At-Home Tailgating Party

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It is football season, and while I don't understand every call of the game, I do understand football food, which is more important anyway right? And because we only have soccer players (so far) in my family, this is my excuse to make football shaped desserts! 

I love surprising my guests with a fun themed tablescape. It turns your average football watching party potluck up a notch to a fun family party! For under $20, I was able to pick up the fake grass, spray paint, wood for the stadium cake pop holder, and dowels for the field goal.

These items were easy to put together, made a great tablescape, and can be used over and over again.  The decorations combined with some delicious nibbles from Sam's Club, homemade treats, and a hot chili bar, and ice cold Cokes made for a belly filled fun night! Speaking of Sam's Club, have you ever been there? Holy selection! It was my first time and I literally spent 2 hours going through every isle! Needless to say I stocked up on all of my bulk baking supplies! I also love how they have different size selections! The coke packages for example. The come in multiple quantities, but I figured the 28 Pack was perfect for sharing. What is even better is that you can do your shopping online (in your pjs) the go to the store to pick it up!

I had been asking my husband to make a cake/cookie pop holder for quite sometime. Once I got the materials together, it took him less than 30 minutes to make and paint two.

To make 1 cookie pop holder yourself, you will need:

• (6) 3-4” wide wood strips
• ⅞” Wood Dowel
• small nails
• white spray paint
• wood cutting tool ( jigsaw, handsaw )
• drill
• ruler or measuring tape
• pencil

To start, cut the wood strips 18" long. Using the ruler, mark the wood every two inches. Do this with 2 more strips. Fit your drill with a bit the same size as a standard cake pop stick. Drill holes ½ deep, in the spots marked. Next, take 2 pieces of wood and arrange them in an “L”, This will give you the basic shape of a step. Nail or glue the edges together, then add on next step. Next, stand your stand up and measure the height. Cut dowel to that height and nail in the center of the stand to give it support. Finally, Paint the stand your desired color!

We were so excited about our new cake pop stand that we decided to turn our cookies into pops! Don't they look cute? We can't wait to make some cake pops too!

When my assistant (my 8 year old daughter) and I were discussing decorations, she came up with the idea to make cheerleader cupcakes. We used tissue paper, tape, and small sticks to make the pom poms.

For the actual cupcakes, we used our favorite Coke Cupcake Recipe. The added coke enhances the chocolate flavor and creates a light, fluffy, and moist chocolate cake. We also used this recipe to make the football cake.

Print

Chocolate Coke Cupcakes

Author: Jackie

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened Special Dark cocoa powder (or regular cocoa powder)
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ cup butter , melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup Coke
• Chocolate Frosting
• 4 oz . semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 Tbs . heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon . vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon . salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. In the bowl of your mixer, combine all dry ingredients.
3. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla and mix on low until combined.
4. With a wooden spoon, stir in coffee. Batter will be runny.
5. Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a knife is inserted and comes out clean.
6. Cool completely.
7. Frosting
8. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon to avoid burning.
9. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
10. Let cool to room temperature.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, cream, the vanilla and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 1 minute.
11. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then reduce the speed to low.
12. Add the chocolate and beat until combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute more.If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 tsp. at a time, until it is creamy but still holds peaks. Makes about 2 cups.
13. Frost cupcakes, and garnish with tissue paper pom poms.

For the actual food portion of the party, we made our crowd pleasing chili. It is so easy to make in the morning and slowly cooks in the crock-pot. We served Bar Style, allowing guests to pick and choose their chili accoutrements.

All in all we think that the At-Home Tailgating party was a success.  And I have to say, it is so much more comfortable to tailgate at home rather than a parking lot!