From the monthly archives: June 2011
I found more Fourth of July goodies to share, and I’m sure more will come over the weekend as well. However, since all of the core volunteers at Capital Confectioners are working like crazy to present an amazing Day of Sharing, blog posts are going to be a little less frequent as we approach that date.
For now here are some more Independence Day desserts:
- First, the amazing Sweet Sugarbelle shows you how to make plastic templates to make fun little rocket cookies. She also partnered with Glorious Treats to whip up a tutorial on making star-shaped stained glass cookies. Both of these techniques are widely adaptable, so bookmark them for future use!
- Apparently featuring the irrepressible 1 Fine Cookie in the previous Quick Bites post inspired her to look into Canada Day desserts along with more Independence Day fun with Pop Rock Cupcakes with Fireworks Truffle Toppers.
- Going for a beach picnic this long weekend? Take some of Munchkin Munchies’ cute little Burger Bites Cookies or Bake at 350′s nifty Fried Chicken cookies. If you can’t go to an actual beach, you can still use that theme at your party with help from Diamonds For Dessert’s lovely Sand Dollar Cookies (via CraftGossip).
- If you’d like some healthier fare, Bakers Royale made some Fruit Dessert Pops with creative use of cutters (via CraftGossip). If you’d like to start out with healthy fruit and then do things to it that make it less healthy but extra fun, fANNEtastic Food has a great suggestion for strawberries at the bottom of this post and Tidy Mom shows you how to make Red White & Blue Candy Apples.
- Lastly, check out Sweetology 101′s adorable School House Rock I’m Just A Bill Cupcake. I love that song, and being the awful nerd that I am, I love some of the parodies even more. But I’ll let interested parties look those up themselves…
The early bird registration cost of only $40 for the day-long, demo-filled, foodtastic event that is the Capital Confectioners’ Day of Sharing closes tomorrow, June 25. After that, it goes up to $55, and it is possible that we’ll reach room capacity and have to turn people away. So save fifteen bucks and secure your spot now!
Last I heard, almost all the spots for the post-Day of Sharing class “Sexy Stilletto Workshop” with Roxanne Moore were almost filled as well, so if you’re interested in that, better act fast. You can register for that at the same time as Day of Sharing here.
There’s still also time to sign up to volunteer, although please note that volunteers still need to register to get in. At our cake show, volunteers who put in enough hours get in free, but Day of Sharing is largely a fundraiser for the cake show and other community events, so we ask that everybody register. I’m doing a demo as a volunteer, plus baking, plus promo stuff, and I’ve already paid up!
One of the things needed from volunteers are desserts in keeping with this year’s theme of “Let’s Go Bananas!” We’re looking for brown and yellow treats in pre-cut form, about 2-3 dozen servings. The desserts don’t have to be banana-flavoured, but novel banana recipes will definitely be appreciated!
Here’s a banana recipe tip I learned from Alton Brown: if you’ve got bananas that are starting to get brown and you don’t have time to bake with them right away, don’t throw them out! Throw them in the freezer, peel and all. The peel will go dark but the banana inside is still perfectly good for cooking. When you want to bake with them, let them sit out for a couple of hours to defrost (put them on a plate so they don’t leave a condensation puddle), then simply snip off the bottom tip and squeeze them down and out into a bowl. They come out mushy since the cell walls have been broken down, but it works well for baking; in fact, no mashing required!
So remember: sign up for Day of Sharing now and come eat yummy food all day while you learn nifty cake decorating techniques!
Have A Nice Day!
Yes, you’ll learn how to make that happy little guy at Day of Sharing! Register now!
I didn’t post a Quick Bites today because I was hanging with the awesome Chris Cantrell in her cake-home paradise as we planned our mega showpiece cake for Day of Sharing.
Then this evening I did this:
So now who wants to come learn hands-on how to make one? Space is limited so sign up soon! If there’s high enough demand I might schedule a second class as well. All proceeds go to benefit Capital Confectioners!
Your friendly neighbourhood Capital Confectioners volunteers have been working hard for months to bring you the best Day of Sharing we can, but we’ve all been kicking into extra-high-gear in the last few days and going forward to the actual event. You still have a few days to register at the early-bird discount price of $40 at http://dos.capitalconfectioners.com/. But after June 25, the price goes up to $55. You can pay that at the door as well, but we’ve come close to selling out in previous years and the room only has so much capacity, so register in advance to be sure of getting in and to save money!
Event Details:
Sunday July 10, 2011 9 am to 5 pm
Registration includes continental breakfast, catered lunch, and desserts donated by our members including a special showpiece cake
Wingate by Wyndham Hotel & Conference Center
1209 North Interstate Highway 35
Round Rock, TX 78664
Want to help out? Be sure to sign up on the Volunteer Page to bring a dessert, sit at the registration table, help with the raffle, etc. Capital Confectioners is 100% volunteer-powered, so join our winning team and pitch in!
Today on Quick Bites, odd things as inspired by this morning’s trending topic of “Fried Kool-Aid” on Twitter.
- First: a news story explaining what Fried Kool-Aid is (basically a doughnut hole with Kool-Aid in the mix). I can see that it’d just be a fruity-sweet doughnut. What do you all think? Have you tried it?
- While on the subject of deep frying, check out this Instructable about Deep Fried Doughnut Cupcakes.
- Here’s something unusual that works really well: a cake surrounded by Kit Kat bars by Cake Whiz. Amazing how elegant it looks!
- Lastly, on these hot days if you’re looking for something a bit upmarket relative to a standard popsicle, try making what Scent of Green Bananas calls Ice Candy. I’m sure you can use the recipe concept in regular freeze pop molds even if you can’t find the bags discussed in the article. Via CraftGossip
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Forgive me for neglecting Quick Bites duties for the past few days, but I was busy making this:
I also taught it at a Bake a Wish Austin free class for volunteers, spreading the cakey goodness around Austin as always!
The governor has signed SB 81 which includes the Texas Cottage Food Law. That means starting in September (and with certain limitations), home bakers can begin to legally sell cakes, cookies, and other non-perishable foods. Yay!
More information is available on the official bill page.
Our own Kelley Masters, who has been spearheading this legislation for over two years, provides an excellent summary as well as maintaining a FaceBook page about the bill. Capital Confectioners is extremely proud to call Kelley a member and we are all deeply indebted to her for her tireless pursuit of this goal.
Was too busy today to put a full post together, sorry. Worked on stuff for the Day of Sharing and Gummy class most of the day.
But I stumbled across more atypical Fathers’ Day stuff: Lola’s Cake posted some great dad’s hobby cupcakes on Flickr. Via Cupcakes Take The Cake.
I love that they’re miniatures, that they can be customized to suit any dad’s interests, and that they’re adorable!
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