Guerrilla Baking

Baking for a Cause

2009-11-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

My good friend was hosting a benefit dinner for a family member so I helped out by baking 6 dozen cupcakes. That's right. 72 cupcakes. I'll admit. I cheated. Betty Crocker helped out a bit. However, I did make my own frosting. The selection included chocolate cake with mint chocolate, peanut butter cup, and milk chocolate icing. It was so cool to see strangers eating my cakes!

I've been taking some time off baking. Well, not time off but just not doing anything extravagant. I've made a couple batches of pumpkin muffins and apple bars. My last batch of muffins was using Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread mix but using applesauce instead of oil and adding fresh cranberries. Tasty! I intended on adding roasted walnuts to the muffins but remembered them about a minute after they went into the over so I just sprinkled them on top.

Happy Thanksgiving! For holiday dinner this year I am contributing jello and roasted sweet potatoes and parsnips. No sweets this year!

SMS Butterscotch Cashew Bars

2009-06-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Last week's Sweet Melissa Sunday was Butterscotch Cashew Bars. I was getting together with my family for Father's Day so made these bars to go along side ice cream. I made the shortbread crust with a rice flour/gluten-free flour mix so that dessert was friendly for my aunt and uncle that are allergic to wheat.

And there was some 'edges' for us to munch on...to make sure that they tasted alright before I served then...you know?!?

Cooking A-Z

2009-06-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

I recently joined Sweet Melissa Sunday's baking blog...bake a pre-selected recipe from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book every week, posting by Sunday. I love this challenge...and excuse to bake! After thinking about it, though, I realized that I should cook more than bake. So I started my search for a weekly/monthly cooking challenge...similar to SMS, Tuesday's with Dorrie, Daring Bakers, etc. I didn't find anything so decided to do my own! Make a list of something to cook for every letter of the alphabet. There won't be a set timeline, just when I feel like it...maybe every other week/every other trip to the store. Here is my list so far:

almond flour
brussel sprouts
cheese steak
dumplings
e
fondant
ginger
heart of palm
Italian wedding soup
jack fruit
kuchen or kugel
l
miso
neufchatal cheese
okra
papaya
quince
roast beef
sorbet
tart
udon noodles
v
watercress
xavier steak or soup
y
z

Lemon Curd, Apricot & Almonds

2009-06-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite combinations - this cake is a vanilla lemon cake with lemon curd & apricot filling covered in lemon butter cream and toasted almonds. My family approved!

PS - I just joined Sweet Melissa Sundays and very excited to participate. I think this is just what I need to get more active and experienced in blogging. Off to buy the book!

Buttery, Cinnamony, Snickerdoodles

2009-02-07T20:21:00.000-08:00

Snickerdoodles, snickerdoodles, snickerdoodles. My boyfriend isn't a fan of baked goods. Ok, I'll be honest, he isn't really a fan of anything sweet. Crazy? Yes. He does eat the occasional cookie or bowl of ice cream and mentioned one night that he likes snickerdoodles. Yes! An excuse to bake for him. Simple, buttery, cinnamony, snickerdoodle cookies. Yum.

Mom and PB&J

2008-09-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

Growing up my Mom wasn't the biggest fan of cooking and always deserved more credit for the meals she cooked and served to my sisters and I than she gave herself credit. Given that, she taught us early on that if we didn't like what she made we always knew where to find the ingredients to make a PB&J sandwich.

I don't remember ever refusing one of my Mom's meals in favor of PB&J. PB&J is a simple pleasure for me, along with clean sheets and taking the first sip of a can of soda. What better combination to try out in a cupcake?!?! I attempted PB&J cupcakes this year for my younger sister's birthday. Even though I didn't think they were my best work she brought them on a birthday camping weekend. When she got home she shared the rave reviews my creation got from her friends. I guess I take after my Mom more than I realize.

Raspberry jam filled vanilla cupcakes topped with peanut butter buttercream.

It's Fall

2008-09-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

It's definetly feeling like fall around here. The other weekend I was tasked with bringing dessert to a party so I channeled my fall vibes into baking an Apple Cinnamon cheesecake. It was the first time I baked a cheesecake using sweet and condensed milk, not sour cream, and the first time I had a cheesecake crack. Coincidence? Regardless, the cake was mighty tasty. The cheesecake itself had a touch of cinnamon in it and I used some Goodland apples that I picked up at the local farmers market on top along with a apple cider and cinnamon glaze. The crust was made with cinnamon, walnuts, flour, and butter...a lot better than a graham crust.