The Making of: Spider Cookies

As I mentioned before, I saw the design for these on Bakerella. She used a cake box mix for hers, but since I am selling these after Halloween, too, I made my Chocolate Cookies from scratch.
I made one batch, made chocolate balls, put it in the oven, and waited for them to flatten out, like cookies usually do. But nooooooo, these ones decided to stay in the form of a ball! (Did someone forget to add baking powder???). How was I going to decorate them? I smooshed them with a spoon, but still, they weren't flat enough! So as you can imagine, I baked another DOUBLE batch this time, and layed them flat on the cookie sheets. These came out much better.

I didn't use a cookie cutter or a guide for the size since I was behind schedule with the non-successful batch, so some of them came out smaller than others. After they cooled completely, I made the Chocolate Frosting and spread it on top.
I wasn't sure what to do for the spider webs. I really wanted to use Royal Icing, but I didn't have enough left for all the cookies. So as a quick way out, I mixed icing sugar with some water to the consistency I wanted, and did the 3 circles.

Then I took a toothpick and formed the lines. If I had used Royal Icing though, I think it would've looked more spidery-webby like, but they still looked like webs. (Ok maybe not so much in this picture).

And then, the fun part! Adding the spiders! Well, I DID have some orange royal icing, so I used that for legs on all my spiders. I also used the green and orange that Bakerella used since it matches with the Halloween theme. I also added some brown ones, too. That's m & m's. With the peanut in them. They look more spidery rather than the plain ones :). I added eyes on the brown ones, too.

It was tons of fun! I received many good comments about these cookies. I think I'm going to put them on my menu and name them "Brownie Cookies." Everyone seemed to think they were just that. When I asked people what they liked, some said "Those Brownie Cookies." That must mean it reminds them of my brownies. Since I know those taste good, then that was a good complement.

The Making of: Cat Cookies

I had an image in mind when I drew the sketch for these. They came out almost as I imagined them. See, my little secret is that I've only read about cookie decorating, but I had never tried it myself before the day I made these cookies...or had even seen anyone actually do it in front of me. Just pictures in books...and blogs. So I had to opt for something easy and somewhat quick-finishing. I had tons of things to bake for the Bake Sale so I wanted to make sure I had enough time for everything else.

So as everyone knows, at first, you bake the cookies :). I used my basic Sugar Cookie recipe.
And if you are thinking: those round cookies, don't all look perfects ROUND. Well....I didn't have a big enough round cookie cutter, so I used a drinking glass....shhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Since I was going to bake a big batch, I also thought to myself...why not make other designs with the Sugar Cookies?? I already had a design in mind: Polka Dots. While I was planning for the Bake Sale, I also had to think of decorations that weren't going to cost me too much. That's how I came up with the Flower Cookies, too! Not only were they going to cost me less than real ones, I got to sell them and cover other expenses as well. These last two designs I decided I was going to put on sticks: Lollipop Cookies.

Ok, the cookies are baked and cooled. As you can see, they are also stored in air tight containers since it was going to take a couple of days to decorate. I needed them to be fresh for the Bake Sale. But either way, as a good rule of thumb, I always keep my cookies in air tight containers :)

One thing I didn't make, was the Royal Icing. Since I was selling these, I needed the pasteurized egg whites and I didn't know where to get them (still don't just yet). So I bought a Royal Icing in which you add just the water and the color. I needed 3 colors: Orange, Black and White. I also needed more than one consistency. So before I started to panic, I started with the first thing I would need: the thick orange.

I did the outlines on all the cookies, including the flowers and the dots. Then I thinned the consistency and flooded the cookies (with the toothpick and all!)

Following the same steps, I did the black and white on the flowers and the dots.

Of course I let each color dry before I continued with the next one. If you see one round orange cookie with black around it...that was an expiramentation. I added the black sugar while the icing was still wet to see what it would look like.. I didn't think it matched my sketch, so I didn't continue with it.

Now for the black cats...see, the problem was that I didn't have a stencil. So I made one...a paper one... which wasn't the best idea. I used spray to do the cats, and after 3 cats, I had to wait for the paper to dry. I got a few cookies smudged all over, too. Most of them came out nice, though :).

But this wasn't the end of it.. I had promised my audience black sparkles!!! So i had to add them on the cookies! So I rolled them in jam, and then in black sugar, and got what I was going for. What do you think, close enough?

I made sooooo many of these cookies. They were the last to go due to the quantity.

Here's my Halloween Dots Cookies (as I named them):

Even though I first thought of putting my Flower Cookies in a vase, then I thought people would be more likely to buy them if they were on the table in a platter, like the rest of the goodies :).

The Making of: Witch Cupcake - Abstract

I thought to myself...I posted the pictures of the finished product. I also posted the pictures of my drawings...but that was long time ago. So I figured it would be nice if I posted them side by side with a few pictures before the product was finished, so you can see the process I went through :)

First off, my ultimate favorite (I know, I shouldn't favor one of my designs more than the other....) Ok ok I love you all the same!!! I just feel a pull towards the Witch Cupcake.

Hat Idea:
The base was going to be an Oreo cookie (which it was). Now for the top of the hat, I had designed a version with a Hershey's Kiss and a version with a dollop of Chocolate Frosting. Why? Well....I prefer the kiss..it's easier and saves time, too, but we don't have Hershey's out here in Cyprus, AT ALL!! I was lucky because my friend sent me a few packages of Hershey's Kisses from California, so I had them on hand. I also used Royal Icing in a thick consistency for the Orange Ribbon on the hat.

I never thought they would turn out to be even better looking than the drawing! This was actually a hat alternative. The first idea was for a chocolate ice cream cone, but I thought it'd be way too high.

The Witch:

The reason I took this picture, is because I think I finally have down how to do the swirling effect with the piping bag. (Yes, I'm proud of me...it takes practice!) I had to make sure the frosting was sturdy, so that the hat didn't fall off. I didn't make it any denser though, because then it would taste like icing sugar instead of Nutella. I just added extra swirls on the base of the cupcake to keep the top up. The reason why I chose Nutella was because the other cupcakes didn't have frosting. And Nutella is a big hit out here, so I knew everyone would love it. I used a Nutella Frosting on these with some food coloring to turn it green like my sketch.

Very similar right? I'm sooo proud of the design. I knew I would do something that looked like the drawing, but I never thought I'd be so close!

The reason for the "abstract" is because I had another Witch Cupcake that wasn't voted on the top 10, which had eyes (with the chocolate cone I mentioned earlier). This one was more literal that it was supposed to be a witch, so when I came up with the second one, I thought it was more abstract.

Both are cute, but as I said, the abstract one was my favorite one from all my designs for Halloween :)

Spooktacular Bake Sale

SOLD OUT!!!! The best thing I have to say about my bake sale! Everything was almost gone since early on, so I figured that I'd have some cookies left over but nope! Everything was gone!
So let me start from the beginning:

If you've been reading my blog, or follow my group on Facebook, then you know that I had a little contest going on. Every couple of days I posted a small story about something related to Halloween, and then drew some sketches that had to do with that story. Those sketches were of a cake, a cupcake, a cookie or whatnot, related to Halloween. People voted for their favorites, and I was going to bake the top 10. I was also going to have many surprises....but that never happened.

See, my mother ended up in the hospital on Friday night (the big night I was supposed to stay up and bake, so I can decorate on Saturday) so I never had the chance to bake all the top 10, or all the surprises I had in mind. But I will still share them with you :)

I must admit, that from everything votes, MY favorite, was the Witch Cupcake (I had drawn 2, one abstract because there were no eyes, and one with eyes. The abstract one was voted, and that was the one I wanted to bake either way ;p). I have a tendancy to put my everything in thing I like better than others.. (not such a good thing I guess), so I baked Nutella Cupcakes for this, since I loooooce Nutella.
I also have to let you know that I was rushing to get everything done, I was sleepless from the night at the hospital....AND I FORGOT THE NUTELLA! Nutella Cupcakes without the nutella! Haha well I made up for it. Since the Cupcake ended up being a chocolate cupcake (I was going to make holes in it and then add a nutella surprise center), I ended up making a Nutella Frosting... GREEN! It was...OMG! My fiance was running after me to get the frosting bag after I was done!

 I knew these would turnout great ever since I made the hats. See, in Cyprus we don't have Hersheys kisses, so my friend sent me some from California. And I wanted to use them for a special occasion. Glued them on the top of an Oreo cookie, and then put some orange Royal Icing to make it look even more witchy.
These were the first ones to go. As soon as I said "Nutella," people went nuts! I had also posted a picture of the hats on Facebook, so that people could see what they were to expect. I wanted them to know I could pull trough on my promise of the bake sale, AND the flavor. I mean, think: Oreo cookies, Hersheys kisses, Nutella cupcakes, and my love! What else does it take for delicious??

Now that I'm done with my favorite, let me tell you a bit about the first batch of cookies I made. I thought it was ok to make Sugar Cookies 3 days in advance because they last longer than cupcakes in an air tight container, and because they take forever to decorate since the Royal Icing needs to dry between colors.

So I baked the Cat Cookies. This was on Thursday (before the hospital incident), so I went ahead and made many, plus some other shapes to decorate for Halloween.

I stenciled the cats on, without a real stencil! I couldn't find that many Halloween things out here, so I ended up making a paper stencil. I had to wait after I sprayed 2-3 cookies so I didn't smudge everything all over. One of my coworkers, when I had showed them the pictures, said some of the cats looked like camels :) I could totally see it too! I made my fiance pay for those cookies that didn't look pretty enough to sell. He was going to eat them anyway, so why not help me with my first Bake Sale? :)

Halloween Dots Cookies

Keep in mind that this was the very first time EVER I had a cookie decorating experience! I had never decorated cookies before, I had never used Royal Icing before...I had never made more than 1 consistency of Royal Icing before.. never added colors...never had to wait for a cookie for almost 3 days to see the final result! I think that for the first time, I did pretty good! Practice makes perfect, so I expect that next time my cookies will look prettier and prettier and prettier :)

Flower Cookies

The Dots cookies and the Flower cookies I added on sticks to make them look like lollipops. Everyone loved the idea, and most hadn't seen it done before. The thing is that I didn't plan out the designs on these, because they were a last minute thought.

The number 1 voted creation, was the Mummy Cupcake. I used a Devil's Food cupcake base, since the name makes it more spooky, and then decorated on top. These took a veeery long time to decorate, they looked cute, and even though people voted for these, they preferred the Witch Cupcakes and THEN the Mummy ones. Of course, I also think that everyone loooooves frosting! And this was something missing from these, due to the design.

Another big hit, was the Spider Cookies. These were Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Frosting. I baked this on Friday (before the incident) and then I was going to decorate at night, which was when I had to rush to the hospital. So I did the decoration the next day, and since I was running out of time, instead of doing a Royal Icing, I just added a little water in some confectioner's sugar. It wasn't something I wanted to do (because I personally think it doesn't taste all that great), but the whole point was to get the design down.

This particular design, I found on Bakerella. I used my own recipe from scratch (since I want to have a good design with a GREAT taste) and then I improvised on some other things. For example we don't have Trix out here, so I used m&m's.

Not quite the same, but very similar :)

I also baked a Spiderwebs Cake. This was an Apple Spice Cake, with a Brown Sugar Frosting. This was the first time I used this frosting, and it was a big hit. I had to cook it first, let it cool, and then turn it into a frosting. Whoever tried the cake, LOVED the frosting. I even had 2 people tell me they want to try it with the Carrot Cake I make.

My goddaughter brought me a Jack Skellington statue thing for the day, since I had said I was also going to surprise everyone with Skellington Cupcakes. I never got the chance :( I still decorated him though.

I used one of those cheap orange tablecloths, added a black piece of fabric on top and a white tablecloth underneath all. I had some small decorations for Halloween at home that I used, and I also found some free name tags on line that I printed, and I traced the names of the goods by hand, to make them look more Halloweenish.

It was a great success! Everything was gone, I covered my expenses and made some extra money to buy more supplies, and on top of all, I had fun and everyone enjoyed the idea and baked yummy goodies. I also sold my Pomegranate Jam that I made. I had positive comments from everyone, and they are expecting at least another one before Christmas. Let's see if I can do it :)

And the winner is....

Finally, the voting is over! I can say I'm going to start planning what to bake when, but I already did the scedule yesterday! Let me tell you, there will be NO REST and NO SLEEP for this week for me! Why? Because I also work full time! But I will manage!

So here are the top 10, voted by the Facebook group Fairy Cakes. (drum roll pleaseee)
1. Has many votes over the rest: Mummy Cupcake

Witch's Punch with Eyeballllllls!!! I'm pretty sure people voted this to see if I can do it, not to buy!

3. Spiderwebs Cake

4. Owl Cupcake

5. Witch Cupcake - Abstract

6. Ghost Cake Pop

7. Cat Cookie

8. Spider Cookie

9. Wacky Jack-o-Lantern Cucpakes

10. Apple Cupcake

Spiders

Well, I couldn't find much on the reason why we see spiders during Halloween, but what I could come up with was that during the fall and winter seasons, spiders can be found in dark corners.
But either way, I found some designs for me to use for my Bake Sale.

Spiderweb Cupcake

Even though this is a very simple design, I really like it. I guess less is more :) There's a chocolate cupcake hiding under there.

Spider Cookie

This I saw on Bakerella. I'm using my own recipe of Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate frosting and I'm just decorating like her. Only I can't find any Trix out here which was her suggestion, so I'm probably using an m & m or a dollop of frosting.

Spider Bites

This I also found on Bakerella. Brownie bits in chocolate candy melt. Candy eyes and licorice legs.

Hairy Spider Cookie

I just bought this spider cookie cutter from my ultimate favorite shop, Sprinkles and Sparkles. I saw on one of the blogs I'm following the "hairy" part for the spider. I added the other elements according to what I have at home :)

Spiderwebs Cake

I found this one at a cooking site. It's a Spice Cake with Frosting. I might use the decorating idea and use my own spice cake recipe.

I was supposed to post this tomottow, but I have to go to work super early in the morning and I won't have time. So it is a half day early but it's betther than late. I have 2 more entries left after this, but I'm stull debating if I'll keep it as 2 or 1 big one. I'm not even halfway done with the designs on those, but because they give me more of a freedom, I have tons... troubling :)
Oh well, enjoy the itsy bitsy spiders and then I'll see how it goes :)

Bats and Owls

Today I have 2 images related to Halloween that I think link to each other. As the title implies, the first one is bats, and the second one, owls.

Since bats were only seen at night, they were once considered the souls of sleeping individuals. That's why I guess we also relate them to vampires, they only come out at night. Many bat species dwell in caves therefore people considered them to have something to do with the Underworld and death.
In my post Trick or Treat I have noted that Halloween was thought as the beginning of the cruel winter, which was associated with death. So it is logical that an animal related to be of the Underworld also be related with Halloween.

Bite-A-Bat

It looks too spooky, but I'm pretty sure it will be delicious, if voted. I have this recipe for Rum Chocolate Balls that I've made in the past, and always thought that it would taste better with either brandy or cognac instead of rum. So I thought I'd do just that in this case. Dip the chocolate ball in black sprinkles and then make the Chocolate wings. Those will be tricky, but I think I came up with a way. Red eyes, and I thought a little red on the wings, too.

Bat Cookies

Dark Chocolate Cookies so I can get that dark brown color, with white royal icing. I have 2 bat cookie cutters so I can make them in reverse. The big one with the outline of icing and the small one with the filling of the icing.


Just like bats, most owls move around at night. If you've heard an owl, you can imagine what you would feel like listening to that sound in the night, especially for those that didn't know what it was, or how big it was. Many thought it was the sound of a demon or a lost soul. And even if someone did see the owl, that instantaneous twist of the head they do can be scary with those big eyes! I remember when I saw an owl do that to me in the London zoo many years ago, I announced that owls are the Gods of the Birds! I was only 5 :)

Owl Sandwich Pop

Two Chocolate Cookies, smooshing together a marshmallow filling. A stick to make it a lollipop and some sugared details to make the face.

Owl Cupcake

I thought that I would make some big versions of this and some mini ones. Like the mother and the baby. They'll look so cute! Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate frosting and sugar details.