You already know I like to get creative. Sometimes I create challenges stemming from frugality. With Brenna's thirteenth birthday, making her cake is an anticipated task, as each year. It has become tradition. Conquering past requests of various shapes, sizes and themes, this year she wanted simple. A round three-layer cake - vanilla cake on the bottom with chocolate on top, sandwiching in a layer of mint chip ice cream - enrobed with homemade whipped cream frosting. Flavorful and delicious...

Deciding to have some fun with the party favors, what about fortune cookies? I found a recipe online to doctor-up. To think, the Chinese Fortune Cookie is not even Chinese. It actually originated in the good old USA, California. I learn something new everyday...

So before I made the cake layers, I scooped out a 1/2 cup of each vanilla and chocolate cake mixes (remember, sometimes I'm a semi-homemade gal!). The batter for the fortune cookies is easy.

Quick Fortune Cookies:

1/2 cup cake mix

2 room temperature egg whites

2 tablespoons melted butter

Cut fortune cookie sayings (to save time, I downloaded some at Chinese-Fortune-Cookie.com)

With the back of your spoon, smooth a thin spoonful of batter in a 3"- 4"circle (eye-ball it) onto the cookie sheet. Only make three, or even two - you'll have to be fast to fold them while still hot out of the oven before they start to crisp up and crack. Bake for about 5 minutes or until the edges slightly brown. Out of the oven, quickly place a fortune across the middle of the circle, fold over in thirds, two sides over the fortune, and lift up gently to fold in half. To retain their shape while cooling, I placed each one in a mini muffin tin. This takes a lot of practice - I must have gone through about a dozen before they emerged looking like they should! At least I got to sample them, making sure they tasted good...  Just be patient and have fun with them!  

They were a big hit! The girls loved them, especially tucked in Chinese take-out containers I made dangled with original phone charms. 

From cake mix to fortune cookies, A little something to take home... xoxo-Sonya