Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts

Friday, March 11, 2011

Shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day

March is upon us, and with it, St. Patrick's Day! To celebrate, I decided to make some treats that would put me in the spirit, and also maybe make me feel a little bit more Irish. Honestly, my lineage is sort of foggy in some ways, and for all I know I might be Irish. Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, right?

Mint & Chocolate Shamrock Cookies

I started off with a basic veganized Spritz cookie recipe, because I wanted to try out my new cookie press. I added green food coloring and peppermint extract to the batter, and used the shape that looked most like a four-leaf clover. To add to the deliciousness, I turned them in to sandwich cookies by melting chocolate and using it as a filling. To finish it off, I added a bit of edible green sparkles for shine! 

Stack o' Shamrocks
 
Close-up of the shine!

The cookies tasted like a minty version Peppridge Farm Milano Cookie, and they were really fun to make! Do you like to make any food to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? I myself, am also hoping to make some Irish Soda Bread, cabbage, and potatoes. Yum!


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Hearts for Valentine's Day

You may have noticed that one of my favorite colors is pink. My blog is pink, my KitchenAid Mixer is pink, and most of my cooking utensils are pink! Obviously, it was about time for me to make some pink cookies. Lucky for me, I was approached to make some Valentine's Day cookies by a buyer on Etsy. She had ordered my Holiday Sugar Cookies, and thought it might be nice to have some for Valentine's Day, too. I wholeheartedly agree! Here are the cuties I created for her. 




As adorable as fully decorated cookies can be, they are a challenge to ship. When I make them, I allow them to dry fully first (usually overnight). Then, I package them very carefully. After some trial and error, I found that the best method for avoiding breakage and smudging is to wrap them individually in waxed paper. It's a bit more waste, unfortunately, but it ensures that the cookies arrive safely and intact. Obviously, I can never know exactly how they'll arrive to my customer; sometimes items arrive with a bit of damage if the postal carrier happens to throw the box around more than usual. Luckily, though, nine times out of ten the yummies arrive safely and in perfect condition!

Decorated sugar cookies are by far the most delicate thing available from my shop, so I wanted to try out some new methods that might make shipping and handling a little simpler. Though I never made them growing up, I have been aware that sugar cookies are also often made with thinner icings that harden completely when they dry. So I did some research, and decided to give the icing from this recipe a go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any corn syrup on hand, so I had to substitute with the closest thing I had: agave syrup. Things did not turn out as pretty as the picture.

Icing bubbles and crackles

As you can see, when the icing dried, lots of impurities started showing up, and it sort of looked like it had a bad case of freezer burn. Not pretty!



On the plus side, it was really easy to adjust the color with this icing, and I think I created a pretty nice ombré effect with the different shades of pink. Another plus is that they dried nice and solid, so stacking them was a breeze. Also not to be ignored was the taste. They really were delicious with this icing recipe! I think I'll give this a go again soon (St. Patrick's Day shamrocks?), and this time using corn syrup, and making extra sure everything is completely blended. Perhaps those adjustments will yield more attractive results.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

Sunday, January 9, 2011

New Photographs

One of my goals for the beginning of this year is to re-photograph quite few of my items. Now that I've invested in a quality camera, I can get better, more detailed images of the treats so you can see them in their full glory. I began with two of my top sellers, Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies and Oatmeal Walnut Cookies (formerly called "Autumn Oatmeal Cookies"). Here are the results!

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

 


Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

So far, I'm pleased with my results! Next weekend, I'm hoping to tackle a few more. Soon, I'll have a shop full of pretty pictures. I can't wait!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

A Little Bit Crazy!

Sorry for the long absence! Things have been positively crazy for me lately, and I don't even have the time for a proper post for you today. However, I will share a little bit of photo fun from last night's sugar cookie decorating extravaganza. 

A Rainbow of Frosting!

For those of you who have placed orders recently, thank you so much! It's my first real Holiday Rush. And quite a rush it is! I'll be baking every night this week, and all weekend too. Seriously cool. 

For more information on Augusta Vegan Bakery's holiday offerings, check out my Etsy site. Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Halloween Party

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Halloween weekend! I know that Halloween has passed, but I wanted to share with you some highlights from our party on Saturday night. The food was delicious (if I do say so myself), and the decór was a lot of fun. The fiancé and I worked our butts off all day Saturday, but it was worth it. I think everyone had a great time, and I know I did!

Halloween Luminary
Boo! Door Sign

We greeted our guests with some cute Halloween decorations outside: homemade luminaries along the walkway and a festive "Boo!" garland on the front door. For the luminaries, I drew halloween shapes on to white paper bags with a sharpie marker. Then, I filled the bottom with sand and placed a tea light candle inside. We had seven total luminaries, four on the walkway and three on the porch. For the "Boo!" sign, I bought glittery letters that were made for scrapbooking, and pasted them on to construction paper circles. I used a white grease pen (aka China Marker) to make the polka dots around the outside. Then I attached them to a string of black beads and attached the whole thing to the front door.

The bar, nicknamed "Lethal Libations"
The mantle with gourds, pumpkins, and spiderwebs
Creepy pictures in the photo frames
"Bloody" Candles

Inside the house, we decorated with colorful fabrics, gourds, spiderwebs, and red roses. Using images from the Graphics Fairy, I replaced all of our photos with spooky vintage drawings and etchings. I also made "bloody" candles and placed them throughout the house. I didn't have any taper candle holders, so I used old wine bottles instead. I think they added a more gothic feel to the table and mantle. To make the candles look "bloody," I lit a red candle and let the wax drip on to the white ones. Super simple!

And now for the FOOD! Which is going to make this post pass for a Vegan MoFo post, right? Right.


Maniacal Stuffed Mushrooms
Sinister Sandwiches
Autumn Latkes with Horseradish "Sour Cream"
Savory Pumpkin Puffs

For appetizers and finger food, we made a nice variety of dishes from some of my favorite cookbooks. The first, the "Maniacal Stuffed Mushrooms," are better known as the Panko Stuffed Mushrooms from Veganomicon. Next were mini "egg" salad sandwiches, from the Tassajara Cookbook. The Autumn Latkes with Horseradish Sour Cream also came from Veganomicon, and were an unexpected surprise. I hadn't made them before, but they went over really well. Also, the beets in them made them reddish and spooky looking! Finally, I veganized a Martha Stewart recipe for Savory Pumpkin Puffs by using vegan puff pastry, Earth Balance, and Daiya cheese. I also added more paprika to the "butter"spread on top to make them a little more orange. They were delicious, and looked adorable!


Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Cookies
Halloween Cupcakes
A clearer shot of the cupcakes
For dessert, we had my Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Cookies, as well as vanilla and chocolate Halloween-themed cupcakes. Both were a big hit! To display the cupcakes, I put together a festive two-tiered cake stand using some dishes and black fabric. It was a little dark, so I also threw in a picture of the cupcakes right after we frosted them. I think they're quite adorable. 

I think the party was a huge success. Almost everyone dressed up, and they looked great. We had a Raggedy Ann and Andy, Magenta from Rocky Horror Picture Show, Leela from Futurama, a homemade superhero, an adorable black cat, a nerd, and Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Fiancé squeezed himself into a child-size purple crayon costume, which was hilarious. I capitalized on my ridiculous new braces and went as a nerd child. The food was devoured, and so was the wine. That, to me, is the sign of a very good party. Success! 

What did you do for Halloween this year?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

New Listing: Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

Well, I finally won the battle with pumpkin! After much experimentation and trial-and-error, I was able to create a really yummy spiced pumpkin pecan cookie. I'm really proud of how they turned out! With the soft center, crunchy pecans, and warm spiced pumpkin flavor, these cookies will be great for the holiday season.
Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Cookies, available on Etsy.

I'm planning on serving them at my Halloween party, and hopefully will be making them again for Thanksgiving.



It's been a while since I've added something new to the site. I'm very happy about it! Hopefully there will be much more to come, especially with the holidays coming up. I love holiday cookies. What are your favorites?

Monday, August 16, 2010

End-Of-Summer Sweet Treats: Orange Pistachio Cookies

Yesterday, my fiance and I ventured out for a delicious adventure to the farmer's market. Between the gorgeous California morning sunshine and the brightly colored fruits and vegetables, it was the perfect way to celebrate the last few weeks of summer. Visiting the market at this time of year is always exciting, because it's peak season for local farmers. Beyond the usual stands with beautiful dark green kale, graceful leeks, and fragrant herbs, you can enjoy the summer-specific sweet corn, luscious peaches, and succulent strawberries. All of these natural goodies got my mind reeling, and my creative juices flowing.



The first treat born from this newfound creativity occurred just this morning, while I was still at work with nothing to do. What a perfect time to get baking! So I stretched my imagination and came up with these little beauties: Orange Pistachio Cookies.



These are delightful cookies, just bursting with orange fragrance. The sugar coating adds a sweet crunch while the inside remains soft and almost cake-like. Chopped pistachios add a touch of texture, and a perfect complimentary flavor for the orange. I made these using applesauce as an egg replacer, as well, which was new for me. I think it performed just perfectly, and it didn't add any unwanted apple flavor.



What a fun experiment! I'm really happy with the results. So happy, in fact, that I added them as an item on my Etsy shop. Check them out here.

Summer is a great time to taste some delicious local fruits and vegetables, so if you haven't visited a farmers' market yet, I highly encourage you to do so! As you can see, it can produce some excellent results. Stay tuned this week for another farmers' market-inspired treat!