KelseyKakes

Operation Sugar For Soldiers

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:56:00 +0000

It's that time of year again to dust off our baking mitts and fire up the oven for some holiday giving! This is my third Christmas serving Operation Baking Gals and I am getting everyone involved in the sweet feeling of mixing, stirring, and heating-up at 350 to bake for our troops overseas. We cooked up and gathered 15 giving souls to bring their culinary best and bake as many cookies as they could to ship to the troops on December 16th. Knowing the calibre of people that I recruited for this job, I knew we would get a good selection of cookies cookin'...but I was brought to tears by the amount of sugar laden goodness that was brought forth by this effort. Weighing in at 80 pounds of cookies stuffed full into 5 boxes, we shipped more sugar than I could have ever imagined!! Wow.

The amazing soldier we sponsored this year is named Tyler Sutton. He is stationed in Afghanistan and while he is fighting for the marines day in and day out, it never ceases to amaze me that while we are lighting up our Christmas trees and unwrapping gifts from Santa, these soldiers are selflessly giving up their holidays at home to fight, stand up for and protect the land where we are building our snowmen. A cookie doesn't even begin to show our thanks, but we hope these homemade gifts of sweetness can bring a touch of home to all the soldiers on Tyler's base this holiday season. They are the true heros of Christmas, and we honor them with all our hearts.

Birthday Cake Cookies

Ingredients

1 box of vanilla cake mix (any kind with pudding in the mix)

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2-1 cup rainbow sprinkles (add as much as you desire)

FROSTING:

1-2 cups of powdered sugar

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Milk (add to achieve smooth consistency)

Rainbow sprinkles

Recipe

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and baking powder

3) Add eggs and oil - mix until blended

4) Stir in rainbow sprinkles (try not to over mix the batter)

5) Using a medium sized ice cream scoop, drop onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper

6) Bake for 9 minutes (they will look underdone, but take them out and let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes)

7) Remove from pan and let them finish setting on a cooling rack

FROSTING:

8) While cookies are cooling, mixed powdered sugar with the juice of 1/2 a lemon

9) Add milk to mixture until frosting reaches a smooth consistency

10) Drizzle over cool cookies and top with remaining rainbow sprinkles

La La Lemon Bars

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:54:00 +0000

Nothing is better for an end of summer shindig than the sweet and zesty taste of fresh baked lemon bars. They capture the refreshing zest of a hot summer day and the tart lip puckering goodness of a chilly fall to come.

Lemon bars are usually quite a long task...create the shortbread crust, hand squeeze lemons to create the curd and bake it with the hopes that the top doesn't spilt open like a poorly baked cheese cake...it can take hours, but the result is always the reward. However, when I wanted to bake up lemon bars recently for a party that was taking place only hours away, I knew that I had to speed up the process somehow. So, I put together a fast bake curd of sour lemons, zesty rind and a crust so buttery and yummy one would never know the difference between these quick bake bars and my usual treat that could take hours to tame.

The result was a burst of tart lemon and a cake like shortbread that had everyone licking their fingers and thinking about seconds.

Ingredients

Crust:

1 cup butter (softened)

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

pinch of salt

Filling:

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar (less if you want the bars more tart)

1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed - about 4 lemons)

Grated rind of 2 lemons

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, create the crust by combining softened butter, sugar, flour and salt.

3. Mix until combined (using your hands works great to really get the butter mixed in with the flour!) and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan

4. Bake crust for apx. 20 minutes or until golden brown - when you remove crust from the oven, allow to cool before adding filling

5. To begin making the lemon filling, whisk together the 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/3 cup flour

6. When the flour and sugar are combined, whisk in eggs, lemon juice and rinds

7. Pour over cooled crust and place back in the oven for 25 minutes - bars will firm as the cool

8. Once cool, dust top of lemon bars with powdered sugar

9. Devour the lemon goodness!

Independence Berry Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:25:00 +0000

What comes in a close second to BBQ and fireworks on the 4th of July? Dessert of course! No Independence Day shindig is complete without bellies filled with the tastiest food and smiles on everyones faces. That is why there is no better way to end your meal than with the colorful burst of a berry cobbler. This dessert is filled with natures own red and blue berries and all you have to do is add the white with some vanilla ice cream plopped on top of the 'just out of the oven' hot cobbler. Nothing says independence better than American farm gown berries in the colors of our flag, straight from the ground and right into our mouths.

And when the sparklers burn out...there's always leftovers!

Ingredients*

Filling:

3 pints of blueberries

1 pint blackberries

16 oz. package strawberries

3 peaches, peeled and sliced

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

1 lemon (juiced)

1/8 teaspoon salt

Topping:

4.5 ounces flour (apx. 1 cup)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons chilled butter (cut into small pieces)

1/2 cup half and half

3 tablespoons raw sugar

1 tablespoon of egg white

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees

Prepare filling:

2. In 13x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray, combine blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and peaches

3. In separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients for filling - 2/3 cup sugar, 2 1/2 tablespoons corn starch, 1/8 teaspoon salt - pour over fruit and toss with hands

4. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over filling mixture

Prepare topping:

5. In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoon cornstarch, baking powder and salt - stir

6. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or a knife and fork until it resembles corse meal

7. Add half and half and gently kneed dough until just moistened

8. Drop dough by spoonfuls over the top of the fruit filling mixture, making sure to evenly space the dough

9. Combine raw sugar and egg white - sprinkle over the top

10. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until the topping is browned

11. Let stand 10 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream

*inspired by a recipe from Cooking Light Magazine

Anzac Biscuits

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:21:00 +0000

This week I am bringing you a very special recipe, given to me by my future father-in-law, that is full of sugar, stories and sweetness. Being a fellow craftsman in the kitchen I knew his recipe would be a keeper, but what I didn't know was that the story behind these cookies would be a recipe of wisdom in itself.

The Anzac biscuit might be a mystery to us Americans, but it's history to those with roots in Australia and New Zealand. This treat dates back to 1915 when the wives of soldiers in World War I made these cookies for their husbands to take on the road with them for sustenance (to read more about the meaning of Anzac Day and the story behind these treats, click here). What once started out as simple biscuit whose only function was a long shelf life, has now crossed generations to remain a sweet staple that not only tastes good but also delivers a piece of the past with every crunchy bite.

This biscuit is chock full of everything we love in the average cookie - oatmeal, coconut, butter and sugar - so read up, bake up and eat up this special new treat.

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats (not the instant variety)

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup coconut

1 tablespoon golden syrup (this ingredient is a bit hard to find...you can check your local grocery, order it over the internet or substitute it with light corn syrup and molasses in a 2 to 1 ratio)

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

1. In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together - set aside

2. In a small sauce pan, melt butter and golden syrup together

3. While the butter mixture is melting, mix together boiling water and baking soda in a separate bowl

4. When butter mixture is melted, add the baking soda mixture and stir

5. Combine wet mixture with the dry ingredients by slowly pouring over the top of the dry mixture

6. Stir together with fork

7. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto greased or parchment lined cookie sheets about two inches apart (cookies will spread almost flat)

8. Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes

9. Cool on tray for a few minutes, then remove to cooling racks until transferring to air tight containers

Belated Bunny Easter Cupcakes!

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:16:00 +0000

When all the painted eggs have been found and eaten and the only thing left is half empty box of Peeps, all you need is a good batch of Easter themed cupcakes to keep the spirit stretched out just a few days longer.

This year, my family decided to have our big Easter celebration one day late...and who wouldn't want an extra day of celebration! I knew that we all secretly wanted to share in the sweets, festivities and bunny themed everything for just one more day. To be able to crack those plastic eggs, revealing the secrets inside and wearing our perfectly pink bunny ears just one more hour was so worth it. Celebrating Easter on a Monday to us, just meant we had a whole 24 hours of additional bunny time, and for my family, that is something to celebrate!

The evening began at my aunts house where we gathered for champagne, hugs, food, and most of all, dessert. Easter is one of those special holidays centered almost entirely around sweets and I knew I had to make a holiday themed cupcake that would knock the whiskers right off the Easter bunny! So, I set to work in my kitchen whipping up a magical blend of vanilla, coconut and leftover Peeps.

These cupcakes may look like a decorators dream, but they are so easy to make. Simply whip up a batch of your favorite vanilla cupcakes and buttercream frosting. While the cupcakes are baking, toss shredded coconut and green food coloring into a Ziploc bag and shake away! Once you frost the cooled cupcakes with the fresh batch of buttercream, simply press the green colored coconut onto the surface and top with your favorite themed Peep.

So easy a bunny could do it!

The Truth About Nutmeg...

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:20:00 +0000

If there is one thing I have learned along my journey of baking, it is that freshly ground nutmeg is king and anything less is just a waste of culinary goodness. It will give your cakes, breads, and puddings a taste that leaves your guests wondering "what is that?!". So go ahead, soak up the compliments of your secret ingredient and read on to find out why a little extra elbow grease will lead you to some beautiful baking.

As with most herbs and spices, fresh always reigns supreme. However, I am a realist here too and know that a) fresh ingredients are more expensive and b) you never actually end up using them all, thus wasting most of what you bought in the first place. Also, fresh herbs and spices always mean a little more work than just dipping into that small glass jar. That is why, in reality, I am with you on the dried, jarred ingredients...that is except nutmeg!

The joy of nutmeg is that when you buy it whole, the "seeds" actually come in a jar (similar to very large nuts). This means that there is no expiration date and no worries about not using up all that you paid for. The whole nutmeg can be pulled out as needed and gently grated on a microplane zester to add the greatest depth to all your dishes and any remaining seed that goes unused can simply be placed back in the jar!

The flavor compared to jarred nutmeg is worlds away. This is because the essential oils contained in the whole seeds dry out in pre-ground nutmeg and little real flavor is left, leaving much to be desired in your dessert. I can promise you that once you begin to grate the seeds and start to smell these flavorful oils coming out of the freshly ground nutmeg, you will be converted.

So go ahead, kick your spices up a notch. Once you grind, you'll never go back!

Operation Chocolate Chip Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:33:00 +0000

This month of Operation Baking Gals fell right around the heartfelt day of Valentines and Team KelseyKakes took full advantage of sending all our love to the troops overseas. I had such a wonderful group this month stretching all the way from Alaska to New York City...that's a lot of baking mileage! These chefs went above and beyond for our sponsored troop of the month, Bryan Tull.

SGT Tull is a broadcast journalist in the Army Reserves. His unit's primary mission is to work directly with members of the international media who visit Iraq to get the real story for audiences around the world. His unit also has a daily blog - Blogs Over Baghdad - that I encourage everyone to read, it will truly touch your heart. His job of maintaining the integrity of journalism is such an important one, as we all know that the information we have access to is a priceless tool for understanding what is really happening in our world. He is protecting our freedom of press and freedom of speech...and for that, we bake!

I was so inspired by SGT Tull and caught up in the moment of Valentines, that I decided what better a treat than to bake up the largest, most yummy batch of my famous chocolate chip cookies...with a lovely twist of red and white M&M's to replace the chocolate chips of course! These cookies are perfect for shipping to a troop or a crush because they contain a secret ingredient of instant vanilla pudding. Why pudding mix you ask? Well, adding instant pudding mix to your cookie dough prevents the delicious bites from getting stale and hard during shipping. These cookies will stay soft for weeks on end and remain perfect with every nibble to come.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter (at room temperature)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 package (3.4 oz.) instant pudding (I like vanilla)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used valentines M&M's for this recipe)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking soda - set aside

3. Using a stand mixer (or similar) cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar for about 2-3 minutes

4. Beat instant pudding mix

5. Gradually stir in eggs and vanilla

6. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend until just combined

7. Using a spatula, hand stir in chocolate chips and nuts

8. Drop cookies by rounded spoonful on baking sheet lined with parchment (or an ungreased cookie sheet)

9. Bake for 10-12 minutes...they will look undone, but set up once removed from the oven

*TIP: You can really make these cookies you own by changing the pudding mix flavor or your add-in ingredients. Have fun with it!

Love is in the Air

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:17:00 +0000

Honing in on the latest trend of "staycations", my fiance and I decided to put on our PJ's and make valentines dinner at home! Not quite willing to sacrifice the sweet tastes of a great restaurant, I set off to begin the menu planning. After all, this was my chance to bring romance into the kitchen and add a little bit of loving flare to everything I touched.

We started the evening with a romantic roll...heart shaped biscuits! These are very easy to make and if you can keep a secret, your guests will even think they are homemade.

First, start with a store bought canister of buttermilk biscuits (I like the Pillsbury reduced fat variety), pop open the casing and separate each biscuit out onto your cutting board. Then, using a small heart shaped cookie cutter, go ahead and press into each biscuit and pop out the heart shaped dough. Place the little hearts on a well greased cookie sheet and bake as directed...easy!

Next up, my honey was in charge of the main meal cooking (since I am a baker by nature and a sorry excuse for a dinner chef!) and whipped up his seductive staple: roast chicken and root vegetables...yum. I won't spill his trade secrets to the perfectly crisp skin and utterly scrumptious veggies with rosemary essence, but you can trust me that this course was oh so good.

As the evening dwindled on and we let our indulgent tummy's settle a bit, I smiled knowing that I had saved the best for last, dessert. When I was thinking about what the most romantic sweet could be for our finale, I had one dish that seemed just right - chocolate covered strawberries. Not only are these incredibly easy, but they are also incredibly lovely when paired with a glass of bubbling champagne.

What is this easy trick of a dessert you ask? Shhh, its all in your microwave! Simply buy your favorite melting chocolate (I like to use Bakers semi-sweet because the bitterness of the chocolate is the perfect balance to a nice ripe strawberry) and place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until melted. Once your chocolate is nice and smooth, take your washed and fully dried strawberries and dunk away, making sure to brush off excess chocolate on the side of the bowl before placing on a cookie sheet lined with foil. After you have dipped all your strawberries, place them in the refrigerator until set (about 30 minutes). If you feel like going the extra mile, go ahead and melt some white chocolate too and drizzle over your chocolate after it has set! The are so delicious, so easy, and so romantic that you are sure to make your loved one smile with sweet delight.

So go ahead and order some romance in! It's not hard, easy even, to bring everything you love about date night right to your living room. As they say...home is where the heart is, and I agree!

Super Bowl Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:41:00 +0000

These cupcakes speak for themselves...touchdown in the sugar zone!

While most people count down for the Super Bowl with six packs and a bowl of wings, KelseyKakes hits the kitchen loaded with football fueled inspiration. Now I must admit, I am no expert in the sporting arena, but I am an expert of my oven and when Haydn and I decided to throw a Super Bowl party I knew exactly where I would be useful...in the kitchen! With the seven layer dip down and some pizza on order, I set to the bigger task at hand - cupcakes themed to match the biggest day of football all year.

Seeing as we were not rooting for a particular team this year, I decided that these cute little cakes would get some masculine love with frosting colored like grass and yard lines thinly piped with white buttercream frosting. But what would a Super Bowl cupcake be without the footballs?! These small pieces were made by hand rolling chocolate and adding laces stitched with frosting. Stick them on the 40 yard line and you've got yourself a first down!

So go ahead and get baking, there is no event to big or too small, too girly or too manly, cupcakes take the cake no matter what the occasion!

*TIP - to pipe on the frosting evenly and thinly, simply cut a small hole in the bottom tip of a Ziploc bag filled with frosting and pipe away!*

She's One Tough Cookie!

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:38:00 +0000

There really is some goodness in giving, and I don't mean the confectionery kind. As you know, each month I work with Operation Baking Gals to organize women from all over the country who fire up their ovens to bake, pack and ship goodies to our troops overseas. I have found unbelievable joy in this process and each month it gets even bigger and better with January increasing the momentum. That's because this month I had the utter joy of being honored by my company (Grey New York) as Giver of the Month for my baking effort with OBG. But the true icing on the cake was the full size posters were hung on every one of our 38 floors raising awareness and praise for the great work we do.

WOW, what an honor.

You see, December was our holiday round of baking so I knew we had to go above and beyond our own personal call of duty to really make this holiday away from home as comforting as we could for our soldiers...this meant more cookies than we ever thought possible! When faced with this mission I knew I had to recruit even more than my current on-line network of chefs, so I set out to transform my companies annual cookie exchange into a major bake session for the troops. And boy did they bake. In total Team KelseyKakes sent a whopping 85 pounds of cookies, bars and treats all the way across the world and into the hands of the men and women who we should thank most during the holidays. They work to keep us safe and in turn its our job to keep them well loved, plenty fed, and endlessly supported.

I feel so blessed to be recognized by my company for our efforts on behalf of Operation Baking Gals and a BIG thanks goes out to all the bakers who make Team KelseyKakes such a sweet success each and every month, it is truly humbling.

*To find out how to get involved in Operation Baking Gals please visit www.bakinggals.com or feel free to email me and join team KelseyKakes at kelseypm@hotmail.com*

Sweetness Down Under

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:19:00 +0000

The cupcake craze has headed down south...to Australia that is!

I recently had the luxury of heading to the magical world of Sydney to spend the holidays with my fiances family and soak up a little summertime Christmas. But I knew that this was going to be so much more than a vacation, I was going to use this trip to dig into the sugar coated culinary scene of the Southern Hemisphere.

Packed and ready to go, I armed myself with the best research on cookies, rolls and cupcakes - Australian style - and boy was I in for a journey. The biggest surprise of all was that the now famous little New York cupcake had made its mark on the downtown Sydney landscape. Amped with anticipation to study, critique and taste every cupcake I could get my hand on, I set off with an empty stomach and an open wallet.

Cupcakes on Pitt...

Now I have to admit, I was really looking forward to digging into the frosting coated world of Cupcakes on Pitt. I had read about the famous little treats all over the Australian blogosphere and I was counting down the days until one of them hit my taste buds. Walking with anticipation, I knew when we were close by the familiar 'cupcake line-up' of people. Growing more eager by the second we rounded the corner and in the front door...and what did I see? No wait...this cant actually be the bakery and these can't actually be the size of the cupcakes?! The interior was less of a cozy bakery and more of a sweatshop for sweet treats, with no oven in sight (unless you count the microwave in the back left corner). It was cold, and rushed, and very mass produced. I was losing hope for my Australian cupcake shop, though I kept the faith as I purchased a tiny little vanilla cupcake...surely they would make up for their lack of bakery charm and micro-cupcakes with flavor, pure flavor. Nope. The cake was dry and the frosting tasted like pure butter. It might have been a waste of one cupcake, but not to fear! We were on to the next bakery in 10 minutes flat!

The Cupcake Bakery...
Now this is a cupcake shop! I walked in to The Cupcake Bakery and immediately felt the familiar cozy feeling of light pinks, chocolate browns and the sweet sight of big, fluffy, delicious, pastel colored cupcakes. YUM. I ran to the counter anxious to clear my memory of the previous cupcake let down and I could feel it, I just knew, that this was going to be one amazingly tasty cupcake. Sometimes sweets are funny like that, you can tell just by looking at them. Sure enough, my eyes were as right as my stomach...these were good, really good. And best of all they were cute, and isn't that why we all love a cupcake?

The Neighborhood Bakery...

We cannot leave Australia without a special mention of a little local bakery in Manly that cooks all kinds of baked goods daily. We walked by this shop many times during our visit but this day was different. This day just happened to be my birthday and it also happened to be the day that a distant phone call came through the line telling me my grandmother had just passed away. I was sad. I hurt. I did know what to do, or how to feel.

As we walked passed the very traditional bakery window, Haydn's hand holding tightly to my smaller and far more fragile one, I spotted an incredibly homemade looking cupcake. It wasn't fancy, it didn't even have fluffy frosting, but it made me smile. Cupcakes do that, they add a little bit of light and laughter in even the darkest tunnel. I stood staring in the window and suddenly I knew this would be my special birthday cake...tiny, imperfect and yet completely wonderful. We bought two, one for each of us and strolled the short walk back home. Sitting down we took them out of their crinkled paper wrapper, one by one, and toasted...to the future, to us, to births and to deaths, to the cycle of life and to little cupcakes who's only gift is to keep on giving.

**A little bite of sweetness in memory of Goose**

Gluten-Free Cookies and Cream Cupcakes!

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:18:00 +0000

About once a month I am graced with the presence of my gluten-free goddess Sarah and each of these visits always includes a little bit of wheat-free wonderful. This trip was nothing different and before she even arrived we had decided that the whole day would be spent in my kitchen dawning aprons and oven mitts. As we already knew, the task would have to include some creativity as "gluten-free" is never an easy task to perfect on those pallets that crave the flour packed sweets that are usually generated from my kitchen (that would be our toughest critic and dessert lover, my fiance Haydn). We knew if we could get him to love our baked goods sans gluten, then we had perfected a job well done.

Off we went, armed with tapioca flour and xanthum gum, to my mixing bowl where we decided to go wild and create our own version of a cookies and cream cupcake. Using the basic gluten-free chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, we got the idea to throw in some crushed GF chocolate sandwich cookies that we found at Whole Foods into the batter for that extra sweet cocoa crunch. These baked up perfectly, but they were definitely missing the "cream" element that would seal the deal and kick up all the sweet flavor the batter had lost from lacking the gluten that a normal cupcake would have offered.

Thinking fast we knew we needed to work on the cream topping to pass our taste test. Using the same idea we had for the base, we got to crushing more cookies while mixing them into my basic buttercream frosting recipe and viola, we had the tastiest cookies and cream topping! It was only seconds before the icing was perfectly placed with an offset spatula and heading right into our hungry little tummies. Of course my gluten-free goddess loved them as we had just re-created a favorite that had been missing ever since her diagnosis with Celiac...but what about our toughest critic...did he think they were just as good as the original? Did they pass the test?

As they say, silence is golden...

Cookies & Buttercream Frosting Recipe

1 cup butter (softened to room temp)

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract 1/8 tsp salt

1 cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos or a gluten free variety)

1. In a bowl combine softened butter and salt. Beat until blended, light and fluffy using the whisk attachment on your mixer

2. Gradually add sugar until incorporated (stopping occasionally to scrap the sides of the bowl) - you may need a little more or a little less depending on you desired frosting thickness

3. Add milk, vanilla and beat for an additional 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy (don't over mix and add too much air...frosting should be thick and creamy)

4. Using a spatula mix in crushed cookies

5. Spread on cooled cupcakes and top with whole cookies for decoration!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:12:00 +0000

Who doesn't love to start their morning off with cake? I still applaud the woman (or man!) who decided to put the word 'coffee' in front of 'cake' so that everyone could feel good about eating dessert for, well, breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast...my wonderful sister was throwing me an engagement brunch the other weekend and knowing my sister (who's KitchenAid mixer is for decoration purposes only and has no measuring cups...yes I know, I don't know how either), I knew I was on call for a delicious treat that was both sweet and rich as it was breakfast. Since the little things in life excite me, I set running with joy to the dessert/breakfast section of my cookbook. A few swift page turns later I landed on what I knew would not only fill our bellies, but would give us an excuse to eat dessert at 10 a.m - Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

Now, this coffee cake is not for the faint of heart. It is rich, dense and oh so filled with sugared topping that swirls magically throughout the center. This cake...I mean breakfast...will keep you going all day, if not make you go back for seconds at lunch time. Dig in with a fork, spoon or just pick it up and gobble it down. Either way you slice it, this coffee cake is down right delish!

Ingredients

BATTER:

1 cup butter

1 3 /4 cups white sugar

2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (I use reduced fat, but whole works fine too...just not non-fat!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

TOPPING & FILLING:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 tablespoons melter butter

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Recipe

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan

TOPPING & FILLING:

2. In a medium bowl prepare the filling and set aside: mix 2/3 cups flour, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon

BATTER:

3. In a small bowl combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt - set aside

4. In another separate large bowl (or mixer), cream together butter and white sugar until light and fluffy (apx. 1-2 minutes)

5. Add in eggs, one at a time

6. Mix in sour cream and vanilla

7. Slowly add flour mixture until just combined

ASSEMBLY:

8. Pour half the batter into prepared pan

9. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture onto the cake batter

10. Spread the remaining batter over the filling and sprinkle with the rest of the topping mixture

11. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean (tip: tent the cake with foil for the last 20 minutes, it will keep the sugar topping from over browning)

**Make it your own: the center can be filled with whatever you crave...blueberries, apples, nuts, raisins, anything!

Operation Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:16:00 +0000

Operation Baking Gals round five was a November sensation. Woman from all over the US joined my team and came together, whisks in hand, to warm up their ovens in honor of our troop this month, Kevin Callen. Kevin is currently on his second service of duty in Iraq and was deployed on a few short days after his baby girl was born on September 15th. We were not only touched by Kevin's service in the marines, but by his endless dedication to his family and to the country we can all call home. In the Operation Baking Gals world, that is what we call a true hero.

It is needless say that we were truly inspired by Kevin this round and Team KelseyKakes really took off baking! We gathered around our cookbooks to make sure we sent over only the most heartfilled, home-inspired sweets that we could offer to our brave soldiers...and that counted for over 55 pounds of cookies this round! Wow.

Here is my personal batch of Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies:

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I like to use 1/2 whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups of rolled oats (not the instant kind)

1 2/3 cup of butterscotch chips

Recipe

1. Heat over to 375 degrees

2. In a large bowl (or standing mixer), beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy (apx. 2 minutes)

3. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well

4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt

5. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, stir until blended

6. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips by hand

7. Drop by tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets

8. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes

9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool

It is an honor to host Operation Baking Gals each month, and it is even more awe inspiring to find myself increasingly touched and humbled by every round. My bakers out there are truley selfless women and each new month seems to bring on more team members, more cookies and more love and support that we then get to send across the ocean to our troops in Iraq.

I decided to be a part of Operation Baking Gals as a way to heal, gain strength and deal with the heartache of losing a best friend who lost his own life while stationed in Iraq...in turn I have found so much more than I could have ever asked for. I have found a therapy in people, in my oven and in friendships that exisit so selflessly in the support of others. I have found troops, from all over our country, that I get to share my love for baking along with the love for my country all in the same box. I have found hope, strength and frosting covered happiness. But most of all, I have found that if we can make one solider feel our support, our love and a little closer to home...if only for a day...then we have succeeded in a job well done.

As we enter round five, the Holiday Baking Round, I hope I get to share these feelings and simple joys with all of you. If you would like to join Team KelseyKakes in my surgar coated quest to support our troops, feel free to join my team here, or email me at kelseypm@hotmail.com.

Likety-Split Pumpkin Pie

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:50:00 +0000

Pumpkin fest 2009 has come and gone leaving in its tracks a few pieces of pumpkin sage butter ravioli, an unopened Smuttynose Octoberfest and a half eaten pan of the easiest, most scrumptious, fresh from the oven, pumpkin pie.

I must say that I am not a pie person. There is just too much at stake with a pie crust...cutting the butter into the flour, rolling the dough to the perfect thickness and the expectations of a crust so flaky, you must have recived the recipe from your great grandmother. Pie crust falls under the pastry column and pastries leave little room for a KelseyKakes like kitchen error. Now with that said, I don't bake pies...but I do eat them! So when I found this recipe for an easy (and fast!) pumpkin pie on the Pillsbury website using a store bought pie shell, I was hooked and ready to complete my entire pumpkiny inspired menu. Enjoy and bake up!

Sugar Coated in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:53:00 +0000

Croissants, crapes, espresso, and chocolate. Bistros, leaves, love and autumn.

What better a place to eat and float your way through each minute of your day than Paris, France? I for one perused the streets of Paris spending all my time peeking in the rustic patisserie windows and nudging my head in the wooden doors just to take a sniff of the delacy and flavor that only a home baker could envy as much. That chocolate, those tarts, the pure indulgence of meranges that seem to peak higher than Everest. How do they do it?

There is a way with sweets in Paris, there is a love that is in every cut of cake and every flip of a crepe. Maybe its just me or the air in this romatic city, but they do things differently here. It's about beauty and flavor...without ever sacrificing either. Its the art, the form and the heart that you can feel on the tips of your taste buds in everything you touch.

It's delicious. It's beautiful. It's Paris in the fall time.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies!

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Lets take a culinary adventure back to the delicious decade of 1990 and an obsession that was equally as mouthwatering as it was to-die-for tasty: chocolate marshmallow cookies and Valley River Mall. Most of you will not know Valley River Mall, but I bet you do remember the old cookie stands that were a regular fixture in the suburban shopping paradise...the cookies were big (so big) and our favorite was a chocolate comatose of rich cocoa, gooey marshmallows and a smothering of luscious, fluffy frosting.

Not only was this cookie experience so memorable because of the sugared goodness that I can still taste to this day, but more importantly because it was my sister's first introduction into why the world of baking is so much more that an Oreo. In our 7 year old world, these cookies were gold and our allowance was currency. My sister LOVED these and she I will credit as my inspiration in the quest at recreating the cookies from our childhood that have long been lost in shopping mall turnover.

Ingredients

1 box of chocolate cake mix (I like devils food)

1/2 cup of butter

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of pure vanilla

1 bag of large marshmallows (cut each marshmallow in half and set aside)

Chocolate frosting (you can make it or by it canned - one can will do for this whole recipe and its easy!)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. With an electric mixer, cream butter (apx. 2 minutes)

3. Add cake mix, eggs and vanilla - mix until blended

4. Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet lined with parchment (I use a medium cookie scoop)

5. Bake @ 350 for 8- 9 minutes

6. Remove cookies from oven and quickly place 2-3 marshmallow halves sticky side down on top of the cookie

7. Place pan back in oven for 1 minute

8. Remove cookies again and use the back of a buttered spoon to lightly flatten and spread the melted marshmallow across the top of each cookie

9. Allow to cool and frost with the chocolate frosting, making sure to cover all the marshmallow

10. Eat, eat, and try to share :)

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:57:00 +0000

Operation Baking Gals round three started off this month by going back to the basics - Rice Krispies Treats!

I Bet if you ask yourself what the first sweet treat was that you were allowed to whip up as a youngster, you might be right with me in remembering the simplistic perfection of mini-marshmallows, butter and Rice Krispies. Though these might be the easiest culinary snack you will find on my blog, don't underestimate the smile power of these sugar packed treats...which is just why they made the perfect gift to send off to my soldier of the month, CPT Jackie Buzzard and her team, stationed in Iraq.

When baking for OBG's, my culinary outlook is a little different than my everyday relationship with my oven. On a regular basis I am usually inventing, experimenting and letting my imagination freely flow into my KitchenAid mixer...but OBG's is no regular cookie exchange my friends. With each and every round our goal is to bring these troops a little closer to home, remind them of our kitchens and all the goodness that they remember coming out of it. With that said, this month I decided to deliver the most basic (and most loved by all!) nostalgic American goodie with a little United States flare to boot. Taking the traditional recipe from right off the box, I melted, stirred and stuck my way to the perfect rectangular bar of sweetened cereal goodness. Top that off with a little dunk into melted white chocolate dusted with red and blue sprinkles and we have the perfect build on your favorite Kellog's Rice Krispie Treat.

So from my lunch box to yours, dig in.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of butter

4 cups of mini marshmallows (add 1 cup extra if you want marshmallow chunks in the end)

6 cups Rice Krispies

2 boxes of white dipping chocolate (or one bag of white chips)

Sprinkles of your choice

Recipe

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat

2. Add marshmallows and stir until completetly melted. Remove from heat (for extra whole marshmallow chunks, add the extra cup here)

3. Add Rice Krispies cereal and stir until coated

4. Using a buttered spatula, press mixture into a 13x9 inch pan coated in cooking spray

5. Once cool, cut into rectangles

6. In microwave, melt white chocolate according to package directions

7. Dip ends of Rice Krispie bars into melted chocolate

8. Sprinkle with desired coating and lay to set on foil coated in cooking spray (you might need to put these in the refrigerator to speed up the process)

9. EAT!

Cinnamon-Sugar Lavash Crackers

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:05:00 +0000

The September Daring Bakers challenge was a first for me as a newly appointed member of the monthly baking group...and what a first challenge it was. Straying away from the typical sweet tooth of challenges past, this month we were given the quest to make lavash crackers from our hosts Natalie of Gluten a Go Go and Shel from Musings from the Fishbowl (you can find their base lavish challenge recipe here). Now before you think that I have strayed from my sugar roots, I will have you know that I took their challenge and made it sweet! That's right, sweet, as in cinnamon-sugar crackers. And while they did taste yummy, I have to admit that I do not have a talent bone in my body for anything that has to do with yeast or bread dough. These were hard, seriously, and with the yeast I felt like I had no control. But, since the was my first challenge I decided not to get upset at not reaching perfection and to just enjoy the learning of kneading, rising and rolling!

But that's not all folks, they also gave us a second challenge this month which was a recipe all to our own...to create a dip that would compliment our delicious crackers. Sounds easy right? Wrong. This dip not only had to be tasty, but it also had to be vegan and gluten-free! Okay, okay, how hard can that be you ask? Well, when dipping in the sweet world, not much is made without butter and dairy. So, my first instinct was to go right for the honey jar. Sure, I couldn't make honey butter, but I knew I could make something lip smacking good, and I would have, only I just found out honey isn't vegan...ugh!

After a few cups of coffee and a good long brainstorm, I had it. I would make raisin chutney. No animals, no wheat, just sweet raisins were involved here. So without further adieu, here is my raisin chutney recipe that was the perfect partner to my cinnamon sweet crackers.

Ingredients

1 cup of raisins (soaked in hot water for 15 minutes before use)

2 tablespoons of hot water

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of sugar (or more to taste)

1/2 of a fresh lemon juiced (apx. 2 tablespoons)

Recipe

1. After raisins have been soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, drain

2. In a blender, combine all ingredients adding lemon juice last

3. Pulse until the ingredients have come together and the mixture has formed a course consistency

4. Dip away!

Cupcakes, friends and rain...oh my!

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:45:00 +0000

As our end of summer BBQ was showered down upon by the chily city rain, I thought what better a way to brighten up the bash than a good oldfashioned cupcake covered in sparkling sprinkles. With determination, I set out in the storm to buy my goods and hunker down in my little kitchen for what would be a favorite weekend afternoon in my book...cupcake frosting. Yeah, the mixing part, the baking part and the licking the bowls part is pretty fun, but the frosting part takes the cake - pun intended!

I dont know if its the delecate nature of the sugar mixed goodness, or the endless decorating possibilities that it gives you, but frosting is my numero uno. It's the frosting that perfects the whole cake, and for me, its all about the buttercream. I have tried a few different variations on this tried and true recipe, even a merange buttercream (which is the what they use at cafes like Buttercup Bakery and Crumbs), but I always end up coming back to the basic: Confectioners Sugar Buttercream. This type of frosting is spread over the likes of the famous Sprinkles and Magnolia Bakery and I favor it as my topping to be. Everyone has a different oppinion though and cupcake connesours are a plenty out there...so whip up a batch or two of this vanilla buttercream frosting and try for yourself...I bet you'll find this recipe actually tastes better than your $4 treat down the street!

Ingredients

1 cup butter (softened to room temp)

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Recipe

1. In a bowl, combine butter and salt. Beat until blended, light and fluffy (I use the whisk attachment on my KitchenAid mixer)

2. Gradually add sugar until incorporated (stopping occasionally to scrap the sides of the bowl)

3. Add milk, vanilla and beat for and additional 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy (don't over mix and add too much air, frosting should be thick and creamy)

4. Grab you piping bag and go crazy, or just roll the edges in sprinkles like I did. Its such a dramatic effect with little effort!

*Something to remember - you MUST have your butter softened or you will get lumpy frosting and no one smiles at lumpy frosting

Cupcakes 101

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:38:00 +0000

If study halls were made of sugar...and homework was glazed in liquid fondant and chocolate ganache...you would find yourself right next to me in my latest educational endeavor at the Institute of Culinary Education, Cupcakes Workshop 1.

*Getting Ready!*

Now, as much as I would like to say that I am a full time student in frosting and flour, this was actually a recreational class taught in the evenings by the endlessly talented Melanie Underwood. She spends the 5 hours of sweetness teaching you to whip your way to successful butter cake batter, beat a better buttercream and pipe a fancier frosting. The class runs the gamut of the sugar obsessed, from professional bakers to inexperienced friends who just came along for the ride, there is a place for every baker in this kitchen.

As the clock struck 6 pm, we were off and running. Melanie began the class with a few explanations of how our recipes for the evening would be concocted and delivered some must share tips in the process! Did you know that when you cream together your butter and sugar for a cake batter you should be mixing them for apx. 10 minutes?! Here I was all these years mixing for two minutes max...mostly because I was impatient to cook my creation, but more so that I just didn't understand the difference it makes...and wow, what a fluffier and smoother end product! You must now give yourself that extra time...read a book, eat some frosting, just do it.

Another tip that I am dying to share is all about the flour (you will thank me for this one, and even get back some of the time you lost during creaming)! Instead of slowly scooping bit by bit of your dry ingredients into the bowl (ho hum), you should actually be dumping the whole thing in at once. That's right, just stop your machine and dump it right on in. The time you save doing this is actually the time you save the gluten from over producing and giving you gummy cupcakes, yuck! *Just make sure you don't turn your mixer on high right out of the shoot or you will be wearing it!

Other quick tips...then onto the cupcakes: 1) once you mix the batter, its okay for it to sit out for a little while if you are baking in batches...it doesn't all need to be poured at once. 2) crack all your eggs into a bowl and beat them before adding to the batter (just use your eye to add "one" egg at a time) 3) speaking of cracking, do you know you get a better break if you crack right on the counter surface vs. a bowl? 4) you can substitute out vanilla for any flavor imaginable in you basic vanilla cake and frosting, even alcohol (just be conscious of the ratios). Armed with all the tips and tools I needed, I was off to the races. Let the baking begin!

A snowball of sugar, yum!

Fresh edible flowers really make these pop!

Ohhh, Ahhh...

Sunflower Sunshine Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Who knew sunflower butter could be so, YUM?

I was a bit skeptical about giving this cookie of an experiment a try, but in the constant pursuit of a "better for you" treat I was lead down a very different path. You see, these cookies stem from what I call 6 degrees of 'inspiration' (from my cookie that is)!

It all started with my girlfriend who is robbed of the deliciousness that is anything and everything baked with flour or gluten, so I knew these had to be gluten free. This my friends, is a serious task. In my baking heart, I knew I was not yet ready to get involved with the alternative flour mixing magic that is a safe, gluten free blend...so I decided my little treat had to simply not include gluten at all. Well, if you have tried this before, you know that it pretty much leaves you with peanut butter cookies and macaroons. So, armed with my basic peanut butter cookie recipe and a new carton of eggs, I was set to dig in to my Kitchen Aid mixer right when I arrived home from work.

But, where's the 6 degree twist you ask? Here it comes...

As I was ready to leave the office, groceries in tow, a girlfriend of mine was arriving back from the allergist..."allergic to peanuts". Seeing the desperate heartache in here eyes I knew I had to cheer her up through sugar on her tastebuds ASAP. My mission: these cookies now had to be nut free too, but how? Cue sunflower butter!

Many more degrees of inspiration came from aisle 6 at the local Whole Foods and before I knew it I was cutting and creating at top speed. The end result was delicious if not magnificent. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of nutritional benefits sunflower butter has to offer, who knew?!

So here they are...a little good for you, a little bad, a little sweet, a little salty...'little' however, does not preclude their wondrous flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups sunflower butter (stirred)

2 cups light brown sugar (optional - 2 cups white sugar and add 1 tsp molasses)

2 eggs (beaten)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup granulated sugar (on the side to roll dough in)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a mixing bowl, combine sunflower butter, sugar and beaten eggs until combined

3. Add vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda and salt

4. Mix well

5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and dip into granulated sugar

6. Place balls on foil/parchment paper lined baking sheet (if dough is too sticky, refrigerate for 30 minutes)

7. Using a fork, press balls slightly to make a classic crisscross pattern on the top

8. Bake for 9-10 minutes (until light brown)

9. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack

10. Store in refrigerator, they will go bad if left at room temperature

11. EAT!

*Makes 2 dozen

Operation Quick Bread Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:13:00 +0000

They say that home is where the heart is, and sweets are baked with love. This morning, I found that to be my motto of the day as I stirred, mixed and scooped my way to the perfect cookie. You see, today was my first official bake off with Operation Baking Gals and I was baking for Staff Sergeant Daryl and his US Air Force team, so I wanted everything to be perfect. All I could think about is making a cookie that exemplified my heart and support for our troops in Iraq and the hope that the second they untied the meticulously wrapped brown paper box, I could feel the smiles from across the ocean.

Backed with the support of my team, Hungry Fox, I grabbed my oven mitts, armed my self with my favorite Pottery Barn green spatula and hit the oven running. Today I decided that I would make something a little different than the average cookie, something fresh and light to get them through those hot summer days in the Iraq sunshine...this led me to a simple but tasty recipe I have had stacked in my recipe pile for ages from the Pillsbury website. With a few modifications, I think I have created the perfect, yet refreshing, cookie that will no doubt fill the bellies of our soldiers and pile on the smiles.

Cran-Orange Quick Bread Cookies

Ingredients

1 package Pilsburry Cranberry Quick Bread and Muffin Mix

3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup sweetend dried cranberries

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/2 cup oil (I use a little less than 1/2c.)

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 eggs

Recipe

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl/standing mixer, combine quick bread mix, oats, coconut, cranberries and orange peel. Mix well.

3. To dry mixture, add oil, orange juice and eggs. Mix well.

4. Drop by heaping teaspoons (I used a medium sized cookie spoon) onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

5. Bake 10-13 minutes

6. Cool on wire rack

7. If desired, frost with basic powdered sugar glaze:

- 1/2 cup powdered sugar

- enough juice squeezed straight from the orange to make a glaze

- spoon over top of cooled cookies

*Makes 2-3 dozen

Variations: You can really use any flavor of quick bread mix, from pumpkin to lemon, and adjust the add-ins, like walnuts for cranberries or lemon zest for orange.

*In loving memory of Army Spc. Chase R. Whitham*

Gluten-Free Goodness

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:42:00 +0000

Oh YUM!

What more can I say...nothing says the end to a perfect weekend quite like a big retro bakery sign yelling at you from a crowded New York sidewalk. But then again, it didn't actually come upon me out of the blue. It came to me through my gluten-free goddess, Sarah.

Ever since I moved to New York City, she has been emailing me and sending me letters (yes, snail mail) about this amazing bake shop called Babyca kes. But this is not just another cupcake shop gone Manhattan, this is a quaint little nook in the cranny of the Lower East Side. Babycakes prides itself on sweet baked goodness for the alternative spirit of the allergen tummy. Treats here are not only gluten-free, they are free of refined sugar and vegan (this sounds scary, but I promise you, its not).

These cupcakes are naturally sweetened with agave nectar and in the place of eggs and ultra bad for you butter, you will find heart healthy coconut oil. No artificial colors, no refined flour, no guilt...unless you eat 5, which we did. Nothing but goodness is left behind in these cupcakes. Not even my boyfriend and sweet tooth master could taste anything different about these delectable treats (well, we didn't necessarily tell him they were GOOD for you, that would ruin the fun, but you get the point). Just look at them...you too will never miss the processed sweets again. This is a one stop shop for the perfect cupcake.

When you are finished, top it all off with a quite stroll through China Town on the way home (to walk off the many treats that you will undoubtedly want to try) and you will have completed one perfectly delicious day in the Big Apple!

My Gluten-Free Girl!

Operation Baking Gals

noreply@blogger.com (KelseyKakes) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:53:00 +0000

Today is a very special post, that is not about my recipes per say, but rather about making my recipes mean something to others. As I was surfing my daily baking blogs, I stumbled across a blog...rather a movement...that is getting together to bake cookies and treats for our soldiers overseas called Operation Baking Gals. Instantly, I was drawn in knowing I had found my calling to put my oven to work in the most positive way.

Having lost my best friend Chase in Iraq in back in 2004, I found this the perfect way to honor his memory, and to combine my passion of baking, to help support all of our men and women out there that go through so much everyday just to stand up for what we believe in. I want them all to know we thank them and applaude them...and what a better way to send love than in a homemade chocolate chip cookie?

A little more on Operation Baking Gals...Operation Baking GALS will be supporting our troops every month, once a month, and instead of our soldiers getting deodorant and soap, they'll be getting the one thing they can't get from the canteen - Homemade goodies made with LOVE. They will be assigning a different soldier to certain sub-groups of bakers each month so that we spread the love, and that way, a homesick troop will have a package with HIS name on it, filled with goodies to share. Now, does that not sound like one amazing movement?! I am so honored to be a part of this and if you would like to get involved too, please go visit Susan's website linked above.

I will keep you updated via my postings and share all the goodness I will be sending over too.

What a treat.