Magic Cookies and Mustaches–Not what you think :)

A friend asked if I’d make cookies for her nephew who was having a magic themed birthday.  The only request was they not be babyish.  He was six not a baby!

I scoured the internet for magic themed ideas but they were either very babyish or too scary, so I incorporated a little bit of both!

I had fun with stamping, painting and stenciling!

Next up was for our babysitter and all around awesome person, Alyssa.  She asked if I’d do her dad’s 60th birthday cake and cookies.  Chevrons and mustaches.  Cute!

They sent me the invite and I tried to do them justice.

First the cookies:

Next the cake:

Creating this cake became a comedy of errors.  We had our house up for sale and hadn’t had a showing in two weeks.  So, of course, we got one the day I was decorating the cake.  I had just finished ganache-ing this chocolate cherry cake when the text message came in giving me an hour and fifteen to get the house show ready.  So into the fridge it went.  I got the house ready, took the dogs for a walk, came back and pulled the cake back out to ice.  Then of course the door bell rang and the showing was rescheduled but they neglected to let me know.  Cake back into the fridge.  After they left I tried again and another text for another showing came in.  Cake back into the fridge.  The dogs and I are back out of the house, I picked up the girls at school and we went to get some ice cream as a treat.  Another text comes in from the showing people; they need to reschedule until tomorrow.  This was 45 minutes into the showing…are you kidding me?????  In the end I was up late finishing this cake because we now had showings for Saturday and the cake was to be picked up early afternoon.  I had originally wanted to put chevrons but didn’t like the way they looked, so I cut out some mini mustaches and added some dots. I used tappits for the letters. It turned out pretty cute but I wasn’t loving it until I got  this awesome email.

“I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing cake and cookies.  That had to be THE BEST CAKE we have ever had...and it was really beautiful!  The cookies were a big hit too.”

Thank for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday–Giant Garbage Cookies

Hi there!!!!!

I’m back, for today.  Big news, we are moving.  Nothing drastic really but we’ve decided that we want more outdoor space. So baking and blogging will be sparse for a while.  You know the drill when you are trying to sell a house.  You must live in a home you can’t actually live in.  Good times indeed.

So for some fun, I made these giant garbage cookies.  Meaning they are big cookies with tons of stuff from the pantry thrown in for fun :)  I saw a version on the Pioneer Woman’s show and I liked the concept so I made my own version.  I started with her base and then used what I had.  Her version is awesome too but we are a nut free house, not because we have to be, just because no one but me likes nuts.

Recipe: (inspired by Ree Drummond)

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 2 cups rice krispies
• 1/2 cup m&ms
• 1/2 cup large chocolate chips
• ideas you could throw in: raisins, chopped nuts, dried fruit, different flavoured baking chips (PB, white, caramel, etc), just have fun with it.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cream butter and sugars together.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.
3. Add flour, baking powder, soda and salt until just combined.
4. Add the rest.
5. Using a 1/4 cup ice-cream scoop,  place 1 1/2” apart on a parchment or silpat covered baking sheet.
6. Bake for 12mins or until golden brown. 
7. Let cool and enjoy!

I wasn’t sure about the rice krispies but I really like the extra crunch they give.  I may add them to different drop cookies from now on.

So I hope you enjoy these as much as the girls and I do.

Thanks for looking!

Once Upon A Time…

If you live in the world of cookies as I do, then you may know that in three weeks CookieCon 2014 is a coming!  It’s a conference for cookie decorators where we all get together in Salt Lake City and talk cookies.  Ladies and a couple of men come from all over the world for the four days and have a ton of fun, learn a little something and yes, eat cookies.  This will be the second edition of CookieCon and it’ll be bigger and better than the first.

Now just like every conference there is a trade show, key note speakers and goodie bags, however, unlike a regular conference there is also a sugar show.  It’s where those who come to the conference can show off their mad skills.  Two years ago I was only a year or so into my cookie adventure and even though I knew I wouldn’t even come close to winning, I brought a few cookies.  These actually:

Now fast forward a year and half and it’s time to create an entry for this year’s show.  The categories are:

• Spring: It’s that time of year - flowers are blooming!
• Once Upon a Time: Let fairy tales, fables, and stories inspire.
• Home Sweet Home: Where are you from? Represent your hometown, state, or country. What makes your home special?
• Anything Goes: Let your imagination run wild! (Must be G or PG rated!)
• Mystery Shape: The shape will be unveiled and decorated at CookieCon!

I had no idea which one I was going to do until I was watching Beauty and The Beast with my girls last week.  As the movie concluded the final stained glass window appeared and I knew then and there that that was my entry.  Now to figure out how to do it.

I turned to my guru of detailed cookies, Mallory of Butterwinks.  It was time to try something out of my comfort range. I posted my idea and Mallory’s encouragement gave me strength to do it.

I rolled and cut my 10” x 6” cookie, then baked it off.  I printed off the window and then sketched it out using my Kopycake overhead projector.  I got some details but left most of the blocks blank.  This took about 40 minutes.

Time to mix the colours. CRAP, so so so so many. UGH, I hate mixing colours, who’s with me???? Maybe if I painted it I’d get better colours and I wouldn’t have to spend hours mixing and mixing and mixing.  Sold!  I used white royal icing and filled it the sections.  I wanted the cookie to have dimension and also thought it would be easier to paint if I sectioned it off.  I was right by the way :)  This took a little over an hour to do. I then let it dry overnight.

Next morning I started to paint.  I used Americolor gels with vodka.  I picked a colour, put a drop on a plate and then used a little vodka to thin for paint and painted.  By mixing the colours this way I could control the intensity and the shades.  This is where I had the most fun.  It took about an hour and a half to do. I’m sure you can do it faster but since painting doesn’t come naturally, I took my time.

Last up was to mix up black piping icing. You want it thick so it holds up but not so thick your hand falls off when piping.  I used a PME 1.0 tip and almost immediately it clogged and I even ran the icing through a sieve prior to putting into the piping bag.  You all know what I mean.  Now I had heard of putting the icing into a pair of nylons and squishing it through but since it was already in the bag it was an extra step this lazy girl didn’t want to take.  I had one pair and yes they were used but they were clean.  DON’T FREAK OUT, THIS COOKIE WAS NEVER GOING TO BE EATEN.  Always use new/unused nylons for this please.  I cut out a square and placed it over the coupler and then secured the tip.  It was brilliant, never clogged again! The beer in the corner was for when I finished :)

Then with the original window blown up on my iPhone next to me,  I piped out the black lines.  This felt like it took all day but probably took an hour and a half.  My back was an unhappy camper after all this bending.  I spent the rest of the day on the floor :(

But it was so worth it because after it dried it looked like this:

Now next to the original window:

And then the best thing happened.  I posted it to my FB page and my world blew up.  In the next 24 hours it was viewed over 25,000 times, reposted 60 times and the comments made me smile from ear to ear so hard my cheeks hurt.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!  I made this cookie to see if I could and all this amazing love towards it proved to me that I should continue doing what I do.

Now to get it to CookieCon to show it off in person.  I don’t care if it wins anything at this point because due to all of your love, I already won!

So if you are wondering if you should bring a cookie to the show, do it do it do it.  We all have to start somewhere and it’s not everyday that you’ll be in a room with such amazing people who will support everything you do in the world of cookies! I love my family but they don’t get it, especially when you tell them they can’t eat it before it’s had it’s picture taken.  (you know what I mean, hehehe)

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I hadn’t planned a post today or about Dr. Seuss but yesterday I posted a poem on my Facebook page that I wrote to celebrate his birthday.  The poem was promptly stolen and used elsewhere as their own work and while I won’t point fingers here, because that’s not me, I wanted to share it with you.  I’m also going to share some of my favourite posted treats made by some pretty amazing people.

First the poem:

Today's the day we celebrate,
A cat, his hat and a man so great.
He gave us some strange fish and introduced the Who's,
An elephant named Horton plus Thing one and Thing Two.
But for me it's The Lorax and The Grinch that I could watch everyday,
So I thank you Dr Seuss on this your birthday!

and now on to the treats.  Please visit their facebook pages and share them some love,

First the cookies:

Yankee Girl Yummies

Melissa Joy Fanciful Cookies

Chris’ Creative Confections

QTZIE Cupcakes

Sweet Dough

Sweet Ivy Confections

Sweet C’s Bake Shop

The Cakes!

Cakes by Kerrin

It’s A Piece of Cake!

The Royal Bakery

The Yellow Rose Cakery, LLC

The Fondant Flinger

 

Thank you Thank you to this man so great,
And to these artists who make these to celebrate.
You wow and awe me, each and every way,
So I honour you all here today!

****All photos are properties of their respective pages/creators and both poems are copyrighted to Trilogy Edibles.

Treat Day Wednesday–Chocolate Chip Ice-cream Sandwiches

Oh yeah, it’s the coldest it’s been all winter (22F or –5.5) and the girls decided that we should make ice cream sandwiches.  Yes, I know, my kids are strange.

I’ve never tried making homemade vanilla ice cream before for two reasons.  One I’m lazy and it seems s involved and two, it’s my favourite flavoured ice cream and I’d probably eat it all.  But alas my kids asked and I’m weak to their treat day requests, so I made vanilla bean ice cream.

Oh but where to start.  My friend Google never lets me down, so one quick search led me to one of my most favourite blogs. David Lebovitz’s wonderful food blog is oh so witty and has taught me some amazing new things.  So when I saw his ice cream recipe come up first, I didn’t think twice and OMG it is to die for.

Then I made my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and took two of the cookies and put some of the ice cream between and voila, home made ice cream sandwiches.

Super fun and super tasty!

Recipe: Vanilla Bean Ice Cream as adapted from David Lebovitz

• 1 cup milk
• A pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks

1. In medium saucepan, heat the milk, salt, sugar and vanilla bean paste until it starts to boil.  Remove from heat and let sit until cool.
2. Place cream in a bowl and place in an ice bath.  Set aside.
3. Pour milk mixture through a sieve to remove any solid pieces.
4. Whisk eggs and slowly add the milk and continue until completely combined.  Place on medium heat and continue to stir until the custard starts to thicken. 
5. Once thickened, strain into cream and combine. 
6. Place in fridge and chill overnight.
7. Place into ice cream machine and freeze as per machines directions.

Then make  your favourite chocolate chip cookies.  Or use my recipe found here just use chocolate chips instead of white chips.  Place a dollop of ice cream on one cookie and sandwich with another.

These are so so so good and as my sister says, ice cream is a year round treat!

Thanks for looking!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As most of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Many of us walk, run or bake to raise money for this cause because we all want to find a cure.

Some of you may remember, from my post from Frosting For the Cure, about why this cause and anything related to finding a cure for cancer is so close to me, but there is another reason that I’d like to share here.

Two days after I got married I went in for my physical.  Doesn’t every new bride do that???  Well, my regular doctor wasn’t there so I had someone new that day.  Not that that is really important but several years prior I had had a breast reduction and so I had scar tissue.  Unaware that this could ever be a problem, the doctor thought she felt something.  yikes

I wasn’t completely sure so I went and got a second opinion.  Now this is a big deal because finding a family doctor in Ontario is beyond hard, but I found another and he agreed that he felt something so I needed to go have a mammogram.  Stick your hands up if you’ve had the smash and dash, as my tech called it this year. 

Well it took not one but three different mammograms to determine that no it wasn’t an issue but that it was in fact scar tissue that had detached and started to move around.  Who knew right?

The whole two month ordeal was stressful and emotional for sure.  Now I came out of it unscathed physically but emotionally I can tell you was another story.  I may not have cancer but so many in my life has been touched by it or taken by it and I, like most people want, no need to find a cure for such a non-discriminatory disease.  It doesn’t care your race, your religion, your financial status.  It just is what it is.

So up until we moved I walked in the CIBC Run/Walk For the Cure for 10 years and I’ve raised money anywhere I can.  This year is no different, I’d like to auction off these cookies.  If you click to my Facebook page and under the picture of all the cookies I’ll be taking bids until Sunday 5pm EST.  All the money raised will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  I’d like to take bids here but the logistics, for me, are too difficult.

To bid click on this photo:

Thank you for looking and hopefully one day they will find a cure!

Treat Day Wednesday–Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh yes, I pumpkinized treat day but shhhhh don’t tell the kids:)  Well not yet anyway.

Sometimes you gotta do whatever you can to get them to try different things. To Abby and Rowan these are just chocolate chip cookies and the girls just gobble them up.  What they really are, are pumpkin in place of half the butter, so in fact they are low fat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies :)

Is it wrong to lie to your kids?  Absolutely!  I totally told them what was in them after they said they loved them.

Recipe:

• 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Cream butter, pumpkin and sugars until fluffy.
2. Add egg and vanilla.
3. Add the remaining dry ingredients.
4. Using a small ice cream, scoop onto baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
5. Let cool
6. Enjoy!

These cookies are delish (the dough is pretty awesome too, yes I ate some.  Don’t judge).  So next time you make cookies, replace half the butter with pumpkin.  Trust me!

Thanks for looking!

Oatmeal Raisin Roll-Out Cookies

I have a confession to make, or maybe you already know.

I HATE RAISINS

It’s funny because I’m always taunted by my friends that I hate them but when I asked a few of my Facebook cookie friends I wasn’t alone.  YIPEE!

So why I on earth would I make oatmeal raisin roll-out cookies???? Well a friend asked me if I would make oatmeal raisin cookies for her mother for mother’s day, but decorate them too.  I had to tell her that they don’t exactly do great for cut outs.  Then an idea popped into my head, what about a roll-out version?  My friend Diane from Created by Diane had recently posted her oatmeal roll-outs and I asked her if they would work with raisins and would it be ok if I gave them a whirl.  She said yes, so I gave them that whirl.

There were a few challenges.  I had to touch them, so gross.  Then I had to chop them up, I might have gagged a little bit.  It’s not the smell or the flavour that I’m so against, it’s the texture.  I’m sorry if I gross you all out but it’s kind of like squishing up bugs.  There I said it!  When I was a wee girl, my family and I were at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto and as a treat my parents bought us cotton candy.  I was so excited, I took a big bite and not paying attention bit down on a bumble bee.  One chew, two chew, Spit, Scream, Cry!  So I know of where I speak when I say they have the texture of bugs.

Several years later I still can’t eat them.  And it’s not just raisins, it’s anything dried.  Cranberry, plum etc.  ick!  I did, however, eat them when the girls were really little and learning about food.  Yes, I ate a raisin so my kids wouldn’t get my issues.  I usually bit once and swallowed so fast there was no actual biting into the raisin.  It’s amazing what we do for our kids.  Now that they are older and are determining which foods they like without prejudice from us parents, I no longer have to fake it.  Thank god!

So back to the cookies.  These were a huge hit in the family.  Everyone else is a lover of raisins.  Which is why you’ll have to take their words for it, other than mine.  The cookies smell fabulous and the batter pre-raisin was very tasty but once they went in I had to defer to their reviews.  Abby and Rowan kept asking to have another and Rob told me these were his favourite so far.  So there you go!

The batter once made was sticky, so I put it into the fridge for a couple hours and then rolled them out.  I used a bit more flour on the board to prevent sticking and moved it around after each roll.  On these cookies I only used a scalloped circle cutter, but the ridges stayed after baking, so it’s safe to assume they will take any shape.

My plan is to make up a few with icing and give them to my friend for her mom, better late than never :)

Recipe: as adapted by Created by Diane (really I just added raisins, Diane did all the leg-work!)

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (if they are larger oats, cut up with knife)
• 1 cup finely chopped raisins

Instructions

1. Beat butter and sugar.
2. Add in the egg and mix thoroughly.
3. Add flour, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder and oats to mixture.
4. Mix well and raisins, mix until combined.
5. Chill dough for at least an hour as it’s quite sticky
6. Roll out dough on well floured surface with floured rolling pin.
7. Cut with floured cookie cutter.
8. Bake at 350 degrees.
9. For 7-9 minutes until just golden.
10. Enjoy!

So hopefully my story hasn’t ruined raisins for you because, according to my family, these are awesome!

Thanks again Diane for allowing me to alter your fabulous recipe and thank you all for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday - Chocolate Chip Cherry White Chocolate Cookies

Yup that’s a mouthful and so are these cookies!

Have you ever noticed that drop cookies are usually pretty small, in my opinion.  So when thinking up something to bake today and to use up pretty much all the extra stuff floating around like the white chocolate M&Ms and the cherry juice, I came up with these.  Also to use my ice cream scoop.  I mean I don’t ever use it for ice cream because it never works.  I use it for scooping cupcake batter, muffin batter and now chocolate chip cookies.

So they don’t taste a lot like cherry but I do so enjoy the white chocolate M&Ms.  A fabulous find by Miss Rowan!  They are big and chewy and you know every now and again, you need a really big cookie!

Recipe:

• 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp cherry juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate M&Ms

1. Cream butter and sugars together.
2. Add one egg.
3. Mix dry ingredients into butter.
4. Add cherry juice.
5. Fold in chips and M&Ms
6. Use icecream scoop to make really big cookies!  Best idea I ever had :)
7. Enjoy will a really big glass of milk!

So sometimes ideas may not always turn out as you had planned, sometimes better!

Thanks for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday–Mona’s Mothers Best Friend’s Cookies

I know, that’s quite the name for a cookie.  But in our house growing up, those were the world famous oatmeal cookies my mother always made.  It’s also a name you’ll never forget, so when yesterday Abby announced she loved oatmeal cookies I knew just what to make.

One problem, I didn’t have the recipe.  Gotta love Google.  Just typed in Mona’s Mothers Best and several popped up.  whoop whoop! The recipe was originally from the first Best of Bridge cookbook series.

The cookies have oatmeal and coconut but also have baking powder and soda and it’s the soda that gives them the distinct flavour.  They are also nice and chewy and oh so yummy!  It was hard to just taste one, oh how I wanted to eat the rest.

Recipe:

• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup butter
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• 1 ¼ cups quick-cooking rolled oats
• ¾ cup coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cream butter and sugars and then mix in the egg.
3. Add remaining ingredients.
4. Drop cookies onto baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

Ok, so this will be my last post of baked goods until Sunday.  I must now focus on Miss Rowan’s cake.  Wish me luck!

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Full Plate Thursday
It's a Keeper Thursday

Happy Presidents Day–French Macarons take 2!

It snowed last night!  As a Canadian away, I miss the snow.  I don’t miss the freezing temperatures and the 10 layer days, but I do miss the snow.  The girls were so excited when it started and to our amazement is stayed…a bit.  As the morning sun shines, it’s melting very quickly, but last night this is what our back deck looked like.

We’ve got the big birthday party for Rowan coming up this weekend.  And I’ve got a cake and few cookies to make.  So I wanted to make something I’ve already tried before that I didn’t get quite right the first time.  And the winner is the French Maracon.  But it didn’t go well.

I pulsed and pulsed and pulsed the almond flour and finally got the batter to be smooth.  I thought since it’s Presidents Day I would be patriotic and coloured the batter red, white and blue.

I also made them smaller this time and got a few more out of the batch.  You can find the recipe here.  But they spread a lot today, not sure why. So they got lots of feet on them.  I didn’t let the eggs age over night, so maybe that’s it.  Anyone? 

I centered them with lemon buttercream because I had some in the fridge.  They taste awesome and not gritty but they look awful.

Happy Presidents Day!  It’s going to be a busy week with getting ready for the Rapunzel themed birthday party.  Wish me luck!

Thanks for looking!

Martha Monday–Buttered Rum Meltaways

I was intrigued by these cookies.  I’m not sure why, probably because butter is in the title.  I’m not a fan of rum unless it comes in one of those awesome rum cakes you get in Grand Caymen :) But alas I gave them a whirl. 

My goal with this series to was to try different cookies that I would not normally bake and this would be a classic example.  I give you Buttered Rum Meltaways on page 138

Easy/Hard:  Easy, I’ve yet to find one of her cookies that’s been difficult….yet!

Ingredient availability: We’ve always got rum, it’s Rob’s fav.  So if you don’t have a hubby like you’ll have to pick some up.

What I like about this cookie:   I’m not going to lie, not my favourite.  Sorry.  It’s a first in this series too.  I guess because I don’t like rum, that’s what I taste.  However they do have the texture of a shortbread, as there is no leavener in the dough.  There is a strong spice flavour too, I think I’d half the amount.

Baking experience: I like these type of cookies that you have to chill and slice.  Makes for much more uniform cookies.  They baked up quite nicely.

Taste:   Not my bag, sadly.  I had hoped they tasted more like a rum totty :)  i.e. more butter less rum flavour.  Rowan didn’t like them much either, she found the powdered sugar on the outside a bit too much.  The spices smell wonderful, but a bit too much for a cookie.

I never thought I’d find a cookie I didn’t like, especially from Martha.  But there was bound to be one!

They look good though!  I guess off to Rob’s work then :)

Thanks for looking!