Recipe – Samoa – Girls Scout cookie

February 10, 2013 in recipes

Its that time of year again, when little girls trap you at the exit of the markets, at the doorstep of your house, and even at your work.  With their big smiley face they ask you to buy boxes of cookies and you end up buying multiple boxes… from every girl scout girl you see…ok maybe not that bad.  Its the time of year when we can stock up on our favorite Girls Scout Cookies.  Some boxes are eaten immediately, and others get comfortable in the freezer.  My favorite by far has to be the Samoas (Caramel Delights)..[who decided to change the name of these cookies anyways]? Last Saturday, I woke up with a craving for some caramel/coconut/chocolate perfections.  Not wanting to drive out to a market in search for some GS girls selling them, I decided to bake some of my own (or at least something similar).  They definitely taste healthier and are less sweet when compared to the Samoas.  They’re a bit time consuming and can get a little messy, but they’re definitely worth it.

Side note: I thought I had all the ingredients at home, however I ended up asking my brother to go to the market for me because I was missing the main ingredient [coconut flakes]…and he came back with boxes of Samoas… -__-

ingredients:
-1 cup soften butter
-2/3 cup white sugar
-1/2 tspn vanilla extract (or almond extract)
-2 cups all purpose flour

-toasted coconut flakes (about 6oz) can use more based on how much coconut you want on your cookies
-12oz caramel balls (i found these at the market, they’re easier for
-2 tbsn milk (or more)
-pinch of salt
-melted chocolate

directions:
-preheat the oven to 350F
-in a mixing bowl, mix together butter and white sugar until smooth
-add vanilla extract and flour and mix until mixture combines into a ball
-scoop cookie dough onto baking pan and flatten top 1/4in  in height
-bake for 8-10 mins (until lightly brown)
- melt caramel and milk in a small sauce pan (add more milk for thinner consistency) over med heat. (turn off once ready)
-mix in salt and toasted coconut flakes
-spoon caramel mixture on top of each cookie
-drizzle melted chocolate on top

here’s another dessert with some thin mints i bought.  Made mini ice cream sandwiches, wrapped them individually and placed them in the freezer. Entire box of Thin Mints yields 16 sandwiches.

 

Ba-beee Cake

January 28, 2013 in dessert bars, personal

This months been pretty eventful thus far – SF trip, friends wedding, dessert bar, baby shower, baby shower cake – to sum it all up.  I have a feeling that this year will be pretty eventful, possibly lots of changes…can’t wait!.

 

Yesterday, my church threw a small baby shower for P Jun and Verona.  It was a wonderful time spent with the Irvine Crossway family.
For the shower, I baked a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.
Baby Cake – I decided to go with a bumble bee theme, something cute and simple – child friendly.

onto some detail: marking of the flying bee – blank food coloring

Bee hive and the fat bee.  Can you tell what the little white fluffy shapes are?? – they’re supposed to be clouds (if you didn’t know)

my favorite design on the cake. Its all about the small details – more towards the side/back of the cake.  A flying baby bee with mini hearts.

happy baking!!

Real Wedding – Diana and Ray

January 24, 2013 in dessert bars

I know it’s a bit late – over 6 months to be honest – but as I was looking through my blog entries, I realized that I never posted pictures from their wedding.  For my lovely friends, I created a “semi homemade” dessert bar filled with sweet desserts.  All I remember from this event was 1. it was super fun and 2. it was super duper hot.  Thank goodness for lots of refrigerator space for my desserts to rest in until their debut.

 

photo credit: James Hong from Perpixel

Wedding Preview

January 24, 2013 in dessert bars

Its a little late to shout “happy new year!” but cheers to my very first post of the new year!

Lately, I’ve been receiving quite a bit of emails in regards to dessert bars and to be honest, each one takes me by surprise.  All by the power of the “word of mouth”, when I thought I was ready to take my hat off to taking orders, I’m having a change of heart.  I’m really honored and thankful to know the people enjoy eating the desserts that I make.

Anyways, the real reasoning for this post: This past weekend, I was in my friends bridal party, AND also made desserts for the dessert table. Just wanted to share a quick preview of the table.  I’ll be sure to post an update with the pictures taken by the photographer.

rows and rows of white cupcakes with white frosting.

 

dessert bar collaboration:
desserts: audreys from audreys creation
cake, banner: hannah from silly hammy
coffee bean pouches: sara from handmadebysarakim

 

more pictures to come….

Recipe: Pumpkin cupcake with pumpkin pie filling

November 25, 2012 in recipes

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend!  Mine was filled with great company and great food.
This thanksgiving weekend, I baked a pumpkin cupcake

ingredients:
-2 cups granulated sugar
-1 1/4 cups canola oil
-1 tspn vanilla extract
-2 cups canned pumpkin
-4 eggs
-2 cups all purpose flour
-3 tspn baking powder
-2 tspn baking soda
-1/4 tspn salt

 

-2 tspn pumpkin spice mix
-1/2 tspn cinnamon powder

frosting ingredients:
-1/4 cup of butter (room temp)
-8oz cream cheese
-1lbs of powdered sugar
-1/2 tspn vanilla extract
-1/4 tspn salt

 

 

directions:

-preheat oven to 350F
-on stove top, heat the canned pumpkin until warm , set aside
-mix sugar and oil in a big bowl, add the pumpkin

-mix in vanilla extract and eggs (one at a time)
-mix in the dry ingredients until well mixed
-pour mixture into cupcake molds and bake for 15 mins

-while cupcakes are baking, make the frosting:
-whisk butter and cream cheese until smooth
-add sifted powdered sugar and whisk
-add vanilla and salt and mix until smooth

- once cupcake are cool, in a pastry bag, fill with pumpkin pie filling (i cheated a little and used the pumpkin pie filling from a store bought pie.)
- place tip in the center of the cupcake and pipe pie filling into the cupcake
- pipe the top with desired frosting (i like pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting)



happy holidays~

p.s. I found a Twinkies recipe online today, I plan on baking them this weekend. Will keep you posted.