Paper Straws

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I bought the sweetest pink striped paper straws the other day and I couldn’t wait any longer to play with them.

Every time I see striped straws used, they make me smile. They just make me happy.

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And even happier in these pseudo milkshake cupcakes. Milkcakes anyone? Cupshakes maybe?

Strawberry cake for the shake (I just used a mix I had on hand)
Chocolate ganache for syrup (recipe on this post ^[3])
Buttercream frosting for the whipped cream (recipe on this post ^[4])
Gumballs for the cherries
And sprinkles for the sprinkles : )

You could also just use syrup for the syrup and whipped cream for the whipped cream, but this way, they won’t melt.

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I used these clear silicone baking cups ^[6] so they would kinda represent frosted glass and also allow you to see the cake color. I found them at Crate and Barrel a while ago. They were perfect for this project.

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Place the cups on a baking sheet and fill the cups about halfway with cake batter. You don’t want them to bake too full because you want to have a little space left for the ganache.

I love ganache by the way… By the spoonful… By the bowlful. Who’s with me?

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These cups are great, because they are sturdy and hold the weight of the ganache filled right up to the rim. This way, when you add the frosting, you can still see a layer of “chocolate syrup” underneath. Makes them look prettier.

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See. Just let the ganache sit for a bit before you fill the cups and spoon a little right on the top of each cupcake. Let it set a few minutes more. It will harden a bit and make adding the frosting easier.

For the frosting, I used a Wilton 2D tip and towered it on top of the cupcake. Add sprinkles after piping each cupcake so they will stick right away.

Lastly cut a paper straw in half and insert it into the cupcake and top it all off with a big red gumball.

Perty.

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Speaking of sprinkles. I’d like to give a big hip hip hooray to Mr. Sprinkles. He’s back in full color… different label, but full of color. If you’ve followed the site for a while, you may remember when they switched to only making all natural colors. Mr. Sprinkles just didn’t look right in drab colors. But he’s back. Now if I can only get them to make the original colors. They were/are my favorite sprinkles to use for my cupcake pops. Pastel and perfectly delicate. Check out this old post ^[11] if you want to see what I’m talking about.

In the meantime, I still heart you Mr. Sprinkles. You helped make these cupcakes super cute.

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Kiss. Kiss. Cake for two.

Okay, so I didn’t just buy myself these pink straws.

I also bought a bunch of other colors, too. Yellow and green and black and red/blue striped straws.

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Want to win some?

Ok. Let’s play a guessing game for fun.

Enter for a chance to win some happy striped paper straws.

1. Leave a comment below on this post. Just take a look at the photo below and try to guess which straw is the shortest. One of them is. I have a picture to prove it that I’ll show when I announce the winner.

2. I’ll pick one winner at random ^[14]. The winner gets a bunch of straws in the color they guessed. And if the color they guessed also happens to be the shortest straw, then they’ll get a bunch of straws in all the colors. (Red/blue, green, pink, yellow, and black.) Fun. Fun.

3. Deadline to enter is Monday, January 10th at 7 pm ET. The winner will be announced sometime Monday evening on this post. SORRY, TIME’S UP. WINNER ANNOUNCED BELOW.

Good Luck.

P.S. I bought the paper straws from Bake it Pretty ^[15] if you need some of your very own. Plus, they also have polka dot straws. Too cute.

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Okay, I picked a winner.

Let’s see who it is…

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YAY, Merry!

You just won some paper straws. You’re guaranteed the pink ones. Merry, I promise they’ll make you happy.

Now, let’s see which color straw was the shortest.

Drumroll, please.

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Green was the shortest.

I’m so sorry Merry, you didn’t pick the right color but, I’m also nice… I want you to have all the colors anyway.

Come on, you guys knew I was going to do that… right?

Congratulations Merry.