Tasty Tuesday

Coconut-Raspberry Linzer Bars:

 1 1/2 cups flour            1/4 tsp salt      

                 1 cup slivered almonds            1/4 tsp ground ginger (or cloves)

               1/2 cup sweetened coconut           3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup sugar           2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon         1 cup raspberry jam   

1/2 tsp grated lemon                                      

Here are several of the ingredients. 
Process the first 8 ingredients in a food processor until almonds are finely ground.

Add butter: pulse 10 times or until crumbly.

Add egg yolks; process 15 seconds or until dough forms a ball.

Mine didn't mix all the way, so I had to finish mixing it by hand.

TA-DA!

Set aside 1/3 of dough.  Press remaining dough in bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a lightly greased 11x7 in. baking dish.  Spread jam to edges of dough.
(oops, I didn't put dough up the edges.)
I  didn't get a picture of the jam being spread on the top.  It all happened so fast!

Roll out remaining dough to 1/4 in thickness.  Cut dough into 1/2 in wide strips; carefully arrange strips over jam in a lattice design.
This was harder than it sounded! 
The dough was sticking to the counter. So, I took care of that with some flour, but then the strips kept breaking when I tried to pick them up.   

But as you can see, I was able to complete the task!
Bake at 325* for 36-38 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool in pan on a wire rack. 
Cut into bars and enjoy!!

I did not have an 11x7 pan, so I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9 x 13 in pan. 

 I had some left over to make a small one.

I hope you enjoy them and that they were OK after being man-handled by the USPS.  

It is a pretty crumbly cookie. 

You may just want to put it in a bowl, pour milk over it and eat it with a spoon. lol!

Getting Back To Life

How long has it been since I wrote anything? mmmm, it's been a while.  Things have been crazy around here.

So crazy, that as of January 2012, I have decided not to sell cakes from my kitchen anymore.  I still have a cookie of the month club, but I am not chained to my kitchen on the weekends.  The first few weeks in January, I couldn't say the words "no more cake", but I would tell people I was on a sabbatical.  The next few weeks, I could say "no more cake", but I would cry. (sorry if you tried to order a cake at that time)  Now, no problem.  I can even say it with a smile.  At the beginning, I felt like I had lost my identity.  I was no longer the "Cake Lady".  I walked around in circles, looking for something to do.  I wasn't sure what to do with all my free time. 

When the weather started getting warmer... in Texas, it happens about February, I started a garden and cleaned up my backyard.  I also started cooking different meals for my family.  No more spaghetti, tacos, and porkchops every night. 

I look forward to sharing all I am doing with you.  I will take pictures and show you my garden, share new recipes, and hopefully, I will get back to crafting, which I have missed.  I really need to paint my entryway.  (any voluteers?) Yeah, that's why it's not painted yet.  Maybe this summer.

Join the Cookie of the Month Club

Just add milk!  Treat yourself or someone you love to delicious homemade cookies.  Once a month, you will receive 1 dozen cookies to be delivered to your doorstep.  Cookies for a month or cookies for a year, you pick the number of months.  Great for birthdays, holidays, care packages or just a special "I'm thinking of you".    

$12 for a dozen cookies shipped straight to your door
$7 for local deliveries

Please email me to place your order. Any special greeting can be included. cakesbykatherine@yahoo.com

Busy, Busy

It has been a while since I have had any time to post.  The last post was in August when I was getting my kids ready for school.  Since then, I have been busy baking, running my kids to all their activities, and trying to keep all the other plates in the air.  This is the time of year when I reflect on all my decisions to participate in various activities.  "What was I thinking?...."  Then, I think of all the ways I have been blessed by all the people I come in contact with in all those various activities.  I do love my life in all it's busyness.  I know that this is only a season and things will start to slow down, eventually.  But until then, I have to enjoy the ride that God has given me.

Cookie of the Month

Wow... Has it been that long since I posted last?  Sorry.  It was a very busy summer, but I am glad to announce that today was the first day of school.  Everyone had a very successful day and feels great about the start of 3rd, 9th and 11th grade.  I am feeling successful because I was able to make, bake and mail my cookie of the month.  Here's the clue...

They should be in your mailbox by Wednesday.  Enjoy! 

Birthday Cakes

Here are the birthday cakes I worked on the last couple of weeks.

 

This is a smash cake for Caleb's first birthday.  Caleb gets this all to himself.

You can't have watermelon without ants.

These are watermelon shaped sugar cookies that went with the cake.

I just love Ella!!  I've been making cakes for her since she was born.

Those are sugar cookie dog bones dusted in sugar. They put 3 dozen dog bone cookies in a dog bowl by the cake.

Cake is what i do and cake is what i love!!   

iCAKE

Cookie Are In The Mail

I mailed cookies yesterday (Thursday) morning.  You should get them tomorrow.

I have to apologize in advance to someone who didn't get a monthly card in their box.  Once I had taped all the boxes closed, I realized I had an extra paper.  Let me know if you are the lucky one.

Cookie of the Month Clue

 

To Date or Not to Date?......

Graduation Cakes

Last week, I was busy making graduation cakes.  Here's a peek.

What do you do with all those cakeballs?

Before I even start making cake balls, I make little boxes to put them in.  My kids get mad, because they only fit 2 cake balls in them.  Adidas says it is just enough to make them want more.  If she only knew how many calories are in those little balls, she might understand that 2 is more than anyone should eat in a month!

Trace the pattern and score the lines

cut out boxes and stamp with ink stamps

Here is what the finished box looks
 like.  I take them to my kids schools for teacher gifts.  Everyone loves cake balls!!

Happy Mother's Day

To all you groovy moms out there!

What do you do with left over cake?

With all the cakes I bake, there is always some left over.  Here is what I do to use it up:

Take the left over cake and mix it with cream cheese frosting. (Can frosting is ok, but homemade is always best.)

Crumble the cake and then slowly add frosting.  Mixture should be moist, but not stick to you fingers.

Next, ball the mixture.  I know what this looks like, but trust me, these are GOOD!!

Next, melt chocolate or almond bark.  Add a little vegetable oil so the chocolate isn't to hard when it dries.

Once coated, let dry on a wax covered cookie sheet.

Put some melted bark in a freezer baggie, cut a small corner off and decorate.

Voila!  Your first CAKEBALL!  YUM!

Hindsight is always better than foresight

When I made my cookies of the month, my thought was... bigger is always better.  I cut out my cookies, baked, and frosted them.

When I went to package them up to send, I had a BIG problem.  The cookies where to big to lay flat in the box.  Ugh!

 Sorry if your cookies are all smashed and crumbled.  This was a big lesson for me... Bigger isn't always better and Measure once cut twice, just measure first!!  I hope you enjoy them all the same.

Busy in the kitchen

I have been busy making cakes, cupcakes and cookies.  Take a peek.

 These are pictures from last weekend.

It has been busy the last couple of weekends.  YAY!!  I love cake and frosting.  YUM!

Cookie Clue for May

This is what happens when two ingredients come together...

Sugar +

Butter =

LOVE

Busy in the Kitchen

I have been so busy in my kitchen, I haven't posted anything.  Sorry about that...  Here is my latest project:

First, I screwed in a piece of plywood.

Next, I nailed in a piece of galvanized metal.  It has to be galvanized to be magnetic.

Drink lots... I mean lots of wine!!

 1

Lay out the corks to see if you need to drink more wine...

I glued the corks on with a 60 minute epoxy glue.  

TADA!  Doesn't it look wonderful?

I also hung up my coke sign.  All is well again in the cocina!