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Cutie Patooties

I haven’t baked in a while because I read the book “Skinny Bitch” and decided to be a vegan. For those of you out there that have read the book ahmen to you if you are following the diet! It is really frickin hard to be a vegan, its a whole new lifestyle. I jumped in feet first, and in the end it didn’t work out. This brings me back to when I was twelve years old, I tried being a vegetarian for a week. I was so excited that I finally received mail addressed to my very own name, it was a booklet from Peta about all the bad things they do to animals :( From that day on I felt it was my mission to save these animals and I was going to start by not eating any meat. Of course that failed a short while after, when I was sitting at the Thanksgiving dinner table watching all my family members gulf down oven roasted turkey drenched in gravy. I still avoid eating meat and some dairy products but the one thing I truly missed was baking :(

You Will Need:

Whitle Chocolate Chips

Sprinkles

Cupcake Liners

Cake Mix (I took the shortcut for these cupcakes I used Duncan Hane’s Devils Food Cake Mix)

Frosting  (I took the shortcut again and used Duncan Hane’s Butter-Cream Frosting)

Sprinkles

For the decoration process I melted the chips in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Mixed them around a bit then put them in the microwave for another 15 seconds. (As you all may have heard, chocolate can burn very quickly so please pay close attention when heating chocolate.)

1. I dipped the cupcakes in the white chocolate and popped them in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
2. I then filled my piping bag with frosting and frosted a few of the cupcakes.
3. The fun part: Sprinkles!

This is my cheesecake lollipop & display creation. Overall this project was very fun for me. It was a combination of both my favorite hobbies, crafting and baking. Let’s start off with the cheesecake lollis..

Ingredients:

8-inch cheesecake chilled and very firm

1 lb chocolate candy coating sprinkles, small candies or chopped nuts (to decorate)

Lollipop sticks

Preparation:

1. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with aluminum foil or parchment. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop spoonfuls of the cheesecake onto one of the baking sheets, setting the other aside for now. If necessary, wet your hands and roll the cheesecake balls between your palms to make them fairly round.

2. Insert the lollipop sticks into the cheesecake balls. If they’re too soft, freeze them for about 20 minutes until they’re firm enough to skewer effectively. Place the baking tray in the freezer to freeze the balls until they are very firm, at least 2 hours.

3. Microwave the candy coating until completely smooth and melted, stirring after every 15 seconds to prevent overheating. Add some shortening if necessary to produce a liquid coating that flows freely from a spoon. Set out your sprinkles or other desired toppings.

4. Remove the cheesecake pops from the freezer. Working quickly, dip a frozen cheesecake ball into the melted candy coating, making sure that all of the cheesecake is covered and that the chocolate forms a seal around the stick. With the coating still wet, roll it in the toppings of your choice or sprinkle them on. Place the completed cheesecake pop on the reserved baking sheet with clean parchment.

5. Repeat with remaining cheesecake pops and candy coating. If the coating starts to set, return it to the microwave in brief intervals until it is once again liquid and smooth.

6. Store Cheesecake Pops in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. (Note that the pops will retain their great flavor and texture, but moisture might condense on them and cause the colors of the coating or sprinkles to bleed. Therefore, if their appearance is very important, it is best to make these within 24 hours of when you plan to serve them.)

*Now on to the crafting portion of the project. For this project I went to a nearby craft store. Its a very nice display, although it does require a lot of time, approximately 45 minutes. I am a perfectionist, so I took my time to neatly place each bead next to the other. You can always string the beads and glue them to the styrofoam ball. If your not interested in spending so much time on this, you can consider glitter. Glitter can be messy, this is why I chose beads instead.

Things you will need :

Beads ( You don’t want tiny beads nor huge ones, medium size is the way to go)

Styrofoam ( You can use a sphere, cylinder, pyramid etc.)

Hot glue gun + glue

Instructions:

1. If using a sphere, cut off a piece from the bottom so that the sphere stands.

2. Heat up your glue gun.

3. Begin at the top of the sphere and place. Let out some glue but not too much, the glue might dry up before you get the beads on.When placing beads push them into the styrofoam with a little pressure.

Finally Finally! Yes these are the Parisian macaroons I’m always ranting to my friends about. Don’t mind the picture they came out a bit flat because I didn’t whip the egg whites long enough, my mistake. This was my first attempt but definitely not my last. They were delicious, my friends and family couldn’t stay out of the kitchen. Of course as a perfectionist I will keep trying til they’re perfect!

Ingredients

Makes about 16 filled macaroons

• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground sliced, blanched almonds
• 6 tablespoons fresh egg whites (from about 3 extra-large eggs)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. To make the macaroons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners’ sugar mixture until completely incorporated.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little. Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macaroons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 10 minutes.
3. Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macaroons is completely dry, about 8 minutes. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macaroons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macaroons from the parchment.
4. To fill the macaroons: Fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macaroons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich these with the remaining macaroons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.  

I prefer peanut butter flavoured macaroons so for my filling I made a peanut butter, raspberry and whipped cream blend. Peanut butter is very thick and has a very overpowering taste as well as the raspberry jam, this is why I blended both with whipped cream.

Baking “sugar cookies” under a 100 watt light bulb for 45 minutes was as fun as it got.

Most of my life for as long as I remember I have always loved to bake. When I was eleven years old my mother had gotten me the Easy Bake Oven. At the time baking “sugar cookies” under a 100 watt light bulb for 45 minutes was as fun as it got. Although when baking in my Easy Bake Oven I hardly ever baked my cookies,brownies and cakes for the required time. It was too exciting of an experience to have to wait for a light bulb!

So now here I am nineteen years later and I still love to bake. So what better way to share my love for baking with people who love to eat by opening up my own bakery?

Wish me lots of luck my journey from my Easy Bake Oven days to my very own bakery starts tomorrow at the Business Library.

Bake-Sale for the Soldiers !

A few months ago I hosted a bake sale at a nearby elementary school to help raise money to send care pack-ages to the soldiers over seas. I made about 75 cupcakes and sold each for a $1.00. My cupcakes alone raised $75.00, along with the other sweets others had baked we raised over $200.

All you will need:

Cupcake/cake mix, oil, water, cupcake liners, frosting (I used butter-cream), choc. chips, coconut flakes and sprinkles.

Thanks Martha!

These are some of the cupcakes I had made for a family Thanksgiving dinner. The kids go loco over these sweet treat, not only are they cute and fun but also delicious. I got the idea from the very lovely and talented Martha Stewart.

All you will need for these cupcakes:

Cupcake/Cake mix, cupcake liners, frosting, coconut flakes, regular sized marshmellows, chocolate sprinkles and swedish fish.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Just recently I was shopping at a nearby mall when I strolled into Bath&Body Works. I found myself in their candle section, now I must warn you if you love mint chocolate chip this might be a very vital piece of information for all you mint chocolate chip lovers out there just like me! They have a very delicious mint chocolate chip candle, so I bought it! I came home took a nice long shower lit the candle and put my feet up to relax. Then it happened! I realized oh no now I’m craving something minty and chocolaty! The smell of the candle is so delicious I was tempted to take a bite haha. Well so now there I was with nothing so minty or chocolaty to eat at home. So I dragged myself to the nearest supermarket..

My Mint Choc. Chip Cookie Shopping List:

- choc. chip cookie dough (Toll House or Pillsbury)

- mint flavoring (Betty Crocker Cupcake Creations Gel Flavoring)

- food coloring (green,yellow and blue)

- parchment paper

- candy canes

- baking powder (optional, but I believe the cookies bake much better with baking powder)

Things you will need at home :

- oil

- mixing utensils

- bowl

- large square baking tray

- zip-lock bag

- rolling pin

How To Make Mint Choc. Chip Cookies:

Makes about 25 cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Remove cookie dough from the packaging and place into the bowl
3. Squeeze your tube of flavoring into the bowl
4. Put about 2 table spoons of the baking powder in the bowl as well
   mix everything in the bowl until you feel that the gel has been completely blended with the cookie dough and baking powder
5. Right onto the cookie dough your gonna need to put 4 drops of green food coloring, 2 blue and 1 yellow mix up the dough until the color is even all around
6. Take your candy canes out of the wrappers and place about 6 candy canes into the zip-lock bag
7. After closing the zip-lock bag take a rolling pin and crush the candy canes into little pieces (You don’t really want to any leave big pieces) once you feel the candy canes are perfect size dump them into the cookie dough bowl and mix it up
8. Put a little bit of oil onto your hands to avoid sticking to the cookie dough
   Grab some cookie dough (size of a quarter) roll and round in your hands until you get a round ball of cookie dough
9. Place cookie dough balls about 2 inches away from each other on the parchment paper
10. Place the baking tray into the oven for about 11-14 minutes

* I like my cookies salty and sweet so I sprinkle a little bit of salt over the cookie dough balls.

- Enjoy !

Apricot Coconut Crunch, is what I call this master piece.

Caramel rice cakes, milk and/or white chocolate, toasted coconut flakes, a pinch of salt and apricot jam.

It was one of those days, I was craving sweets but I felt as if I had nothing at home. So I looked in my cupboard and found rice cakes, bleh. Then I found milk and white choc. chips and coconut flakes. Not so long after I came up with an idea why not cut the caramel rice cakes into three, drizzle milk and white choc. over them, throw some toasted coconut flakes on top and a pinch of salt? When it was all done, I was so excited to try what I had just made. Took one bite and realized it was way too sweet! I approached the refridgerator in hopes of finding something to add to my master piece. I came across the apricot jam, immediately. I know, I know, you may be thinking that’s sweet as well. Apricot jam has a tangyness to it, so i drizzled some on top of the rice cakes and BAM I was done, I was satisfied and I just made something up out of nothin’.

Simplified Ingredients:

1. Cut the caramel rice cake into three pieces.
2. Put the coconut flakes on to a non stick pan and toast over a low flame, don’t forget to mix and keep your eyes on this!
3. Then melt the choc. chips in the microwave for about 20 seconds, mix the chips around although they’ll be in original shape before you mix; they’ll melt out of it. If they are not melted put in for an extra 10 seconds but be sure not to burn them.
4. Once the Coconut Flakes turn a nice brownish color, put them in a bowl.
5. Then drizzle your three sections of the rice cake with the choc. whether it be milk, dark or white or even all.
6. Then sprinkle some of the toasted coconut flakes and a pinch of salt.
7. Lastly,  drizzle a little bit of apricot jam which gives this dessert its tangy kick!

- ENJOY!