Minnie Mouse Birthday

Today was my daughter Julia's 5th birthday party with her friends and ever since we went to Disneyland this last summer, she's in love with Minnie & Mickey Mouse. This cake was super simple to do and came together fast...the apples--not so much. I kind of wanted to slap the woman who teaches the little tutorial on YouTube for making it look so simple. The reality was that it was messy, cumbersome, time-consuming, frustrating, you name it. Her little video makes it look like these come together so fast and effortlessly, but that just simply is not true when trying to re-create them at home. If you are feeling masochistic, though, you can watch the video and attempt them yourself. Here's the link: The kids really loved them, though, so I guess it was worth it anyway. Basically you dip a Granny Smith apple in melted caramel, then add 2 large marshmallows for the ears (she makes it look like they just stay in place with a gentle push of the finger, but I had to stab toothpicks in to keep them from sliding off)dip all of that into melted chocolate, attach a red bow (I made them out of fondant), then let all that set up firm, then dip them halfway up in melted white chocolate, quickly put 5 or 6 white dots on (I used white M & M s) then dip in red sanding sugar. Some of the steps I photographed, but by the end, I was so frustrated I had cracked open a bottle of wine and put the camera away to begin cursing this woman :)