A Star-Spangled Celebration
Published July 4, 2020
It felt like just yesterday Mark and I were throwing his daughter, Alyssa, her Sweet 16 Surf Birthday Bash. It’s hard to believe another year had flown by and it was time to plan how to make her day special again. I wanted to incorporate some of her favorite flavors to create a Star-Spangled celebration, fitting for a birthday that lands on Independence Day weekend:
SWEET TEA SANGRIA
Sweet tea is a refreshing summer drink and one of Alyssa's favorite by the pool.
2 Cups Boiling Water
6 Tea Bags
¾ Cup Sugar
6 Cups Cold water
Pineapple
Blueberries
Raspberries
Titos Vodka (optional)
Sweet Tea Vodka (optional)
Sparkling Wine (optional)
Allow tea to steep in boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir in sugar until dissolved. Add cold water and let cool in fridge. Serve with blueberries, raspberries and pineapple pieces. For a spiked adult version, add a shot of Titos Vodka, a shot of Sweet Tea Vodka and top with Sparkling Wine per glass.
RED WHITE AND BLUE LEMONADES
Alyssa is far from picky when it comes to food and drinks, but she does favor Shirley Temples when out to dinner and fresh squeezed lemonades by the pool, so I decided to infuse the two into one. To incorporate the blue in the drink, I found a blue lemonade Kool Aid, which completed the red (Grenadine), white (Lemonade) and blue (Kool Aid) layered drink I was looking to create.
Each layer was mixed separately with ice in a blender and poured into a tall glass with red and white straws making a refreshing patriotic drink. Spike it by adding vodka to each mixture layer for an adult version.
PATRIOTIC SHOOTERS (FOR ADULTS)
This shot is all about Physics and how much sugar is in each ingredient to allow the liquids to float on top of one another. Grenadine will sit at the bottom with the highest sugar density, Crème de Cacao in the middle and Blue Curacao at the top.
Fill the bottom ¼ of a tall shooter with Grenadine. Slowly pour the Crème de Cacao over an espresso sized spoon turned upside down so the liquid drips slowly on top of Grenadine until the shooter is about ½ full. Repeat with Curacao until the shooter is about 2/3 full. If you mess up, drink the shot and start again. You’ll be a little more relaxed on your second try.
I purchased the shooter/tasting glasses pictured from PierOne years ago, but you can find them just about anywhere online.
FLAG CHEESEBOARD
Alyssa and I absolutely love cheeseboards, whether we order them out at dinner or create one at home. Often, the cheeseboard alone is our meal. I wanted to serve one as our appetizer course - something colorful and pleasing to the eye for this holiday weekend and birthday celebration with some new flavors and fun design. The flag idea came from one of my favorite cheeseboard designers, The Baker Mama. I altered the design slightly from hers to fit my tray, purchased from Crate and Barrel, but used her suggested items purchased from Trader Joe's noted below.
Blueberries
Strawberries Halved
Cherry Tomatoes
2 Red Peppers Sliced
Three Seed Beet Crackers
Savory Thin Mini Crackers
Semi Soft Fontina (Cubed and a Few Thin Slices for the Stars)
Manchego Cheese Sliced
Unexpected White Cheddar Cheese Sliced
Calabrese Salami
Dried Montmorency Cherries
Coconut Cashews
Truffle Marcona Almonds
Arrange the red, white and blue foods into an American flag design. Cut little stars from the fontina slices with a mini cookie cutter and place on top of blueberries.
THE AMERICAN BURGER BITE
Can we say ADORABLE!? These super mini sliders were far too cute to resist making. I was able to find the temperature markers from Amazon, which made these tasty bites stay together without falling over.
Like most parties, I love having food I can prepare a day in advance. The buns were baked a day ahead of serving, kept in an airtight container at room temperature. I also molded the meat for the mini burgers to prepare for cooking the next day.
Add bacon or pickles for more flavor and serve with a side of garlic aioli for dipping or add a dab on the bun. We served these alongside Alyssa’s favorite hot lobster rolls and kettle cooked chips.
Garlic Aioli:
1/2 cup Mayo
2 Garlic Cloves Crushed Through Garlic Press
Salt and Pepper
Small Squeeze of Lemon Juice
Mix ingredients well in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.
COCONUT MIRROR GLAZE CAKE
There are hundreds of mesmerizing videos of these trending mirror glaze cakes on the internet. After doing some research, I’ve realized that these cakes will look beautiful no matter what colors you choose to use. It was time to dive in and create my own with a red and white theme. Alyssa loved the look of the marbled fondant on the Father’s Day cake I made. I wanted to give her cake a similar organically beautiful look. There’s no perfecting how the colors fall on the cake, so you just have to go with the flow. The mirror glaze recipe can be found at Tasty’s and the cake recipe can be found at Food Network. The gelatin sheets for the glaze are hard to find in a store, but are available on Amazon.
4th of JULY TRIFLE
I found this recipe just a day ago and wanted to add it to our menu. Trifles are an easy way to present a beautiful dessert. I used a mini star shaped cookie cutter I had on hand to create the strawberry stars, which matched my star-spangled theme. Adding a few ten-inch sparklers made this dessert the center of attention.
PINEAPPLE CUPCAKES
One of Alyssa’s favorite fruits and one that I don’t use often enough in baking, pineapple was at the heart of these deliciously sweet cupcakes with an undertone of coconut flavor topped with a light coconut buttercream. The cupcake liners came from Michaels as did the star candy molds.
STARS & STRIPED PRETZELS
Wilton makes a variety of candy molds made for pretzels that make for a fun, easy and delicious snack. I have some spooky Halloween themed ones Alyssa absolutely loves, so I wanted to make something similar with the red, white and blue theme. There was no mold needed for these, though. Just spoon melted Wilton Candy Melts, purchased from Michaels, over the pretzels and shake off any extra. Place on parchment paper to harden and decorate as desired. I used my go-to plastic piping bags from amazon and cut the tip small to drizzle the melted red chocolate over the white. I added white edible stars on top of the blue before the chocolate hardened.
Have a wonderful 4th!
Enjoy!
Renée Meuse Lovley