Late post awesomeness!

Okay, this post is about 2 weeks overdue....but better late than never! I went to this amazing anime convention a few weekends ago up in Atlanta and I didn't have much to eat...I was was too busy having fun and geeking out on the manga, music, and cosplay! Well, it was AWA (Anime Weekend Atlanta) and it's been going on for 15 years! I found out about it from the wonderful B-chan of Nippon Music Champ when I was talking to her one week, and I immediately went to look at the website. I decided right then and there that I would be going, come hail or high water! One of my friends, my dad (poor guy!), and I went, and we ran into people we knew there too.

My friend and I went to the Maid Cafe on Saturday morning and stood in line for forever! I think we were standing there for about 45 minutes or so....But it was so worth it! At the cafe, we sat with some other people and we had an adorable maid! It was her first time working for the cafe, and she was so adorable while she was trying to get used to the whole setup! *fangirl squeal* We got a drink, a pastry, and played a Domo-Caption This! game with her for a while. My friend had hot chocolate and a fruit and cheese array, and I had green tea and key lime pie with raspberry sauce. They were delicious! And we were super lucky- a special chorus group cosplaying as some characters from an anime/manga series came and sang anime theme songs for us! Woot!

Here's my tasty piece of pie!

Here's my friends food:

Here's our maid! *squeals*

She was sooo nice!

Here's the maid from the table next to us:

I was so sad when the event was over...But we went back upstairs and hung out in the dealers room and went to do some other things-like hanging out with Peelander-Z, meeting PikaBelleChu, going to a lolita fashion show, a cosplay contest, and an awesome Japanese concert with Omodaka and Peelander-Z! And Yuka-chan from the 6%DokiDoki fashion label came and performed with Omodaka! The next day, we got to hang out with Peelander-Z again (they actually remembered me!) and I got to meet Omodaka and Yuka-chan. YAY! We ran around the artists alley for a while, went to the dealers room for more Pocky and HelloPanda's, made some friends, posed for pictures(I can't believe people wanted my picture...), and went back to the artists alley. When we were walking around here again, I found a table that had cute food inspired stuff. But I was out of money! I managed to scrape some change together-about 27 cents- and got a banana split charm made out of clay and I traded a box of ChocoPocky and some Strawberry HelloPanda's for an uber-cute heart-shaped pastry made out of pink and red felt that I'm going to turn into a hair accessory. Yay for desperate hungry people! Hahaha. We didn't do much after that, and it was so sad when we had to go! *cries buckets in the car*

I must have an apron like this in pink!

Here's Pikachu in an adorable outfit:

We had a great weekend, and we can't wait to go next year! Haha. My friend and I are volunteering for Maid Cafe next year-I want to be a maid, and he wants to be a butler man. Hee-hee. It's less than a year away! Hopefully I'll have enough time to find the perfect maid outfit. Bye!

Here was one of the funniest pictures:

A random ninja!

It's Like I'm in Hawaii!

In my house, we have a borderline-creepy obsession with Psych, an awesome-sauce show

about a fake psychic, Shawn and his best friend/business partner, Gus (who we all know is the

real star). To try to soothe our pain over the lack of a new episode this week, I made these

cupcakes to get some pineapple goodness out of our weekend:Pineapple Macadamia Nut

Cupcakes with Momma's Spoonful Frosting!

These were thought of by my mom, who love-love-loves Hawaii and anything pineapple. I went for a more muffin-ish cupcake (I know, I know, the horror!) and they came out exactly the way I wanted them! Yay! The texture was nice and chewy, and the nuts added just the slightest crunch. These are a diabetic-friendly cupcake, as there is only 2 tablespoons in the entire recipe, but the frosting is what'll get you on the sugar overload! Anywho, here is the brand-spankin'-new recipe:

(Makes 12 regular cupcakes)

1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

2 TBS granulated sugar(optional)

1 cup pureed pineapple

1/2 cup pineapple juice

2 tsp apple-cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

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1- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit; line a 12-cup cupcakes pan with liners.

2- Mix your wet ingredients in a small bowl.

3- Mix your dry ingredients in the mixer bowl. Add the liquid to the dry in two batches, and mix thoroughly. Gently beat in the macadamia-nuts.

4- Fill your cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5- Cool your cupcakes on a rack completely while you make your frosting!

Momma's Spoonful Frosting:

(A warning - this doesn't pipe well so spread,aq so just scoop it on.)

1/3 cup margarine(I used Earth Balance)

2/3 cup butter-flavored Crisco

1-1/3 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tsp soy-milk (optional)

3 TBS malted milk powder (I used Carnations original)

Dash coconut extract (optional, but that's what I did this time)

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1- Cream your margarine and shortening in a mixer.

2- Beat in the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and soy-milk.

3- Add in the malted milk powder(and coconut extract, if you're using it) and beat until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

4- Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

This is the frosting that I use in my little fake vegan Twinkie-like cream canoes, and it is soooo good. It really sucks if you want to pipe it though....I usually just smear it on a cupcake right before I eat it, or I scoop some on top with a cookie scoop if I want it to look fancy-schmancy. Ha-ha! Okie-dokie then, I think I'm done with the blogging for today because my eyes hurt! Until next time, I hope you enjoy these!

The Lucky Atlanta LIsteners!

Okie-dokie. This post has nothing to do with baking, but oh well!

This weekend, I was listening to my favorite radio show, and I thought "I should tell people about this!". The show is called Nippon Music Champ, WRAS Atlanta 88.5's "weekly rockin' and rollin', jumpin' and jivin' Japanese music show", run by the lovely B-chan. The show has been on the air since 2002, and I've been listening to it since October of last year.

I ran across this amazing show by happenstance one Sunday while driving back from seeing a play in Atlanta, and the channel finder picked up the station during a song by the Emeralds! I've listened to the show nearly every time since then, and I think I've only missed 6 or 7 episodes, which just goes to show my obsession for Japanese music! Hahaha.

I was the lucky winner a few months ago of a detroit7 cd, along with a some cool pins and an 88.5 sticker for my imaginary car. Tee-hee. I had some problems with my cd at first(gasp), but it finally works on my stereo! Yay!

I've talked with B-chan a few times, and she is always funny and nice to me. I love that she remembers people that call her a lot, and she's so sweet! =^.^= If you're around the Atlanta area you should definitely listen to her show if you like Japan, or are curious about music in other languages(she played a song this weekend that was in Swedish, Japanese, and English!). It is on every Sunday from 6 to 8 pm, and there are only short breaks in the music every half-hour or so. So no annoying 2 songs in 45 minutes with all commercials! Yay!

The website for the show lists all of her playlists, as well as info about the show and things of interest in the Atlanta area! There are a few shows coming up, including performances by Omodaka and Peelander-Z at AWA next month! So go on over and check out the awesome-sauce!

Some tasty Martha Stewart cupcakes!

This weekend I made some tasty mini-cupcakes using a Martha Stewart cupcake recipe that my mom found. They were called Brown-sugar Pound Cupcakes with a Brown-Butter Glaze, and they were delicious! I tweaked the glaze recipe a little, and while my results were completely different, it was very good.

Instead of browning the butter, I just melted it over low heat and then proceeded with the recipe directions. I added a dash of vanilla extract and a good squeeze of maple syrup, and it tasted wonderful. These cupcakes were so good, my mom and sister couldn't stop eating the batter right out of the mixing bowl! Hahaha. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, and it is a very easy recipe to make.

My July IronCupcake:Earth Entry!

Okay, this month when I saw that the IronCupcake:Earth challenge for July was herb, I just had to enter.  I've had this idea for curry cupcakes on the brain for a while now, and I was excited to have an excuse to make them.  I also had basil on the brain, so I decided to make basil cornbread cupcakes since my sister had made some cornbread that I couldn't get out of my head.  And so, my cupcakes were born!  Voila!

Here are the first ones that I thought of: coconut curry cupcakes with lemongrass paste, topped with a curry cream cheese frosting.  Since I love curry, I wanted to try making it in cupcake form.  This is a much, much milder version of curry, and my mom(someone who hates curry) actually liked them!  Here's the recipes:

Cupcakes:

1 cup coconut milk

2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp. curry powder

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 TBS lemongrass paste

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 12 cup muffin

 pan with liners.

2) Mix the dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer.

3) Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl; add slowly in batches to the dry mixture.  Mix until the batter is a soft brownish-orange color and sticks to itself.

4) Add the lemongrass paste and mix thoroughly. 

5) Using a regular cookie scoop, put two scoops in each liner.

6) Bake cupcakes for 18 minutes; cupcakes should be the color of cinnamon.  Remove pan from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

7) Remove cupcakes from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.  Once the cupcakes are cool to the touch, make the frosting.

Frosting:

1 8 oz. block of full-fat cream cheese

2 TBS tomato paste

4 tsp. curry powder

1 TBS coconut milk

1 TBS lemongrass paste

1 tsp. salt

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1) Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat in the tomato paste.

2) Add the curry powder, coconut milk, lemongrass paste, and salt.  Mix very well.

3) Frost your cupcakes!

These cupcakes are good, even without frosting, and they go well with salad.

Next, I made my basil cornbread cupcakes, and those were my favorite.  I filled them with sauteed mushrooms, and then frosted them with a cream cheese frosting that had pizza-reminiscent spices added to it.  Man, they were good!  All right, here are the recipes:

8 large white button mushrooms, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 TBS salted butter

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. chopped basil

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Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook until the butter is bubbling and the garlic is sizzling.   Add the mushrooms and spices, and stir to distribute them evenly.  Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low.  Cook until the mushrooms are nice and dark.  You will have a lot less than you started with!  Stir, cover, and turn off heat.  Set the pan aide while you make your cupcake batter.

Cupcakes:

1-1/4 cups buttermilk(or regular milk with 1 TBS vinegar or lemon juice added)

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 egg

dash lemon juice

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1/3 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice

1 TBS baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. salt

1 TBS finely chopped basil

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1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners.  You will have enough batter to make 14 cupcakes, so put the pan on a cookie sheet and put two foil liners on there as well.

2) Mix wet ingredients in a bowl.

3) Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer; add the wet ingredients and mix well.

4) Add the basil, and mix completely, scraping down the sides and making sure that the batter is thoroughly mixed.

5) Using a regular cookie scoop, put one scoop in the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Put 1 TBS of the sauteed mushrooms in each liner, and then put one more scoop of cupcake batter on the top of each.

6) Transfer the pan to the oven, and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove pan from oven, and let cool for 5 minutes.

7) Remove all of the cupcakes to a cooling rack, and once they are cool to the touch, make the frosting.

Frosting:

1 8 oz block full-fat cream cheese

2 TBS tomato paste

1/2 tsp. red chili flakes

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

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1) Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer; beat in the tomato paste.

2) Add all of the spices, and mix thoroughly.

3) Frost the cupcakes and top with a basil leaf, if desired.  Enjoy!

These are a very good flavor combo, and I really enjoyed them.  Thanks for reading this post, and you can vote for me on the IronCupcake:Earth blog if you like my cupcakes that much.

I am competing to win the following fabulous prizes:

A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH,http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935

A delicious treat from CIRCLEMONKEYhttp://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5335273

A sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,http://www.acupcakery.com/

PLUS, a piece of artwork form the lovely CakeSpy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS,http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers,http://www.1800flowers.com . 

Also, if I won, my recipe could be featured in one of their future cookbooks!  How incredibly awesome would that be? Well, I'm off to the good old bed, so have fun and be happy in the meantime!

Twinkie-chan!

Okay everyone, this is short notice, but I was a little(okay, a lot) late to get on the bandwagon for this.  Today, as I was reading the lovely Miss Twinkie-chan's blargh, I happened across a post talking about a craft fair that she was doing.  I looked for an older post that had more info, and I found this one: http://www.twinkiechan.com/blog/2009/07/02/renegade-craft-fair-infos/#comment-1026 .  She will be manning a booth at the Renegade Craft Fair, which is this weekend, the 18-19, in San Fransisco, that is being held at the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavillion.  

                                                                

This craft fair look so darn cool!  Maybe someday I'll enter as a cupcake booth..haha! Twinkie-chan and her friend Manda-chan will be perating booth 92, which she say's is "nearish to the frontish", so I hope that you can find her.  She also says to bring lots of cash, because when she went last year, she ran out.  Will someone please go and bring me back one of her super kawaii cupcake pins and/or scarves?  Pretty please?!  

And if Miss Twinkie-chan looks familiar to you, you may have seen her on the internet in an ad for Shanalogic.com, or you may be super cool and have found her in the Shojo Beat magazine.  Yay manga!

This is one big fan!

Okay.  I love Ellen.  I love cupcakes.  Miss Lyndsey from Kitchen Dough Dough likes them even more!  She made this amazing Ellen logo out of mini cupcakes, and she said it took about 250 of them!  WOW!  In her quest to get on Ellen's show, she is now doing this huge giveaway with all kinds of amazing cute cupcake stuff.  

   

 She is giving away the following adorable items:  A super cute picture from CakeSpy,  a copy of the wonderful Hello, Cupcake! book, some super cute things made by her mom, the owner of Pots and Pins(that include an apron, a bag, a cupcake doily, a cupcake stand, and a tablecloth), a colorful tray with some placemats and napkins from Modern Materials, a circus party pack from Kara's Party Ideas, a cupcake onesie from Kara's Cupcakes that just makes you wanna go "Awww!", a cute handmade journal from Deanworks, and a handmade frame made by her husband Sam.

  

 Holy moly that's a lot of stuff isn't it?  Jeez, my eyes are spinning just imagining the possibility of winning.....Anyways, if you want all of the information on her giveaway and her Ellen love, click on this link: 

 http://kitchendoughdough.blogspot.com/2009/07/dreamin-doughdough-giveaway.html

  She has also entered in the IronCupcake:Earth challenge this month(curses!), so look at her post for those.  Everyone watch out!  I'll post soon about my entry for this month's IronCupcake:Earth challenge!  

Desperation!!

Okay, in our house we have no self control when it comes to tasty baked goodness.  So when we crave something, we have to have it.  This week, my mom was craving cherry pie, but we didn't have everything to make it.  Nor did my dad and I receive her text message telling us to pick some up for her when we were at the store.  So I had to remedy the situation as soon as I found out.  With the encouragement of my mom and her friend, Tori Sunshine, I whipped up a pie out of what we had.  

  I made a pie crust out of nowhere, since we didn't have everything to make my regular recipe.  I used a pinch of salt, 2-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup of Earth Balance, and some water, and whirled it up in the food processor.  I couldn't believe it, but it rolled out better than any pie crust I've ever made before(I had an incident with butter-flavored Crisco one time...).  We didn't have any of the Comstock cherry pie filling that my mom loves, with the unnaturally colored gel.  We did have a can of Oregon dark cherries in heavy syrup though, so I drained the cherries into a cup, and made a gel on the stove.  I used the leftover syrup, added about a 1/3 cup of sugar and 2-1/2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder, then cooked it until it thickened.  I folded in the cherries and set the pan aside.  I placed my bottom crust in a 9-inch glass pie plate and then added the cherry filling.  This was were I did something stupid.  There wasn't enough filling, so I added a jar of maraschino cherries that we had in the fridge.  I thought that they would be fine, and be like the cherries in the cherry pie filling. Boy, was I wrong. 

 Anyway, I topped it with the crust, but I ripped it a little bit on one side as I was pulling the parchment paper off.  I added some scraps of pie crust over it in an eight-pointed star shape and some leftover strusel topping that I had in the freezer.  I baked it in a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes with foil covering the edges.  I removed the foil and baked it for another 15 minutes.  I took it out of the oven, and then we descended on it like starving wolves (hehe).  It was pretty good, until my sister ran across a maraschino cherry.  It was kinda hard, and a little discolored...Ew.  But other than that horrible lapse of good judgement, it came out pretty good.  

Yummy Citrusy Goodness!

Today I made some glazed lemon cookies using this amazing recipe from Martha Stewart.  I had made these for my Opa's birthday in May, and they are one of our favorite recipes now.  The glaze on top makes them super soft and moist on the inside, and they have a delicious citrus zing to them.  

I halved the batch, scooped them out with a mini cookie scoop, and then covered them in glaze.  Then, for a fun twist, I made another half batch, but used key lime juice instead, and added green food coloring.  I did the same with the frosting, and they looked like Shrek cookies. :P  They were soooooo good!  They also looked really tasty on the plate with the lemon ones...But jeez, these are just so messy!

Remember everyone: If you don't want as big a mess as I had, you should lay down some foil or parchment paper under your cooling rack before you dip them...And maybe a touch less food coloring.

Another late post...

...From way back when, I bring you...Election Day cupcakes!!!

My sister had her friend over, so the two of them made vanilla cupcakes and then frosted them in patriotic patterns.  Here's the two of them decorating...

And here's my mom and sister's Election Night treat(my and my dad were at a Kamelot concert at the Masquerade that I won tickets for) that they had while they were watching the voting coverage.  Aren't they cute?

This is really late...

..But it would be a shame not to post it.  Better late then never, right?  This is my uber-belated Father's Day post, but I hope you enjoy it!  

All right.  For brunch, I made french omelette's and sausage, and my sister made some tasty, delicious home fries.  For my dad, I filled his omelet with mushrooms, bell pepper, and cheddar cheese.  Me and my sister had the same, and my mom had an egg pancake.

For dinner, I made a Japanese feast.  I made white rice, tempura eggplant, mushrooms, bell pepper, and zucchini.  For the rest of the family, I made sweet and sour tempura chicken with carrots, onion, bell pepper, and pineapple. 

For dessert, I made key lime cupcakes using a recipe that I found at Bon Appetit.  The recipe in from the Buttersweet Bakery in Atlanta, and the recipe is really good.  For the frosting, I made a buttercream rather than the cream cheese frosting that they gave.  Oh, in the cupcakes, I added about 4 tablespoons of key lime juice, and they still tasted pretty buttery...So I would add about 1/3 cup of key lime juice next time.  Also, you should reduce the oven heat by about 5 degrees, and cook them for about 15 minutes.  When I piped the frosting on, I added a littlr key lime lice.  Aren't they just the cutest?

Ooohhh, Canada!

Land of the maple syrup everything.  I went to Montreal for a day this weekend, and I found a lot of cool bakeries.  There was also a bakery/ice-cream parlor that sweetened everything with maple syrup.  When we were walking around the Quartiere Chinois, we found a super cool Asian bakery that had all kinds of cakes, pastries, and cookies.  The one that looked the tastiest was this one that was a pineapple pastry filled with anko (sweet bean paste).  We went to a cupcake shop/ice-cream parlor and bought a lemon cupcake for my mom, and it was soft and lemony all the way through!  We had quite lot of fun, and the ice-cream was delicious (my sister got maple sugar, and I got lychee)!  

Hope these pictures help show off how awesome Montreal is:

          (Anko pastries)

(Green Tea Odango)

(Green Tea Mousse & Fruit Cake)

(Mini Vanilla Cupcakes)

(Mini Lemon Cupcake, Chocolate Cupcake, 

Pistachio Macaroon, Strawberry Macaroon, and

Maple Cupcake)

(Lychee Ice Cream and Maple Sugar Ice Cream)

(You know we're in Canada.....)

                                 

More Brownies...

Well, my family had some friends over, so we decided to make brownie sundaes!  As usual, I used the Baker's One-Bowl Brownies recipe, but this time I made them in a different pan.  I used a 10-1/2 inch spring-form pan with parchment paper in the bottom, and I greased it with butter-flavored Crisco.  I baked it for 30 minutes, and voila!  Brownie pie!  We had different ice-creams, sprinkles, toppings, and whipped cream, too.  It  was a huge success, and a tasty one at that.  You just can't go wrong with this recipe.  And the retro-riffic cake tin is from Glitterville.  

My uncle's wedding!

My uncle got married last week, and my mom volunteered the two of us to make the desserts for the reception, as well as, the cake. I was very happy that they said yes, but then, I thought of something important...How on earth were we going to transport everything all the way to Nebraska?! Well, we decided to freeze everything before we had to go, and then pack it all in a hardside suitcase with bubble wrap for the plane ride there, and it worked out perfectly!!!


My soon-to-be aunt's dress was a short, casual white one, with a tropical pink and brown flower print, and those were their wedding colors. The next thing that we did was plan the dessert menu. They asked us if we would make sandwich cookies, small things for people to munch on, and they requested either white or yellow cake with a fruit filling. My uncle kept asking for kiwi desserts, but since we didn't have experience with any we told him 'sorry'.


This is what we ended up doing:


(Pictured above - starting at the bottom, and moving clockwise) Greek Almond Cookies, Butter Cupcakes with Wilton Buttercream Frosting, Butter Cake with Crushed Pineapple Filling and Wilton Buttercream Frosting, Bakerella's Vanilla Oreo Cookie Truffles, and Brownie Cutouts with Melted Chocolate and Raspberry Almond M&M'S. Not shown: Fancy Flours No-Fail Sugar Cookies filled with raspberry jam. YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Greek Almond Cookies are my mom's own recipe, and they are a delicious, simple cookie. On their own, they aren't sweet, but once you roll them in confectioner's sugar they are perfect! Here is her recipe:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup almonds, toasted and ground
Confectioners sugar, for rolling
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Toast almonds at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. DO NOT BURN! Remove from oven and let cool. Grind these either with a nut grinder or the smallest side of a box grater, but do NOT put these in your food processor, as it will turn it into a flour, rather then a coarse meal.
2. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla
3. Add flour and ground almonds; mix well.
4. Scoop out balls with a cookie scoop, in your size choice. Roll the balls smooth in your hands, and then place them on a light-colored cookie sheet. For mini-cookies, cook them for about 5-6 minutes. For regular size cookies, cook them for about 8-9 minutes. For large cookies, cook them for about 12-13 minutes. Take them out of the oven and set them on a cooling rack.
5. Once the cookies are cool to the touch, pour a large amount of confectioner's sugar into a small bowl. One at a time, roll the cookies in the powdered sugar until they are completely covered, and transfer them to your serving tray of choice for everyone(or just you, of course) to enjoy!

For the sandwich cookies, I halved the Fancy Flours recipe for No-Fail Sugar Cookies, and cut them out with a 1-3/4 inch biscuit cutter. I baked them for about 5 minutes, froze them afterward, and when we got to Nebraska we filled them with sugar-free raspberry jam and wrapped them in cellophane so that they could be passed out as favors. Tricia-Rennea created a fabulous wrap for the cookie packages, but we ran out of time before we left and weren't able to print them out. You can see from the picture above and if you visit the link for the wrap, that it really would have made the favors pop. We were amazed at how closely Tricia-Rennea was able to mimic the dress pattern.

For the Oreo Truffles, we used Bakerella's recipe, but substituted Golden Vanilla Oreos instead of the chocolate ones. We dipped them into white candy bark and topped them with chocolate jimmies for added cuteness.

For the brownie cutouts, I used the Baker's One-Bowl Brownie recipe, and I baked them in a small cookie sheet lined with buttered parchment paper. Once they were cool, we cut them out with a 3/4 inch biscuit cutter and froze them. When we got to Nebraska, we melted some chocolate chips, poured a small amount on each brownie, and topped them with the specialty M&M's.

For the cake and cupcakes, I used a Better Homes and Gardens recipe that I doubled to make to round cakes and just over 2 dozen cupcakes. They were both frozen after they were done, and when we got to Nebraska, we spread crushed pineapple in between the two layers and decorated both the cake and cupcakes with Wilton's Buttercream Frosting. When I made the frosting, I made 1 1/2 batches, and I added 2 tablespoons of meringue powder for stiffness. We frosted everything with a smooth layer of white frosting, and then added flower designs in hot pink frosting.

Everything came out wonderful, and everyone was 'oohing' and 'aahing' over the cute desserts. The highlight was when the bride and groom went to cut their cake - they couldn't get through it because it was still frozen. HAHAHAHA! We didn't take it out of the freezer early enough. I enjoyed myself immensely, and I look forward to doing things like this in the future.


Thanks!


Bitsy

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale

Found out about this through Post Punk Kitchen's blog...

Atlanta Vegan Bake Sale!

Who the Atlanta Vegan Bake Sale Helps:

"We chose CatSnip to be the recipient of the proceeds from the Atlanta Vegan Bake Sale because on average, about 8 out of every 10 cats that enter Metro Atlanta shelters are euthanized. Sterilization is a non-lethal method of reducing cat overpopulation and the most humane way to prevent the birth of unwanted, homeless cats. CatSnip offers very low cost spay/neuter services using a mobile feline surgical unit, so low cost spay and neuters are easy and affordable for everyone. CatSnip is a project of the Atlanta Animal Alliance, a nonprofit 501(c) 3 charity. The vehicle CatSnip uses costs $150,000 to purchase and $250,000 annually to operate. CatSnip's non-profit, low-cost spay/neuter operation is sustained by private donations."

A little about the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale:

"On June 20 through June 28 (two weekends and the weekdays in between), groups from across the world will hold vegan bake sales. Each participating group gets to choose its venue, what to sell, and how it uses the proceeds. We invite you to participate! You can hold the bake sale on any day during the period—or on more than one day if you like. Just about anyone can join in. Read on...

WHY participate?
It's a fun way to introduce people to the joy and tastiness of vegan foods.
Raise money for your cause.
Be part of an event that will publicize the many benefits of an animal-free diet.

HOW do you participate?
Plan to hold a vegan bake sale sometime between June 20 and June 28.
Let us (and the world) know by using our handy signup form (preferred) or emailing us at info@veganbakesale.org.
Hold the bake sale.
If inclined, please let us know how you did. Send a photo, or a link, whatever you'd like—celebrate and inspire.
It's that simple.
If you want to participate but cannot do so during the "official" time period, get in touch with us—we've got you covered. We're striving to be as inclusive as possible.

There are only two rules:
Goods sold must be vegan. For baking, most importantly this means no dairy or eggs.
Don't sell or distribute anything during the bake sale (books, brochures, etc.) that contributes to the intentional harming of animals.
You don't have to be a vegan group or even an animal group to participate. We're inviting school clubs, Girl Scout troops, church/temple/mosque organizations, even bunches of friends who want to join.

It's an easy and enjoyable way to raise funds, and to raise awareness about food that is delicious and satisfying but does not involve exploiting or mass-killing animals. (Note that animals are slaughtered in huge numbers, and at all ages starting at newborn, in the dairy and egg industries). In addition, many people are allergic to dairy or eggs, and holding a vegan bake sale shows that you can make super-tasty versions of cakes, pies, cookies, and other desserts without these ingredients.

The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale is sponsored by Compassion for Animals (CfA), a Washington, DC-area grassroots group that “works to reduce human-caused harm to animals, primarily through educating people on animal-friendly lifestyles and cultivating empathy and respect for the nonhumans with whom we share the earth.” Our website (under construction) is www.compassion4animals.org.

CfA is handling the national publicity, and we've already got some well-known authors, chefs, activists, and humane groups ready (or starting) to promote the event. We're gradually adding content to the web site, and soon it will have a plethora of information, along with a roster of who's participating. Also a tiny bit of useless frivolity."

Go.  Buy tasty goods.  Help the animals.  

If at first you don't succeed...

Find another pan!

Today, I wanted to make some mini-brownie cupcakes for my uncles wedding this week, and it was going smoothly, until....DISASTER STRUCK!!!!  After I had baked them in a mini-cupcake pan that I had sprayed with baking spray, they wouldn't come out!  I turned the pan over and shook it, tried to pry them out with a bamboo skewer, and then resorted to scraping them out with a small rubber spatula(those little suckers were about as hard as concrete glue).  My mom went to the store, but sadly she couldn't find any greaseproof liners for the mini pan, so my brownie bites idea was thrown overboard.  I was disappointed, as I hadn't had trouble with this recipe before(well...when I was following the directions), and I had to come up with another idea, as I still had a bowl of uncooked brownie batter on the counter.  

     

I still wanted round brownies, to match the other goodies that we're making, so I decided to copy my mom's idea from last winter, and just bake them in a flat cookie sheet.  After they were done baking and had cooled, they were punched into small circles with a 1 1\4 inch biscuit cutter and put in a freezer bag to harden up for the scary plane ride they have to take in a few days.  While I didn't get to have what I had envisioned, or as many as I had hoped for, it turned out all right in the end.  On the bright side, we then had yummy brownie scraps to eat after we cut them out!  

  I used the Baker's One-Bowl Brownies recipe, substituting one cup of chopped walnuts in place of pecans.  I used a medium-sized jelly roll pan, lined with buttered parchment paper, and cooked for 30 minutes.  The cookie sheet was too large for a single batch of brownies to fill it, so I only spread the batter in it halfway.  I would recommend using the smallest cookie sheet you have.  But really, depending on the thickness that you want your brownie cutouts, use whatever pan you want, as long as you have a liner!!!!  If you decide to use this recipe, pop on over to Mrs. Tricia's blog for pretty recipe cards that are a nice alternative to notebook paper. 

Mini Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies

This week I made mini-chocolate chip cookie sandwiches!!!  They were for an event at the library, and they were well-liked by everyone.  ;)  They came out very cute, and very tasty!

I used the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, with a few changes.  Instead of using butter, I used butter-flavored Crisco, as it yields a softer cookie.  The salt was reduced to 1/4 teaspoon, and the chocolate chips were reduced to 1 cup.  For this batch of cookies, I omitted the nuts since these were for a group of people other than family, and I didn't want to risk someone with a nut allergy eating one!!  I used mini chocolate chips because I used a mini cookie scoop.

 

When I put these on the pan to bake, I used the bottom of a glass cup to flatten them into a more sandwich-friendly thickness.  I baked them for 6 minutes, and they came out slightly crispy, so I would recommend baking them for only 4-5 minutes for a nice soft cookie.

Once these were all made, I put them in the fridge overnight.  The next morning, I made the filling, using Bakerella's Easy Buttercream Frosting recipe.  It was absolutely wonderful!!!!  It had the easily spreadable texture of the tubs of frosting that you can buy at the store.  It had a sugary, vanilla taste, and I loved it!  Thank you Bakerella!!!!  

I filled the cookies with the frosting using a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton #12 tip (a round tip), putting a big blob in the center of one cookie and topping it with another.  For added cuteness, I rolled the edges in rainbow jimmies then froze the whole batch.  They came out soft and delicious!  I would highly recommend a plate and napkin (you might lose some jimmies or frosting when you take a bite).

Here are some other nice sandwich cookie ideas:

Raspberry Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Cream by TheCookingPhotographer

Green Tea Sandwich Cookies with White Chocolate by lccavender

Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies by Sunday Nite Dinner

Dark Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies with Milk Chocolate Frosting by domolovestolookatme

And if you want to see more, go to Flickr for more!!!

My Goal.

Hello, anyone and everyone!!!

My name is Bitsy Baker, and I am the creator of BITSY...the bakery.  This blog will be advised by my mom, Lovey, creator of Loveyland and Loveywood.  My aim for this blog is to inform and assist the population at large with inspiration and helpful notes for all their baking needs.  Baking is a calming and wonderful activity for anyone of any age and background.  I hope to change the sad statistics of people who don't know how to bake into a well-informed army of able-bodied bakers.  I have been baking for years, and it is something very precious to me.  When I bake, I am so calm and happy, and I want to give others tools and ideas to enjoy and employ this useful skill.  My first baking post will be in the next few days, so I hope that you will return to read it.  See you soon!!!!!

Yours Truly,

Bitsy