March Madness is scheduled to start in a little over a week and the craze is almost tangible. There are 67 games that make up the tournament and that’s, if you’re an extreme fanatic, 67 opportunities for cook outs and fun get-togethers! I would definitely recommend taking turns with friends when it comes to hosting duties because party expenses can get out of control quick!
Pictured: Basketball Themed Party Supplies, University of Louisville Beverage Napkins, and Basketball themed koozies.
Although it may be aesthetically pleasing to have all matching Basketball Themed Party Supplies, you can definitely host a stellar party using a few basketball themed party decorations or partyware as accents and the majority in solid colored party supplies. If this is the case, I would make up by setting out basketball themed desserts like cupcakes and cookies. You can use this reusable Basketball Serving Tray to wonderfully show-off your delicious dessert spread. Accent the room with these fun Basketball Metallic Balloons and you won’t need much else to brighten up the room!
I’m all for decorating cupcakes and cookies as cute and as simple as possible. Orange food coloring can be used to dye vanilla frosting or buttercream to be used as an all-over spread to create the ball and black food coloring can be used to make black frosting for the black line accents. To make your life easier, put in a plastic bag for clean decorating. You may also use black licorice or black cherry Twizzlers to make these accents. Easy peasy! This same concept can be applied to the cookies.
Our favorite cupcake flavor is vanilla and we like to use this recipe at our house:
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely before icing.
(Recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com)