Oh, February.

I haven't posted in a looong time! Unfortunately I don't feel like I have any good images or anything real great to update. I spent a few days last week trying to make the PERFECT cheesecake. I've made cheesecake before, but this time I wanted to make it 3 inches tall/thick... Picture perfect. I wanted to make cheesecake that was very pleasing to the eye and tasted, well... PERFECT.  the ideal, nice thick slice of smooth, but somewhat cake like cheesecake.  First, I made a couple of not so perfect cheesecakes. I hadn't made cheesecake too many times and I had my first cheesecake that cracked. TERRIBLY. So I read techniques on how to not have cheesecake crack...


Tips for keeping cheesecake from cracking:

• Always mix the cream cheese and other ingredients first. Mix well in order to get the air out.
• Add the eggs LAST. One at a time. Mix gently, just until blended. Do not overmix. (The eggs are what often causes air to get into the batter. Air pockets form into the batter... resulting in a cheesecake that cracks!!)
• Always use a waterbath while baking cheesecake. This allows the cake to bake at a lower temperature and allows even baking throughout the entire pan. The temperature is kept more even. (Cheesecakes often crack because of a change in temperature, uneven baking, or baking TOO FAST. A waterbath also helps the edges from baking more/faster than the center). To do this, Wrap the bottom and sides of your springform pan with foil (the outside of the pan) Be sure to use the extra wide foil, so you can use one large piece of foil to cover the whole outside of the pan, and not have any leaks (this would result in soggy crust! which I had happen my first time. oops! Sometimes I don't use my brain). Do 2-3 layers of foil to be sure that water will not get through. Place your springform pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with water. Only fill it half way up the side of the springform pan.
• It is important to bake cheesecake on a low temperature (300 degrees - 325 degrees) and very slowly.
• It is also important to grease both the bottom AND sides of the spring form pan. Greasing the sides allows the cake to pull away from the edge of the pan, instead of pulling away from the center of the cake... which would result in cracking.

After a few tries (yeah a FEW), well actually four.. I made a cake that cracked and then continued to make cheesecakes that were not perfect. And I get mad if things aren't perfect (which they never are really). Anyway, after experimenting and learning.. I made the PERFECT cheesecake. Baked it very very slowly for an hour and a half. Waited for it to cool and set for a few hours, and then I decorated it with strawberries, chocolate and strawberry sauce. It looked beautiful and was just the right texture for my liking. Well it looked perfect... but then.. my dessert stand that I made just happened to break right then. My cheesecake tumbled over and went into my toaster. PERFECT. I didn't even get a picture. I did save a bit that went on my counter and put it on a plate (which looked like a bit of a mess, but still tasty). I took the plate to 7-8 of my guy friends who were hanging out, they scarfed it down in 30 seconds and kept saying it was so amazing. So at least it tasted good. Next time.. I will have the perfect cheesecake! :) I bought supplies and am anxious to make cheesecake very soon.


Last night I spent time making a airplane shaped cake for my friends birthday. Not too happy with the results though. I didn't have time to freeze the cake in-between, making it easier to frost. It was hard keeping crumbs from being seen, and well it just wasn't going too smooth. After a few hours, through temperature changes and sitting at my friends, the icing kept drooping off. It was very disappointing. Not only was the icing sliding off ... the cake just looked really childish. Not happy at all. Ehhh. Actually I hate typing about it right now. I'm so mad and can't believe I spent so much time on it. I guess I learned a bit. I've made cake that I've carved into shapes before.. But not like this one. I layered several pieces and carved the shape.. so that was an experience. I made the base out of foam core. I thought this could be cool.. but I rushed it. I worked till 8pm and tried getting it done in the same night. Not happy. I think I'm going to go back to making cheesecake and back to coming up with cookie recipes for the time being! And maybe work on more design work. I'm creating a mini calendar (5x8''?) with some of my baked good images! Pretty simple, but I think it will look nice on good paper. Just a way to use my images and also my design.

And a few Valentine's Day goods. I didn't have much time and steered away from fancy sugar cookies.. But everyone loves Peanut Butter Blossoms. I did before my peanut allergy really hit me! I shouldn't be baking with peanut butter, but most people love these cookies and they are super easy and fast.. So I wanted to make them. 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Egg Free)

My third take on the perfect egg free chocolate chip cookie recipe. These turned out very very good! I messed around with the same chocolate chip recipe, this time melting the butter and sugar together, in order to dissolve the turbinado sugar. I also altered the rest of the recipe quite a bit. Well, actually I suppose this is a completely different recipe. I used turbinado sugar, but didn't use any brown rice syrup. I'll have to experiment with brown rice syrup more, but for now... these are AMAZING Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. Super soft and chewy. And they look lovely. I gradually added things while making the dough, hopefully I remember correctly the measurements of ingredients for the next time I make these. Because I will DEFINITELY make these again. 

My first test batch of these cookies ended up with the bottom of the cookie way too hard and crispy, and the top was left TOO soft/chewy and doughy. So I added a bit more flour and then tried to bake them on the next rack up. They turned out perfect! When these cookies are still somewhat warm, they seem oddly doughy yet, but once they cool and sit for an hour or so, they set very well and are great. Very very soft though. They kind of melt in your mouth... but it's a good thing. I used large real milk chocolate, all natural Guittard Chocolate Chips. YUUUUM! 

I'm going to bake some more and try to take some better pictures soon, so you can see the soft chewyness of the inside of the cookie. 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

So these didn't turn out well. They don't have a terrible appearance at least. However, I need to continue to experiment and alter this recipe. I think I may know how to make it work better. I used just a bit of turbinado sugar and also brown rice syrup. Something I definitely did wrong was not mix the sugar with the wet ingredients. By not doing this, the turbinado sugar was left in the larger crystals.. not allowing them to desolve. You can see and even taste/feel the texture of the sugar crystals. My cookies also turned out very hard. I'm thinking adding applesauce to the recipe may help add moisture and soft/chewyness. Also, it is said that Turbinado sugar is more moist than regular sugar, therefor if it was better desolved into the batter, maybe it would make the cookie more moist. I'm also not sure about the brown rice syrup flavor. Definitely need to experiment more. However, ONE of my friends said he actually thought this cookie was "solid" and said he prefered his cookies on the harder side and thought they were great.. He was very serious. But neither I or others agree.

However, the ingredients I used were very similar to that of my favorite store bought chocolate chip cookies by Back to Nature (Yeah I know! But they are sooo good! and HFC free, and all natural. And easy to satisfy my cravings while I continue to be frustrated and experiment with my own baked goods that I can eat). Anyway, these packaged cookies are made with brown rice syrup as a sweetener and they are perfect. I will continue to experiment.. I think I might try some altering right away tomorrow! We'll see what happens.

Egg Free/Vegan Banana Bars

Egg Free Banana Bars!

These turned out very well. VERY yummy! However, you know how if you over mix batter.. sometimes the product becomes a bit rubbery? I think I overmixed a bit. But they are still very good. However, they pretty much just taste like banana bread. Which is okay I guess. Banana Bread is amazing. But maybe for the consistency of a bar, they could be more dry and cake or cookie like in texture. I used turbinado sugar instead or refined sugar and some nice over ripe bananas! MMmmmmMMMmmMm! And I just had to add chocolate on top.

Miniature Cupcakes!

It's February. I'm going to pretend this is the beginning of my New Year and start fresh. I think this is a perfect start :)
In my spare time, when I have nothing else to do... I like to take pictures of cupcakes! <3 

One day I found some pretty plates and vases/candle holders at an antique store and glued them together with epoxy to make dessert/cake stands! Here is one stand, but I made three. The other two were made with fancier, antique plates with gold candle holders. They add chic elegance to my pink decor in my apartment.  Anyway.. I had fun today making cute little cupcakes in-between constructing 250 wedding invitations. Such pretty sprinkles! I can't wait for Valentines Day!

These were made with egg. But miniature cupcakes are so perfect. Just the right size.. not too much. And they are so darn cute. Next on my list are some egg free banana bars! I've been craving this for daysss.

250 Wedding Invitations. Done. Printed, all 5 pages rounded, punched and grommeted.. with tassels my mother made.

Baking for Animals.

Today at work, I started thinking....
What can I do to actually help someone or something. In my head I always think I can help people. But really the truth is I usually can't.. and don't know how. But I was trying to think of how I could REALLY help make a difference. How could I bake and help make a difference? This may be a small difference in the world, but something important... This is what came to my mind..


Lately I've been thinking a lot about my cat I had to give up. I miss him and hope he is in good care. And I've been wanting to volunteer at the Humane Society in town... but I figure with my allergies.. I don't know if I'd be able to stand being in the building too much. However, I'd put up with it anyway, just to be around the animals.


But It popped in my head - I SHOULD HAVE A BAKE SALE!  A bake sale in order to earn money for the Humane Society. To give the animals good quality food, toys, and money for medical check ups, etc. So tomorrow I'm going to go around town and figure a few things out. I'm thinking I may be able to hold it at a place I have some connections.. if only I can draw people in. If I design some posters/flyers maybe I can draw people in. Not sure if I should wait, so I can plan more and do it later on.. or I thought Valentine treats would be a good idea. I'm going to talk with the Humane Society and a facility to possibly use. We'll see... !
This post from a blog I follow is quite helpful towards the subject matter.. How To Put Together A Bake Sale FAST


Also.. Check out ...
Great American Bake Sale

More Info. on Stevia

Stevia can't be referred to as "sweetener," instead it is considered a dietary supplement.

This ingredient is not on supermarket shelves next to sweet n' low, but can be found in health food stores as a dietary supplement. FDA has little control over supplements. But as a sweetener, commonly used, "We don't have enough data to conclude that the use [in foods] would be safe." Canada or the European Union do not let companies add stevia to their products.

Though Stevia is known to help stabilize blood sugar levels and previously used to help with heartburn.. There are still concerns about this ingredient and not enough information is known. Large amounts consumed... toxicity?? Seizures?? Can cause dizziness, muscle weakness, nausea. Too much contained could be dangerous. It is NOT recommended for pregnant woman and children should NOT consume stevia.

Not sure if this is all old news, maybe they've done more research and found differently. I'll have to research more. But I found it interesting that I found negative information about this natural sweetener. I did just browse the natural section at HyVee and found Stevia in the form of a powder and a liquid. Each package had a note saying that all the information on the package was not approved by the FDA. It definitely doesn't sound like an ingredient that is certain to be good for one's health. It has a lot of negative concerns aside from the good, therefor using it as a sweetener definitely does not sound like a good idea to me.

http://www.healthline.com/natstandardcontent/stevia?brand=
http://www.usnews.com/health/family-health/articles/2008/07/28/the-zero-calorie-sweetener-stevia-arrives.html
www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/stevia.htm
http://www.stevia.net

Beautiful Music.

You only make me strong. How come Ryan Adams lyrics are so depressing, but it puts me in an amazing mood? It is so beautiful.

I'm in the mood for music.

I've been in the mood for this type of music the past few days.
I somewhat hate the Eels, they bring back bad memories. But at the same time, I love them.

Coconut, is it a common allergen? Use of Coconut Flour and Oil.

http://www.mercola.com/products/coconut_flour.htm

So I know coconut oil is a great ingredient to use.. But, coconut is considered a tree nut. So is it safe for many with allergies? Is Coconut as dangerous as other tree nuts?
http://foodallergies.about.com/od/nutallergies/f/coconutallergy.htm
http://surefoodsliving.com/2008/12/01/tree-nut-allergy-questions-coconut-palm-oil/

It's said that coconut allergies are far less common than allergies to almonds, cashews and other tree nuts. And coconut flour is a good ingredient for those with milk, nut, and other allergies...
I am allergic to peanuts/walnuts and must avoid them and most tree nuts. However I am unsure of coconut. If I am not allergic to coconut and it is something I could have, using coconut oil and possibly coconut flour may be a very healthy option.