Noah's Birthday Party

The day before Valentine's day, we had a small gathering at our house for our friend's birthday. It was a fun little excuse to take a break in the middle of the week and a fun excuse to make sweets and cocktails.

I bought about $20 worth of Girls Scouts Thin Mint cookies. That may sounds like a lot, but mint and chocolate is a combination that I can't resist. Yeah, I like some of the other cookies, but these are by far my favorite. 

To make things a little more festive, I used the cookies to make Thin Mint cupcakes. Here's how I was inspired.

Adult Thin Mint Cupcakes (Makes 24)

1-2 packages Thin Mints

1 box chocolate cake mix, I used Pillsbury Devil's food

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 container whipped cake frosting, I used Buttercream

3 oz creme de mint liquor

1 tbsp green sprinkles 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and mix cake mix with water, oil and eggs according to box instructions. Line muffin tin with paper/ foil liners. Add a Thin Mint cookie to the bottom of each liner. Evenly distribute the cake mix into the 24 liners. Bake according to box instructions.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the frosting, creme de mint and sprinkles. The alcohol will infuse the frosting with a slight mint flavor and the sprinkles will add a tint of green. Add more creme de mint for stronger flavor if desired.

Another friend came over with another great party idea: Adult Root Beer Birthday Floats. Take one part root beer float, one part birthday cake and a dash of cake flavored vodka. Makes you feel like a kid again, but with a little something special. 

Adult Root Beer Birthday Floats

Cake flavored vodka, we used UV
"Birthday cake" ice cream, we used Blue Bunny
Root Beer
Premade frosting
Sprinkles

Take a glass cup or mug and dip it into the can of frosting to coat the rim, or you could use a spoon or knife. Pour sprinkles into a small shallow dish. Dip the frosting-coated rim of glass into the sprinkles. Pour cake vodka into the sprinkle rimmed glass. I recommend an ounce since there will be ice cream. Add a scoop of Birthday Cake ice cream and fill the glass with  root beer.

Happy birthday Noah! Hope you had a sweet day.

-Akemi-chan