So I got busy and had to research some Palette's and Paintbrush cookies. I found something to inspire me on the Sweeapolita website.
Hoping they turned out looking okay....!!!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Art Party Cookie
A friend of mine is having a very cool party....an Art Party for her daughter and friends and she wanted some cookies. She is bringing in an artist to have an art lesson with the kids and having her other daughter paint the children's faces. Doesn't that sound like a fun party to go to if you are a young girl?
So I got busy and had to research some Palette's and Paintbrush cookies. I found something to inspire me on the Sweeapolita website.
Hoping they turned out looking okay....!!!
So I got busy and had to research some Palette's and Paintbrush cookies. I found something to inspire me on the Sweeapolita website.
Hoping they turned out looking okay....!!!
And the Oscar goes to.....
IT'S OSCAR TIME!
Inspired by one of my favorite blogs - The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. She has such great ideas here and I just had to borrow her idea. They looked so fun and easy to make. I am not all that creative and need something to copy. So I have lots of blogs that I look to guidance - people have so many great ideas and this one I just couldn't resist!
The secret to making a tuxedo top? Used a Xmas present cookie cutter!!! The Oscar Statue? A mini Halloween coffin! And the dress? A mini ghost..which I didn't actually have so I used a mini witch hat that I had!
Before putting the final touches on.....
And the Oscar goes to.....here is the finished product! The Oscar is made with a dust that you pain on over. There is no such color as gold really. I thought these were fun - and I like the "mini" cookies. Just a bite! Easy to make - I made them all before lunchtime!
Just wish I was having an Oscar party though!
Inspired by one of my favorite blogs - The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. She has such great ideas here and I just had to borrow her idea. They looked so fun and easy to make. I am not all that creative and need something to copy. So I have lots of blogs that I look to guidance - people have so many great ideas and this one I just couldn't resist!
The secret to making a tuxedo top? Used a Xmas present cookie cutter!!! The Oscar Statue? A mini Halloween coffin! And the dress? A mini ghost..which I didn't actually have so I used a mini witch hat that I had!
Before putting the final touches on.....
And the Oscar goes to.....here is the finished product! The Oscar is made with a dust that you pain on over. There is no such color as gold really. I thought these were fun - and I like the "mini" cookies. Just a bite! Easy to make - I made them all before lunchtime!
Just wish I was having an Oscar party though!Friday, February 25, 2011
Homemade Angel Food Cake and Oreo Truffles
Hello there!!!
I decided this past week when I was looking at dessert options that I wanted to make something with Angel Food Cake for company. I used a Martha Stewart recipe HERE But, I couldn't just buy the angel food cake...I wanted to make my own! The recipes looked simple enough. That's funny to me now! Because I ended up making it 2 times - with 12 egg whites in each, that's a lot of eggs! Opps! My first attempt I didn't want to have to buy a special pan to make the cake in and was thinking I needed to cut it into squares in the first place so let's just use a rectangular glass pan I have. That plan was fine I guess. What really went wrong was making it - I never got the stiff peaks I was supposed to get according to the recipe and the UTube I watched on angel food cake. I even put it in the mix master and mixed for about 20 minutes when it should have taken two!!! I finally gave up and cooked it. Really not bad, but not what I was going for as you can see with the picture below.
Attempt number 2....not sure the difference, but I was able to whip the ingredients just like supposed to. This time not almost killing my mix master and getting the peaks like I should have the first time. I was quite proud!
And I used the correct pan - an angel food pan that I got at Michael's with my 40% off coupon. Of course you always have to have one of those handy if you are into baking. Saves you most of the time! The ironic thing is though - I was in the grocery store just before stopping at Michael's and saw the exact same thing. With my coupon, in the end I only saved $2 from the grocery store. Wondering if the extra trip was even worth the $2!!!!
This time it turned out pretty good. BUT I already know something for the next time. (I'm determined to perfect this recipe for some reason). I'm not going to follow the recipes directions when it says put in UNGREASED pan. Why do I trust that? Has that ever worked for anyone? If I had put pam and parchment paper down like my instincts wanted I wouldn't have had the crumbles getting it out like I did.
I decided to make 2 totally different desserts since I had both angel food cakes. The first angel food cake attempt that wasn't the greatest...I made a caramel sauce to go on top. This was an adventure in itself for me to make. The recipe said mix until reaches a soft-ball stage for 234 degrees....hm.. I didn't have a candy thermometer and wasn't really sure what the soft-ball stage meant. I had made a double batch of this just in case the recipe didn't make enough. So my pan I was mixing in wasn't quite big enough. It took a few times of boiling over and the smoke detector to go off for me finally to transfer the sauce to a big enough pan. It was a nice mess to clean up let me tell you that! Hard caramel sauce that had burned on the stove. Fun! The picture doesn't look that pretty below. I agree...but the taste was pretty good. Next time I wouldn't chill it though. It had been in the refrigerator like the recipe said and this made it too stiff. But the flavor of the caramel sauce was tasty! This is the Link to the recipe from Allrecipes.com - a website I use a lot. I didn't drizzle like they did and didn't put the cream cheese middle in...probably would have been much better if I did - my goal really was just to try the sauce!
The strawberry Angel Dessert was the BEST by far. This was the 2nd attempt angel food cake which came out great. This tasted really yummy. It was made with gelatin, strawberries and whipped cream. You mix those all together and then toss in the angel food cake to coat it. Light and fluffy cake just like it is supposed to taste like too! This was a winner recipe.
Last but not least. Oreo Truffle Balls. Which are to die for! I got this recipe from a good friend at work and they are always a hit. And very easy to make! I have also seen this recipe on a blog - here's the recipe from Spirals and Spatulas.
As you can see I was busy baking this weekend and having a good time doing it all!!!!
I decided this past week when I was looking at dessert options that I wanted to make something with Angel Food Cake for company. I used a Martha Stewart recipe HERE But, I couldn't just buy the angel food cake...I wanted to make my own! The recipes looked simple enough. That's funny to me now! Because I ended up making it 2 times - with 12 egg whites in each, that's a lot of eggs! Opps! My first attempt I didn't want to have to buy a special pan to make the cake in and was thinking I needed to cut it into squares in the first place so let's just use a rectangular glass pan I have. That plan was fine I guess. What really went wrong was making it - I never got the stiff peaks I was supposed to get according to the recipe and the UTube I watched on angel food cake. I even put it in the mix master and mixed for about 20 minutes when it should have taken two!!! I finally gave up and cooked it. Really not bad, but not what I was going for as you can see with the picture below.
Attempt number 2....not sure the difference, but I was able to whip the ingredients just like supposed to. This time not almost killing my mix master and getting the peaks like I should have the first time. I was quite proud!
And I used the correct pan - an angel food pan that I got at Michael's with my 40% off coupon. Of course you always have to have one of those handy if you are into baking. Saves you most of the time! The ironic thing is though - I was in the grocery store just before stopping at Michael's and saw the exact same thing. With my coupon, in the end I only saved $2 from the grocery store. Wondering if the extra trip was even worth the $2!!!!
This time it turned out pretty good. BUT I already know something for the next time. (I'm determined to perfect this recipe for some reason). I'm not going to follow the recipes directions when it says put in UNGREASED pan. Why do I trust that? Has that ever worked for anyone? If I had put pam and parchment paper down like my instincts wanted I wouldn't have had the crumbles getting it out like I did.
I decided to make 2 totally different desserts since I had both angel food cakes. The first angel food cake attempt that wasn't the greatest...I made a caramel sauce to go on top. This was an adventure in itself for me to make. The recipe said mix until reaches a soft-ball stage for 234 degrees....hm.. I didn't have a candy thermometer and wasn't really sure what the soft-ball stage meant. I had made a double batch of this just in case the recipe didn't make enough. So my pan I was mixing in wasn't quite big enough. It took a few times of boiling over and the smoke detector to go off for me finally to transfer the sauce to a big enough pan. It was a nice mess to clean up let me tell you that! Hard caramel sauce that had burned on the stove. Fun! The picture doesn't look that pretty below. I agree...but the taste was pretty good. Next time I wouldn't chill it though. It had been in the refrigerator like the recipe said and this made it too stiff. But the flavor of the caramel sauce was tasty! This is the Link to the recipe from Allrecipes.com - a website I use a lot. I didn't drizzle like they did and didn't put the cream cheese middle in...probably would have been much better if I did - my goal really was just to try the sauce!
The strawberry Angel Dessert was the BEST by far. This was the 2nd attempt angel food cake which came out great. This tasted really yummy. It was made with gelatin, strawberries and whipped cream. You mix those all together and then toss in the angel food cake to coat it. Light and fluffy cake just like it is supposed to taste like too! This was a winner recipe.
Last but not least. Oreo Truffle Balls. Which are to die for! I got this recipe from a good friend at work and they are always a hit. And very easy to make! I have also seen this recipe on a blog - here's the recipe from Spirals and Spatulas.
As you can see I was busy baking this weekend and having a good time doing it all!!!!
Jen and Trevor make cookies!
Trevor had a sick today....but was well on his road to recovery while we were home. So we got out our baking supplies and made some cookies - that turned out yummy so I thought I would share!!!
WHITE CHOCOLATE CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH COOKIES
I was inspired by a wonderful blog...Picky Palate. The recipe for the cookies is above if you click on the recipe name. The only thing I do differently when I'm baking for myself to eat is that I used I can't believe it's not butter instead....and sometimes the cookies just don't turn out well for obvious reasons...BUT these did! I had to use a bit more flour than it called for because of that but we were still okay!
And here's another recipe we tried from Picky Palate. They even looked pretty when I took pictures of them! I am so proud! Trevor had 3 of these right out of the oven and really liked them. I guess we are both peanut butter fans!
Once again I used I can't believe it's not butter. And with this recipe it was GREAT. I didn't have to alter anything. This dough was wonderful to work with - not sticky and very easy to roll into balls!!! That made me extremely happy since you never know what you are going to get when you alter a recipe.
Just one more thing to cook this weekend for company! I"m excited about that and will post it later. Hoping it turns out okay! I almost forgot to put a picture of my little helper for today! But with the super job he did, I had to come back to add this. He loves putting in the eggs and pouring in the ingredients. He even gets out his own "recipe" book - which is whatever book he can find - to refer to. And he will "lock and load" the mixer for me!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Congratulations It's a boy!
Two of my good friends are having baby boys so I wanted to make something for the occasion for them! I find baby cookies fun and easy to decorate!
Baby bottles, bigs, onesies and carriages.
I used some cool cookie cutters I got for a gift that carve out letters in them. I'm still trying to figure out how to decorate them after I write a message though. Not sure I really like what I did with these. I do have to say that getting these cutters ready to go is no easy task. You have to put the letters on individually and backwards so they cut out correctly!
Baby bottles, bigs, onesies and carriages.
I used some cool cookie cutters I got for a gift that carve out letters in them. I'm still trying to figure out how to decorate them after I write a message though. Not sure I really like what I did with these. I do have to say that getting these cutters ready to go is no easy task. You have to put the letters on individually and backwards so they cut out correctly!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Going Buggy Over You, Love Monsters and DINO-MITEs!
A baker's NIGHTMARE!!!!On Saturday night as I was getting ready for bed I looked to see out dog carrying something that looked like a cookie bag...NOOOO....I ran into our basement where we keep the deep freeze. Sure enough I had forgotten to put the cookies back in the freezer that I had made for Trevor's school class for favors on Monday. I've had to pull those things in and out a hundred times and paranoid about forgetting to put them back in. Lollipop dinosaur cookies. How many did she get??? 2. OH PANIC. It was Saturday night and still had cupcakes to make for his class on Sunday. If I didn't make more dinosaurs I couldn't give any out. And they were so cute and I'd planned for so long to do that and had signed up and all....so what did I do?? I woke up at 3 am on Sunday to start cooking. Pat didn't quite understand my panic and devastation – just thinks those cookies are easy to do I guess! So I'm up at 3AM and find we are OUT of eggs! Luckily Pat was home in bed so I dashed the 2 min to the quick trip to get eggs. Normally a 3 day process to bake, flood and ice my cookies but I did it all in one day. Rolled out 8 dinosaurs - just to be safe....while those were cooling decorated the cupcakes that I had already made and ready to go. 12 for his class but then 15 extra that I wanted to try. And not just ordinary cupcakes. Root beer flavored cupcakes...and then decorated like little Valentine monsters and "going buggy over you" - with colored icing and candies. No easy task and took quite a bit of time. But fun to do. Then did the first step for the Dinosaurs - the flooding. That was all before 6 AM. Sunday night I finished decorating the dinosaur cookies and bagging everything up. I don't' think I know if I"m coming or going. Even the bagging and boxing up takes time! But I got it done…didn't exactly flood the dinosaurs as I had the first time but don't think anyone can tell! I thought it was worth posting another picture of the Dinosaur Lollipop cookies with my story. These are from the new batch. I need to mention the inspiration for these came from one of my favorite blogs....you can find them here.
Here are my Love Monster cupcakes. They were fun to make - had never made something fun out of the star tip. I found them on Wilton's website.
I packaged these up in cute boxes I found at Micheal's and took them to friends. I have to tell you putting those little boxes together and making sure the cupcakes didn't get smashed was a trick in itself too!
For Trevor's classmates I also took Going Buggy Over You Cupcakes - also from Wilton's website you can find here. Using a few candies for the features - candy corn nose, licorice and heart ears. I thought they were fun. I was a bit disappointed in the color of pink. I forget that with the pink you only have to use a tiny bit or it comes
out electric like most of these did!
So that's it for my Valentine's baking. All are made and delivered. Delivering Valentine's is a job in itself! Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Last Valentine's cookies And a Fun use of a Heart Cookie Cutter
Always what to do with some extra cookie dough!! Here are some chocolate stars....my first time making chocolate cookies so hope they taste okay!
Someone showed me this idea...I've forgotten the website right now and have to know for next time that when publishing to a blog I need to give credit where credit deserved....made these out of a heart cookie cutter. R rated - we have lingerie - G rated we have swimsuit tops!
And here we have some R rated thongs and and panties; G rated we have some swimsuit bottoms. I thought these cookies would be perfect for a bachelor/bachelorette party.
The last of my Valentine's cookies. I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs - Cookie Crazie. These are 2 cookies put together. 2 hearts and a square cookie cutter. You can find the original idea here http://cookiecrazie.blogspot.com/2011/01/creating-unique-love-cookie.html.
Now I'm on to a few other things and putting Valentine's cookies behind me for the year. I will be making cupcakes for Trevor's school this weekend though!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Cupids and Dinosaurs
Can't have Valentine's cookies without cupids!!!
Here are some lollipop cookies I made for Trevor's classmates. With tags that say you are DINO-MITE. I thought they were pretty cute and clever. Got them from a blog I found.
More of the lollipops.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
More Valentine's Creations
A few more Valentine's creations. We've had a few snow days here where I've work a few hours at home - and the office has been closed part of the time....but that doesn't mean I've had a ton of time to do cookies! Mr. Trevor and I were hanging out. Can you tell some of those are envelopes? Wasn't happy with my flooding on some of these but don't think you can tell in the pictures. Sure hate it when those mistakes happen!
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