Food

Small and fanciful foods are called for when it comes to enchanted forest party food. Consider food that is served in miniature form--baby carrots, cherry or grape tomatoes, kumquats, or hors d'oeuvres, or use some ideas from the menu below.

Fiddlehead Breadsticks (see sidebar for recipe)
Mushroom caps (see below)
Mini pizzas (commercial or make your own on mini-pita rounds)
Berry baskets (see below)
Mixed nuts, seeds and dried fruit (check for allergies first)
Strawberry flavoured cream cheese on mini bagels
Pink (or green) lemonade--try garnishing with a sprinkle of chamomile and/or rose petals

Mushroom caps can be made two ways. If you think your guests have sophisticated enough taste and will eat them, serve stuffed mushroom caps. One stuffing uses finely chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, drizzle of olive oil and basalmic vinager, and is topped with shredded cheddar cheese. Another way is to serve meringue mushroom caps Use egg whites at room temperature; beat until fluffy white, slowly fold in desired amount of sugar (we find 1 tsp for each eggwhite works well). Pipe merengue into cap shapes and dust with cocoa powder. Bake at 375 degrees farenheit until slightly golden and firm to the touch.

Berry baskets are mini fruit salad cups served in your choice of "basket": shredded wheat nest, shortcake singles, mini chocolate cups, or scooped-out apple halves (slice a small wedge off the bottom to keep it from rolling, and brush with equal parts water and lemon juice to keep from browning). Alternatively, you can serve mini fruit kebabs on wooden toothpicks.

Cake

There are tons of possibilities! You can use an angel food cake shape to make a waterfall cake by cutting out a small wedge from the front, ice the sides with buttercream icing, then dribble on poured icing of different "water" colours down the water way. Embellish with "rock" candy and toy or candy clay trees, or make some ice cream cone trees.

You may choose to make a forest scene on a sheet cake by icing one third blue for water and the rest light brown. Add toy or icing trees, or make some cone trees using inverted mini ice cream cones and icing them green. Add toy or candy forest creatures, broken pretzels for twigs and fallen logs, and add chocolate rock candy here and there.

You can also make individual toadstool cupcakes by overfilling alternating cupcake cups in a muffin pan with your favourite cake batter, then ice with easy-pour white fondant icing (recipe found on the Wilton website). Once nearly set, add either red M&M-type candies or red cinnamon dots to decorate, and embellish with icing or candy-clay snails, blades of grass, caterpillars, ladybugs, etc.

Use a jelly roll style cake to make a log cake, similar to a traditional Yule Log. Embellish with candy clay insects, a bird or a fairy as desired.

Favours

In this party, the favours are collected throughout. The favours may include the chocolate-dipped strawberries, a candy apple, the egg treat, the toadstool planter and plant, a packet of seeds, the ribbon sticks, bubbles, wind chimes, homemade paper, flashing LED lights or glow in the dark bracelets. We have found it useful to designate an area for each child to keep his/her goodies while enjoying different parts of the party.

More Enchanted Forest Party Ideas: