Pig Party!

My daughter adores PIGS. 🙂 She collects stuffed pigs, reads fictional and non-fictional books about pigs, and even wrote her first research paper (in 2nd grade!) about pot-bellied pigs. To celebrate her 9th birthday, she invited over a few friends for a pig-themed sleepover party. It was perfect!

We started with a pig invitation- inviting everyone to come PIG out and celebrate. 😉 It included a custom rhyme based on one of our favorite books “If you Give a Pig a Party” by Laura Numeroff.

We PIGged out eating pizza, pig cupcakes, pig pancakes, and pig cookies. We also had our traditional “Number Cookies” as well as chocolate fondue. (Which will most likely become a new tradition!)

Yes, there were a lot of sweet treats. 🙂

The girls also made beanie boo sleeping bags adapted from Doll Diaries.com. SO cute! 🙂 (I cut 2 pieces of fabric 19″ x 16″ and 1 piece 11″ x 16″, with a 4″ fringe border.)

For the Yellow Cupcakes: (Recipe from The New Best Recipe All-New Edition from the Editors of Cook’s Illustrated)

Yield: 12 cupcakes

• 7 1/2 oz (1 1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 7 oz (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees, preferably on convection.
2. Line a standard muffin tin with paper or foil liners. (I prefer foil-lined paper liners!)
3. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer.
4. Add the butter, sour cream, egg, yolks, and vanilla and beat the wet ingredients into the dry at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds.
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
6. Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the prepared tin using a 2-oz ice cream scoop or a spoon.
7. Bake until the cupcake tops are pale gold and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes.
8. Use a skewer or paring knife to lift the cupcakes from the tin and transfer to a wire rack; cool the cupcakes to room temperature, about 45 minutes.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting & Pig Decorations:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool
• 5 T unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1 T sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 oz (1 1/4 cups) Confectioners’ sugar, plus more for glaze
• red gel food coloring
• 6 jumbo marshmallows
• 12 standard marshmallows
• pink sanding sugar
• semi-sweet chocolate chips for the eyes and piping
• 12 sugar flowers

1. Using a serrated knife, cut each jumbo marshmallow in half to create two smaller rounds (snouts). Cut each standard marshmallow in half on a diagonal (ears).
2. Combine a few tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar with a teaspoon of water. Add more water as needed to create a thin glaze.
3. Cover the top surface of the snouts and the inner surface of the ears with the glaze. Place on a cooling rack and sprinkle with pink sanding sugar to coat. Set aside to set.
4. When the cupcakes are cool, process the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in a stand mixer until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
5. Add the 5 oz Confectioners’ sugar and process until smooth.
6. Using a toothpick, add a small amount of red gel food coloring and process to combine. Continue to add small amounts until desired shade is achieved.
7. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the surface of each cupcake. (I place a dollop on each cupcake before spreading to ration it evenly.)
8. Place the snouts, ears, sugar flowers, and eyes on each cupcake. Pipe melted chocolate chips to create the nostrils on the snouts.

Note: I refrigerated these cupcakes overnight and brought them to room temperature prior to serving.

Although I thought the cupcakes were absolutely delicious, the chocolate fondue was the big hit for dessert. I prepared it in minutes and served it during the intermission of our first pig-themed movie, “Babe”.

We used marshmallows, pound cake, pretzel rods, and banana chunks as dippables. The recipe was adapted from Rachel Ray. I used a combination of Lindt milk chocolate and dark chocolate instead of all bittersweet chocolate. I also omitted the optional liqueur and the nuts. Eating fondue is FUN! 🙂

Chocolate Fondue
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided, reserve 1/4 cup to thin if fondue begins to thicken
• 4 bittersweet chocolate bars, chopped, 3 1/2 ounces each (I used 1/2 Lindt milk chocolate & 1/2 70% Cacao Lindt dark chocolate)
• 2 tablespoons Frangelico or Amaretto liqueur, optional
• 1/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts or almonds, optional

Suggested Dippables, choose 3 or 4 selections of the following:

• hazelnut or almond biscotti
• salted pretzel sticks or pretzel rods
• cubed pound cake
• sliced bananas (large chunks work best)
• marshmallows
• strawberries
• pineapple chunks

1. Heat 1/2 cup cream in a heavy non-reactive saucepot over moderate heat until cream comes to a low boil.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and add chocolate.
3. Let the chocolate stand in hot cream 3 to 5 minutes to soften, then whisk chocolate together with the cream.
4. Stir in liqueur and/or chopped nuts, if using, and transfer the fondue to a fondue pot or set the mixing bowl on a rack above a small lit candle.
5. Arrange your favorite dippables in piles on a platter along side chocolate fondue with fondue forks, bamboo skewers or seafood forks, as utensils, for dipping.

Note: If fondue becomes too thick, stir in reserved cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, to desired consistency.

In the morning, the girls watched their second pig-themed movie, “Gordy,” while I prepared their “pig” pancakes. I used this gold standard recipe.

Before…

After… (well, almost after…)

HBD, sweetheart! ❤

One Year Ago:

• Birthday Red Velvet “Owl” Cupcakes, Johnnycake, & The One Room Schoolhouse

Two Years Ago:

• The Best Birthday Cupcakes
• The Best Carrot Cake Ever

Three Years Ago:

• Potato Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

If you like this you may also like:

• Birthday Cake Gallery (includes a 3D Pig Cake… pictured below!)

About Josette@thebrookcook

I live in Stony Brook, New York on Long Island. I love garlic and baking. My hobby (and love) is to try new recipes. My favorite recipe resources include The New York Times, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and Martha Stewart Living. Enjoy!

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