June's Baking Theme

So with Cupcakes done we move onto our next 'challenge' which was decided by all the ladies who participated in May's baking group. Drum roll please....BREAD!! Yes, I know I have stated many times how bad I am at baking bread, but all the more reason to do it right?? Hopefully I don't poison anyone!! Don't let it scare you too much, it's not just yeast breads, but quick breads, fruit breads, rolls, etc. We will meet June 24th. If you would like to join please just leave me your email and I will send you more info!! :)

May Baking Group

So our May baking group has come and gone, and I think we all gained ten pounds!! It turned out great for our very first meeting. I know I enjoyed every ones cupcakes and their company. We had quite the list of yummy treats:

Lacie-Devils food with dark chocolate frosting

Lori-S'more cupcakes

Kelly-Devils food with italian sweet cream frosting

Bre-Chocolate banana with cherry filling and cream topping

Natalie-Cranberry orange cupcakes

Myself-Cantaloupe vanilla cupcakes

Thanks ladies for your baked creations!!

And this is all that was left by the end....

If you would like any of these recipes please let me know and I will post them, or better yet join our baking group :)

Umm...

What do these look like to you?? Maybe some yummy snickerdoodle cookies? Ya, maybe not! Every once in a while my hair brain ideas and creations don't quite go as planned. Still not sure what they are? Well, they are SUPPOSED to be cupcakes! I know, I know! What in the heck happened? I'm not sure either. But I will say this, they tasted good :) I am going to give these another whirl, and hopefully will leave you a recipe, cause you don't want this mess of a recipe!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommy's out there! Hope your enjoying your day! I know I am, my great husband got me a gift I have been longing for! TA-DA! Yes, I finally got one! I am really gonna be a bakin' machine now :)

Coconut Creme Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes VERY quick for a few of my co workers and a dinner later that night, so I did cheat and used a cake mix, but I dressed them up :)

For Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. coconut extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and beat for two minutes. Pour batter into cupcake pan with liners and bake 18-20 min, or until inserted tooth pick comes out clean. Make sure your cupcakes have completely cooled before you continue.

For Filling:

8oz. (half a can) sweetened condensed milk

8oz. coconut milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk, set aside. Whip heavy cream till stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the coconut mixture. Fill a piping bag set with a large piping tip (I used #12) with your creme filling. Insert the tip into the middle of the cupcake and gently squeeze, making sure not to over fill your cupcakes. I did a test one and cut it in half just to check. Chill cupcakes for at least 30 minutes.

For Frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp coconut extract

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Shaved coconut

Whisk cream till soft peaks form, then add extract and powdered sugar and continue to whisk till stiff peaks are made. Frost each cupcake then dip the tops into a bowl with the shaved coconut. Store cupcakes in the fridge.

It's set

The baking group is set! The first meeting will be May 27th, if your interested in joining please leave me your email and I will add you to the list and send you more info! :)

Cupcakes anyone?

I have been thinking a lot about baking and how to get other friends and family involved. Because we bake (or at least I do) to share it with others, a dessert always brings a smile to someones face! I want to start a club, but not just one where you bake and tell, but bake and EAT! I'll set a date, and a theme once a month. Lets say cupcakes this month, you'll bake a new creation make copies of your recipe and come to my place, and we eat cupcakes, share stories, and recipes. So not only do we get together to have a good time, but we get new recipes!! I need feed back though, cause I want this to be big! The more the merrier, right? I want to meet new people, so drop me a note, and leave me your email. Let me know if your interested, any ideas, days that would work best to do this.

Fruit Pie Bars

Have you ever gone through your mom's or grandma's old recipe box? Well I have and this is just one of the MANY recipes. I hope to make all of them, then I'll really be bakin' just like mom used too :)

Crust & topping:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup cold butter

Filling:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup flour

pinch of salt

16 0z. blackberries

(Any type of berry will work, I just used what I had on hand. You could also used frozen berries just make sure you defrost them and they are not the ones soaking in juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8" pan. Combine flour, sugar, and salt and cut your cold butter into the flour mixture to create a crumb topping. (now you can do this is a food processor but I do not own one :( so I just use a good old fork and my hands) Reserve half of the mixture for the topping and press the remaining into the bottom of your pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile whisk eggs and sugar until combined, then add sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in your berries, and spoon the mixture over your crust. Sprinkle on the rest of your crumb topping. Bake for 45-55 minutes, remove and let cool for at least 30 minutes before you cut it.

Round up!

The cookie carnival round up is complete!! Check out http://phemomenon.blogspot.com to see all the yummy lemon bars :)

Shirley's

I drive by this bakery almost every day and finally got the chance to stop by. The very first thing I saw was a sweet looking old couple, holding hands, sipping on coffee and pastries on the table waiting to be eaten. I was surprised to see that this little bakery was all OPEN, you see the pans, the ovens, rising dough, the bakers baking, frosting, and decorating. It would be great if all bakeries were like this, just to take a peak at the pros. Now Shirley's is not like a lot of these new cupcake and specialty cake bakeries, this is old school style; dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, donuts, danishes, every type of cookie you could imagine. But they had something I have never come across, you can choose what type of frosting you want on your rolls, from cream cheese, vanilla, cinnamon, to the tempting raspberry cream cheese!! I got six orange rolls with cream cheese frosting, and they were yummy! Inside the roll wasn't just orange glaze, but tiny chunks of candied orange! So if your looking for the traditional bakery swing on by Shirley on Freedom Blvd. in Provo you won't be disappointed. (Sorry for not having pictures I did not have my camera with me)