This past week I got the chance to teach another cooking class at my church Rockharbor. I teach these classes once every other month as a ministry and we always have a great time. This class’s theme was “Perfect Party Foods and Desserts”. I got a lot of inspiration for this menu from fellow bloggers and decided to make Bakerella’s Cupcake Bites and The Pioneer Lady’s Fancy Flower Pots. I wanted to spice these desserts up a bit by using mostly homemade components instead of using store-bought ones…although these would be delicious either way. Everyone had a blast making these desserts and I was thrilled with their creations. I also had to try some out at home after the class so I could have some photos for my portfolio too! For the savory component of the class we made Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps, but sadly I don’t have any really good photos of those, but trust me, they were delicious! Well, to start off this long post I will begin with the photos of the Fancy Flower Pot desserts. This is the dessert I made the Chocolate Peanut-Butter and Apricot-Pistachio Ice Creams for. I also bought some quality store-bought ice cream and gelato so people would have a variety to choose from. Here are my photos to give you an idea of the process, but I would recommend going to The Pioneer Lady’s website for full instructions.

I tried out two new recipes from Warren Brown’s new book Cake Love, his Vanilla Pound Cake and his Chocolate Pound Cake. Both of these recipes are definitely blog worthy and I will be posting them shortly. To start off the process, you stick the circle cut-outs of pound cake in the bottom and then insert a straw. Then you place your choice of ice cream in and freeze.

Now for your choice of dirt…I pulverized some of Trader Joe’s Chocolate Pistachio Toffee, some oreos, and then bought some chocolate covered sunflower seeds too.

Then you find your hidden straw and insert your flower into it.

Here are some photos of the ladies with their finished flower pots.

Now onto the Cupcake Bites!  I don’t really have step-by-step photos for this one, so I would just recommend checking out Bakerella’s blog for the instructions.  I used Sweet Melissa’s Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting for these cupcake bits and boy were they delicious.  I will post this recipe, along with the pound cakes soon.  Well, here are the photos!