not so "Fat" Tuesday

I was up at 2 a.m. today to get to the bakery by 3. Yes, THREE. It's Fat Tuesday and I offered to come in and help them get the Paczki's going. It was a round the clock adventure starting yesterday at the bakery but the shift they needed help with was the 3 a.m. shift (go figure).

Coffee in hand I stumbled into the bakery and could smell the sweet dough baking as soon as I opened my car door. yum....

OK- I had NEVER ever heard of a Paczki until I moved here, and frankly I don't really remember talk of them in college either. They are a Polish tradition and surpringly they are pronounced "PUNCH-KEY" not "Pachz-Key". why? who knows... It's like "Favre" I guess. lol


anyhow, they are pretty much a glorified jelly filled donut. The traditional way to make them is to deep fry them, and the true original ones apparently aren't very sweet. But, due to commercialization and grocery stores trying to make them more palatable, they became more donut and dessert like.

At my bakery, they are a little more 'healthy', because we don't deep fry them. Why not? Not because we are trying to save anyone calories or make a healthy alternative. no, it's because we don't have a deep fryer. So, we bake them = better for you = people delude themselves that they are eating a 'healthy paczki'. yeah, sure....



On the menu:Raspberry filled (covered in powdered sugar), Cream filled (dipped in chocolate), Lemon filled (iced w/ lemon icing), Custard filled (sugar glazed and re-baked)



Raspberry is the top seller and fav. I, however cant weigh in as I didn't eat a single one!! Yet another year goes by sans Paczki.

Wow Wow Wubbzy schooled me

I went to bed last night before 9 pm... haven't done that in a while and my alarm still came too early this morning. I worked on that cake for about 15 hours total I think over the past week and a half. Wubbzy schooled me for sure.

**Lessons learned:

1) It's ok to make a simpler cake than you imagined. It relieves a lot of stress
2) Make the gum paste figures at least 5 days to a week in advance. They really need the time to harden
3) The microwave is your friend when mixing colors into the gumpaste. Just a few seconds is all you need and it saves you SO MUCH time kneading.
4) Homemade gumpaste and fondant is not hard to make at all. It's almost laughable how easy it is and much much cheaper than buying it pre-made. And it tastes better.
5) Wear gloves when coloring the gumpaste/fondant.
6) You don't need to use edible glue, water works well too.
7) A turn table is a God send.
8) You never know how much you take your fridge for granted until it dies on you.
9) Youtube has a WEALTH of knowledge on cake decorating. It's inspiring and humbling to see how talented people are. wow...

I have two cakes coming up this week. #1's birthday is coming up and so is his Oma's. I'm unsure if I will take another stab at the Yo Gabba Gabba cake or if i will try something new (Cars possibly? Monster trucks??). Stay tuned!

Wow Wow Wubbzy final take

It all started with this sketch....







TA-DA!!! :) I'm really happy with it.. And, as I had anticipated, the appendages didn't harden as I had hoped. Huge lesson learned...

Modern Family

This show kills me. One of my favorite things to do in the world is laugh. It's free, it burns calories, it's contagious and it puts you in a good mood. I've needed all of this the last 2 months and this show has brought a new smile to my face. Every single character is so perfectly flawed (in the BEST way possible) that you can't help but love them! I think it's because I see myself in all of them and the situations they get themselves in... a laugh a minute.

just wanted to share that. I was watching it after I finished frosting last night and was starting to model the Wow Wow Wubbzy characters for the cake this weekend.

Confession: I'm really freaked out about the Wubbzy cake. I totally overpromised here and the countdown is on.. I think I'll be up all night tonight.. and Friday night and Saturday night. scared!

Red Velvet

I've been skeptical about Red Velvet. It is so trendy to 'like' Red Velvet. Seriously, what's the big deal? Maybe it's because I haven't had any that knocked my socks off. And as I've mentioned before I ate a ton of it from various bakeries in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. None of which blew me away.

There are a few birthdays coming up that I'm going to be baking for and I've offered Red Velvet as a flavor choice. This afternoon was my first attempt and what a MESS! A "hot mess" if you will...

Lessons learned:

1) Maybe wear gloves while making red velvet? The red gets everywhere and it dyes your hands.
2) Mini cupcakes are a mess to scoop. I need to find the right sized scoop for these smaller cups.

3) Everyone likes a mini cupcake. They are 'cute' and you don't feel as guilty eating them.
4) I like the idea of a mini cupcake. It's like a dessert amouse-bouche (a single bite sized appetizer type thing. oh yeah, whipping out my french culinary terms).
I also tried out a new cream cheese frosting recipe. I knew I was wanting a thicker one, since I found this a.m. that the previous attempt was more of a glaze not a frosting. I wish I took a picture of this whipping up because it was perfect. Serious cream cheese frosting perfection. It piped out so well on the mini cupcakes and spread perfectly on the big ones too.



Huge smile on my face as I decorated these. I was calling and texting anyone in the vicinity- "come quick, just frosted some red velvets and they look good!"
#1 ate one and per usual, he bit the top off and gave me the muffin 'stump'. oh dear...


And after all were picked up/delivered I got this glorious text message:
"OMG sandy- sooooo good!!! I luv having a baker bff!!! :)"

I'm going to bed happy....

Morning Baking

We got pummeled with snow the last night! Roads were too scary to make the drive in to work so I'm working from home today. And since I was up at my normal pre-dawn time, I decided a sweet morning treat was in order.... Cinnamon Rolls from scratch w/ some cream cheese icing (I had to use up that left over cream cheese frosting/icing from the spice cupcakes anyhow).
I've never had much of an inclination to bake bread. I think I got a bread maker as a gag gift once (a la Old School), and it has since been re-gifted... The whole yeast thing and waiting for it to rise and proof and OMG that's just way too much waiting and seeing.
I set to work with the packet of yeast, flour, (and HOT water) etc etc and began kneading. My arms have been getting a workout lately- the beating, kneading, rolling, frosting- seriously, baking is a workout...


OK, so I had the dough in a ball... then had to let it 'rest'... and I got breakfast going for #1 and started doing work email (oh the juggling working mom's must do!) which got me thinking, maybe I LIKE making bread, it allows you to do OTHER things and not babysit the ingredients!!

The timer went off and I proceed to roll it out, and add a TON of butter, sugar and cinnamon before I rolled up the dough and cut into slices... To let it rest again in a warm place... Warm place, warm place...hm... OH! the first floor bathroom! there is a heating vent under the sink that dumps hot air on my feet every a.m. when I'm getting ready for work. It serves zero purpose besides to warm my feet up because the rest of the bathroom is freezing. It now has a second purpose. Anyhow, the dough rested, I read #1 a book, talked to my boss and then popped them in the oven.

I forgot to take a picture of them before I iced them- I got too excited. They actually looked pretty, smelled good and they ROSE. holy cow I can make dough rise and not have an I Love Lucy moment where the dough comes spewing out of the oven!

The icing melted so nicely- I now know that this specific icing is PERFECT for cinnamon rolls, not so much to frost a cake or cupcake. ****LESSON LEARNED!****

They were too good not to share, so they found their way to various work places today. Although, they tasted best steaming hot right out of the oven with the icing melting into the buttery sugary cinnamon goodness. Don't think about it now if you ate one yesterday, but I added some extra butter, sugar and cinnamon on top before I popped them in the oven ;)

ooops! Two More

Here is the cake, I forgot to add it to the last post.
And, a better picture of the cupcakes...
















YUM!

Adventures in Cream Cheese

In Chicago I tried a bunch of different cream cheese frostings... I don't like a frosting that's too cheese-y. So, I compared a few different recipes I found and came up with my own. Unfortunately, it didn't whip up as nicely as I had hoped- it was runnier than I like my frosting.
Any ideas? Tips? What can I do to make the frosting thicker without adding too much cream cheese?
Well, these came into work with me today. I'm thankful I have some willing taste-testers here- and seemingly everyone has fallen off the new years resolution diet bandwagon. They were gone in minutes

Marathon Baking....

Marathon baking session tonight! Literally the oven was running for hours and the house smelled amazing. In preparation for this weeks birthdays I had to get going quick. Double chocolate fudge, yellow, spice and 'funfetti' cakes were on the menu. Personally I thought the spice cupcakes turned out the best. Those are just a means to an end though- I want to try my hand at cream cheese frosting... We'll see how that goes tomorrow. I'm exhausted but I love going to bed smelling like I was in a bakery all day- the sweet warm scent of cake just sticks to you! wonderful side effect...

My little seed

Chocolate Chip Cookies.....

Hands down, my favorite thing to make. Mostly because I think they are delicious and it took me forever to come up with the recipe... with my 'secret' ingredient.

Last year, I think I made them at least every other week... I fell in love with them more because I knew other people were enjoying them immensely. Or so they said! :)

These chocolate chip cookies are ultimately the seed of my dream. Maybe that could be the next tattoo... speaking of which I haven't heard back from J.D.....