Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cake Pops

          Cowabunga! Or Booyakasha from the newest installment. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have wielded Turtle Power for almost 30 years (in 2014), via comics, animation, live-action, video games, and merchandise. My sister and I watched the cartoon religiously in the late 80s to mid 90s and loved the three live action movies. I totally would have taken martial arts as a kid if I had been brave enough, but instead pretend ninja'ed all over the place with makeshift bo staffs, swords, and nunchucks (I can't remember if we ever rigged up sais). I'm so curious about the new turtles movie coming out next summer and am glad that the TMNT creators Laird & Eastman have been involved.

"Animal Crossing: New Leaf" Frosted Sugar Cookies

The book shown is the "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" Prima Game Guide.

Town Name: Puhoy Dream Address: 5300-2473-0298 QR Codes: Click Here

          Hooray for Nintendo's "Animal Crossing: New Leaf"! Food is mentioned quite often in the game and plays a major roll in your character's daily activities. You can plant and harvest fruit trees and sell the produce, fish and dive for profit as well, buy fortune cookies with special tickets inside for prizes, buy coffee for yourself and deliver coffee to other town residents, and the townsfolk talk about food often enough. It's wonderful!

Yes.

          This is why I have my very own, super cute 3DS. B has had one for a while & I used to snag his to play my ACNL cartridge. He even became a resident of my town (and buried pitfall booby-traps behind trees and stuff....). But now I have my own system and he has his own copy of the game so we can play together and visit each other's towns! *whew!* So goofy and so much fun. And it'll be really fun to virtually visit one another when B has to leave for Air Force technical training. Aaaaanyway. I think this is a great game. I named my town "Puhoy" after an episode of "Adventure Time".

Note: The recipe below is simple enough but the amount of text may seem daunting. The bulk of it is simply describing the cutting and decorating of the cookies, but honestly the images are pretty self explanatory. Simply make the sugar cookies, cut them in the appropriate shapes, make the frosting in the right colors, and decorate as close to the game items as you can. Viola!

"Animal Crossing: New Leaf" Cookies

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The onigiri charm on my 3DS XL is from "Penguin's Plunder" on Etsy.

Ingredients:
Sugar Cookie Dough (recipe here, use Almond Flavoring instead of vanilla)
Greek Yogurt Buttercream (recipe here, use Almond Flavoring instead of vanilla)
Gel Food Colors:
Golden Yellow (or yellow + orange)
Red
Light Pink
Green (vibrant, add a bit of yellow if necessary)
Dark Purple (or purple + black + dark blue)

Important Items:
Parchment Paper
Circle Cookie Cutter
5 med. Bowls (+ 1 large bowl to mix in)
Plastic Baggies
Toothpicks

Directions:

1. Make this sugar cookie dough with almond flavoring instead of vanilla & let it chill for several hours. When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350. Roll out the dough as directed, about 1/4" thick, & cut 4 circles, 1 rectangle, & 1 wide rupee shape. To the rupee shape add the "ears" to the top that will become the bow on the present (shown above). To 1 of the circles carefully cut out a leaf design & using a small circle cutter, cut a circle on the lower right of the leaf (as shown above). To another circle use a knife or metal spatula to cut angled edges around the sides (see image). This will be the fossil. To another circle press in the top & form it up to create the gathered top of the bell bag & round out the sides (shown above). Leave the last circle as is, this will be the pitfall seed. Leave the rectangle as is as well to make the letter/envelope. Chill the cutouts in the freezer for a few minutes to firm them up & then bake them according to directions.
2. Whip up the greek yogurt, almond flavored, buttercream & separate it into 6 bowls (including the one you mixed it up in). Leave one bowl white & make the others into a golden yellow, a dark, grey-ish purple, a vibrant green, a pale pink, & a solid red. Fill 6 sturdy plastic baggies with these frostings.

3. When the cookies are completely cool begin decorating the bell bag by snipping one corner of the yellow frosting bag to create a medium sized opening. Cover the cookie in yellow, using a butter knife to smooth, & then snip a very small opening in a corner of the red frosting bag. Squeeze on the red drawstrings. Cut a tiny opening in the purple frosting bag & carefully draw the star on the front of the bell bag, using a toothpick if needed. Next, move onto the fossil by enlarging the hole in the purple frosting bag to medium. Cover the entire cookie in purple frosting, smoothing it out as needed. Cut a tiny hole in the the white frosting bag & carefully draw a small star on the right side & a small circle below it. Enlarge the white frosting opening to medium & draw the spiral on the right side. For the pitfall seed continue with the white frosting & cover the circle cookie. Enlarge the opening in the red frosting bag to medium & draw the exclamation point over the white. Take up the white again & cover the present cookie, leaving the bow area blank. Drag a toothpick through the white to create the edges of the present (as shown above). Use the red frosting to draw a stripe up each side, making sure to angle the stripes in at the top (as shown). Now carefully draw on the bow & detail it with a fresh toothpick. For the envelope take up the pink frosting & cut a medium hole in one corner of the bag. Cover the rectangle & drag a clean toothpick through the pink to create the envelope flap. Use the red frosting to make a circle in the center of the cookie. To decorate the leaf, cut a medium opening in the green frosting bag & cover the leaf shaped cookie. Using another clean toothpick drag a lie through the green to make the stem. Use the toothpick also to create the points near the small circle at the bottom of the leaf. Now you're done! The frosting will harden a little bit as it sits out, but not enough to stack. And there's no need to refrigerate the cookies, but I do recommend keeping them in a plastic container, in a single layer to keep them clean & fresh.

The 3DS XL decals are from "minicreations" on Ebay.

Topsicles (Tofu Popsicles) from "Persona 4"

          In the JRPG video game "Persona 4" (and "Persona 4 Golden") the characters Teddie and Kanji are in love with a popsicle dessert called "topsicles". In the game no definition of the treat is given but the predominant fan speculation is that they are popsicles made with tofu (another thought is that they are popsicles with another flavor or something on the top).
          Tofu popsicles are a dairy-less, cream popsicle alternative (that really exist) and given that the game is Japanese and tofu is a common ingredient in Japanese food, I'd say the tofu popsicle speculations are a good bet. (Perhaps the capitol "T"used in the game is for a fictional brand?)

          Tofu is soybean curd (don't let that scare you!) and is uber healthy, being an excellent source of high-quality protein, B vitamins, iron, and other awesomeness. Combine that with fresh fruit and freeze it and you've got yourself a healthy yum bar perfect for the summer weather.

Note: The recipes below are for strawberry & banana topsicles and pineapple topsicles but you can definitely change up the fruit if you want! The basic recipe is uber easy--just tofu, fruit juice (like apple, orange, or pineapple), and chopped fruit.

Strawberry & Banana Topsicles

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Ingredients:

6 oz. Silken or Firm Tofu

1/2 Cup Fresh Strawberries, chopped

1/2 Cup Ripe Banana, chopped (about 1 large Banana)

1 Cup Apple Juice

Directions:
1. Put the ingredients in a blender & blend until smooth (no more white spots of tofu). If you'd like to make it sweeter add honey or strawberry jam or spread to taste.
2. Pour the mixture into your popsicle molds of choice & freeze according to your mold's directions.
Note: to make banana topsicles, simply omit the strawberries & add another banana. Likewise for straight strawberry, omit the banana & put in 1 cup total of cut strawberries.

Pineapple Topsicles

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Ingredients:

6 oz. Silken or Firm Tofu

1 Cup Crushed Pineapple, drained, juice retained

1 Cup Apple Juice + Pineapple Juice

Directions:
1. Drain the crushed pineapple juice into a 1 cup measure & fill the cup the rest of the way with apple juice. Put the ingredients in a blender & blend until smooth. If you'd like to make it sweeter add honey to taste.
2. Pour the mixture into your popsicle molds of choice & freeze according to your mold's directions.

* For the Rainy Day Special Mega Beef Bowl from "Persona 4" click here! *

Rose Cupcakes w/ Edible Ball Bearings from "Doctor Who"

Congrats to Peter Capaldi for being cast in the role of the Twelfth Doctor!
(I wonder if this regeneration will like any specific foods...) 
Huzzah! Now on to today's recipe!

          In BBC's "Doctor Who", ball bearings of all things have made a few appearances and mentions throughout the show's 50 years. Ball bearings are metal balls that bear weight and reduce friction in rotating machinery. Ball bearings in baking are metallic colored sugar balls in the category of dragée. While the Fourth Doctor and K-9 had a thing for the former, the Tenth Doctor was absolutely enamored of the later. Reminiscing on the 1948 London Olympic games and the accompanying tea parties, said he:

"Did you ever have one of those little cakes with the crunchy ball bearings on top? Nobody else in this entire galaxy's ever even bothered to make edible ball bearings. Genius!" [And later in the episode] "I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat, masterpiece!"

 —10th Doctor, s. 2, ep. 11, "Fear Her"

          Leave it to sweet and clever Rose to pay attention to this little something of the oft rambling, full of wonder Doctor, and go and make him one and give it to him at the end of the episode. Accompanied by a big, beautiful smile, hand outstretched; Rose's love. In a cupcake liner.
          Because this meaningful cupcake was given to The Doctor by Rose I thought it would be fitting to make a cupcake that was rose (flower) flavored. The accompanying scent is very nice too.

          I remember these edible silver balls from my childhood but that might be because I spent several years in Germany. Here in the states these little metallic guys have had a bad rap. They were banned for a time in the early 1900s because (at that time) mercury may have been used in the coloring. Well ding-dong, it's not anymore, but the US Food & Drug Administration has decreed that state-side manufacturers have to print "for decorative purposes only" on the labels. In the UK though these metallic balls are considered edible and perfectly fine. The good Doctor probably had something to do with that.

Note: To be accurate to the show make sure the dragées you get are the silver ones and are about 4mm in size. If you live in CA where they are not available (I bought mine in UT before I moved!) get an understanding friend in another state to send you some!

TARDIS & Ten bookmarks from Beth Yates @bethydesigns on Etsy.

Rose's Rose Flavored Cupcakes w/ Edible Ball Bearings

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Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 box White or French Vanilla Cake Mix
1/3 Cup Sour Cream (optional)
Rose Syrup
1 Tbsp. Rose Water
2 Cups sugar
1 Cup Water
Frosting
Buttercream (recipe here)
Rose Syrup
Silver Dragees (edible ball bearings)

Important Items:
Cupcake Pan
Cupcake Liners

Directions:
1. Mix the cake batter as directed on the box & add in the 1/3 cup sour cream for extra moistness & more density (this is optional though). Place your cupcake liners in the pan & pour the batter in about 1/2 full for each cup. Bake according to the box directions.
2. While the cupcakes are baking, combine the rose syrup ingredients in a pan over medium heat & stir until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat to low & let the syrup simmer for about 5 mins.

Optional: If you'd like to add rose flavoring to the cakes, aside from putting rose water directly into the batter, you can poke the tops of the baked-but-still-warm cupcakes with a fork & spoon a little bit of the syrup over each one. This does create a powerful rose flavor (& scent) combined with the rose frosting you'll be creating in a minute, so foregoing the rose syrup in the cakes is totally fine.
3. Whip up some buttercream with an extra Tbsp. of milk & instead of adding vanilla extract pour in a tsp. of the rose syrup. Give it a taste & add in a tsp. more if you'd like. Pour the frosting into a sturdy plastic bag & snip a decent-sized hole in one corner. Make sure your cupcakes are completely cool & pipe a spiral of frosting on each one, leaving space at the edges to be accurate to the show. They don't have to be perfect circles either. Rose's wasn't & it added to the endearment factor.
4. Pour a small amount of silver ball bearings into your hand & sprinkle them directly onto the frosted cupcakes while the frosting is still very soft & sticky (sprinkling the ball bearings from the container over your cupcakes will result in many balls bouncing around & totally missing their mark). Use your fingers to place some of the balls directly onto the cupcakes as needed to make sure each cake gets a decent amount of the love. Have a tea party, sniff your cupcakes, & enjoy!
Tip: When you're finished using the rose syrup pour it into a glass jar with a screw on lid & store it tightly closed in your cupboard.

* For more "Doctor Who" yumminess try my Fish Finger Yorkies! *

The Basics: Pizza Crust

          Yum! Homemade pizza! This post focuses on the crust but gives a quickie on making it into a full-blown pizza. The recipe below calls for sliced mozzarella to be placed directly on the crust, chicago-style. The mozzarella cheese keeps the crust from getting soggy and gives it a nice cheesy chew, but you can simply omit the mozzarella on the bottom and build it how you like, no problem!
       
Note: The dough in this recipe is enough for two 12" pizzas. If you have extra dough and aren't going to use it right away wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and put it in the freezer. When you're ready to use it simply place it in the refrigerator until it's defrosted and then use the dough as directed beginning with step 2 below.