Michelle’s Baking Blog

With unusually warm weather this winter, we tried to bring a bit of wishful thinking into the office in the form of sugar cookies. Although the sentiment isn’t always shared, I can’t help but crave a pleasant snowy evening outside the window on North 2nd Street. So far, we’ve been met with 70 degree December days or blistery cold January nights – not what I would call a magical winter.

These sugar cookies are a classic recipe, taken out of the oven pleasantly early so that they retain a nice chewy bite. I came up with the vanilla icing recipe when I was a kid and haven’t stopped using it since. The funny part is, I never actually measure out the ingredients so I can’t quite share the recipe if anyone were to ask. It just sort of happens when I’m making it.

What’s the weather like where you are? If it’s anything like the streets of Old City Philadelphia are right now, I wish you warm thoughts and nights filled with blankets, hot chocolate, and a classic Disney movie.

Happy Birthday Zain!

Our director of client recruitment’s birthday got lost in the middle of this busy and eventful week, so the celebration got pushed back to today. But the sun is shining, our doors are open and Old City is bustling, so I’d say it’s a perfect day for some birthday cake.

The inspiration for this cake is pretty obvious. And although we’re in the midst of baseball playoffs featuring Zain’s other favorite Philly team, a football field cake was just too tough to resist.

The cake is golden white flavored, a nice little switch from the usual funfetti, and it’s frosted with my signature homemade vanilla icing. I made two separate cakes in order to cut a football shape out of one of them and carefully place it on top of the base. Since the edges of the football were exposed, applying the chocolate icing was a scary and delicate process because the cake tends to rip apart. But with enough concentration and the right playlist provided by my roommate, I managed to pull it off.

Then I added a few details to drive home the point that this is a football field, but limited space made yard lines and a detailed Eagles logo a little tough. And yes, the football only has 7 laces but we’ll just say that makes it unique.

Finding the Inspiration
Well, Tusar won again. His always-enthusiastic request for an Aladdin themed marble cake finally got picked out of the hat (or um, cup) last week. It’s a little late considering the typical Monday baked item of the week, but better late than never. And who wouldn’t appreciate a nice homemade cake on a rainy day in Philly?

Making the Magic
This is actually one of the few times I’ve ever made marble cake, since I’m typically a Funfetti kind of girl. But I loved the process of swirling the chocolate batter into the vanilla and making fun designs. I made my classic vanilla frosting, trying to match the colors just right while staring at a picture of the DVD cover. Believe it or not, I made this cake while my two friends and I were watching Aladdin, hoping it would strike some inspiration. Luckily, the Aladdin font is available online so I could try to recreate it Maiden style.

Tasting the Treat
As always, my signature frosting is super sweet. I tend to go a little overboard with the sugar because I can’t stand bland icing and I have the taste buds of a 7 year old. But nonetheless, it made a nice compliment to the marble cake and a sweet addition to an otherwise umbrella-filled Friday.

Finding the Inspiration
Since everyone in the office at Maiden has put up with my incessant Disney talk, I figured I’d thank them with some themed chocolate chip cookies. I’ll be leaving the office for a few weeks to go to the most magical place on earth, so they’ll be without baked goods for a little while. And plus, it’s Friday, so there’s a lot to smile about in general!

Making the Magic
These cookies are my classic recipe, made possible by the 15 pound bag of chocolate chips Tusar bought for me. It was beyond difficult to form these into the shape of Mickey because they kept expanding while they baked and ended up forming one big circle instead. So once they came out of the oven and were still warm, I re-shaped them carefully with a knife.

Tasting the Treat
These cookies were no surprise to the Maiden team. I’ve kept pretty consistent with my recipe, besides maybe adding an extra handful of chocolate chips depending on the occasion. So hopefully they gave a little sweetness to the end of the work week.

Finding the Inspiration
Well it’s pretty obvious who won this Monday’s baked item of the week. Our creative director excitedly cast his vote on Friday for “chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles and ‘Amol’ written on them” and was thrilled when the winner was announced.

Making the Magic
They were paired with chocolate icing for a base and vanilla icing for letters and accents. The sprinkles are a subtle touch (and to be honest, a last minute “whoops I forgot the sprinkles!).

Tasting the Treat
Since I’m a huge fan of extra chocolatey/extra sugary/extra sweet anything, I made these “Amolcakes” very rich. My only mistake was cutting the recipe in half because, as usual, they were gone by lunchtime.

Finding the Inspiration
For our first Friday baked good vote with our new design and development intern Jake, he managed to pull off the lucky winning choice. At his request, Monday was accompanied by peanut butter cookies.

Making the Magic
Since the classic peanut butter cookie is notoriously dry, the Hershey Kiss on top helps make it much sweeter. The dough is rolled into one-inch balls which are then tossed in sugar before baking, another touch to cut the boring taste. Once they come out of the oven, a kiss can be pressed right into the center of each cookie when they’re at their softest.

Tasting the Treat
The cookies made for an excellent addition to an otherwise typical Monday. The chocolate kisses were the perfect touch and a surprise to all who expected that classically boring cookie to arrive on their desk in the morning. A tray of peanut butter blossoms seems to be the perfect start to what’s looking like a long week.

Finding the Inspiration
June 30th marks a worldwide celebration of all things social media. Cities across the globe plan meet-ups to bring the conversation offline and discuss the impact of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the many other ways we all stay connected. This was of particular interest to the Maiden team because of the strong emphasis we place on the digital world and how it can change the scope of a brand. We organized a meeting at the Urban Saloon in Philadelphia, but first we enjoyed some Twitter and Facebook themed cupcakes.

Making the Magic
These logos are so simple and recognizable that it was too perfect to pass up. Instead of the typical method of spelling out “Happy Social Media Day” with one letter per cake, I went with a much more basic message. The point is, you see those symbols and you don’t have to ask any questions. It’s as obvious as Mickey Mouse Ears or a Nike swoosh, you just get it.

Tasting the Treat
As usual, the Maiden team tends to prefer funfetti for their cake flavor of choice. The icing is mom’s homemade recipe, carefully colored to match the familiar logos with regular and neon food coloring.

Finding the Inspiration
After staying loyal to her weekly vote, Colleen once again added oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to Josh’s hat for the Friday choice of baked goods. After being shut down week after week, her choice was finally drawn and her wish could finally come true.

Making the Magic
This is probably one of the easiest cookies to make, right next to regular chocolate chip. The only regret would be how quickly they seem to go, so next time a double recipe might be in order.

Tasting the Treat
The recipe is top secret, of course. But luckily, Tusar provided 25 pounds of flour so there’s probably plenty more of these cookies in our future.