Party Treats: Ninjabread Men & Superhero Cupcakes

I finally made the Ninjabread Men using the recipe that was on the back of the box they came in. This was the first time I'd made Ninjabread (gingerbread) biscuits, which I find very surprising. The recipe called for molasses and shortening, both of which I didn't have.


I ended up using butter as a substitute for shortening, the only brand I know of that we have in the UK is Trex and I've only ever seen this being sold in one store. As a substitute for the molasses, something I've never seen in the UK, I used honey.

The cookies turned out well but not as I expected, they had a soft, almost stale, consistency and there was a weird background flavour. My niece said that they tasted similar to other gingerbread biscuits she'd had before. So I thought nothing of it until a few minutes later when an after taste began to develop. I asked my niece if she'd noticed the after taste, she had and didn't like it either.

I won't be using this recipe for the Ninjabread Men, instead I'll get another recipe online, one that doesn't have ingredients that I'll end up substituting.

  

In terms of the decoration, I've done them in the style of Ninja Turtles, I used green sugar paste and then decorated that with icing and a tooth pick. I didn't have any black food colouring so instead used brown and dark green to work the detail, on the day the detailing may be slightly different. If you know anything about TMNT you'll notice that one is missing, Raphael, I only had three ninjas left (sorry Raf fans).

Yesterday I worked on the Superhero Cupcakes, a trial run of the decoration. Due to lack of time, and my dislike of making cupcakes, I've decided to cheat a little and by the cupcakes from the supermarket. There's just so much to do and with all these children around I don't want to do anything that requires too much baking.

As with the Ninjabread Men, I topped the cupcake with sugar paste. The decoration isn't exactly what it will look like on the day, I was mainly testing the different methods I could use. I only had green sugar paste, so only made a Hulk one, there will also be Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Captain America.

I've now made my decision on the food that will be served (for the children at least), and assigned tasks to my sisters and niece. The cake has been ordered, bouncy castle and hall booked, and when it's closer to the date I'll tell the tripolatas that their party has been uncancelled.
I'll be glad when it's over.