If you're quite skilled (if you do say so yourself) at the emoji-packed text message, think how your friends will applaud when you bring one of these dishes to a party. With these ideas, you can turn strawberries, cupcakes, pizza and more into your favorite digital characters.
Peanut Butter-Cracker Sandwich Smiley Faces
This no-bake "cookie" (perhaps you make a chocolate version at the holidays?) is the perfect canvas for quirky faces. Spread a little peanut butter onto a round cracker and then top it with another cracker to make a sandwich. Melt a bowl of yellow candy melts in the microwave, and then dip each sandwich until it is completed covered. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and allow to completely set. Once the coating hardens, and use royal icing to add your favorite emoji faces (remember to let each color set before adding more details on top of it). One they harden, grin at the cute faces smiling back at you.
Strawberry Sparkling Hearts
Who says dipped strawberries are only for Valentine’s Day? Update this date-night dessert by coating strawberries in bright pink candy melts. Melt the candy in the microwave, and then dip each strawberry at a 45-degree angle (first on the left side, then on the right) to make the coating mimic a heart shape. Cut yellow sparkles out of fondant or edible sugar sheets with a clean utility knife. Adhere them with a dollop of icing or more candy melts.
Pizza With Pepperoni "Meh" Faces
The culinary cure for a bad day? Pizza! Use a clean utility knife to cut these cheeky faces into pepperoni slices, and use them to jazz up homemade (or frozen!) pizza. A slice of provolone or mozzarella behind each emoji pepperoni makes them pop, no matter what other toppings you add.
Poop Emoji Cupcake Cones
Yeah, we went there. Something about this particular emoji makes it ironically loveable — and these goofy guys are just so cute sitting on top of a cupcake cone. Bake your favorite chocolate cake mix into wafer cones and then add a towering chocolate frosting swirl using a piping bag fitted with large round tip. Candy eyes and fondant mouths turn the swirl into the emoji's classic happy face and easily stick to the frosting.
Lemon Tart with Winky Faces
Dial up the citrus in a lemon tart (make a quick one by filling a store-bought pie shell with lemon curd and then chilling it in the fridge) by adding a few lemon slices on top. The rounds are practically begging for you to decorate them with your favorite emoji — especially faces. Pat lemon slices to remove excess moisture, and use a clean utility knife to cut the decoration out of fondant or edible sugar sheets, like we use here. Or use a piping bag to frost designs free-hand.
Emoji Birthday Cakes
Don't just shoot your friend a birthday text — literally hand her the birthday cake emoji IRL. A biscuit cutter will help you make these adorable mini cakes (cupcakes, who?). Use the cutter to cut two small cake rounds out of a sheet cake. Put a dollop of frosting between the two layers to stack them together. Frost the whole cake with a thin layer of white frosting, and allow to chill in the fridge. Then frost with a second smooth layer of frosting and top with red candies. Don’t forget the candles!
Clementine Smiley Faces
Surprise a family member by sticking a cheerier-than-usual clementine in their lunchbox. Pull out your phone and study your emoji of choice. Wash and dry the peel of the clementine and use a food coloring marker to draw. Use a stippling motion instead of drawing lines to make the marks opaque. For extra points, carve out a little of the peel with a clean utility knife to reveal the pith and give the smiles some "teeth."
