Saturday, December 11, 2010

Championship Cookies

Wow. We're almost in the middle of December and I've been having fun so far. A day away from the oven is like a day without life! And yes, I still have those days...but I think it's a good thing because I get to rest. I'm thinking of Christmas cookies to sell and give away so I'm testing recipes that I find in the net and in cookbooks. 

Well I bought this book from Bacolod City at Book Sale[ something like a garage sale store for books] at Php 55.00. It's called Southern Living Holidays and Celebrations compiled and edited by Julie Fisher. It's copyrighted and first printed in 1994. It's kinda old for a book but recipes never grow old, you know... :)

So yeah, I found this Championship cookie recipe meant for Father's Day but it has cinnamon on it so I guess it could qualify for a Christmas cookie. haha I don't know the rules really. I just associate cinnamon with Christmas. hihi So yeah, in place of Snickers [which are expensive here] I made use of Cloud 9, a cheaper but still good tasting version. 


Lights on. These are how they really look like. :)

 Christmas Lights on and this is how they look like. :)
Pretty. :D

They didn't come out at their best form immediately. I had to tweak the temperature a little to make them look like cookies. The Cloud 9 bits were just melting all over making the cookies look like they were bursting with awesomeness. haha Well yeah, caramel out and white stuff molten. Well, it worked after the tweaking and tastewise, yeah... champion! [for me]


2/3     cup butter flavored shortening
1 1/4   cups firmly packed brown sugar
1         large egg
1 1/2   cups all purpose flour
1 tsp   baking powder
1/2     tsp baking soda
1//4   tsp salt
1/2     cup regular oats, uncooked
1/2     teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 (2.07 ounce) chocolate coated caramel peanut-nougat bars coarsely chopped 
1 tsp    vanilla extract

Beat shortening at medium speed of an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed 5 minutes. Add egg, beating well. 

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Add to shortening mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in candy bar and vanilla. Chill dough 30 minutes. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes (cookies will be soft). Cool Slightly on cookie sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 



Monday, December 6, 2010

Giant Christmas Cookies

A friend suggested the idea of making a giant cookie because she wanted to order some. I didn't make it to her deadline though because something came up causing me to decline. My brother wanted to bring some cookies on his way back to his work place in Cebu City. And so I suggested the same idea to him. When he said yes, I started doing my thing. I was on graveyard shift last night and I'm dead tired but nothing can stop me from doing something I really want to do. 

So here goes.

Christmas Tree

Wreath

Mistletoe

Snowflakes [not thoroughly dry yet.]

Notice they're not your ordinary cookies. 
They're approximately 7 inches in diameter and tastes just as good as the small ones. :)
They're not the most gigantic ones but they are giant enough for me. :D 

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Decorated Cookies

Well well well... Christmas is in the air and it's the season for all kinds of sweets. As for me, it's starting to get a little busy already. It's getting into me and causes me lack of sleep at times, but you know when you love what you're doing, you don't mind getting tired.

Anyhoo, here are my latest creations. :D

Bridal Shower Cookies

Dress 

Shoe

Bouquet

And here's my Christmas bunch. I sold these during our church's Thanksgiving Sunday Bazaar. 

Christmas Tree

Wreath




Snowflakes! :D



Woah, I'm so excited to let my imagination run wild and decorate some more... and more!!! :D

Happy Holidays, Everyone! :D



Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Snoopy Cupcakes


It's my first time making these and I'm glad they turned out quite good :D

December's Here!

Oh yeah and it only means one thing for me : THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE! Weeeeeee!! I cannot contain my excitement. Anyhoo... We always celebrate the beginning of December with a blast because the first day of this month is my Mama's birthday! 

Last year, I was struggling trying to perfect my marshmallow frosting and presented to her a store-bought chiffon cake. I was just starting then and my techniques are so novice. 

Lookie here! hihi 
Very novice indeed. :D

Well I went up a little level higher this year and made my mom a Coffee Cake with Coffee Frosting that I found on Tastespotting yesterday. I printed the recipe from Gastronomy Blog. I hurriedly made it since I was going on duty at 12am. 

Lights off and here it is :)

This is how it looks like with the lights on. 

cake innards


My mom is a coffee fanatic and it is needless to say that she loved the cake and so did the family. I brought some to the hospital and one of my colleagues just licked the frosting 'til there's so little left. I love coffee too but don't drink much so my tolerance for coffee is not so high which I think explains why I didn't feel so sleepy last night while we were taking care of our lone NICU patient. I must admit though that I slept a little.... about 3-4 hours after eating the cake. :D

Btw, here's my mom. Pretty noh? :D

Happy Birthday, Mama
and 
Happy Holidays, Everyone! :D

Special thanks to Catherine of Gastronomy Blog for the recipe of this cake.




Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Cakes and Cookies for November

I don't know if it is true else where but I think November is a really fun month because many people are born on this fateful month. Many of my friends and family have celebrated their birthdays in the past few days which left me so full like almost everyday. I made a box mix cake for my grandma last sunday.


Add to that the baby shower cake and cookies I had to finish on the same day...

 How's this for a rush cake? :D

...And some cookies... :)
 Bib Cookie
 Onesie Cookie
 Baby Shoe Cookie
 Smiley Cookie
Feeding Bottle Cookie

Hey, I have to add this cake I finished yesterday. 

Anniversary Love Birds Cake

and matching cupcakes :D 

Ain't November Sweet? 

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Erin's Birthday Carrot Cake

It's my good good friend Erin's birthday today but we had a little celebration yesterday since she was going somewhere else today. We went to KFC and had chicken and a dose of Krusher's. [Yum!] A party[though how little] is never complete without dessert. So I baked her a Carrot Cake, taking the recipe from Lovin' from the Oven by Kim  [I know, I'm such a big fan. :)] Instead of Cream Cheese frosting though, I topped the cake with a crusting buttercream recipe I found at Cake Central so as to try it. Just for the record, it didn't crust. Maybe this is because of the type of weather we have here. Well at least it didn't melt away.

The Carrot Cake tasted really good and so did the buttercream.

That's us girls. 

This is how her cake looked like. 
I opted for an Indian inspired design.
But hey, look closely... the colors bled. :[

But she liked it anyway... :)) 
She said she didn't know if it was really the design or if it was a big blunder.

There you go. Uneven slices. Eating to our hearts' content.

I baked some flower cuppies too. That was her order. 


Happy Birthday, Erin! :D

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sour Cream Apple Bars

This month indeed is a busy month for me not just for baking stuff but also for family and work. I've been trying to and still am catching up with my messed up schedule at the hospital. Yup, you read it right. It's been a mess because of my absences last month and for this month, a new set of absences as well. You see, my Papa was confined yet again at the hospital for a week not because of stroke[Thank God!] but because of Aspiration Pneumonia. The doctor says that's because he can't swallow properly anymore as an after effect of his previous stroke episodes. Anyhoo, he is in better shape now. Still coughing but at least, recovering. 

Part of the hospitalization was also receiving some fruits from friends, family and from the meal tray. We had bananas, papaya and APPLES which by the way will be the main ingredient of my post today. I found this recipe from an awesome blog called Lovin' from the Oven which is among the first blogs I ever read when I started rediscovering my passion for baking. The photos looked yummy and so I wanted to make some so as to taste some. The apples my pop received from my best friend Glysa were the ones I made use of for this one. I also tweaked it a little as I used peanuts instead of pecans[because I don't see 'em a lot here] and a square pan instead of a 9x13[which wasn't a very good idea because the finished product turned out thick... I did it anyway because my oven is too small for a 9x13].

Here's the finished product. 
Slightly scorched crust because of the size of my oven. hihi

This is the bar I tried to cut out nicely but didn't go out perfectly.
Soft innards coming lose. 
But hey, this tastes really good you wouldn't mind the way it's cut. hihi

I had my family taste the bar slices and they said it was good. My mom even gave some to my grandma who is kind of a critic because she was once a baker. I still have to ask for her comments. As for me, it tasted really good.[Did I just say that again? :)] and I'd like to thank Kim for sharing this recipe that intrigued me enough to make me keep thinking of baking this while I was still in the hospital watching over my Papa. 

Right now, we're still busy finishing our job on...

 ...decorating the house for Christmas. 
[This is a cropped photo of our tree this year.]

Holidays, come quick! I'm so excited. :))

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween 2010

This year's Halloween by far is the most fun for me, I must say. Not only did I get to bake some goodies, but also I got the chance to don a costume for the first time. You see, I grew up spending halloween watching spooky themed cartoons and TV shows... and on the first day of November, we go to the cemetery to visit the remains of our departed loved ones. Cemetery day [All Saint's Day here] have been fun too but a costume party is way way better!!!

Since one of my neices' birthday is on the 30th of October, she wanted a halloween themed birthday party and so my cousin ordered a witch cake for her and some cookies. I didn't think I would be wearing a costume to the party because I thought it was just for kids but when my cousin said they'd be wearing costumes as well, I decided to join them and make a last-minute costume for me...

I ended up dressed as a...

COW. haha

And now for the goodies... 

Look at this Fruit Punch with floating eyeballs. :)) [love it!]

the Sugar Cookies I made. Too bad the Frankenstein and witch cookies didn't turn out perfectly. 

Now, this is the first fondant cake I sold. :))
I remember, it's been a year already since I first tried my hand on fondant. I started with a cake but found it really difficult to cover so I ended up starting to sell fondant cupcakes instead. 

Happy Halloween, Everyone!
[That's my sister. Dressed as a cat... or mouse? Idk. Haha]

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Chocolate Pudding Pie

It's not the first time I made this but it never fails to please my chocolate loving taste buds. :)

I made this for dessert this lunch time still in connection to Jonatz's presence here. hihi

Lookie!

No crushed grahams in the grocery so I manually crushed them a while ago and yielded chunky grahams. hihi

Slice me! So yum, I can't get enough. 
Lookie!

Coconut Nips Blondies

My brother Jonathan is back in Bohol again and since we see him rarely already [but of course, Jovan's presence is 'rarer'], it becomes a great excuse for me to heat up the oven and make something special for the family to enjoy. And so I was browsing over Tastespotting as I do almost every single day to look for something simple but 'yum'. I was thinking brownies but I've been using cocoa powder pretty much lately, I wanted something else. And so I stumbled through these blondies from Honey and Butter that looked ever so pretty. However, I couldn't copy the recipe straight from her blog [I don't know why.] so I hopped on to her source Brown Eyed Baker's site and looked for the recipe there. I printed it right away, shopped for ingredients and baked it after dinner. 

I didn't have chocolate so I chose to use colorful Nips[candy coated chocolate] instead. And here they are.
[I baked them last night but opted to take the photos this morning for better lighting. :) ]



up close

This batch turned out really crispy and with just the right sweetness. [for me]


This is the original recipe found at Brown Eyed Baker's Site.

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Yield: 16 two-inch-square bars
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chocolate chips or chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Combine the flour and salt; set aside.
3. Stir together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla extract until well blended.
4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until blended, then stir in the coconut and chocolate chips.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth even with a rubber spatula.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until set in the center but still soft. Do not overbake. Let the bars cool slightly before drizzling with chocolate, then cool completely before cutting into squares.




packed some goodies for my brother's friends in Cebu. :) 
[He's going back there later btw. :( ]