Real Parties: The Gold Rush BBQ from Festivities Magazine, Part 2, Desserts in the Desert!

On Friday I posted Part One of the Gold Rush BBQ party.  As promised, here's part two!  

All the food on the dessert table was inspired by classic Americana:  apple pie; blueberry muffins; snickerdoodle blondies; sugar cookies in cactus and cowboy boot shapes; golden nuggets (rock candy); and s'mores made with homemade graham crackers, marshmallows, and high quality chocolate.

Sugar cookies are always a hit with kids, and  these cactus and boot cookies were perfect for our desert desserts.  

I love the little bit of extra dimension the gumpaste flowers added.

The kids just loved them, period!

Homemade apple pie, of course!

I'm kind of a pie snob (blame/thank my mom for making such amazing pies and setting my standards high!).  So of course, only a homemade apple pie, with apples I cut myself would do.  Canned apple pie filling is so stunningly blah, so amazingly mediocre.  Buy a pre-made crust if you must, but don't skimp on the fillings, I say!  It makes all the difference in the world.  I'll have a tutorial on making a truly homemade apple pie coming up later this week.

Homemade blueberry muffins kept with the color scheme and added a homey, rustic touch to the dessert table.

Sandy-toned snickerdoodle blondies matched our party perfectly.  Plus they're amazingly easy to make, and outrageously, dangerously delicious.

Golden nuggets (made from rock candy) were served in a battered old pie tin, as though the nuggets had just been panned from a nearby stream.  To learn how to make your own golden nuggets, check out the tutorial on page 13 of Festivities Magazine, Issue One.

The star of the evening, though, had to be the s'mores.  Homemade marshmallows, homemade graham crackers, and high quality chocolate--regular s'mores are great, but these were over-the-top amazing.  And rich.  I couldn't eat an entire one.  (Of course I had just eaten a generous slice of pie ;-) ).

Tomorrow, Part 3!  The fun and games.