I'm not quite done with gifts, are you? No? Well then, it's a good thing we're bakers!
Kitchen-made gifts are a win-win. They're a treat for the recipient, and it's easy for the gift giver (this means you!) to make up a big batch of several gifts at once. You can go with the obvious (cupcakes, cake pops or balls...but you've already thought of those, right?) OR you can read on for a kick start of inspiration.
For those who love Little Debbie, but want something a bit nicer, check out these lovely quilted cakes! I love the idea of a small, square cake. It seems like a good canvas for creativity; even better than a cupcake or a full-sized cake, somehow. For a party, you could make up a bunch of cakes like this, ice them in solid colors, and arrange them in a pattern to make one big break-apart picture. (Mondrian, anyone?)
This pan makes cupcakes, but they're shaped like...wait for it...slices of cake!
It's cake-shaped cake, people. I love the humor in this. Cake-slice cupcakes are a good gift if you want to give someone cake and amuse them at the same time.
If you haven't already played around with this trend, now's a perfect time. You bake little cupcakes in small Mason jars, frost them, lid them, and add a cute label: done! Check out Not Martha for a great example.
...Or, instead of jars, you could bake cupcakes in mugs or teacups. That way you'd be giving two gifts: a nice coffee mug or a pretty teacup AND a delicious cupcake made by you. I'm a sucker for theme, so here are some flavors I'd choose for this project:
I hope this gives you some fun ideas. But more than that, I hope you'll be getting into the kitchen soon to make some gifts o' cake! ‘Tis the season, you know.
