Pop-Up Shop Pictures and New Event Announcement

I'm pleased to say that {Sweet Fancies} Pop-Up Shop in the Park was a success! We had an amazing time and thank the family and friends who came out to support us and hang out with us at our first pop-up shop! Once the weather warms back up, we are definitely planning on doing more. If you missed {Sweet Fancies}, fear not! Gypsy Dust Vintage and I will be selling our goods at Glenview Elementary's Holiday Bazaar in Oakland. The event will take place at the school on Friday, December 9th from 3:00-7:00pm. I have not finalized my menu but we will definitely have some brownie bites, cookies and mini cupcakes. Hope to see you there!

Also, be sure to like Bombshell Baking on Facebook and follow @BombshellBaking on Twitter!

Delicious baked goods in a beautiful park? Yes, please!

With Katie-Lyn of Gypsy Dust Vintage

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Molasses Spice Cookies, Sea Salt Brownie Bites and Mini Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Flowers, flour, butter and sugar

Our two shop set up

Gotta be cute

Cooking for my Bestie

A few weeks ago I visited my best friend, Ruchi in St. Louis, where she attends med school. We checked out the gorgeous fall foliage, ate frozen custard, went on a brewery tour at Anheuser-Busch, attended a lovely Thanksgiving potluck and even attended a boot camp class. The trip was especially fun since I lived in St. Louis for a few years when I was in junior high but haven’t been back in years, so everything felt both familiar and new at the same time.

18 years of friendship 

While I was there, I had a few opportunities to play in Ruch’s kitchen. For the Thanksgiving feast I made my brownies (by request) sprinkled with sea salt. The second dish was a bit more of an adventure…

The life of a medical student is pretty much filled with studying, class, and more studying, so I decided to save Ruch some time by making her food for the week. The requirements? Healthy, vegetarian and preferably with veggies. Also, whatever she happened to have with her kitchen. I ended up making something that was healthy, filling and colorful that looked and smelled as delicious as it tasted. I enjoyed it when I came home I recreated it in my own kitchen. And best of all? It’s easy. Recipe and photos after the jump. 

{Sweet Fancies} Pop-Up Shop in the Park: This Saturday!

Ever wanted to try some of the delicious things I've made here? Put in an order for the holidays? Check out some amazing vintage and handmade gifts? Come to {Sweet Fancies} Pop-Up Shop in the Park! My friend, Katie-Lyn (of Gypsy Dust Vintage) and I will be selling our goods in Codornices Park in Berkeley this Saturday, November 12th from 12-4pm. We will also be have some delicious samples. Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday to Me!

So apparently when you’re a baker, everyone gets you desserts for your birthday. There was a serious sugar situation at my house, in the most delightful of ways. Cupcakes, brownies, frosting, macaroons….so many sweets! And, a very special heart-shaped birthday cake by my friend, Angela (and her baking assistant, Danielle). Since the cake was assembled at my house, I had the privilege of witnessing her process in action. The cake is chocolate with an espresso frosting (yum!) topped with shaved coconut and fresh raspberries. Happy birthday to me, indeed!

Cutting the top heart

Shapes together

Frosting!

Mmmmm....raspberries

My birthday cake!

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

As many of you will most certainly know, I think Joy the Baker is pretty rad. So, when Tracie (of Tracie’s Tastie Treats) and I were searching for something new to make, her blog was an obvious choice. On this particular day, our usual sweet fare just wasn’t appealing to us, so we decided to venture into the savory with these Whole Wheat Garlic Knots. The process of making the knots was fun, and they ended up looking very pretty. They were great on their own, but found they paired beautifully with my homemade spaghetti (post coming soon). I have to admit, stepping into the world of savory baking made me feel pretty legit. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots (from Joy the Baker)

What you need…

·         1 package active dry yeast, about 2 1/2 teaspoons

·         1 cup warm water (just warmer than body temperature)

·         1 cup whole wheat flour

·         1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         1 teaspoon sea salt

·         2 teaspoons sugar

·         For the garlic mixture:

·         4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

·         2 tablespoons melted butter

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         1/4 cup chopped parsley

·         1/2 teaspoon sea salt

What to do…

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar with warm water.  Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is frothy.  That means it’s alive and ready to go.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours and salt.  Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture.  Pour in the yeasty water and add oil.  With a fork, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  If the dough is too sticky, add more all-purpose flour.  Dough should be slightly sticky, but not stick to your hands too much.\

3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Place dough in a large greased bowl.  Flip the dough over to coat the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel, and leave to rest in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, or until the dough is doubled in size.  At this point, you can make the garlic knots, or let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight.  Just bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out.

4. When ready to prepare the garlic knots, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface.  Roll into a 10-inch by 10-inch square.  Roughly…. it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Use a pizza cutter to slice 10 1-inch stripes.  Tie a knot in the center of the dough, and wrap the ends under and around the knot.  This doesn’t have to be perfect either… just make sure that the dough is all tucked into itself.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

5. Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place dough knots on prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

6. While bread bakes, in a large bowl whisk together minced garlic, butter, olive oil, parsley and salt.  When rolls come out of the oven, immediately toss them in the garlic butter mixture.  Toss until coated and remove from the butter bowl.  Serve rolls warm.

Rolls are best served the day they’re made, but will last for 3 days if well wrapped.  Just reheat in a piece of foil in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Tracie and I seem to always bake with wine...

...and cheese

Kneading the dough

Pre-baked garlic knot

Butter, garlic and parsley? Yes, please.

I'm not gonna lie, these are some pretty sexy garlic knots

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

There are two things you may notice when reading my blog, the first being I really love citrus and the second, I really love baking with Tracie. Being that both Tracie and I love pie, we decided to try this refreshing Sour Cream Lemon Pie. It was pretty tasty goodness. We left off the whipped cream because, well, it’s overrated. We also used frozen pie crust, because sometimes you just want to eat the pie. And eat pie we did.

Sour Cream Lemon Pie (From Chaos in the Kitchen)

What you need…

• 1 9-inch pie crust
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sour cream
• whipped cream, for topping (optional)

What to do…

1. Carefully pat pie crust into a pie dish and flute the edges. Prick all over the bottom and sides with a fork. Bake at 350°F abour 8 minutes or until golden brown (or follow the instructions on the package…hehe)
2. In a sauce pan combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice, egg yolks and milk. Heat over medium, whisking constantly.
3. Cook filling until very thick, whisking constantly, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in butter.
4. Allow filling to cool slightly, then stir in sour cream until well combined.
5. Pour filling into pie shell and refrigerate until completely cold and set.
6. Top with sweetened whipped cream before serving (or not)

Stirring

Filling

Choosing music while baking is very serious business

Pie, Cheesecake, Wine and Deep Conversation

Baking can often be a really wonderful “me time” activity, one which allows me to push myself into trying new things, feel accomplished and, at times, even relax. However, sometimes it’s wonderful to try new things with a friend. My dear friend Tracie and I have made food a few times together before and it’s always a pleasure. On this particular day, we couldn’t decide between fruit pie and cheesecake, so we opted to do both. So among conversations of oppression and change and lots of red wine, we tried two recipes that were new to both of us. And, with Tracie cheering me on, I made my first homemade pie crust! Hooray!

More pictures and recipes after the jump…

Happy Birthday (cake), Angela!

When someone in my life has a birthday, it is automatically assumed that I will be making a cake (duh). When my dear friend Angela turned 26 in January, my first question was, of course, “what kind of cake do you want?” At her request, I found a light, fluffy white cake recipe and paired it with a whipped cream frosting and fresh strawberries. Not only was this recipe loved by the birthday girl and all of her guests, but it also marked the first time I successfully got stiff peaks in my egg whites (I was ridiculously excited)!

Recipe and more pictures after the jump…

To continue on the lemon theme…

I made this Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake to bring to an epic Female Sexuality meeting (I think it ended up being 10 ½ hours), and it was a big hit. One of my favorite things is too feed people, so this was a fun opportunity to share my food with a group of fabulous (and at some points exhausted and delusional) women. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake (from Joy of Baking)

What you need…

Lemon Cake:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated white sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Lemon Frosting:

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

What to do…

Lemon Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven.  Butter, or spray with a nonstick spray, a 9 inch spring form pan and then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale in color (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the batter along with the lemon juice. Mix only until incorporated. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Bake about 40 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool, then gently remove the sides of the pan.

Lemon Frosting:

In a bowl, combine the sifted confectioners' sugar with the 2 tablespoons lemon juice. (You want the icing to be thicker than a glaze but still thin enough that it will just run over the sides of the cake. If not the right consistency add more lemon juice or powdered sugar, accordingly.) Pour the frosting over the top of the cake, allowing the icing to drip down the sides. Let the icing set before covering.

Makes one - 9 inch cake.

Fresh out of the oven

Frosted!

Ariel very excited to cut into the cake

Good food and cofac love: Monica and Tracey

 

Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes

Nutella is pretty much amazing. And making this recipe may or may not have been an excuse to buy myself some Nutella. These cupcakes look super cool and taste delicious. I highly recommend to anyone looking for something to satisfy their Nutella fix.

Recipe from Home Cooking Rocks

What you need…

140 g. of butter (that’s a little less than 2/3 cup), softened to room temperature
3/4 c. white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. of vanilla
1-3/4 c. of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
9-12 (depeding on the size of your cupcake pan) heaping tsps. of Nutella

What to do...

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. First, you need to have all your ingredients at room temperature, including the eggs and the Nutella. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Place the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. With a wire whisk or a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together. Just keep beating until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the flour mixture and mix. The mixture may appear lumpy at first, but keep right on mixing until you have a smooth batter. Note that the batter will be heavy and hardly pourable. Stir in the vanilla. Meanwhile, line the muffin pan with paper cups. Use an ice cream scoop (very practical) to fill the pans until about 3/4 full. Top with a heaping teaspoonful of Nutella. Take a toothpick, dip into the unbaked cupcake until the tip hits the bottom of the pan.Using a scooping motion, swirl the Nutella with the batter so that some of the batter comes up on top of the Nutella. Bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for exactly 20 minutes.

Love me some Nutella

Batter with dollops of deliciousness

After swirling the batter over the Nutella

Post-baking. The roommates have already attacked the pan

My roommates excited to try the result!