White Chocolate Oreo Birthday Cake

I have to label this as a "birthday cake" because if I think of a traditional "birthday cake" flavor it would taste and smell like this cake. You know the cake batter ice cream from cold stone... ya it tastes like that ...... MMMMMM

okay I have now wiped off the drool from my face and I am back...

 It is such an easy recipe that can be adapted to so many other cakes. This is definitely a cake worth pinning  and to remember because you can adapt the fillings, the cake mix, and the frosting.  It takes a regular boxed cake mix up to a whole new level.

My talented friend made the basic version of this cake for my Gender Reveal cake and I thought I died and went to heaven and I knew I wanted HAD to have the recipe. (just check out my reaction when I tasted the cake in this video)

Let's get started...

PS DON'T LET ALL THE DIRECTIONS SCARE YOU. THIS CAKE IS WORTH ALL THE WORK!!

 White Chocolate Cake:

*** This recipe will only make a 2 layer 8 inch cake so I doubled this recipe for a 3 layer cake plus 12 cupcakes. 

• Duncan Hines white cake mix
• 3.3. oz white chocolate instant pudding box mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together and bake according to the box. (sometimes it may take a little longer)

Whipped White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

 I got the recipe for the frosting from Comfortably Domestic and it is the BEST frosting EVER. For the recipe and step by step instructions with pictures Click HERE.

DECORATING THE CAKE:

1. After my cakes completely cooled I layered one 8 inch cake with frosting and added a few crumbled up oreos in a very thin layer and then added the next layer of cake. I repeated this until I had 3 layers of cake. 
2. Once this was done I dirty iced the cake (a quick coat of frosting to keep in the crumbs) and popped it into the fridge to slightly harden. 
3. While the dirty ice is setting, mash up as many oreos as you wish to use as garnish on top of the cake. 
4. Pull out the cake and finish frosting and add the oreos as a garnish. 

Airplane Party: Visiting Teaching

This year I was asked to decorate for my ward Relief Society Birthday party. This is an organization with in the Mormon church where we help teach the sisters in our ward. You can learn more by clicking here. 

Anyways our budget was really small and so I did my best to work with what I already had in my party stash or as many free items I could get my hands on. In this post I will do my best to break it all down so you can copy this party for future parties. 

This party theme would be perfect for any church activity, baby shower "welcome to this world," missionary farewell, or any kid who loves airplanes. Obviously change up a few things but the overall decor could work for any travel party.

  We set the mood for the party with the invitation done by Mimi's Dollhouse that were boarding passes to flight #2013. 

Each guest brought her boarding passes and just like a normal flight, they handed it to the flight attendant and proceeded onto the "plane." 

 (I think they are laughing because they are thinking who is this new girl in the ward snapping pictures of me lol)

Next the passengers who were waiting to board the plane took passport photos. 

I used free AAA maps and just pushed pinned them into the wall to create the back drop. I used as many maps as I could throughout  the party because if you are a AAA member you get maps for free. You cant beat free :)

Next, the passengers took their seats and we had an opening prayer and invited them to get their "in-flight" snacks which included:

Veggie cups

trail mix

orange slices

apples

bananas

chips

brownies

lemon bars

cupcakes

Printables found here

After snacks we passed around the "IN-FLIGHT BEVERAGES." We even went as far as pushing a cart around. We were trying to go with the theme as much as possible.

 Printables found here

(please remember I am pregnant ;) )

For the program we started with this funny opening:

Welcome to flight #2013.
We are prepared for takeoff. Please make sure your attitude and blessings are secure and locked in an upright position. All self-destructive devices should be turned off at this time. All negativity, hurt and discouragement should be put away. Should we lose altitude, reach up and pull down a prayer. Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith. Once your faith is activated, you can assist other passengers. There will be no baggage allowed on this flight! The captain has cleared us for takeoff. DESTINATION VISITING TEACHING!

We then showed a "In-Flight" movie on Visiting Teaching that they have on our church website. following the movie, each "flight attendant" (member of our Relief Society presidency) stood up and talked about their "destination" and what they had put in their survival bag for each guest. 

 Isn't this vintage airplane propeller flipping awesome? thanks to a facebook request, I had friends donate some decor for the event. 

Next, I created the banner by cutting up a free map and clipped it onto string using mini clothes pins you can buy at any craft store. Super easy! The back drop is a shower curtain and the table cloth is a window treatment I am not using anymore since moving to this new home.  Call me a hoarder but I save anything like this even if I am not currently using it. 

Using washi tape, I decorated the clothes pins to decorate simple paper sacks.

In the survival kit, the ladies included tips on how to spiritually take care of yourself first, better ways to report your visiting teaching, how to minister to your sisters, and a book mark with the responsibilities of visiting teaching. Lastly and my favorite, how to have better communication with your visiting teaching partner. The ring represents giving them a "ring" on the phone and your partnership together ;)

I hope this helps the next person planning a Relief Society activity or any party. 

I want to give a big thanks to Holly with Mimi's Dollhouse who provided all the printables for this party and will have them in her shop soon.