Babycakes Donut Maker

Thank you Aunt Diane and Ava <3  I am so excited to make fun things in this.


This is the cutest mini doughnut maker, or should I say "donut" maker :P.  


As soon as finals are over I will try making cute doughnuts in this and let everyone know how they come out.


Any volunteer taste testers? :)

Tri-Color Cookie Recipe

Everyone loves Tri-Color cookies; but forget about the store bought cookies they just taste like flour.  You can make these yourself and they will be the best cookies you have ever had.

What You Need:
- 1 Box of Pound Cake (and any ingredients on the box)
- 1 oz. Bottle of Almond Extract
- Red and Green Food Coloring
- Apricot Preserves
- 1 Box of Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate 
- Three 11X7 Pans
- A Double Boiler or Chocolate Melter (I prefer the double boiler for these cookies)

Preheat: As directed by the box of pound cake

Start making these cookies by following the pound cake recipe.  Mix in half of the bottle of almond extract, this doesn't have to be perfect just approximately half.  Next separate the batter evenly into three different bowls, now you are going to color the batter.  One bowl will not be colored at all, one bowl will be red, and the last bowl will be green.


Spray each of your pans and coat them with flour before pouring one color in each pan.  Put the pans in the oven for 12 minutes.  While the cakes are in the oven cover the bottom of a cookie sheet in tin foil, this is where you will layer your cakes.  First take the green cake out of the pan and put it onto the foil covered cookie sheet.  Next coat the top of your green cake in a layer of apricot preserves, this should be a thin layer.  Then put your "white" cake for the next later, cover this layer in apricot preserves as well.  Some people prefer raspberry but I am not one of those people :P.  Finally layer the red cake on top (DO NOT PUT PRESERVES ON TOP OF THIS LAYER).


Next you will melt half of your chocolate (four squares if you are using Baker's).  Melt the chocolate in your double boiler.  Using a spatula spread the chocolate over the top of your layered cakes and on the sides.  Coat as much of the cakes as you can.  Now put the cake into the freezer for about 15 minutes or until the chocolate hardens.  After the chocolate has hardened you are going to flip the cake so you can coat the bottom of the cake.  Melt the remaining four squares and cover the rest of the cake.  


Before putting the cake back in the freezer use a knife to mark where you will cut.  If you outline your cutting marks before the chocolate is hard it will be easier for your to cut the cake later.  Only outline the marks, do not actually cut through the cake.  Place the cake back in the freezer until the chocolate is hard and then cut them into cookies.


YUM!

Cake Making Essentials

The Fondant Embosser, also called a fondant ribbon cutter.


This tool helps you add the perfect detail to your fondant.


With this tool you can create straight symmetrical designs; for example, if you are making a ribbon on your cake this can add perfect detail to the ribbon.


Sorry for the poor quality of this picture but I'm a baker/law student not a photographer :P.  This is a fuzzy example of  what this tool can do, notice how the edges of the ribbon have a design on them. 

This tool has  two types of pieces: the ones that create the designs, and the spacers.  The spacers are marked and come into a variety of sizes so you can make sure your design is perfectly even and the exact size that you need.  

Sprinkle Cookies

First I would like to apologize for my awful photography skills, I'll work on the lighting and presentation but at least these taste delicious!


These cookies are great if you are in a rush but want something that looks like it took time.


Start with any sugar cookie recipe, I'll be posting my favorite recipe soon :).  Homemade and store bought dough will both work.  Set up a cookie sheet covered in foil or wax paper and pour sprinkles on it.  The cookie sheet will keep the sprinkles from being scattered onto your counter and make clean up easier.  Roll the dough into a log; as thick as you'd like, the thicker the log is the bigger the cookies will be.  If you bought pre-made dough this step is already done for you.  


Roll the log of cookie dough in the sprinkles making sure the sides are covered in sprinkles.  Now chill the sprinkle covered dough in the freezer for about ten minutes, this will make cutting the dough easier and allow the cookies to maintain their shape better.  Finally slice the dough into cookie slices before putting the cookies on a cookie sheet and into the oven.  Follow the baking instructions for the cookie dough.


Pouring any extra sprinkles back into their container will be easy because of the foil or wax paper you lined your cookie sheet with.

Ravani

Ravani is a delicious plain cake.  It looks very simple and is covered in syrup.


Cake Ingredients:
       1 lb. Butter
       2 Cups of Sugar
       12 Eggs
       2 Cups of Flour
       2 Tablespoons of double acting baking powder
       1 and 1/2 Cups of Farina (Cream of Wheat)




Syrup Ingredients:
       4 Cups of Sugar
       4 Cups of Water
       1 Tablespoon of Vanilla


Preheat the oven to 350


In a large bowl beat the butter until it is fluffy.  Gradually add the sugar whiling beating the mixture.  Next add the eggs one at a time and beat on a low speed between each addition.  Now sift the flour and the baking powder together before adding them to the mixture.  Then add the farina (cream of wheat) and mix the batter until it begins to thicken.  Grease an 11 X 17 inch cake pan before pouring the mixture into it.  Make sure the batter is spread evenly in the pan.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.


While the cake is baking you can begin to make the syrup.  In a saucepan mix the sugar, water, and vanilla.  Bring this mixture to a boil and allow it to simmer for 40 minutes.


When the cake is done baking pour the hot syrup over it (I recommend using a ladle for this part).  Keep the cake in its cake pan and cover it with foil.  Allow the cake to cool, after cooling cut the cake and enjoy! :).

Give the Gift of Cookies

This Christmas give the gift of cookies, when done correctly this will be your friend's favorite gift.  These are great for people you want to get a small something for without breaking your bank.  


First make any kind of cookie you like, I chose sugar cookies. 


Second pick a cute Christmas themed container, it can be a box, tin, or bag.  Check out your local craft stores for these or try Wilton.  Keep in mind that the small boxes still hold a lot of cookies so don't pick too big of a container.


Finally arrange the cookies in the container to be aesthetically pleasing, note the pretty snowflake cookie is placed on top of the less decorated cookies.  This part is about presentation, but once they open it the only thing that matters is how great they taste.

Candy Cane Cookies

These cookies are simple and delicious.


Ingredients:
      2/3 Cup of Butter
      3/4 Cup of Sugar
      1 Egg
      1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
      2 Cups of Flour
      1 and 1/2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
      4 Tablespoons of Milk
      A Pinch of Salt


Preheat Oven to 375


First mix the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together.  Then mix in the butter and egg.  MIX BY HAND!  Then add the milk.  Next split the dough in half, one side will get red food coloring mixed into it.  Refrigerate both halves for 30 minutes.  Finally roll pieces of the dough in your hands to create "snakes", wrap two snakes (of different colors) together and add the hook before placing on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 7-10 minutes.


If the dough starts sticking to your hands either use flour or put the dough back into the refrigerator. 

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe  The results of my poll show that marshmallow fondant is the winner (even if the poll only had 8 votes) 


                                               Example of marshmallow fondant -->










Okay so I finally tried this recipe, and I LOVE IT.  I found that this is noticeably different than Wilton's fondant, but in a good way.  It is easier to work with and can be stretched thinner.


However there are a few changes that I would suggest:


- Even if the marshmallows look melted put them in for a total of 2 1/2 minutes (stirring after every 30 seconds of course)
- Use only 1 lb of confectioner's sugar (there is no need for the second pound and you can pour the entire pound in at once.
- Finally this doesn't take an hour, it's closer to 20 minutes


I'll update further once I use it on a cake.

Soft Caramels

Soft-Caramels Mmm, this is my weakness...I'll try this recipe, I hope it's good!

Spiral Sugar Cookies

Sprinkle Bakes' Spiral Sprinkle Cookies Simple, quick, cute, and delicious :P yum!

Flower Candy Dish

Wilton's Plant-a-Sweet-Surprise-Candy  These cute candy dishes can hold your favorite candy and when you run out of candy to put into it, you can eat the dish :).

Pie Cookies

Sweet Sugarbelle's Thanksgiving pie themed cookies, this is my kind of pie!

Cupcake Cookies

Sweet Sugarebelle's cupcake cookies.


These will take a lot of time, but they are so cute its worth it.

Cute Cookies

The Crafty Penguins's cupcake cookies :P

Panda Bread

Perfect Panda gives step by step instructions for making this loaf of panda bear bread.  This bread is so cute I just want to eat it up, but I'll have to make it first :P.