Hello there, Kitty

I'm not at all a fan of cats.

They strike fear in me. I don't know why...

Hello Kitty is probably the only exception to my lifelong nemesis.
Perhaps it's the lack of a mouth and fangs (yes, they DO look like fangs to me).

Her cute little red ribbon perched askew might have something to do with making her less feline scary, too.

Check out more of our red desserts:
> Sweet, sweet strawberries
> Rich red velvet cake
> Red Santa hats
> Poppin' red cherries, even the jackpot ones

Whatever the case, she's the only kitty I'm gonna be friends with.

Ever.

I drew inspiration from cake pop goddess Bakerella, with just a few minor modifications. She's got the most amazing imagination, and has the superhero power of visualizing uses for any piece of candy.

Start off with regular cake balls, shape them into ovals and flatten them a little.

Then it's off to the details:

Minute oval balls for her  black eyes and pert lil' yellow
nose - these were barely 1mm each, soooo teeny tiny!

Uh-oh... she has SIX whiskers each... that's a whole of
ant-sized rods to make by hand. I lost count of how
 many I broke along the way, they were so fragile.

Just make sure you make tons of extras, they'll break
every step of the way. Oh. and don't freak out if they're not
perfectly shaped, animal parts are never symmetrical anyways :)

I had these sweet little confetti hearts that
were perfect for her signature bow

A cheeky lil' Hello Kitty towel to top the birthday basket off

Mission completed - my kitty litter is born!

More character cake pops:
> Never too much red with Elmo around
> A Rilakkuma birthday
> Curious George... almost!

'Nekkid' series: Sweet, sweet strawberries

I'm quite in love with strawberries.

Hokkaido has the best ever. Sweet, alluring, beckoning, juicy.

Strawberries sing of spring.
Ooh, almost got a whole line of alliteration in there.

Strawberry jam. Strawberry ice-cream.
Mmm-mmm good ....

My strawberry epiphany happened in Phuket. Strange... yes, I think so too.

As a child, I had not-so-tasty King's strawberry ice-cream and chucked strawberries in the 'ulgh' part of the food spectrum. Won't miss that for sure.

On a steaming hot Phuket afternoon about 7 years ago however, we were seeking sun refuge at a cafe. We sat down, and I was drawn (I could not look away, I kid you not) to a mountain of strawberry ice-cream piled high at the next table. A little boy was polishing it off with extreme gusto, his dripping shirt pulled back around his head, a temporary hairband as he tunneled through his mission.

The ice-cream beckoned. It called my name. It singled me out.

I caved.

It was such excellent ice-cream, I tasted meadows and happiness.
I'm serious.

I'm now a strawberry-holic, and proud of it.

Ok, that was a long intro for this post.
I'd meant to talk about two strawberry desserts I'd made recently - Chocolate Strawberry Cake, Classic Cheesecake with Strawberries.

Maybe too much strawberries makes you forgetful.

I'm willing to risk it.

Oh yes, back to the desserts. 

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Start with a rich chocolate cake,
doesn't matter if it aian't too pretty yet...
make sure it tastes good though!

Mix up a batch of strawberry happiness,
also known as strawberry frosting. 

Pile on frosting, lick fingers,
stack on strawberry mountain.
All done.

Need some help with the recipes?
> Fantabulous chocolate cake from IAmBaker
> Strawberry frosting that actually tastes GOOD - I just swapped the raspberry for strawberry in IAmBaker's awesome recipe 


Classic Cheesecake with Strawberries

Assemble your classic cheesecake. Make sure there's plenty
 of crust (double's a good place to start) cuz everyone loves crust.
Me and my greedy family and friends can vouch for that.

Whip up fluffy cream cheese topping. Feel free to make
a little extra, just for you and anyone who walks through
the kitchen when you're working on the cake.

It takes steel will to resist the wafting smells of freshly baked
cheesecake, you WILL need that extra frosting.

  

Crown with strawberries - the key to making any cake look delicious!

The cheesecake recipe I used came from one of the many baking books on my shelf, so it's a little hard to teleport that here. 

But no fear, I will lead you to my Cake Oracle - Bakerella! 

She can do no wrong, and you're in good hands with her cheesecake recipe.

Other crimson bakes:

> Red Velvet cake

> Red Santa hats

> Never too much red with Elmo around

> Baked with love

Sit back, smell the strawberries and enjoy!

Baked with love

This tin was my inspiration over the weekend.

I'd picked it up a couple of months back (how do you say no to "Baked With Love"??), but hadn't had a chance to use it. The fine-engine-red top signaled to me from the avalanche of baskets and supplies I'd been steadily accumulating (I can't help it, things call out to me...), and I thought it was time.

Looking for more red?
> Gotta be Elmo!
> Poppin' red cherries, even the jackpot ones

A girlfriend had reached a milestone in her life, the perfect time to bake her a little something to celebrate.

Related reading: happy things in life
> Happy Dayz
> My OLPT: Official Little Pops Tester
> What in the world are Cake Pops?
> How to share a good pineapple tart

I decided on some lemon & poppy seed cookies, a recipe I'd been mentally pinning on my 'to try' list for a while.

Cookies can be a little quirky, like kids. Or dogs. Or just human beings in general.

They kinda surprise you when you first try them out,  keep you guessing till the time you bite in. And then - you discover: this is a crunchy cookie recipe just what I expected, or darn that one's too soft, a nightmare to decorate.

That's the fun with cookies.
Ok I have to qualify that... it's only fun when you're not up against a delivery deadline!

Back to my lemon poppy seed dough... I wanted the cookies rustic, and I had a hunch these were going to be light and crumbly, just what I was looking for...

Not the prettiest photo but I wanted to show you the
chilled dough log before they got dissected into 4cm circle patties

Fresh from the oven, yes they did indeed turn out light and crumbly!

Food twine does wonders in prettying bakies,
just handle with care cuz those cookies are fragile! 

These made someone smile today, now it's your turn
- pass the smile on, spread the happy (not a typo, I do mean 'happy'!)