Hobbit birthday

Can you tell what these are?  I'll give you a hint: they are not aliens.  They're Hobbit hole cupcakes!

Today is Paul's birthday.  Naturally, I began thinking of cake ideas in December.  Completely stumped on what cake to make AND what present to give him, I all but gave up on his birthday until he excitedly insisted I watch the trailer for "The Hobbit" coming out and the end of the year.  Thank you, Paul, for finally dropping a small inkling of a hint.  I googled (don't ya love how that's become a verb?) Hobbit holes and found inspiration is this painting.

I began with gluten free devil's food cake and filled them with a homemade coconut cream pie filling.  Each cupcake got a healthy smear of chocolate ganache. 

 I piped on some green-tinted, coconut-scented buttercream.

And dipped each one in green and yellow coconut shreds.

I thought about stopping here because these looked pretty cool on their own.  But they wouldn't have been Hobbit holes, would they?


(Although, they're not Hobbit holes as much as they're Hobbit Mounds!  Get it?  Because they are coconut and chocolate!)

I strategically placed three chocolate chips, two small for the windows, one large for the door. . .

And piped on frames and a door knob.  (Had I a smaller tip I would have added window panes.)  My hands were so shaky at first, but after a few trial runs I relaxed a bit.

Which was good because I had to pipe eighteen of these Hobbit hole cupcakes.

Then. . . I got a little nerdy and built The Shire.

Soooo nerdy. . . Don't judge me. . .

I asked Paul to clean the kitchen because Andrea was begging for some "Mommy time".  This was his version.  Nice try, Paul.  You're lucky it's your birthday.

Andrea and I finished the job.

I packed up The Shire in my amazing cupcake carrier that I got for Christmas and went to the in-laws for dinner.

I loving jabbed candles into the Hobbit homes-- there weren't one hundred and eleven, but pretty close. . .

Then I lit the shire on fire!  I've never felt more like an orc.

Happy birthday, Paul!  I love you a "hole" bunch!