A drink to go with those cookies ...

Courtesy of Cocktails & Conversation, I had found this delicious martini that I should serve up next time with these cookies ... thank you, ladies!

Valentine Baking!

I'm getting that warm n' fuzzy feeling all of a sudden.  Maybe it's that time of year for looooove ... or is that all the baking?

There were loftier ideas on the table for my Valentine baking, but what I did manage to make time for was delicious all the same.  And, naturally, they have to be heart-shaped.  It just makes sense!

The baking lovefest starts with chocolate banana muffins topped with melted Hershey's Kisses and raspberry shortbread, gracing the dining room table for guests; I always made sure to put out fresh batches! This occasion even calls for my grandmother's good serving china!

I made a great find at a local dollar store with these heart-shaped silicone muffin trays.  The trays baked 6 muffins each, and two trays fit on a small cookie sheet.  Each heart cup fit a generous ice-cream-scoop helping of batter, then topped with red candy sprinkles and chocolate.  The beautiful thing about silicone baking trays is how easy the muffins pop out and how wonderfully easy they clean up.  Just throw 'em in a soapy sink of warm water, leave soaking for a few minutes and wipe down - you're set!  Just make sure you soak them immediately after you pop those muffins out, that stuff'll crust on like you wouldn't believe.

A few of them got the Fudgee-O treatment before they went in the oven ...

And since I had a few left over, I figure I'd throw the rest in the batter of another batch of raspberry shortbread.

Since I was spending Valentine's Day with my 'Guys & Dolls' at rehearsal, I figure I'd bring over the stash to share, along with a few 'Madlib Valentines' to give out for everyone to have fun with.  (You can check them out here at Design by Cassandra!)  We were also welcomed with a more Valentine surprises from other cast and crew members - more delicious cookies from our leading lady and roses from our producer!  It was a wonderful evening indeed.  Surprisingly enough, the colour of roses I received from my producer matched the colour of the beautiful carnations hubby gave me when I came home.  :)  How serendipitous!

A few people had asked for the recipe for the raspberry shortbread cookies, so I've posted the recipe below.  It's very easy to do!  It was a staple for me during my Christmas baking - if you're not familiar with it, you'll be surprised at the main ingredient!


JELL-O SHORTBREAD

You'll need:

• 1 (one) package of Jell-O powder, your choice of flavour (raspberry used in the above recipe)
• 1 (one) cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 (two) cups flour
• 2 (two) cookies to break up into crumble - store-bought is best (Fudgee-O's were used in the above recipe)
• Your choice of garnish - sprinkles, candies etc.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  (I'm sorry, I don't have Celsius on my oven!)
2. Crush desired amount of cookies (two cookies usually about does it) in a small bowl.  I used a small serving bowl, about ramekin-size and the rounded back of an ice cream scoop, which did the job nicely.  (See picture above.)  Set bowl aside. 
3. Blend entire package of Jell-O powder and 1 (one) cup softened butter/margarine with electric hand mixer into large bowl until creamy.
4. Add two cups flour and fold butter/Jell-O mix into the flour before blending with electric mixer. When batter is too thick to blend (it may start 'climbing' your mixers), scrape off batter from blenders with silicone spatula back into the bowl.  Add cookie crumble and fold with hands until all the flour and cookie crumble has been worked in.
5. Scrape the batter in the bowl with your silicone spatula around the edges of the bowl until the batter becomes a mound in the middle of the bowl.  (See picture above.)  Refrigerate for a half hour.
6. Remove from fridge, roll between two pieces of parchment paper and cut into desired shapes and place on parchment-covered cookie sheets.  Garnish cookies while on cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until bottom of cookies are a light brown.  Cool and pack in airtight container.  

Enjoy, lovelies!  Don't forget to check out the 'Madlib Valentines' on Design by Cassandra!

Wave 'hello' with a cookie!

My best friend Karen and I gave each other fun baking stuff for Christmas - part of the inspiration why I started this blog in the first place.  We had loads of fun last week making sugar cookies and playing around with the assortment of cookie cutters in the gift basket I gave her.   I had snagged a cookie cutter shaped like a five-fingered hand and put the fingers in different positions; peace signs, counting to five, 'devil horns' and all the like.  These cookies didn't last the night, though, and they were damn good.

It had sparked a few ideas that will be carried over to Valentines Day!  Stay tuned - I borrowed the cookie cutter from her!

Welcome to Martini/Bake!

Hello, and welcome to my online kitchen!  Grab a drink and put on your apron!

There are two sweet things that I like - a fruity cocktail and melt-in-your-mouth baking.  Over the holidays, you would have found me drinking one while watching the other rise in the oven.  Maybe that's why the whole process what a little more enjoyable.  I was drinking responsibly, not to worry, and the baking itself didn't suffer - let's not count the first time I made gluten-free dairy-free shortbread that didn't quite set.  Drinking had nothing to do with that.

Suddenly, I found myself thinking about Valentine's Day.  After that, it was Easter, birthdays, even more Christmas ideas I never got around to getting to.  I was making flavoured martinis to match whatever I would be baking that evening (or late weekend afternoon).  Y'know, for just about every cookie, muffin and flavour you can think of, there's a martini for it.  So, why not pair 'em?

I'll be posting this blog full of baking goodness, along with a little sip of something sweet you can enjoy it with.  I'll be finding recipes, decorating instructions and inspirations and a little mixer in between.  You'll find that stuff tagged appropriately in the bar above.  Click In The Kitchen above to see what kind of good stuff is lurking around in my own kitchen, from the finished product to new tools and contraptions I get my hands on.

Now, do me a favour and refill my drink while I put these in the oven ...

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

The baking bonanza is officially over for the holiday season.  Everything went by in such a blur that I didn't even take pictures of everything I baked - something I should have done for posterity's sake.  That's okay - most will be revisited very soon, and I'll make up for it on Valentines.  Here are a few of the unique ingredients that made their way into some of my baking this season ... and will probably show up again in a few different variations!

:: (left) Handmade artisan Baileys Irish Cream truffles pressed into the centre of shortbread cookies to bake ::
:: (right) Cap'n Choco Crunch was the cereal of choice for another variation of the Fudge Krispy Truffles ::

:: (left) Making flavoured shortbread cookie by using Jell-O powder in the batter ::
:: (right) Griotte sour cherry chocolate truffles pressed into shortbread cookies to bake ::

:: Fluffernutter (left) and dark chocolate spread (right) were great compliments for shortbread cookie sandwiches ::

This only puts a dent in things, but they're definitely my favourite.  Have you had any interesting concoctions in your baking this year?

Building Our Dream (Gingerbread) Houses

I have a friend, Jenna, who knows how to throw a house party - a gingerbread house party!  It's a tradition every year that she invites her nearest and dearest to bring candy to add to the pile and decorate our very own gingerbread dreamhouses. 

If I were to live in a gingerbread house, this would be it.

Front (left) and back of the gingerbread house.

That's red licorice Nibs as roof shingles, mini M&Ms along the edge of the roof as Christmas lights, pretzels to outline windows and doors, and you'll see marshmallows on top of the chimney for smoke.  All sorts of other delicious goodies - Hershey's Hugs, Mike & Ikes, Swedish Berries, and a bunch of Christmas candies that made the whole thing festive.

 

Jenna, bless her, had invited a couple of neighbourhood kids to partake in the fun.  Since there was a whopping nine of us this year, she bought premade gingerbread house kits instead of making them from scratch.  She had plenty of wine for the grownups and soda for the kids!

The problem with drinking wine and having a menagerie of candy in front of you - you're eating while decorating.  Or throwing it at your friends.  That's me in the elf hat.  Sitting across from me is my best friend and Jenna's sister, Graham.  He keeps throwing Nibs and marshmallows at me. 

And for the finished houses ... have you ever seen a more delicious neighbourhood?

L-R: Lisa, Jenna, Phyllis, Derron, me and Graham.  I think we were trying to recreate da Vinci's 'The Last Supper', if you note Phyllis and Graham's postures.

Jenna says I won 'first prize' in the adult house decorating category, but it was all for the fun of it!  Besides, we all took home the same prize!

Thank you again, Jenna! 

Cheating the Recipe ... and Winning!

I'm very lucky that I've 'bastardized' these recipes and had some reasonable success.  It's all about trial and error sometimes.  It's more fun that way.  Come check out the latest concoctions!

I had originally found this recipe on the back of the of a bulk box of Sour Patch Zombies when I bought them for Halloween.  The recipe is incredibly simple, but patience is needed when you're moulding your little dumplings ... or whatever you'd like to do.  I've scanned the clipping for the original recipe, called 'Monster Toes'.

:: click to enlarge ::