Bake Sale for Charity

The kids have been begging me to have a lemonade stand.  After all, it is summer!  What better time to set up our out door retail store than summer? And what better day than on the morning of the 4th of July?

(eli's favorite toy; the kitchen torch)

The kids made posters, I sent emails and we launched our campaign to bake for charity.  I have become somewhat attached to Share our Strength, a charity that wants to make sure that no child in America goes hungry.  I try to remind my kids, daily, how fortunate we all are.  It is nice to come together as a family and as a community to help those not as privileged as we are.

Doing something for others always brings the best out in people.  We sold out in 40 minutes, made $240.00 and even those of you who came by and left empty handed, threw some money our way for this terrific cause.  Just think about it...what if 5 of us did a little something like this each week? We COULD make a difference!

I came up with the bake sale menu and started baking and creating days in advance.  We had s'mores cupcakes = graham cracker, devils food cupcakes with marshmallow cream frosting, butter sandwich cookies (here), sugar cookie bars, peanut butter, double chocolate wedges, homemade marshmallows, and s'mores bars (here).  I also made lemonade and a very delicious pomegranate virgin cocktail.  I will post the various recipes throughout the week.  There was tons of stuff, apparently not enough.  I am going to have to step it up next time!

S'mores Cupcakes
adapted from many, many places
yield: 3 dozen

ingredients:
Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 11 pieces)
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz really good bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Devils Food Cupcakes
adapted from Recipes from Home
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups organic white-wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. slat
1 cup hot brewed coffee
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Marshmallow Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart
8 large egg whites
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tarter
2 tsp. vanilla extract

instructions:
for the crust:
• preheat oven to 350*
• line 36 muffin tins with paper liners
• melt butter. put graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it becomes fine crumbs.  add sugar and pulse a few times.  add melted butter and mix thoroughly.
• place 1 heaping tablespoon of graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each muffin liner.  I use a 1/4 inch measuring cup to flatten the crumbs.  press down lightly to create a flat, smooth surface.  sprinkle with a pinch or two of chopped chocolate.
• bake for 7 minutes in preheated oven.  cool on wire racks.

for the cupcakes:
• melt the unsweetened chocolate in a bowl set over a pan with simmering water.  once melted and smooth, set aside.
• sift sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  In another bowl, whisk the hot coffee, sour cream, and vegetable oil.  let cool slightly.  slowly whisk in the eggs, then stir in the chocolate.  add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  mix until blended.
• fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full.  bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. rotate pans, top to bottom and back to front half way through baking.  let cool on wire racks.

for the frosting:
• place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of your kitchen aid mixer.  set this over a saucepan with simmering water.  don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl as you may cook the eggs.  whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the whites are warm to the touch.  this could take up to 8 minutes.
• place bowl on the electric mixer with the whisk attachment.  start to beat on low speed, gradually increasing to the high setting. once on high, beat for about 12 minutes.  you want stiff, glossy peaks.  add vanilla and beat until well combined.
• place frosting in a piping bag with a large, fluted tip.  use immediately.

sugar cookie bars, peanut butter-double chocolate wedges

s'mores bar, patriotic butter cookie sandwiches

my girlfriend, kate - the aficionado of all things food, said that 

these were the best cupcakes she had ever eaten!

Bite Size S'mores

What could be better than homemade graham crackers, chocolate truffles and homemade marshmallow cream? NOTHING!

I have recently had the pleasure of working with Jamie Cantor of Platine Cookies. Eli has sampled most of her desserts and the one he just can't stop talking about are her little s'more bites. He has been begging me to make something similar.

I remember reading a recipe for graham crackers in Nancy Silverton's Pastries. As most everything from that book has been good, I choose to make her graham crackers. This dough is a mother to work with. It is very, very wet and super sticky. After rolling out part of the dough, I had trouble. I decided that it would be best to roll the rest of the dough onto parchment sheets and freeze until they got firm. When I took them out of the freezer I immediately cut them into small rounds and then rerolled the scraps and froze those. And repeated it until all the dough was gone. The last of the scraps I baked off and then threw in the Cuisinart and made crumbs. They will be used for the next cheesecake I make.

These baked quickly. They were a little more crispy than I would have liked, but the taste was oh-so good. I baked these for around 10 minutes, which I found was a bit too long. Next time, I will adjust.

For the chocolate layer, I made the truffles from Sherry Yard, Desserts by the Yard and they were easy and perfect. I froze them and then when ready to use put them atop the little graham crackers.

Lastly, I made an easy marshmallow frosting from the Martha Stewart website. Not nearly as good as the marshmallow from the last Daring Bakers challenge, but the MS marshmallow frosting was way less steps. I needed something quick and easy.

I do need some lessons in piping. My piping leaves much to be desired. Hence, my kids didn't care. They were simply happy that these were finally assembled and complete. All that was left to do was to to torch them and eat them....

Graham Crackers

Pastries from the La Brea Bakery

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp. Unbleached pastry flour or unbleached flour
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
• 7 tbsp. Unsalted butter, cut into cubes and frozen
• 1/2 cup mild flavored honey
• 5 tbsp. Whole milk
• 2 tbsp. Pure vanilla extract

Topping

• 3 tbsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda & salt. Pulse or mix on low. Add the butter and pulse on and off until it is the consistency of coarse meal.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the honey, milk & vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until the dough barely comes together. It will be soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and pat the dough into a rectangle, 1” thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm; about 2 hours or overnight.

4. Prepare the topping, combine sugar and cinnamon and set a side.

5. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the fridge. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into along rectangle 1/8” thick. The dough will be sticky. Cut the dough to your desired size. Gather scraps together and re-roll. Place on parchment and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and chill until firm, 30-45 minutes. Repeat with other half of dough.

6. Adjust oven racks to upper and middle and turn oven on to 350*.

7. bake for 25 minutes until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets half way through.

Chocolate truffles

Desserts by the yard by Sherry Yard

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. Unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. Jack Daniels or whiskey

Directions

I adapted these for the kids. I omitted the whiskey and didn’t roll them as I wanted

To make s’mores. I also omitted the coating as I was going to coat them in marshmallow cream.

Make the truffles:

1. Place the bittersweet chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate and butter. Let sit for one minute. Using a rubber spatula, stir slowly from the center out. Be careful not to add too much air, about 2 minutes.

2. Add liqueur if using it. Allow the ganache to cool until it is firm. 4 hours in a 65* room or two hours in the refrigerator.

3. Once the ganache is firm, it can be formed into truffle balls. Using a piping bag, a mini ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, and make 1” blobs. If the truffles begin to warm, refrigerate for 10-15 minutes until firm.