O.G. at Royal T on Mother’s Day!
Just a reminder in ONE WEEK on Mother’s Day May 8th, O.G. and I will be signing my new comic book/cookbook at Royal T in Culver City! Stop by, say hi, shop and eat a cupcake!
Greek Salad mini Pizzas
I love Greek Salad, it’s hard for me to pass it up when I see it on a menu. I think it’s the creamy feta and the salty olives. Usually I’m pretty busy during the day, but when I can stop to eat I like to make these mini salad pizzas because they are quick and easy – the perfect mid day bite.
ingredients:
whole wheat mini pitas
pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese
romaine lettuce
kalamata olives
feta cheese
dressing ingredients:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt
pepper
Start by making the dressing. In a small bowl combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic salt, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
These are so easy I just make them in the toaster oven. Spoon some pizza sauce onto the pita, top it off with mozzarella cheese. Put it in the toaster oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Top the pizza with romaine, olives and feta – then a little bit of dressing.
That’s it! The quick and tasty, these make a great lunch but would probably be fantastic party hors d’ oeuvres also!
Batman Lollipop Cupcakes
What’s better than a cupcake? A BATMAN lollipop cupcake, of course.
ingredients:
yellow candy melts
lollipop sticks
1/2 cup chocolate chips
cupcakes
frosting
Back when I made the Phoenix-Jean Grey cupcakes I became obsessed with making these choco-candy lollipops. They were too easy and the colors were so bright, they really lent themselves to superhero icons.
I used the same plastic lollipop molds and melted down some yellow candy melts.
I poured the melted chocolate into each mold and gave it a little tap to release the air bubbles, then inserted the stick. Place the molds into the freezer for about ten minutes, they pop out beautifully. Keep them in an airtight container in the freezer.
For the symbol I printed out Batman logos, fairly small since the lollipop is only 2″ in diameter. I taped a piece of parchment on top so that the symbol showed through and to make the chocolate easy to release. I melted the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and used a drizzle bottle and my ‘drawing with chocolate‘ technique to outline and fill in the symbol. This was tricky because these symbols were WAY tiny and detailed.
Place the logos in the freezer for ten minutes. When they harden up they will slip right off the parchment. Using more of the melted chocolate as ‘glue,’ stick them to the front of the already prepared yellow chocolate lollipops. Keep the finished pops in the freezer until you are ready to use.
I made up some deeelish PB&J cupcakes (recipe, here) and placed the Batman lollipop right in the center. Batman kinda looks like he’s planting his flag on the moon. It’s definitely a cupcake worth conquering!
pb & j cupcakes
Peanut Butter and jelly, the combo can’t be beat. I wanted to bring back memories of salty, creamy peanut butter and sweet jelly all in a soft vanilla cake. Careful, these are dangerous – you’ll def want more than one…
cake ingredients:
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2-1/4 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
strawberry jelly
frosting ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream, as needed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Carefully add the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add the vanilla.
Spoon the batter into prepped liners, bake 15-17 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and peanut butter until combined. Carefully add the sugar and the salt – then add the cream as needed. Once combined kick it up to high and beat it until it’s nice and fluffy.
Once the cupcakes have cooled cut out a hole in the center of the cupcake. I know they sell special corers for this, but I went old skool and just used a paring knife.
Spoon in the jelly until filled and frost right on top of the cupcake, covering the jelly.
These cupcakes make the perfect treat for teas, parties, mid-day snacks, midnight snacks…
Teri-Chicken Musubi
You know how I LOVE my musubi maker. Well in Hawaii musubi is everywhere, and not just spam musubi, there are all kinds. A nice one that is like a full lunch rolled into one little package is a teri-chicken musubi. I came up with an easy version one day when I needed a quick meal fast. Sure you can take the time to boil the chicken and all that, but I’m a woman on the go (?!) and I needed something even faster.
I took some leftover rotisserie chicken (you can find them in any market nowadays) and topped that with my homemade teriyaki sauce. Quick and easy, the perfect snack, lunch, dinner on the go!
ingredients:
3 cups cooked rice
2 cups rotisserie chicken
5 big sheets of nori (seaweed)
acrylic musubi maker
teri sauce ingredients:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
Make the teriyaki sauce. In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and water to form a runny white paste. Set aside. In a small saucepan stir the soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a boil and then pour in the cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil again until the sauce thickens. This will take about only a minute.
While the sauce cools set up your ‘musubi station’. If you don’t have a musubi maker, well – GET ONE. Now you can buy them online
Lay down one large sheet of nori. Put the musubi maker on top and add a layer of rice. On top of that lay down the chicken, then spoon the teriyaki sauce over that.
Add another layer of cooked rice on top of the chicken, then using the musubi press, press down to form a nice compact rectangle.
Pull the musubi out of the press, and fold the nori over once onto the rice, then wet the top part of the nori and fold over again to seal. You will get a nice long ‘log’.
Cut the log in half and then again for smaller pieces.
This can be a main dish or a side and you can even serve it with some leftover teriyaki as a dipping sauce for those who just can’t get enough teri-flava.
Teriyaki Sauce
Homemade teriyaki sauce is easier than you think. Please don’t buy those bottled sauces, they are filled sodium and preservatives – total ew. It’s quick and easy and you can use to TERI-anything.
ingredients:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup mirin
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
Just to clarify – mirin is ‘sweet cooking rice wine
In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and water to form a runny white paste. Set aside.
In a small saucepan stir the soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a boil and then pour in the cornstarch mixture.
Bring to a boil again until the sauce thickens. This will take about only a minute.
That’s it! Sauce done! Use it to cook or as a topping for already cooked meats. Quick and easy!
Carrot Cookie Cupcakes
Last year I made bunny cookies popping out of a cupcake, this year I’m making their companion – a giant carrot!
The carrot cookies are made with real carrots and taste great on their own, but dipped into a cupcake, well that makes holiday dessert even better.
ingredients:
cupcakes
frosting
green white chocolate curls
carrot sugar cookies (recipe, here)
Bake and frost the cupcakes.
I love these colored white chocolate curls, they are beautiful and taste really good – a must when it comes to decorating. No one wants a pretty cupcake that tastes awful.
Sprinkle the tops with the chocolate curls.
These carrot cookies looked so good the kids had to take a second look to make sure they weren’t real.
Using a knife, cut a slit into the top of the cupcake so that the cookie will gently push through.
There you have it, a SWEET little garden of carrots ready for Easter!
Carrot Sugar Cookies
For Easter I had a vision of cupcakes with little carrot cookies coming out of the top of them. Per the usual I wasn’t in the mood to mess with frosting, so I made up some sugar cookies using whole wheat flour, some orange gel dye and yes – carrots!
They turned out adorable and VERY delicious! Sweetest veggie ever!
ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons finely grated carrot
pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons lemon juice
orange gel dye
1/4 cup green tea cookie dough (recipe, here)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpat liners.
I used whole wheat flour to make these cookies a little more healthier, but hey – they’re still sugar cookies, what can I say.
In a medium bowl whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, carrot and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until combined. Add the egg and lemon juice.
Add a few drops of orange gel dye – I like gels better than liquids because they have stronger colors and incorporate easily.
Slowly add in the flour until combined. The dough will form quickly, and when it starts to pull away from the bowl, it’s done!
Split the dough into two discs and keep the fridge until you are ready to use.
I used the same idea as the ‘Matcha Cookie Trees‘ and rolled out the orange dough, then used a carrot cookie cutter to cut the cookies…
…cut off the tops, and then rolled out green tea (matcha) cookie dough and added the green tops back on the carrot! Use a small paring knife and gently press it into the dough to get the ‘lines’ on the sides of the carrot.
Lay the cookies on the prepped cookie sheet (doesn’t it look like a little garden?!) and bake for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool on a wire rack.
These cookies are a (sort of) healthy, fun alternative to regular cut out cookies and a perfect way to eat your ‘veggies’!
Easter treats!
This Sunday is Easter!
Here’s a list of some sweet treats to celebrate!
Chickie Eggs (recipe, here)
This is a favorite of mine, it’s so simple yet so hilarious. I like to put these eggs in the kid’s lunches just for a laugh.
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Cinnamon Vanilla (bunny shaped) Pancakes (recipe, here)
We eat pancakes 24/7 around here so to make them into cute bunny shapes make them a little more special on the holidays!
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Peeking Easter Bunny Cookie Cupcakes (recipe, here)
Cute pop up bunnies surprise you on Easter morning. And you get a double treat, a cookie AND a cupcake!
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Bacon + Egg Salad Sandwiches (recipe, here)
The perfect breakfast combo – but in a sandwich! Salty bacon and creamy egg salad – the best Easter lunch!
Rob Schrab cake for Image Comics book signing
Rob Schrab is a writer, creator, artist extraordinaire. He is known for co-writing the movie Monster House, working on the Sarah Silverman show and for comic fans – the creator of Scud the Disposable Assassin. His new book “But I Can’t Do Anything Else! The Art of Rob Schrab”
Image Comics asked me to make a cake for the Rob Schrab book release party held at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood.
My design concept was to make a massive cake that looked like a fuzzy monster, complete with peeking eyeballs along the side and the actual book cover on top. Scary, but cute, and oh so delicious. I am not good at scary monsters but I can do kawaii monsters better.
I made a two layer red velvet cake and frosted it with cream cheese frosting. To achieve the ‘fuzz’ I baked another cake and crumbled it to smithereens.
This can either me fun – or an ocd nightmare. I say the latter. There was red velvet crumbs everywhere and I couldn’t break out the vacuum fast enough.
I pressed the cake crumbs into the sides of the cake – just enough pressure to stick, but not smush. I still wanted it to look furry.
I added various sized sugar eyeballs along the sides of the cake – enough to look cute but disturbing.
Much like the Adam WarRock cupcakes, I had a local bakeshop print out the book cover image with edible ink. The colors were flawless. I laid that on the very top of the cake, and then pressed more ‘cake fuzz’ right up along the edge of the image.
I’m really happy with how this turned out. Now I am obsessed with ‘monster fuzz’ on cakes! If you love great art, and monsters, and all things amazing get a copy of “But I Can’t Do Anything Else! The Art of Rob Schrab”
