The Choir Bake Sale!

I volunteered to bake a few things for my son’s bake sale after his concert tonight, so we decided to double dip and use the opportunity to do a photo shoot for the cookbook I’m writing. Why not? Baking is not as natural as cooking for me, so when I awoke at 5:00 this morning, I decided to get right to the baking before doing anything else!




The bake sale theme was old favorites- M & M dreamy rice krispy treats, over the top pineapple upside down cake, sour cream cinnamon walnut coffee cake, perfect every time chocolate chip cookie drops, cashew brittle and almost heart healthy oatmeal cherry bars. The rice krispy treats went first..then the coffee cake, then the cherry bars. Fun to see what people went for!


I’m not the neatest baker…when my husband awoke, the kitchen was a mess…flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, baking soda and power, nuts, chocolate….all whirring together in the kitchen aid and on the counter..dishes, spatulas, whisks, more butter, more sugar…both ovens going and all is can say is the house smelled amazing!..and everything worked (I’m not that great at following a recipe- ) The coffee cake was baked about 3 minutes too long, and I could not bring myself to put in 1 C. of sour cream, so ½ C of yogurt, so I’m sure the decreased fat content made a difference in the moisture. ..I have to remember to PULL baked goods just before they are done, as they keep cooking.


Always thinking ahead, I decided to make the sponge cake for my English Trifle to be served on Saturday… since the baking pans were handy and the basic ingredients at my fingertips. Thankfully, my neighbor spotted me some cake flour which was not in my pantry…, and the cakes appear light and fluffy…and should be ready to soak up the copious amount of sherry I like to use in this festive dessert.