Alright, so I decided to throw an Alice in Wonderland themed party. It’s one of those themes, isn’t it? Just sparks a bit of madness, in a good way. The biggest thing for me, as always, was the food. It’s gotta be fun, it’s gotta be on theme, and it’s gotta be doable without losing my mind. So, I got stuck in.
Kicking Off with the Obvious: ‘Eat Me’ & ‘Drink Me’
You can’t have an Alice party without ‘Eat Me’ cakes and ‘Drink Me’ potions. That’s just rule number one. For the ‘Eat Me’ bits, I decided against full-on fancy cakes. Too much pressure. I went for cookies. I whipped up a simple sugar cookie dough – nothing fancy, just butter, sugar, flour, the usual suspects. Rolled it out, not too thin, mind you. Then I got these little alphabet cookie cutters and stamped ‘EAT ME’ onto some of ’em. For others, I just used a round cutter and figured I’d ice them later. Baked ’em till they were just golden.
While those cooled, I tackled the ‘Drink Me’ potions. This was fun. I’d been collecting little glass bottles for ages – you know, the small juice ones or those tiny milk bottles. Washed them all out, which was a bit of a faff, but worth it. Then I made up a few different colored drinks. Some red cordial, some blue stuff (food coloring in lemonade, worked a treat), and some orange juice for a more ‘normal’ option. Poured them into the bottles. The final touch? Little paper tags, handwritten with ‘DRINK ME!’ and tied on with string. They looked spot on.
Getting a Bit More Creative: Character Food
Next up, the Queen of Hearts. Jam tarts were the obvious choice here. I bought ready-made shortcrust pastry. Yeah, I know, some people bake everything from scratch, but I’m all about saving time where you can. Cut out heart shapes – a big one for the base, and then used a smaller heart cutter to make a rim on some. Filled ’em with strawberry jam. Baked until the pastry was crisp. They looked very regal, especially when I dusted them with a tiny bit of powdered sugar.
For the Cheshire Cat, I wanted something simple. I thought about elaborate cakes, then I thought, nah. I got some round digestive biscuits. Spread a thin layer of pink icing on them. Then, using a tube of that ready-made black writing icing, I drew on the grin. Some looked a bit wonky, more like a confused cat, but that’s part of the charm, right? Wonderland is meant to be a bit off-kilter.
I also did some ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ sandwiches. The key here was variety and cutting them small.
- Cucumber and cream cheese
- Egg mayonnaise
- Ham and a smidge of mustard
I cut off all the crusts, naturally, and sliced them into little fingers and triangles. Piled them up on a platter. Looked very dainty.
The Little Extras and Pulling It All Together
I wanted some mushroom-y things too, for the Caterpillar. I found these cute mushroom-shaped cookie cutters I’d forgotten I had! So, more sugar cookies, but this time I iced the tops red with white spots. Super simple, but effective.
To make the ‘Eat Me’ cookies that I hadn’t stamped, I just made a basic white glace icing (icing sugar and a tiny bit of water) and wrote ‘Eat Me’ with a different colored icing pen. Or just swirled some colors. They didn’t need to be perfect.
Setting it all out was the final step. I used a mismatch of plates and cake stands I’ve collected over the years. Threw on a whimsical tablecloth. The little bottles with their tags, the heart-shaped tarts, the grinning cats – it all just came together. It wasn’t Michelin star presentation, but it was fun and very clearly ‘Alice’.
Honestly, the whole process was a bit chaotic in the kitchen, flour everywhere, icing on my nose. But seeing it all laid out, and then seeing the kids (and adults, let’s be honest) enjoying it, made it all worthwhile. The themed food really does make a party, I reckon. It’s all about those little details that make people smile.