This was my daughters' Birthday Party Food, when she turned 8.
From the top:
Popcorn,
Cherry tomatoes and cheese on toothpicks
Bliss Balls
Smoked salmon and cream cheese on cucumber
Roasted Almonds with Tamari
Boysenberry and Passionfruit jelly
Fresh Coconut pieces
Stuffed Eggs
Fruit skewers
Strawberries dipped in chocolate
Drinks (not pictured) was chocolate and almond milk.
Beautiful food, that nearly ALL got eaten (only two eggs and some almonds left over!). And not super difficult or overly expensive to make! And bonus it catered for the one kid that was dairy free and the one kid that was gluten free.
here are ten different recipes and food ideas for your kids next birthday party
1. Stuffed Purple Eggs
If the purple weirds you out, keep them plain white
To make purple eggs:
Hard boil an egg.
Peel off the shell.
Soak in beetroot juice and/or ruby sauerkraut juice for anywhere between 3 minutes and 2 days (It can be up to 4 days in sauerkraut juice, because it has good bugs in it, which preserve the egg).
Time in the kitchen: under 10 minutes 😋
To stuff the egg:
Slice the egg in half, lengthways.
Scoop out the yolk and put in a small bowl.
Add a couple of tbsps of aioli and a handful of chopped fresh basil. Add salt and pepper to taste
Mix well.
Spoon into purple eggs. Top with smoked salmon.Time in the kitchen: under 10 minutes 😊
2. Strawberries Dipped in Chocolate
In a bain marie: melt dark chocolate with a wee bit of butter or cream (around 60 grams of chocolate to 2 tbsps of butter or cream).
Serve chocolate ganache in a small bowl for dipping.
Alternatively, you can dip the strawberries in chocolate yourself and place them on a tray, covered in tin foil or a silicone baking mat. Allow them to set in the fridge, so the chocolate goes hard. If you want the chocolate to be quite hard, use coconut oil instead of butter or cream.
3. Chocolate and Berry Mousse Egg free and low sugar To make the chocolate mousse: Melt 60 grams of dark chocolate and 35 grams of butter. Aquafaba: With electric egg beaters beat the brine/spring water from a tin of chickpeas with 1 tsp of vanilla essence and 1 tbsp of sugar. Beat for about 10 minutes until thick. Stir in the melted chocolate with 4 cups of aquafaba. Refrigerate to set. To make the raspberry mousse: Use a stick blender or food processor to whizz 1 cup of berries. In a bowl put 2 cups of aquafaba and the whizzed berries. Mix for 2-4 minutes with electric egg beaters. Serve. Time in the kitchen: 15 minutes.
4. Home made blue corn chips To make: Mix masa flour and water in a 1:1 ratio. Allow to set for 5 minutes or so. Should be a play dough like consistency Spread out on a greased oven tray so about 3mm thick.
I find using a greased rubber spatula, the easiest way.
Using the side of the rubber spatula, score in triangle shapes in the dough. Grill in the oven on 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crisp. Time in the kitchen: 10 minutes plus cook time 😋
these can be made a week in advance and stored in an air tight container
5. Coloured Coconut Chips! To make: Make a coloured juice by using left over water from boiling beetroot and mixing with a wee bit of honey or by boiling berries or other fruit and using the juice leftover Soak coconut chips in juice Bake in the oven on 130 degrees for an hour, until dried out. Time in the kitchen: 20 minutes prep time including boiling berries and beetroot. Last months in an air tight container.
6. Peppermint and Chocolate Bliss Balls
Take your favourite bliss ball recipe and add 60 grams of dark chocolate and 1 tsp of peppermint oil to the mix.
7. Make Kumara or Potato wedges
Simply slice into wedge shapes and bake in the oven on 180 degrees for about an hour. Sprinkle with salt and serve with aioli for dipping
8. JELLY!
No party is complete without mini jellies or jelly cake.
I have lots of variations of these jelly recipes. Here are two of them:
Mini Jellies:
To make:
In a pot put:
2 cups frozen or fresh fruit
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fruit juice (optional).
Boil
Add 3 tbsp of gelatine
Stir well
Boil for a further 5 minutes.
Pour into small silicone baking cups
Set in fridge - for about an hour
If you want a layered look, like the one pictured. Simply fill the jelly cups half way, allow to set. Then repeat the recipe for a different coloured fruit. When the first layer is set, pour the second jelly on top.
Time in the kitchen: 10 to 20 minutes
These can be made 2 days in advance
Peach Jelly Cake:
To make:
Whizz til smooth:
1 425 gram can of peaches or fresh or stewed peaches in a similar amount
In a pot mix well and bring to the boil:
The whizzed peaches
1 tin of coconut cream
When hot add: 3 tbsp of gelatine
Stir well to dissolve the gelatine and allow to bubble for 4 to 5 minutes
Pour into ringed silicon cake dish.
Add finely diced fresh peaches into the mix (I used 2 peaches, but actually reckon it would be better with more!)
Set in refrigerator.
Time in the kitchen: 10 minutes plus set time (around 2 hours)
9. Sausage Rolls
The 'pastry' is a basic scone mix wrapped around a sausage and baked. To make the scone mix: In a food processor whizz to a fine crumb: 50 grams of butter 1 cup of gf flour When mixed add: 2 tsps of baking powder ⅓ cup of milk Mix Wrap scone mix around a precooked sausage, so it's covered with dough Place on an oiled baking tray Bake in the oven on 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. When cooked, slice into pieces. Serve hot Makes 4 sausages or 16 sausage rolls Time in the kitchen: 10 to 15 minutes ☺️
10. Chicken Nuggets
To make: Mix: chicken mince Salt and pepper Lemon juice Roll into balls Cover in flour Pan fry in olive oil until cooked
Spear with toothpicks if you want.
11. Chocolate Crackles
To make:
In a pot melt: 2 tbsp coconut oil 1 tbsp of honey When bubbling add: 2 tsp of cocoa powder Stir well. Keep on the heat for 1 to 2 minutes only. Quickly stir in: 1 cup of rice puffs (or similar) ½ cup of dried coconut flakes (or similar) While mixture still warm: Spoon in mixture into small muffin paper cases. Press down firmly. Rest on bench to set Time in the kitchen: under 10 minutes ☺️ Makes 16 chocolate crackles
12. Smoked salmon and cream cheese on slices of cucumber
This recipe is pretty straight forward, simply spread cream cheese on slices of cucumber and top with smoked salmon.
Also works well with pesto, feta cheese, sliced olives and fresh herbs, anything you'd stick on a cracker really!
Time in the kitchen: Under 5 minutes
13. Fruit Skewers with Chia Jam
This doesn't require a recipe at all. Simply choose different coloured seasonal fruit, chop into bite sikzed pieces and skewer.
Chia jam is awesome as a dipping sauce!
14. Beef jerky! To make: In a bowl mix: 500 grams of very lean mince 1 tsp of cumin 1 tsp of smoked paprika 2 tsps of coriander seeds 2 tsps of crushed garlic ½tsp of salt 1 tsp of cracked pepper
Press flat, so about 1 cm thick, onto a dry roasting dish. Bake in the oven on 100 degrees for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until cooked and dry. Flip half way through cooking Cut into squares. Store in an air tight container in the fridge Keeps for around 2 weeks