Category: Culinary

Emma’s “Nailed It!” Birthday Party

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For Emma’s 23rd birthday, we had a “Nailed It!”-themed party based on the Netflix show. For those of you who haven’t seen it…

Nailed It! was inspired by the craze of people trying and failing to make elaborate cakes they found on the Internet. Amateur bakers with demonstrated poor baking skills attempt to re-create edible masterpieces.

To start, we assembled the necessary ingredients:

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Cake decorating ingredients + cupcakes (not pictured)
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A birthday girl / game show host
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“Summon Host” / “Phone-a-Friend” / “Freeze Time” Buttons
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The contestants

Emma selected our challenges and time limits, and we were off!

The First Challenge:

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Sushi Cupcakes

The Contenders:

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Nailed it!

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Delicious.

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Taste testing the cupcakes

The Second Challenge

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?????

The Contenders:

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Nailed it!

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There were structural integrity issues with some of the cupcakes…

Freestyle Cupcakes:

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Dim Sum

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We had a dim sum potluck, so I made steamed vegetable buns with bok choy from our garden.

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Pleating the buns was fast and easy.
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They puff up quite a bit during steaming. They stick a bit to the baking cups, but it still works pretty well.
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There’s room for a bit more filling. These would taste really good with pulled pork and/or a nice dipping sauce.
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The final potluck haul.