning cupcake wrapper. This cupcake is dressed with the Jeweled Amethyst Dessert Skirtz by Confetti Couture.

Exquisite Pomegranate Cupcakes

The tart pomegranate and fruity syrup drizzle makes for a gorgeously gourmet cupcake. The fresh, tart flavor from the pomegranate contrasts perfectly with the creamy, sweet frosting on the cupcake.

These easy gourmet cupcakes look so special, they are a perfect wedding cake solution. What an easy way to keep the budget down and the style high!

Prefer chocolate? This method works beautifully with chocolate cupcakes or brownies.

Go grasshopper with chocolate cupcakes and fresh mint, or recreate the ever popular chocolate peanut butter combo and top the cupcakes with decadent candy crumbles.

Fruits, herbs, edible flowers, spices… the sky is the limit. Bacon, anyone?

This luscious, frosty pick-me-up is a splendidly sweet summer treat.

Here’s how to make your own Caramel Latte Popsicles…

Brewed coffee (leftover from your morning pot of joe is perfect!)
Cream and caramel syrup to taste

Of course, you can make whatever flavor is your personal favorite by substituting any syrup you like. Just mix the ingredients and pour them into mini glasses, filling each glass two-thirds full.

Cover each mini glass with foil and poke a hole in the center of each. Slip the familiar and fun retro striped straws into each glass and stash them in the freezer for a few hours. When the mixture is frozen, add a splash of half and half to each glass and place them back in the freezer until they are completely frozen. Be sure to leave a little room at the top, as they’ll expand as they freeze.

These sweet latte pops add an elegant element of the unexpected to a summer bridal shower or 40th birthday party. Or, just give yourself an extra boost on a hot summer afternoon. Pull out the Slip-and-Slide for the kiddos, and settle in with a caramel latte popsicle while the kids enjoy the backyard thrills and chills.

Nothing says summer like a popsicle, except possibly a fruity Sangria with your girlfriends. So, with that in mind, the perfect summer treat has got to be refreshing, icy cold Sangria popsicles. These not-too-sweet sangria popsicles are for adults only, of course.

They are so easy to make, a recipe is almost unnecessary, but here it is…

Sangria Popsicles

One bottle of White Zinfandel wine
3 plums, diced
1/2 cup red grape halves

Combine the ingredients and let stand in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or overnight. Pour the mixture through a strainer, reserving the wine in a pitcher. Spoon the fruit pieces into molds, then pour the wine over the fruit, leaving room to add the sticks. Don’t have plums and grapes in your fridge? Not to worry, just use any soft fruits you like.

We love the look of the Sangria popsicles made in these mini dessert cups with these retro wooden lollipop sticks. If you don’t have cups in this shape, use whatever small containers have. Shot glasses will work, as well. We used a small piece of foil over the top of each cup, and pushed the stick through. This helps the sticks to stay straight in the cups while they freeze.

These Sangria popsicles are so much fun, we have to confess sampling them at 10:30 in the morning. (Shhh, don’t tell.) As fun as it was, we do recommend sharing them with lots of your girlfriends at your next bridal shower or girls’ night.

These pretty popsicles, both elegant and whimsical, are a must-try for your next get together.

This pomegranate gumdrop recipe is easy, but do follow the directions precisely. These chewy morsels are a favorite of kids, and with the elegant flavor of pomegranate, these gumdrops are a favorite of adults as well. They make a statement on this gorgeous dessert table.

Pomegranate Gumdrop Recipe:

2 cups sugar
2 cups light corn syrup
12 tablespoons pectin
1 ½ cups pomegranate juice (You can use any flavor of juice you like!)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Line a 9 x 11 inch baking pan, (or an adult size shoe box lid- works perfectly!) with foil, then spray generously with cooking spray.

In a heavy sauce pan, melt the sugar and corn syrup together, stirring constantly. Make an effort not to splash the sugar onto the sides of the pan to avoid crystals of sugar in your candy. If you do get it on the sides, carefully wash them down with a bit of water on a pastry brush.

Once the sugar is dissolved, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, and cook over medium heat at a steady boil until it reaches “soft crack” stage without stirring. (280 degrees) Be careful… this is dangerously hot sugar!

While the sugar is boiling, in a separate pan, mix the pectin with the juice. Then, add the baking soda and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.

When the sugar mixture has reached the soft crack stage, remove it from the heat and slowly pour the sugar mixture in a thin stream into the pectin mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes more.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Let it set for about 2 hours or until the gumdrop mixture is firm and cool.

Cut the gumdrops into ½ inch squares with a knife coated in cooking spray, and roll each piece in sugar.

These eerie messages are so easy to make and will look perfect on your Halloween table.

We started with dark chocolate covered peppermint candies. First, mix a colored, edible glitter dust into a few drops of vodka. With a new paint brush, paint messages, spooky words or pictures on each candy with the edible glitter mixture. The vodka will quickly evaporate, leaving the glitter dust set on the chocolate in an eerie holographic way. EEK!

This nostalgic treat is dressed in costume for the Halloween party wearing Autumn Nights Dessert Skirtz cupcake wrappers. Heat a little corn syrup, popcorn, and flavoring of your choice, and turn an ordinary snack into party fare. We used the six inch Wooden Lollipop Sticks and inserted them into the popcorn balls while they were still warm. Drop each one into a Dessert Skirtz of your choice.

Who says fabulous entertaining has to keep you in the kitchen for hours?

Halloween is six weeks away… can you believe it?! With all of the candy that passes through our kids hands on Halloween, it seems almost criminal to bring cupcakes to the class party. So what’s a Diva mom to do?

Apple slices with caramel dip… a little sweet, a lot healthful. The kids will love them. Make it easy to serve, and fun too, by dropping some clear plastic cups inside Little Goblins Dessert Skirtz and placing a dollop of caramel dip inside each one. Then, top with apple slices in each cup.

Hint: Before you place the apples in the cups, put a little lemon juice mixed with water in a gallon size zip top bag and put the apple slices inside. Give it a shake. The citric acid will keep the apples looking fresh for longer.

Line your sweet apples-n-dip cups on a tray and you’ll be Supermom this Halloween in the classroom. It’s a sweetly spooky Halloween snack idea that’s a favorite for any age kids.