"Not your typical Ice Cream Sundae"

Homemade Chocolate Cupcake filled with a chocolate ganache, iced with a "scoop" of vanilla flavored buttercream that tastes and looks like a real scoop of ice cream, drizzled with a chocolate glaze covered in sprinkles and topped with a cherry : ) 

recipe and directions coming soon 

The Most Amazing Cookies Ever!

So back on my no carb diet with my good friend I decided to look into some recipes that were "flourless."Anyway as I was looking for substitutes and what would work instead of flour, I then took my favorite candy "reeses" and decided to make a cookie that tasted just like that. So the outcome of this little situation was the famous Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip cookie. This is single handedly the easiest recipe with the best outcome, not too sweet and just the right amount of peanut butter. I was making it for my family and my dad and grandpa love raisins so I added those in as well but you dont have to. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup super chunky peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
*if you want add a cup of raisins

directions: really simple
preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix all ingredients together. Take a medium size ice cream scooper or just a spoon and place dough on cookie sheet place in oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from over place on cooling rack allow to cool. Enjoy!

P.S my friend sarah (from the happy birthday sarah post) says "FANTASTIC! DELICIOUSO! YUMMY IN MY TUMMY" haha I love her

The Cake Boss

So I can officially say I have met the cake boss himself, Buddy Valastro. He was in new york city at the Hilton giving a seminar about his life and how he built his business from just a little bakery in Hoboken New Jersey to what it is today. Carlos' Bakery used to be a simple bakery that had different kinds of cookies and pastries and a few wedding cakes, just your regular bakery. Now your lucky to get in the front door. Driving past the bakery the line is three blocks long just to go inside. Its insane! But definitely worth it. Anyway back to the seminar- He spoke about his life struggles and what he went through to make his bakery what it is today. He was actually 17 when his father died and he dropped out of school and took over the business. The one thing that stood out to me was his determination. You could tell when he wanted to do something he got it done, nothing stood in his way. He was very inspiring and I suggest if he has another seminar DEFINITELY go see him. After the seminar they were selling his book and he was willing so sign it. I already had the book and didnt even think to bring it with me but I did ask him to sign my phone case and then proceeded to talk about how I am seventeen and have this little cake business. I couldnt believe I was talking about my cakes to the cake boss. He was actually very nice and showed he really was interested in what I had to say. I also told him I was planning on applying to the culinary institute this summer. This was such an amazing experience and like I said if you have a chance to hear him speak and you are interested in Baking go see him and if not take a trip to his bakery because its unbelievable.

I also recommend purchasing his book on amazon !

Oldies But Goodies

About two months ago my grandma (grammi) gave me a black book full of recipes from her mother, grandmother, and aunts. This was very special to me and although I havent been able to make all the recipes yet I figured I could post two that I am excited about making and maybe some of you can make them too! Let me know what you think ! 

I swear everyones great great great aunt has the same famous recipe for cheese cake- well heres mine 

Cream Cheese Cake 

2 eight oz packages of cream cheese 

1 cup of sugar 

4 eggs (well beaten) 

1 pint of sour cream 

1 tsp of lemon juice 

a pinch of salt 

for the crust- 

2 cups crushed graham crackers 

2 tablespoons of butter (melted)

a slash of vanilla 

For the crust-

Combine ingredients and form at the bottom and edges of a spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes 

For cheese cake 

combine all ingredients place on top of baked crust place in oven at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes then turn oven off and let sit for 5 to 10 mins allow to cool in refrigerator over night. 

Award winning Apple Tort 

3 eggs well beaten 

1 cup sugar

1tsp vanilla 

2/3 cup flour 

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder 

some lemon zest

mix all ingredients thoroughly then fold in three large apples sliced and 1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional) bake in 8x12in pan for 40 minutes at 350 

serve with whipped cream 

Enjoy!

Sammi Farber

Teenage Chef 

Driving In The Safe Lane

SADD 2011

What an amazing night! I was so happy to do this cake for my friends at my old school. They had a few speakers come in and talk about the dangers of being stupid while driving. Some things they spoke about were drinking, texting, and having too many people in a car along with not wearing any seat belts. I wasn't planning on staying but after hearing what the presentation was about I decided to educate myself a little, lol. Anyway, enough about the presentation, even though I could say so much, lets talk about the cake. So the cake was vanilla with chocolate filling and lets just say huge is an understatement. I mean this cake was seriously gigantic, it was 4 sheet cakes about 17in long lined up with another 4 on top, so 8 sheets. I then carved it just enough to give it that "bumpy land" look. Then  I covered the entire cake in green fondant, with fondant balls as the border, and strips of black fondant to look like roads. I also cut out little yellow rectangles to look like the dotted lines in the roads. After the roads were in place it was time to make the cars. They were made out of white chocolate that I colored with different types of luster dust. To finish the cake off I cut out and painted the words "driving in the safe lane," the slogan of the night, and "SADD 2011" onto the cake. The perfect finishing touch!