If you love this Homemade Pudding Cups recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I like dessert a lot. It's my favorite part of eating, really. Sometimes I'll eat lunch only so I can get to dessert. So if I'm planning a party. you can rest assured that I will have dessert covered. Dinner may be an afterthought, but there will be dessert.

If you're planning a bridal shower, you can have dessert covered too. Just make our homemade pudding cups. This homemade pudding cups recipe is so easy, and you probably have all the ingredients for it in your kitchen right now (I did).

Homemade Pudding Cups (perfect for bridal showers)

What's great about this recipe is you can make it ahead of time, then keep it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it at the bridal shower you're hosing.

What You'll Need:

• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla
• Mini chocolate chips
• Whipped cream

What You'll Do:

Separate the eggs. Put the whites in a container to save them. You don't need them for this recipe, but you could use them for breakfast tomorrow.

Whisk the egg yolks by hand for about a minute until they start to foam up. Whisk in the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of milk.

Set aside.

Put sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and the rest of the milk in a sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat until bubbles start to form, stirring constantly. 

Remove from heat. Slowly pour 1/4 cup into the bowl with the egg yolks. Stir quickly until completely combined. Repeat four times.

Pour the contents of the bowl back into the sauce pan and cook on high until it reaches a full boil. Turn the heat down and it will basically thicken instantly. Stir it, then remove from heat.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour it into a cool plastic bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, making sure to press the plastic wrap on to the surface of the pudding.

Set it in the fridge for about three hours.

Using an ice cream scoop, place three scoopfuls into a 4oz. mason jar.

Top with a layer of mini chocolate chips.

Add a generous helping of whipped cream and drop on a few extra mini chocolate chips.

Serve immediately (before the whipped cream starts to melt).

Best toppings for homemade pudding cups:

I topped our homemade pudding cups with chocolate chips and whipped cream. But you could also top them with:

• Homemade sprinkles
• Crushed nuts
• Crushed vanilla wafer cookies
• Homemade Chocolate Shell
• Homemade chocolate sauce

How long does homemade pudding last?

Homemade pudding will last in the refrigerator for up to one week. So if you're planning a bridal shower and you have other things to do, know you can make this homemade pudding ahead of time and keep it in the fridge.

Of course, if you do that, be sure to store it in an air tight container. And don't spoon it into the mason jars until you're ready to serve.

Planning a bridal shower?These links will help:

More bridal shower desserts:

• Mint To Be Mint Chocolate Muffins
• Mini Bundt Cakes
• Italian Rainbow Cookies
• Red Velvet Pound Cake Hearts
• Yogurt-Covered Grapes Dessert

Bridal shower games:

• Bridal Shower Word Search
• Famous Couples Bridal Shower Game
• Bridal Shower Word Scramble
• What's in your purse game

Bridal shower favors:

• DIY "She Got Her Rock" Rock Candy Favor
• Bridal Shower Soap Favors
• Mint Sugar Scrub Bridal Shower Favors

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you top this homemade pudding with anything else?

Who To Thank After Your Bridal Shower

Basic Invite sponsored this Who To Thank After Your Bridal Shower post. All thoughts and opinions belong to A Bride On A Budget.

When we lived in the apartment, our mailbox was in a common area. I used to open all the mail on the walk back from the mailbox instead of waiting until I was back in the apartment.

One day, I got a baby shower invitation in the mail. I was super excited about it because I was actually planning on being in New York for the shower. See, living in North Carolina meant that I often missed out on these celebrations for my friends and family.

But I was already planning on being in New York for Christmas, and this shower was the weekend before Christmas.

So, before I was even back to the apartment, I RSVP'd and said I would be there. And that's weird for me. Very. Weird. Because, until that point, I was always the person who didn't RSVP for anything until the very last second. It's such a terrible habit, but one that had gotten engrained in me.

Imagine my surprise, then, a month or so later when I showed up at the bridal shower -- and it was actually a surprise bridal shower for me, not a baby shower for a friend!

Bridal showers are (possibly) the best part about wedding planning because none of the planning falls on your shoulders. All you have to do is show up.

After the shower, though, you need to thank people. But who? I'll let you know.

Who To Thank After Your Bridal Shower

The hostesses.
Who?
Your mom or maid-of-honor are most likely the ones who planned your shower. Your bridesmaids probably helped a lot too. But there are other women in your life who may have helped too.

Pull your mom aside at some point and ask her who threw the shower for you so you know who to thank.

How?
A card is nice. A card with a gift card to a favorite coffee shop, manicurist, or restaurant is a better gesture. Think about how much time, effort, and, of course, money went into your shower. You want to show your appreciation with a gift.

Your mom and bridesmaids didn't do it for the thank you. They did it because they love you. But a small thank you gift is always nice.

The guests who attended.
Who?
Any of the guests who attended, regardless of if they're brought a gift or not. Sometimes, their presence is their present. And it's so important to remember that.

You want to thank everyone who spent time with you that day, regardless of if their spent money to pick up something off your registry or not.

How?
Have one of your bridesmaids write down a list of what each attendee gave you. That way, when you are writing your thank you cards, you can personally thank each guest for their specific gift. It makes the thank you cards feel less generic and makes the gift feel more appreciated. For those who didn't bring a physical gift, you can still say something like, "Thank you for spending part of your day with me."

Your bridal shower hosts will probably have gotten small favors for each of the attending guests, but that doesn't substitute for your thank you.

The guests who didn't attend. 
Who?
Any of the invited guests who weren't able to attend but did send a gift. They gifts were probably sent to your mom or maid-of-honor, and those women will bring the gifts to the shower for you. Some may arrive to your home after the shower though too.

How?
A thank you card, thanking them for the gift and saying how you missed them at the shower works well.

The staff.
Who?
Any wait staff, caterer, etc.

How?
If the hosts have any extra favors, give them to the staff at the restaurant (or wherever the shower is being held). Trust me on this one. Most people don't thank the staff this way, and I make sure to do it for every shower I host (or help host). I also suggest it at every shower I attend but don't host. The staff is always very shocked and appreciative.

Since you (often) don't know you're having a bridal shower ahead of time, you probably won't have thank you cards ahead of time either. So you need to order beautiful ones that can print quickly.

Basic Invite to the rescue.

The site has amazing, customizable thank you cards (in addition to invitations and other stationery). You can choose from 180 different color options -- including foil. And the color options carries over to envelopes too. There are over 40 different color options for envelopes.

And if you remember, I'm a big pusher of envelopes matching your wedding colors and invitations. Everything should be coordinated, and everything should be an extension of your wedding theme and colors. So white envelopes are a wasted opportunity. They're also peel and seal envelopes, which means you don't have to lick them (which, if you've been around here a while, you know I hate. I really have blogged a lot about envelopes, haven't I?).

You can customize your thank you cards to match your wedding invitations as well, which is great. In fact, Basic Invite has over 800 luxury wedding invitations, plus menus, programs, wedding websites, guest books, and more.

Now, we're talking about bridal shower thank you cards in this post, which are pretty standard. But, for something like your wedding invitation, you really want to know exactly how it is going to look and feel before you purchase them.

Basic Invite allows you to order a sample of nearly everything on its site. You can customize it with your choice of font, text, colors, paper type, rounded corners, and more. You can also order samples of wedding invitation accessories, like invitation wraps. That way, you can see and feel your exact invitation before ordering.

Follow Basic Invite on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

BRIDAL BABBLE: Which of Basic Invite's thank you cards would you order for your bridal shower thank you card?

How The Bridesmaids Can Help At The Bridal Shower

When you're a bridesmaid in a wedding, your job is to help the bride. Anything she needs, you're on it. One of my fondest memories at my wedding was when my bridesmaid Gionna asked me if I liked my hair. She saw my face, knew I hated it, and also knew that I wasn't the kind of person who would ask for it to be redone. So instead, she went into the room where the stylist was, then came back momentarily to where I was and told me the stylist would fix it.

That's your role. Whatever the bride needs you to do, you do. The bride is looking out for everyone, the guests are looking out for themselves, and you're looking out for the bride.

When you're planning the bridal shower, though, you change from supporting the bride to supporting the maid-of-honor and the bride's mom. If they ask you to help make invitations or to pick up napkins, that's what you do.

But what about when you get to the bridal shower? That's when it's a little awkward because a lot of bridesmaids just don't know how they help.

I got you. Here's a quick list of how the bridesmaids can help at the bridal shower. Knowing this, you'll have an idea of how to make yourself helpful -- without constantly asking the maid-of-honor if there's anything you can do.

How The Bridesmaids Can Help At The Bridal Shower

1. Set up.
Ask the bride's mom or maid-of-honor what time you are able to get into the venue. The staff will usually allow you to arrive early in order to set up for the party.

Whatever that time is, get there.

When you're there, ask how you can help. Maybe you'll be putting out games at each seat. Or maybe you'll be setting up the centerpieces. Or the gift table.

Whatever you're needed to do, do it. It will be such a big help. So many people will see the time on the invitation and arrive then, leaving so much work for the bride's mom and maid-of-honor. They will really appreciate your help.

2. Greet the guests.
If you're a really good friend or relative of the bride, you might know everyone who is coming to the shower. You'll also know who they know.

So, what's really helpful is if you see someone walk in, greet them. Say hello, point out the closest drink, and point out where their friends are. "Oh hi Edna. Your sister Daisy is already here and sitting in the back left corner," goes a long way to make everyone comfortable.

And, if you see a carpool walk in together, you can point out a completely empty table so they can all sit together.

This will make every guest feel welcome, and it will give you something to do while the bridal shower is getting started.

If you aren't completely familiar with everyone, you can ask another bridesmaid to help you with this. Together, you should be able to figure out all the guests.


3. Explain the games.
If you're having bridal shower games, they might be sitting out on everyone's seat. (You might be the reason they are there if you helped out via Number 1 on this list.) People might be unfamiliar with the bridal bingo sheet in front of them, so that's where you swoop in.

You can sit next to Daisy (since she got there before her sister Edna) and tell her how to fill out her bingo sheet. You can then ask her to explain the game to the other women at her table when they arrive.

This is actually a really great way to engage anyone who is sitting alone. Better for them to talk to a live human being than sit on their phone scrolling Facebook.

4. Help out with the presents.
A huge part of a bridal shower is when the bride opens her gifts. Everyone sits and watches, which is why bridal bingo is so popular. It gives guests a reason to watch and pay attention.

When the bride-to-be is opening her gifts she needs help. A lot of help. If not, this task will take forever. And no amount of bridal bingo prizes will keep anyone interested.

So the bride-to-be needs five people to help her when she is opening her gifts. Yes, five. Count them. One: Someone to pick a gift off the table. Two: Someone to open the card from that gift. Three: Someone to start unwrapping the gift, then to hand it with the open card to the bride. Four: Someone to take the gift when it is opened. This needs to be the loudest helper because she needs to yell out what the gift is so everyone playing bridal bingo can mark their cards. Five: Someone to track a list of every gift. She can either use a journal or write on the back of the cards.

For @ChiStyleWed, my bow hat from my shower (& my bridesmaid who assembled it helping me) #BridalBabble pic.twitter.com/DrCmc9aRGl

— Lisa (@abrideabudget) January 15, 2014

5. Make the hat.
When the bride is opening her gifts, someone needs to collect all the bows, ribbons, and paraphernalia, and make her a hat. It's not the best part of the shower for the bride, but it's so funny.

My bridal shower was the weekend before Christmas, and people put Christmas ornaments on my bridal shower gifts ... just so they would hang off my hat. It was so funny.

I actually hang those ornaments on our tree now, and it's such a fun reminder of my bridal shower. So if you know how, be the person who volunteers to make the hat.

6. Take photos.
Honestly, I have very few photos from my bridal shower. I didn't take a single one myself. Luckily, one of my friends took a bunch of them and put them on a CD for me.

If you have nothing else to do, take photos. Take photos of everything: the presents, the cake, the guests, table shots, the bar set up, everything. You have no idea what the bride-to-be may have missed, and you want to have the photos to show her.

7. Clean up.
You're a guest at the party, so you are able to sit and eat and have a good time. But when all the other guests are leaving, stay behind.

If it's at a restaurant, the waitstaff will probably be bussing the tables and taking care of dirty glasses. If it's in a party room, though, it's most helpful to them if you pick up after the party, like the garbage.

The bride-to-be will also need to bring all her gifts into the car, and that can be a daunting task. So offer to help with that or with cleaning up.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What other ways can you think of for how the bridesmaids can help at the bridal shower?

Bridal Shower What's In Your Purse Game (plus a free printable)

I love bridal shower games. They're my favorite part of the shower, especially if you don't know anyone besides the bride-to-be. Bridal shower games really help you mingle and talk to strangers because it gives you something to make conversation about after you've already asked about the weather and how they know the bride. Speaking of games, have you played the bridal shower purse game?

Bridal Shower What's In Your Purse Game

It's actually really fun. Everyone gets a printout with a list of items that may be in your purse. For each one you have, you get a certain number of points. More common items have lower point values; less common ones are worth more. The guest with the most points wins.

If you want to play it at your shower (or one you're hosting), but you just don't have the time to make a bridal shower purse game printable, you're in luck. I made one that you can print yourself.

When you get to the bridal shower, leave one copy on each person's plate. Then, put a few pens in the center of the table so that the guests can play.

If you do play, be sure to have a few little gifts on hand to give the winners. And there's a chance that people could tie, so you want to have enough gifts in case that happens. You don't have to give out anything crazy. Maybe a small lotion, a candle, or bath bombs. You could even make our sugar scrub if you wanted to DIY your prizes.

Now, about that printable ...

All you have to do is right click and save the image above to your computer. It's formatted to fit on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, so you're able to print this at home. If it comes out blurry, I can email you the what's in your purse game PDF. Just let me know.

BRIDAL BABBLE: If you went in your purse right now, how many points would you have? (My score was 43.)

Do you want more free printable bridal shower games?

Download our free bridal shower word search printable.

Chocolate Cracker Bark (Perfect for a bridal shower make-ahead dessert)

If you love this Chocolate Cracker Bark recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I've been to bridal showers at restaurants and others at someone's home. Both are great. But, I'll be honest: If you throw a bridal shower at your house, it's a lot more work. We host themed parties all the time (New Year's, Super Bowl, etc.), and the biggest tip I can give you is make as much as you can ahead of time. Like my Chocolate Cracker Bark (known in some circles as saltine toffee bark).

My mom got this recipe from one of her former coworkers. It's a lot easier than some of the recipes for this. And easier is better when you have to cook, decorate, and create games for a bridal shower.

Some recipes for saltine toffee bark ask you to melt butter and sugar to create a caramel. I've done that before to make homemade toffee, and, while it's delicious, it's sticky and a lot of cleanup. My Chocolate Cracker Bark is a lot simpler.

Plus, you can make this saltine cracker candy recipe ahead of time. You can make it the weekend before the shower, if you have extra time and cross it off your list. That way, you have one thing less to do during bridal shower week.

Chocolate Cracker Bark

I used traditional, salted crackers for this recipe. My mom prefers to use whole wheat saltines. Either works, but, to be honest, I laugh at the thought of using whole wheat in these -- because she does it since she says they're healthier.

If I'm covering this treat in melted butter and chocolate, I'm pretty sure healthy is not the key word in the recipe.

But if whole wheat makes you feel better about a stick (or two) of butter, they're fine too.

What You'll Need:

• 36 salted saltine crackers
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What You'll Do:

I'm a big fan of simplifying everything for this recipe ... even the clean up. You're going to have a lot of cleaning to do between getting your home ready for the bridal shower and then cleaning up after the party. So simplify the cleaning you do from cooking with an silicone baking mat.

It's actually a good thing to use when you're baking cookies. It helps to transfer the heat in your pan so that you cookies bake evenly (hence the name). An additional perk is that you can just pull it out of your cookie sheet when you're done baking and you don't have to scrub the cookie sheet. You also don't have to use something disposable like foil or parchment paper, so you're saving the Earth as well.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Then, line a 16x11 cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Top it with one layer of salted saltine crackers (36 crackers should fill your entire sheet).

Melt one stick of butter. Evenly pour the butter over the crackers. (Small aside: If you want this to me more brittle, you can melt two sticks of butter. To me, though, that's a lot of butter and not really worth the taste difference.)

Bake for 15 minutes, until the crackers start to brown and the butter starts to bubble.

Top with the chocolate chips and stick it back in the oven for two minutes.

While that's in the oven, finely chop your chopped walnuts. I always chop mine smaller than they come in the package.

When the chocolate is melty, take the crackers out of the oven and spread the chocolate with a knife.

Quickly top with walnuts. My tip: Use a clean knife to push the walnuts down into the chocolate. If you don't, they will all fall off.

Cool it on a counter for about 30 minutes. Then, put it in the fridge for a couple hours (or a couple days; like I said, you can make this ahead of time).

When you're ready, pull the cookie sheet out of the fridge. You can then snap the chocolate cracker bark apart into large pieces. Put them back in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

You could probably make Club cracker toffee by using Club crackers instead of saltines. But, if I'm throwing the shower, I'm gonna use Club crackers to make our Bacon-Wrapped Crackers with brown sugar instead.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make this Chocolate Cracker Bark?

Throwing a bridal shower?

Tips For Throwing The Perfect Bridal Shower Tips

Bridal Shower Word Search

Bridal Shower Word Search Game (Free printable)

If you know me, you know I love bridal shower games. That's why I love bridal showers so much. I just want to go and play the games. So of course, I had to create a game: Bridal Shower Word Search.

Most people think of Bridal Bingo when they think of bridal shower games, mostly because it's the most popular. But it's not the only bridal shower game you can play.

I created a cute Bridal Shower Word Search. It's filled with everything that the bride needs for her big day, which is why it's a bridal shower word search rather than a wedding word search. All you need to do is print it for your guests. The game itself is made for you.

Bridal Shower Word Search

You'll want to print out one copy of the word search per guest. Then, leave it a copy on top of every plate with a pen. Your guests will be able to play while they're waiting for lunch to be served.

If you'd rather play at a specific time during the shower, just keep a stack of copies with you. Then, pass this out to the guests. To make it more fun for them, you can say whoever finds all the words first wins a prize. You can give out one or multiple prizes, whatever works for you. And these never have to be big prizes. Go with cute hand lotions, bath bombs, or homemade sugar scrub.

You'll have to get the prizes on your own, but I made the game itself for you. It's formatted to fit on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper (which is normal-sized printer paper). Just right click the image below and save it to your computer. Print out as many as you need and bring them with you to the bridal shower.

And if you need the answer key, I actually did the word search to make a key.

If you're a little more tech savvy, you can actually tile these to fit two on a page so you don't have to print as many. I wouldn't print more than two on a page, though, because it might start getting too small for your guests.

Be sure to let me know what everyone thinks!

And, if you need the bridal shower word search pdf, just email me and I'll get that emailed to you.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Did you use this bridal shower word search at your shower?

We have a few free printable bridal shower games. They're listed below:

Famous Couples Bridal Shower Game

Bridal Bingo

Bridal Shower Purse Game

Banana Nut Muffins (perfect for a bridal shower brunch)

If you love this Banana Nut Muffins recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I am the biggest fan of the discount produce rack at my local grocery store. I check it every time I go shopping. Mostly, I'm on the hunt for ripe bananas. I found a ton last time I was in the store, too many to make banana bread. So instead, I made banana nut muffins.

As I was making them, I kept thinking how perfect they would be for a bridal shower brunch. If you're planning on throwing one, you need to add these muffins to your menu.

Banana Nut Muffins

What You'll Need:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What You'll Do:

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Peel and mash your bananas until they are complete mush. I use a potato masher to make this a little easier. Melt the butter and stir it into the bananas. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla and stir until it is all completely incorporated.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugars, and half the walnuts. Stir very gently until everything is incorporated.

Fill a cupcake-lined muffin pan about 2/3 of the way full, then top each with a generous amount of leftover walnuts.

Bake for 25 minutes, then cool the muffins on a wire rack.

If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute the nuts for mini chocolate chips. If you are, double the chocolate chips to 1 cup instead of a half cup. Then, instead of splitting them between the batter and a topping, stir all the chips into the batter itself.

If you're looking for other recipes for a bridal shower, I have a few you will love:

• Bacon-Wrapped Crackers
• Mint To Be Muffins
• Mini Pudding Cups

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these banana nut muffins for a bridal shower?

Planning a bridal shower?

Check out our tips for throwing the perfect bridal shower.

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers Topped With Brown Sugar (perfect bridal shower appetizer)

If you love this Bacon-Wrapped Crackers recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

I was trying to think of an appetizer to bring to my friend's Christmas Eve/birthday. She and her family, they're bacon people. There are people who like bacon, and then there are bacon people. But no matter what, bacon is a crowd pleaser. So I created what I've been calling bacon crack: bacon-wrapped crackers topped with brown sugar.

Oh. My. Gosh.

These are my absolute most favorite appetizer I've ever made. They're so good. And they're the perfect bridal shower appetizer, especially if you're in charge of the menu. They're simple to put together, slow cook for a while, and don't need any attention so you can go on cooking the rest of the menu. And they'll please everyone (unless, of course, you have a vegan at the party).

Bacon-Wrapped Crackers Topped With Brown Sugar

This recipe is enough to make one batch of 36 crackers. You might want to make a couple batches depending on how many people you have, how much food you're planning to make, and how many you think you're gonna snack on before you serve them.

What You'll Need:

• 12 slices of bacon
• 36 rectangle-shaped crackers
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

What You'll Do:

Pre-heat the oven to 250.

Put a cooling rack on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet.

Cut the bacon into thirds.

Wrap one-third of bacon around the center of a cracker. Place the cracker, bacon-fold size down, on the cooling rack. Continue until the bacon it done.

Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the bacon.

Bake for 1.5 hours.

Now, you're going to want to eat these right away, but try and resist. These are a lot better if you let them cool completely before you serve them. Waiting gives the crackers a chance to harden up again and it gives you a chance to finish cooking for the bridal shower.

If you're looking for other recipes for your bridal shower menu, we have a few Bridal Shower Desserts:

• Mint To Be Mint Chocolate Muffins
• Italian Rainbow Cookies
• Mini Bundt Cakes
• Yogurt-Covered Grapes
• Homemade Pudding Cups

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these bacon-wrapped crackers for your bridal shower?

Are you hosting a bridal shower?
Check out our tips for throwing the perfect bridal shower.

Italian Rainbow Cookies (perfect for bridal showers)

If you love this Italian Rainbow Cookies recipe, be sure to Yum it here: Yum

Cookies are the quintessential bridal shower dessert. Yes, of course, you're going to order a cake that says, "Showers of happiness" on it because that's what you do even though, let's be honest, showers of happiness doesn't actually make much sense.

But you get a cake because you get a cake. You also should put out cookies because everyone loves cookies. You can go to a store and pick up a tray of cookies for a gazillion dollars a pound or you can make your own cookies. Personally, I say make them. I have an amazing recipe for Italian Rainbow Cookies that taste exactly like any you'd get out of a bakery up north. They are a little labor intensive, but they're so worth it.

Italian Rainbow Cookies

Keep in mind, these are a two day cookie. You do have to let them sit in the fridge overnight before you put the chocolate on them. So they're not something you can make the morning of before everyone comes over. 

They do keep really well in the freezer (we've kept them there for weeks before), so feel free to make them as early as you need to.

What You'll Need: 

• 4 eggs
• 7oz. almond paste
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• Red food coloring
• Green food coloring
• 1/4 cup red raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup apricot preserve
• 1 cup chocolate chips

What You'll Do:

Preheat your oven to 350.

Separate your eggs. In a stand mixer, beat the egg whites using the wire whip until stiff peaks form. Set the eggs aside.

Also in the stand mixer, but this time using the flat beater, combine the almond paste, butter, sugar, and egg yolks.

When they're combined, add in the flour. Do half, beat until combined, then add the second half. Combine. Fold in the egg whites.

Separate the batter into three separate bowls. Add eight drops of red food coloring to one and stir until it is combined. Add eight drops of green food coloring to the second and stir until combined. Leave the third as is.

Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.

Line three 9x13 pans with parchment paper. Spread one dough per pan, trying to make all three as even as possible.

Bake each pan, simultaneously, for about ten minutes, until the ends become golden brown.

Let them cool completely.

Take the green cake out of the pan, and put it on a large piece of foil. Sread the raspberry jam on top of the green cake. You want to make sure it as even as possible. Anything too thick can drip into your cake.

Place the yellow cake on top of the jam. Spread the apricot preserve on top, again, as evenly as possible.

Top with the red cake. Now, with this one, make sure you are putting the top against the jam. That way, the top of the cookie will be the flat bottom of the cake.

Wrap the cookie completely in foil, then put it back into a 9x13 pan. Put your heaviest cookbooks on top of the cookie and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, melt the chocolate chips. Pour the chocolate on top of the cookie and spread it evenly. 

When the chocolate is completely cooled, cut the cookies into rectangles.

These would be great to put out on a three-tier serving stand. I would suggest a homemade fudge on the top tier, these on the middle tier, and our mint to be chocolate mint muffins on the bottom tier.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make these Italian Rainbow Cookies?

Planning a bridal shower?

Check out this Tips For Throwing The Perfect Bridal Shower.

Tips For Throwing The Perfect Bridal Shower

Bridal showers are a really fun part of the wedding planning process, mostly because it's one of the few places where the bride can really let go and have fun. A bridal shower is usually organized by the mother of the bride and the maid of honor, so the bride is really just another guest at the party.

If you're the mother of a bride or the maid of honor, you really want to go out of your way to put together a really special bridal shower for your bride. I'm here to help. This post is basically the ultimate bridal shower planning post. It's all trick and tips for throwing the perfect bridal shower. Put our tips into practice and your bride will have a day to remember.

Tips For Throwing The Perfect Bridal Shower

Budget. 

Right off the bat, set a budget. And then decide who is contributing to that budget. Sometimes it's just the mother of the bride and the maid of honor. Other times, the bridesmaids are asked to pitch in. This wedding is already expensive for all those ladies, so if you're in charge of the bridal shower, be sure to set a reasonable budget for it. 

As soon as you do, tell the other women involved what is expected of them. Are you asking them to contribute money towards decorations? Keep in mind, then, that they might offer to DIY decorations then. If they do, you have to allow that as an option. You can't just take their money and do what you want with it. If you want them to contribute, that means ideas and money, not just money.

Guest list.

Ask the bride for her wedding invitation list. All the women on that list should be invited, regardless of if they RSVP'd yes or no to the wedding itself. Exceptions can be made for non-relatives who are very far out of town, but even then, I personally think you should invite them. College friends might want an excuse to come into town and visit the bride. Let them decide if they want to make the trip or not. Don't make the decision for them.

Invitations do not go out to anyone not invited to the wedding. If you're not inviting them to the wedding, but you are inviting them to the shower, it looks like the bride is fishing for gifts and that is incredibly tacky.

Invitations.

If you know the bride's colors or theme, you can order bridal shower invitations to match. In the invitation, include any information you have about where the couple is registered. Many stores will provide cards with a registry number on them for free. That way, when guests go to the store to purchase gifts, they can hand over the card and pick a gift off the registry.

You should also note if you're planning on having a wishing well or not. A wishing well gift is something small, like homemade coasters, pot holders, or kitchen cleaners.

The venue.

Figure out where you'll be having the party itself. Many people opt to have it at a restaurant because they take care of the set up, breakdown, food, etc. Others decide on having it at home. Figure out where you're going to have it, taking into consideration the number of guests you will have. 

We've had parties of 30 in our home with lots of extra room, but I think my bridal shower had over 50 women. I definitely don't have enough seats for that many people. I would open my home to host a shower for that many guests, but I would make sure to call a rental company and have them deliver extra tables and chairs for the shower.

The menu.

If you're having the shower at a restaurant, they'll be able to help with the menu. They'll let you choose appetizers, entree items, and drinks. If you're having it at home, you'll need to put this together yourself. Be sure to consider vegetarians and have meatless options available. And if your bride has a favorite meal, see if you can include that.

Also, be sure to pick up dessert. A cake with the words "Showers of happiness" usually does the trick. I actually have a few dessert ideas for you too:

• Mini bundt cakes
• Yogurt-covered grapes
• Homemade pudding cups
• Mint to be mint chocolate muffins

Games.

The best part of bridal showers are the games. They really give the guests something to do besides sit, eat, and make small talk with strangers. I actually have a ton of free bridal shower games you can print:

• Bridal Bingo
• Bridal Shower Word Scramble
• Famous Couples Bridal Shower Game
• Bridal Shower Purse Game
• Bridal Shower Word Search

Favors.

You want to have favors as prizes for the games and another set for every guest. I actually have a bunch of posts for DIY bridal shower favors as well:

• DIY "She Got Her Rock" Rock Candy Favor
• Mint Sugar Scrub Favors
• DIY Soap Favors

BRIDAL BABBLE: What are your tips for throwing the perfect bridal shower?