Wednesday 24 June 2015

Cookies, Cakes & Catch-Ups Part 7: Surprise Birthday!



Please excuse me momentarily while I try to adjust to normal life.


*Walks 3 feet and lies down for 45 minutes*

*Wakes up. Clutches forehead in pain. Writhes in pain for 45 minutes*

*Sleep again. Repeat*


DEAR LORD! 


Any migraine sufferers out there on the interwebs that can relate? I never had a headache in my life before I started getting migraines and now I just feel like I am floating around in space all day long.
Sometimes I make cookies and I am like...whoa. When did I make cookies and decorate them? When did I sleep? Who am I? Did I just eat ALL those cookies? ;)


So if you can commiserate with me in feeling overall kinda poopy lately, maybe feeling a bit restless and like you wanna run away forever -- then please. Join me for a cup of tea or coffee. Or 6 cups of coffee. And let's catch-up on some cookies and cakes, mmmmk?

Because realistically -- this is the only thing keeping me going!



And coffee.


That helps, a lot.





The trendiest girl in town (visit her blog. JUST DO IT) ordered these for her mother's surprise birthday party her and her sister had planned. And I had a WHOLE LOT of fun. She pretty much gave me free reign over all the details and -- as I am sure you know by now -- that's my favourite :D



 




Birthday themed cookies? CHECK!











Adorable gift boxes that are adorable yet classy?



ALSO CHECK!






PUT 'EM ALL TOGETHER!?



Friday 19 June 2015

The Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins





Hello hello hellooo!


I'm baaaaaack!


For those of you who follow me on social media (find me on Instagram! @Summerbakes88) you may have seen that I took a little vacation. As it turns out, as we took our vacation, Hurrican Carlos decided to join us -- so the weather was...less than adequate. However, the hospitality and amazing food made everything better! Sadly, I did not find a husband and have a beach wedding like I had earlier planned. Definitely many candidates but it appeared they were already husbands :( hehe Just kidding. But there were a lot of sweet couples vacationing -- and a lot of CANADIANS! We represent abroad, that's for sure. I joke that most Canadians abroad say they're from Toronto. BUt really -- none of us are from Toronto. I live very close -- so it's always the default for me! Any who -- Paradisus Playa del Carmen was lovely and I am already in the downward spiral of depression that follows after going away.


On vacation everyone is happy. They are happy to be there, everyone smiles, the people at the resort are smiling the employees are smiling. All smiles. In the city? Everything is running around and chaos and honking horns and being late for work, late for appointments, late for everything. Yuck. No thanks. TAKE ME BACK PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! If only I had disposable income that was more than... *looks in pocket* 5 American dollars and a tic tac.


Do you have that problem? I don't go away often. The last tropical vacation I had was about 10 years ago! But even then I remember being very sad on the way home. It also could have been because I got food poisoning and was throwing up the whole time ... but that's not muffin appropriate discussion.







These muffins are gigantic. Yep. American style gigantic.  Canadian style, too. Just North American style HYOOOGE!








I noticed in Mexico servings were very small. But everything was soooo delicious and packed with flavour.



Well these gigantic muffins are the best of both worlds ;)







I wish I could describe the flavour of these too you, but I cannot. They are so complex. Warm, fragrant, soft and fluffy on the inside with that slightly crisp muffin top. Ah. So good!








And personally, I love the added crunch of the crystal sugar on top. I love crunch in general! It's a nice addition to the softness of the muffins. 







If you don't want to make the large bakery style muffins you can make any size you like and just adjust the baking times accordingly! These little mini muffins took about 1/2 the baking time -- and it make 48 mini muffins!!!!


Which is a good thing, too. Because I brought them to work where they disappeared ;)







Look how cute they are!!!! 1/4 of the size, double the fun!




In general, I am not much of a muffin gal. I think that's because I have never seen gluten free muffins available at major chains and to be honest, most gluten free options I have seen at the grocery store or large chain shops...they just haven't been very good.


These...oh boy. These will convert you, I promise. Or you get your virtual money back!


Let's see how easy they are to make..

Thursday 11 June 2015

Cookies Cakes & Catch- Ups Part 6: Fabulous at 50!

 







DO I KNOW YOU!?!


I think I do. You look awfully familiar.


Were you in my Stats class? With the guy? Always drank Tim Hortons during class? You know the one?

Ohhhh it wasn't you. My bad, yo, my bad. 



I have not seen you in a MINUTE my foodie homie. Fomie? Hoodie? No. That combination does not work because both of those are actually words already.


Anyways the moral of this intro is that I stinkin' miss you. I have been having a butt-ton-of-fun frolicking around decorating cookies and cakes and sending them to their forever homes but I miss spending my weekend mornings crafting up crazy new recipes and de-glutenizing them, too! 

 Speaking of which, as I am sure you know already this is not another new healthy recipe but instead it's a glimpse into an order for a 'Fabulous at 50' birthday party.


I *SWEAR* I am still making new recipes and testing them out. Just need to...you know....photograph them and all that jazz :D









Pardon all my Iphone pics, too. Lately the whole setting up a pretty little photo set has been...well...just difficult to find time for. So it's usually a quick snap with the iphone before I package up the cookies/cakes/cupcakes/cake pops/ah you get it by now/right??!




The cookies were made for a lady with a passion for design and the colour turquoise! I decided to do an ombre effect using a few shades of turquoise throughout.


Using mostly gold accents -- each cookie had a totally different feel!











I am a huge spazz that way. I hate feeling confined. Willy nilly? That's my style :D





Martini glasses are always fun to make. I love rimming them with crystal sugar! The only downside is the base becomes VERY fragile at the skinny part. What's that called? Any ideas? So I always make extras of these bad boys. And good thing, too, because a few didn't make it during the packaging process!







The theme for this next set of cookies was a French store front design. I wasn't really sure where to start or what to do with the cookie. Initially I was going to cut the edges of the hexagon off but then I figured I could make an awning using the strange top edges!


I like how they turned out for the most part but this is a case where my willy nilly sensibility was frustrating. But in the end they turned out..fab ;)


I also created some shading to add a rustic vibe to the walls and swirled the doors to make them look more wooden.


Let's have a closer look, mmmmmk?