The Crafting Foodie

Dark, Moist, Rich Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting - Dairy Free

 Whenever I entertain, whether it's a birthday party, dinner party, or even a play date, one of the first questions I ask after making an invite is, "Does anyone in your family have food allergies or sensitivities?"

I'm particularly cognisant of allergies when it comes to children. In the presence of a towering chocolate cake or a sprinkle-filled cupcake allergies are easily forgotten. So my solution is simple, just make a delectable dessert catered to specific dietary needs. That way everyone can enjoy, and the EpiPen and Benadryl stay put in the medicine cabinet.

 Not all chocolate cakes are created equally. I've probably made four or five dozen different chocolate cake recipes, and I know what I'm looking for when I eat or create a chocolate cake. It has to be a rich, deep chocolaty flavor with a moist and tender crumb. So, when setting out to make a dairy-free version, I was apprehensive.

 

 In the end, I think it turned out amazing. Even without the diary, this cake and frosting  pack such a serious chocolate punch that the butter and cream you would find in most recipes isn't even missed.This cake definitely earned a permanent place in my dessert repertoire.

The resident budding baker and taste tester in our house also weighed in with resounding approval. While rocking her beaded headband, she proclaimed her love for the cake as she scarfed down a substantial chunk.

The cake was such a hit in my house that before I could repurpose leftover cake the entire confection disappeared (mainly into my husbands tummy as breakfast and dessert over three consecutive days).

Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
 

Adapated From Sweetapolita's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups plus 1 tbs (330g) all-purpose flour

3 cups (600g) granulated sugar

1 cup plus 1 tbs (135g) cocoa powder

1 tbs baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups soy, almond, or rice milk

1 1/2 tbs white vinegar

1 1/2 cups strong black coffee, hot

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tbs vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three, 9 inch cake pans by lining each of them with parchment paper, buttering them, and dusting them with flour.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bow of a mixer.

Combine the non-dairy milk, vinegar, coffee, oil, vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Beat in the eggs.

With the mixer on low, carefully combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add the wet ingredients while continuing to mix on low speed in order to prevent the batter from splattering out of the bowl. Mix until combined. The batter will be very thin.

Divide the batter equally between the three prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating pans half way through baking.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting the pans to release the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.

Yields three, 9-inch cakes

 

Dairy Free Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

2 cups Earth Balance or another non-dairy, non-hydrogenated butter substitute, softened

7 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/2 cup soy, almond, or rice milk

Directions

Sift the confectioners' sugar and cocoa in a large bowl.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for a few minutes until it is creamy.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter.

In a small bowl mix the non-dairy milk, vanilla, and the salt until the salt is dissolved. Add the mixture to the mixer. Mix until a creamy, smooth texture is achieved. 

 

 

St. Patrick's Day Sugar Cookies - A Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

St. Patrick's Day was almost a month ago, but I wasn't able to post this year's cookies. There were two sick children and a family wedding that stood in my way. But I say, better late than never!

After admiring some amazing sugar cookies on various sites like Bake at 350 and The Decorated Cookie, I decided to try my hand at some decorated sugar cookies. These Pot O'Gold Cookies by Sugar Belle to be exact.

There are a ton of imperfections, but the whole process proved to be quite fulfilling artistically. I may just be hooked....

When my husband saw these cookies, he asked, "Where did you get that cookie cutter from?" Well, thanks to the cookie genius known as Sweet Sugar Belle, creating custom cookie cutters from your prexisting stash is easy.

Here's a link to Sugar Belle's clear tutorial for creating these pot o' gold cookies.

I used three separate cookie cutters: A large circle cutter (about five inches in diameter), a cloud cutter (with a two inch diameter), and a small circle (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter).

I didn't have a cloud cutter, so using the idea from Sugar Belle's post, I squashed a mini-flower cutter creating an instant cloud shape.

Here's what I did:

1- After rolling out the dough, I cut out the following shapes: one large circle, one small circle, and one cloud.

2 - Then I cut out a portion of the large circle with the cloud cutter as shown below.

3 - I did the same on the other side of the large circle, but this time with the small circle cutter.

4 - Then I just fit the three shapes together and baked them off.

 And there you have your own custom cookie shape!

Before I share the recipe, I feel the need to add a disclaimer to the above photos with the silicone baking mat. I didn't actually cut anything on my silicone mat. The photo was taken for instructional purposes only. Never use any sharp objects on a silicone baking mat! If the mat is cut, it will expose sharp fibers, rendering the mat unusable. Which, unfortunately I've actually done. Thankfully I didn't hurt myself, but I did feel quite a bit of pain when I had to toss my twenty-dollar baking mat into the garbage!

 

Sugar Cookies

Adapted from The Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1 - In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2 - In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

3 - In a separate bowl, crack the egg and beat it with the vanilla extract.

4 - Add the egg mixture to the butter and sugar. Mix until combined.

5  - On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ones.

6 - Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes. There's no need to refrigerate the dough. Roll it out to a 1/4 inch thickness, and cut out desired shapes. 

7 - Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for eight minutes. Rotate the pans at four minutes.

Yields about 2 to 2 1/2 dozen three-inch cookies.

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes with Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

 

Do I dare say that spring is finally on its way?

Let's see: It's the middle of March. Daylight savings is in full swing, and today was my third day in a row running outside with the baby. So, with a bit of healthy New England skepticism, I would say yes. Spring is slowly, but surely, on its way.

So, why not post a recipe for peppermint cupcakes?

I know what you're probably thinking. Peppermint cupcakes and spring don't really go together. The idea to make these came about while I was attempting to de-clutter the pantry, and I came across these:

And these:

I vaguely remember shoving these holiday confections in a hard-to-reach corner of the pantry in an attempt to save myself from completely consuming them within the 24 hours after they were purchased, especially the Candy Cane Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's. My husband and I have been known to eat our way through one of these boxes in less than two days.

For those of you who have yet to experience a Candy Cane Joe-Joe's cookie I have to apologize to you because you're missing out on a spectacularly A-M-A-Z-I-N-G cookie. The cookie itself is a dark, chocolate flavor that isn't too sweet, and the filling is creamy with specks of peppermint candy cane mixed into it. It's crisp and creamy, chocolaty and minty all at the same time without being overly sweet.

Trader Joe's only sells these around the winter holidays, and they've been known to sell out of them even before the conclusion of the holiday season. Apparently people horde them (buying dozens of boxes at a time), and make a tidy profit by selling them on Ebay after they're sold out in the stores.

If I had dozens of these cookies, I wouldn't sell them. I'd eat them all!

In order to save myself from inhaling box that I did find, I knew I wanted to use them to bake something and share the deliciousness with my family and friends. So, I decided to make some rich, chocolate peppermint cupcakes with a crisp cookie crust and a Hershey's Kiss Candy Cane center, topped with a light and fluffy vanilla frosting.

Of course my munchkin helped me mix the dry ingredients.

Then she counted and unwrapped the candies for the cupcakes, popping a few in her mouth as she went along.

Her favorite job was placing the candy cane sandwich cookies into the cupcake liners.

After baking the cupcakes, I dipped the edges in melted chocolate and crushed peppermint candies and topped it off with vanilla frosting and a piece of the candy cane sandwich cookie.

This is what they look like on the inside.

I will definitely be making these again. Maybe next time I'll actually make them around the holidays.

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes with Candy Cane Joe-Joe's

Adapted from Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup milk

3/4 tbs white vinegar

3 tbs vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

18 Candy Cane Joe-Joe's cookies

18 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses

 Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard size cupcake tin with paper liners.

Mix the milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Let it stand (the milk will separate).

Sift the cocoa, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the eggs, warm water, milk and vinegar mixture, oil, and peppermint extract. Mix until smooth.

Place one Candy Cane Joe-Joe's cookie on the bottom of each cupcake liner. Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full, place an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss Candy Cane on top of the batter and push it into the batter until the candy is completely covered with batter. The cookie crust will prevent the Hershey's Kiss from sinking completely to the bottom of the cupcake.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans half way through the baking time.

Yields 18 standard size cupcakes

 

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tbs vanilla extract

2 to 3 tbs milk or cream

1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

Cream the butter until soft and fluffy.

Add the powdered sugar and beat again until fluffy.

Mix the salt, vanilla, and milk (or cream) until the salt is dissolved. Add the vanilla mixture to the butter and sugar. Beat until creamy.

Assembling the cupcakes

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips melted

ten to fifteen peppermint candies crushed

five Candy Cane Joe-Joe's quartered with a serrated knife

Instructions:

Dip the edges of the completely cooled cupcake into the melted chocolate. While the chocolate is still warm, dip the edge of the cupcake into the crushed peppermint candies.

Frost the cupcakes with the vanilla frosting. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies and top with a piece of a Candy Cane Joe-Joe's cookie.

Vanilla Bean Glazed Heart Doughnuts

When we moved to Boston six months ago, my four-year-old doughnut enthusiast was giddy about the prospect of moving to Dunkin' Donuts land. She wasn't disappointed. Literally, there's a Dunkin' Donuts every mile or two. There are even a handful of drive-thrus scattered across the neighborhood.

What's surprising is that we've only gone to Dunkin' Donuts once since we moved here. We're not big fast food eaters, but one trip to get doughnuts in six months? Shocking!

Our absence from Dunkin' Donuts establishments continues because we made these deliciously light and airy glazed doughnuts at home in celebration of my husband's birthday.

The doughnuts are yeast based, but what's great about this recipe is that they do NOT need to rise overnight. So, if you're willing to eat doughnuts in the afternoon rather than the morning, it's possible to start the doughnuts the same day you're planning to eat them. In this house, we aren't picky. We'll eat doughnuts any time of the day.

These are the cookie cutters we used to cut the doughnuts out after their first rise.

The red cookie cutter is one that came in a four pack of cookie cutters that I got from Target a few years ago after Valentine's Day. I scored the set for $1.50. The small cutter is from a set of mini-cookie cutters.

Here's my sweet doughnut enthusiast keeping a watchful eye on the doughnuts as they rise.

We don't eat many deep fried foods, so I was a bit nervous about the process of plunging raw dough into a vat of hot oil. Using a candy thermometer to keep track of the oil's temperature made it an easy and surprisingly pleasant cooking method.

These puppies tasted even better than they looked.

Of course, once they were double dipped in the glaze, we had to shower the doughnuts with sprinkles. My husband ate half a dozen of them in half an hour. They're so deceptively light and airy that if you're not paying attention, you can finish way more than anticipated. Notice that there are no photos of the min-heart doughnut holes? That's because they were all eaten before the glaze even set.

Vanilla Bean Glazed Heart Doughnuts

Adapted from Donna Hay's Book, Modern Classics 2

4 tsp active dry yeast

2 fluid ounces of warm water (between 100 and 105 degrees F )

8 fluid ounces of warm milk (between 100 and 105 degrees F)

3 Tbs granulated sugar

3 1/2 ounces of unsalted butter, melted

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 large eggs at room temperature

2 Tbs of vanilla bean paste

vegetable oil for deep frying

For the Glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. water

Instructions:

Mix the yeast, water, milk, and one tablespoon of sugar in a bowl. Allow it to sit for ten minutes until it starts foaming. The foaming will indicate that the yeast is active.

Add the butter, flour, eggs, vanilla bean paste and remaining sugar to the yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it comes together.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp paper towel then a kitchen towel. Allow it to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until it doubles in volume.

Once it has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Kneed for about 5 minutes until the dough feels smooth and elastic when pressed.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch on a lightly floured surface and cut doughnuts out with desired cutter.Place cut doughnuts on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover the tray with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until it rises.

Heat oil in a deep sauce pan until it reaches 350 degrees. Fry doughnuts for about 20 seconds on each side, or until golden.The doughnut holes will fry much faster.

Allow the doughnuts to cool. While the doughnuts cool, mix the glaze ingredients. Once the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dunk them into the glaze.

Yields 30 doughnuts and 30 doughnut holes.

Horseshoe Cable Knit Mittens and Knitting Cables Without a Needle

 

These are the cable mittens I made as holiday gifts for my daughter's pre-school teachers.

I absolutely adore cable patterns. Quite simply, I think they're beautiful.

My first cable pattern was pretty much a disaster. I would happily post a photo of it, but I never finished it. Instead, I ripped it out and used the yarn to make something else.

When knitting cables, most knitters use an extra needle called a cable needle. It's a short needle that basically holds stitches in the front or back of your work  while you knit the other stitches on the regular knitting needles. I think I'm pretty coordinated, but the cable needle was too unwieldy for me.

I gave up on cables for a while, until I read somewhere that you could cable without a cable needle. I typed "knitting cables without a cable needle" into my good 'ol goodle search bar, and this YouTube video popped up. Revolutionary. Since I watched that video, I've been cabling without a cable needle and loving it.

These mittens are based upon a pair of mittens that Kristen Stewart wore in the movie Twilight. A talented knitter and generous soul created the pattern, Bella's Mittens, and shared it for free on her blog.

I'm such a huge fan of this pattern for so many reasons.

1 - It's well written with clear, concise directions.

2 - Since the directions are so well written, the pattern of stitches is easy to remember, allowing me to knit wihtout refering to the pattern very often. It was a perfect project to knit in front of the TV.

3 - Since each mitten is knitted with one skein of yarn, the project is very portable. I took it with me in the car, and would knit a row or two while waiting to pick up my daughter from pre-school. I also knit this project while the baby slept in my arms during her afternoon nap.

4 - Since the mittens have one large cable, it's the perfect pattern to learn how to knit cables without a cable needle.

Unlike last year (which you can read about here), I planned ahead. I ordered my yarn from one of my favorite on-line yarn stores, Mr. Yarn. Aside from their adorable Mr. Yarn logo, they offer the very best price on some of the best all natural fiber yarns and shipping is free!

This is the first pair I completed. It's knitted with Malabrigo Chunky in Stonechat.

You can't tell from the photos, but the pattern knits up mittens that extend all the way to your elbows. Making them a perfectly comfy, cozy knit for being outside in the cold winter weather.

This is the second pair I knit with Malabrigo Chunky in Deja Vu.

This is my favorite colorway. They almost didn't make out the door.  I was seriously tempted to keep these ones for myself.

I'm a planner by nature. I started these mittens well ahead of the holiday season, but I still fell behind. I guess that's what happens when you over commit to hundreds of projects (well, maybe not hundreds, but dozens) while staying home with a sweet newborn baby and a very active, energetic, and absolutely adorable four year old.

The last pair I finished were shorter because I ran out of time.

They are knit from Malabrigo Chunky yet again. This time in Mariposa. Really, all of the variegated Malabrigo Chunky colors are gorgeous.

Here you can see how much shorter they are than the other two pairs.

Here's how I packaged the mittens. I gave each teacher a pair of mittens along with a tin of cookies to enjoy during a much deserved winter vacation.

Here's all the info you need to make your own pair, or two, or three of these soft and toasty mittens.

Horseshoe Cable Mittens

Materials:

Bella's Mittens pattern available here

2 Skeins Malabrigo Chunky Yarn which I purchased here

A pair of circular US 8 needles

Stitch marker

Scrap yarn to hold stitches

 

Adaptations for the Shortened Mittens:

 Cast on at row 22 of the written pattern. 

Knit those stitches in the following manner: (p1,k1)10x, p2, k12, p2, k1

Work those stitch directions for six rows. Then start at row 23 of the written pattern, which is to work the cable pattern. Continue the pattern as written from that point onward.

 

Fast and Easy Chunky Cowl Knit - Perfect for Gifting

Being a fromer classroom teacher, I often have friends ask me what they should give their child's teacher for the holidays. My answer is simple: Give them something that you'd like to receive.

Last year I knitted my daughter's two Montessori pre-school teachers these comfy, warm cowls.

That's me modeling one of the cowls. I was eight and a half months pregnant at that point. That would explain my rather robust figure.

By nature I am not a procrasinator. I was the nerd in college who wrote my final papers with days to spare because I just wanted to get my work finished. But last year I sort of morphed into survival mode. By the end of my pregnancy I was retaining water like nobody's business, my husband was traveling for work every week, and my sweet three-year-old was having trouble sleeping. To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement.

Given the rather unique situation, I didn't even think about my daughter's teachers' gifts until three days before winter vacation. Yes, three days. A normal person would have gone to Starbucks and bought some cute holiday mugs plus gift cards and called it a day. Rather than take the rational route, instead I decided to make a handknit. Usually my husband is the voice of reason, talking me out of making irrational, unrealistic decisions with my time, but since he was traveling, I was left to my own crazy ideas.

Although my decision to knit two gifts in three days while eight and a half months pregnant was pretty irrational, I have to give myself some credit for chosing the pattern. The Gap-tastic pattern is trendy, stylish, warm, and cozy all wrapped into one simple pattern. It's knitted with bulky yarn and in the round so it's a quick knit without any finishing. Some may argue that the moss stitch (knit one, pearl one) can be time consuming, but, thanks to YouTube, I just taught myself how to knit continental style. All those factors combined, it took me three hours to knit each cowl.Oh, and as an added bonus, did I mention that the pattern is free? Yup. It's free! To access it you need to set up a Ravelry account, which is also free and defintely worth while if you knit or croche (or even if you want to learn to knit or croche).

Here's the second cowl I knit. This time in brown.

I love this pattern, and I've already made five of them to give as gifts. I'm hoping that I'll get around to making one for myself sometime soon.

 Materials:

Gap-tastic Knitting Pattern

306 yards or bulkey weight wool

Knitting Needles (around size US 13) to get 3 stitches and 5 rows in 1 inch of seed stitch

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes Stuffed with Peanut Butter Cups

 

 

I love myself a good piece of chocolate cake. What is a "good" chocolate cake? For me, it's a cake with a rich chocolate flavor and a moist and airy crumb. In order to achieve the appropriate chocolatey-ness, I like using good quality cocoa powder that has a depth of flavor. My favorite is the Valrhona cocao powder. It's definitely more expensive than the regular cocoa powder at the grocery store, but I think it's worth it. If I'm going to ingest an unspeakable amount of fat and calories, I want it to taste as amazing as possible.

Choosing peanut butter to go along with the chocolate is a no-brainer for me. I've had a serious love affair with peanut butter cups for as long as I can remember. One night, after having a seriously long night with my newborn daughter, I was dying for some instant gratification. Something fatty, sweet, and rich. After tearing the kitchen apart for something - anything, I flung open the freezer. And there is was. In all of it's glory. One half-eaten bag of Reese's peanut butter cups. Why were they in the freezer? To this day, I'm not exactly sure, but it didn't matter. The dozen semi-frozen confections hit the spot. I felt no guilt. No remorse. It only solidified my love for the peanut butter cup.

What I unfortunately do not have a love for is cream cheese, and most peanut butter frostings include cream cheese. This one however is cream cheese free. It's light, airy, and very peanut butter-ey. It's a keeper for sure.

As for "stuffing" the cupcake with those lovely chocolate and peanut butter candies, it was a bit of trial and error. What I found worked best was to fill the cupcake tin about 2/3 full. Then I place the unwrapped peanut butter cup on top of the batter, and cover it with about an additional tablespoon of batter. Since this particular cupcake batter is so thin, by the time the cupcakes cook, the peanut butter cup should have sunk down to the middle of the cupcake.

The piping and decorating are super basic. Everyone in my house is a huge fan of sprinkles, so they can never be left out!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsweetend cocoa powder (I prefer Valrhona cocoa)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup milk

3/4 tablespoon white vinegar

3 tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil (any neutral flavored vegetable oil)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

18 peanut butter cups

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard size cupcake tin with paper liners.

Mix the milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Let it stand (the milk will separate).

Sift the cocoa, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the eggs, warm water, milk and vinegar mixture, oil, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full, place an unwrapped peanut butter cup on top of the batter, and cover the peanut butter cup with a tablespoon of the cupcake batter.Since the batter is so thin, the peanut butter cup will sink as the cupcake cooks. By the time the cupcake is cooked, the peanut butter cup should be more toward the center of the cupcake.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans half way through the baking time.

Yields 18 standard size cupcakes

 

 Peanut Butter Frosting

Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 cups creamy peanut butter

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Cream the butter and peanut butter. Add the vanilla and continue to beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Sift the powdered sugar into the butter mixture. In a small bowl, disolve the salt into the cream. Add the cream into the butter mixture and beat with a paddle attachment unil smooth and fluffy.

 

 

Olympic Crafts for Children - Air-Dry Clay Gold Medals

I know. Gold medals again? Isn't there anything else to the Olympics? Well, apparently not in Sofia's mind. She's a bit fixated on the gold medals, and quite honestly, she's pretty dead set on the idea that winning is everything. We were playing a game of cards, and when she was losing, she threw up her cards and started to walk away in a huff. When I asked what happened, she said, "If I can't win, then I'm not playing!" Ugh. All I can say is that she is honestly her papa's daughter.

Before making our gold medals, we wanted to know what the 2012 medals would look like in London. And this is what they look like. Using that as a rough guide, here's what we made:

For this round of gold medals, we used air-dry clay (Model Magic to be exact). It's an amazing product because it is light weight, cutable, paintable, and it takes adhesives very well. Model Magic comes in a vareity of colors, but I always get white because then you can paint it any color you want!

Here are our supplies (a written list is below):

We used glitter glue because it was the only gold we had. It actually worked out really well because it's much neater to use than loose glitter, and you can really cake it on because the adhesive dries clear. Leaving the glitter to shine.

After rolling out the clay, we used a drinking glass to cut out our circles.

Using the pizza cutter, we scored lines into the clay.

This is what it looked like when we finished with the pizza cutter

Using the back of a piping tip, we made the olypic rings. Then, using the crafting knife, we cut out a slit to insert the ribbon.

We let the clay dry for 24 hours. Then we used the glitter glue to "paint" them. After attaching the ribbon, voila. Done!

Here's the most important gold medalist in my life wearing her creation:

Materials:

Rolling Pin

Drinking glass (or round cookie cutter)

Pizza cutter

Piping tip (or any small, round object to make the Olympic Rings)

A craft knife

Model Magic

Glitter glue

Ribbon

Scissors

Regular craft glue (to attach the ribbon)

Directions:

Roll the Model Magic out on a clean surface, and use the glass or cookie cutter to cut out the desired number of gold medals.

Using the pizza cutter, score the lines on the face of the medal. Then cut a slit in the top of the medal in order to slip a ribbon through the medal. Allow the Model Magic to air dry for 24 hours.

Paint the medal with glitter glue. We didn't need a paintbrush. We simply squirted the glue out onto the medal. We used quite a thick layer because the adhesive dries clear, leaving the glitter behind. Allow that to dry completely (a few hours was sufficient). Then slip the ribbon through the slit on the medal, and glue the edges of the ribbon togther to fasten.

Olympic Crafts for Children - Gold Medal Cookies

In celebration of the Summer Olympics, this week my almost four-year-old daughter, Sofia, and I are creating a bunch of Olympic themed crafts. Today kicks off our first craft, Gold Medal Cookies.
Since Sofia turned three, we pretty much bake together once a week. Now, that was no problem when we lived in the same neighborhood with my 13 nieces and nephews. They were always willing and ready to consume whatever we made. But now that we've moved to Boston, we no longer have an army of children ready to chow down. To rectify the situation (and to prevent me from binging on baked goods every week), we coincide our baking with a play date so that we can share our creations with friends. For a play date this week we decided to make some sugar cookies. After stamping out a dozen flowers, we thought it would be fun to cut out some simple circles (we used a drinking glass as our cookie cutter) and create some Olympic Gold Medal cookies. 

Our go-to sugar cookie recipe bakes up soft cookies, so we cut the little slits for the ribbon after the cookies baked and cooled. We used a sharp paring knife to do it. In retrospect, for a neater cut, we probably should have made the slit prior to baking. Then we painted each cookie with gold luster dust mixed with some lemon juice. The lemon juice basically evaporates, leaving the color but not the taste. We used this pearl dust, but I wish we used a a luster dust like this one.

I let the cookies dry overnight before adding the chocolate. Once dry, I simply melted chocolate and piped it on the cookies. I refrigerated the cookies before adding the ribbons to ensure the chocolate wouldn't get all over the ribbons and/or my daughter!

Below you'll find the recipe and instructions to make these little treats. Hope you enjoy making and eating these as much as we did!

 
Sugar Cookie Recipe:

Adapted from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle's Recipe

Ingredients:  

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 egg

3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or any flavoring of your choice)

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 to 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter

 Instructions:        

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter until creamy. Add the sugar, and cream until fluffy. Add the egg and flavoring. Finally, add the dry ingredients. Make sure not to over mix the cookie dough when adding the dry ingredients. Only mix until combined. 

Allow the cookie dough to rest for a few minutes on the counter top (do NOT refrigerate).  Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out circles, and bake for 8 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven. These cookies are meant to be soft, so I take them out of the oven before they turn brown. Yields about 2 dozen cookies using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter.

Ingredients and Tools for Decorating the Cookies:

Sharp paring knife

3 to 5 tablespoons lemon juice

Gold luster dust

Paint brush that is used ONLY for food applications

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Piping bag or a plastic sandwich bag

Ribbon cut to desired length

Craft Glue

Once the cookies have cooled completely, using a sharp paring knife, cut out a slit to accomidate the ribbon. Then mix the lemon juice with enough luster dust to create a rich gold color. Using the paintbrush, paint the color on to the cookie. Allow the cookies to dry completely.

Melt the chocolate, and place it into a piping bag. Pipe on the Olympic rings and a border. Allow the chocolate to dry completely (I like to refrigerate it). Insert the ribbon, and glue the ends of the ribbon together to create a necklace.