Thawing Cupcakes

I made a very large batch of red velvet cupcakes a few months ago--some to share, and others to hoard. Rather than eating all of mine at once (believe me, I was tempted), I decided to try freezing them to make the joy last a little longer. I wrapped them in plastic wrap, and then stored them in an airtight container in the freezer. When I was ready for them again (during finals week...), I took them out, unwrapped them, and left them to thaw on the counter. Within less than an hour, they were perfect and fresh, and exactly what I needed to keep my spirits up during the studying!

"Jarcakes"

This year, Valentine's Day fell during the Red Velvet Craze of 2010. I wanted to spread a bit of the holiday joy, so I tried to figure out how to mail cupcakes. After a little bit of research, Mason jars seemed like they would be the best option. With some inspiration from various bloggers and Etsy vendors, I decided to give it a shot. I didn't realize, however, that finding the right jars would be such a challenge. There is no shortage of canning equipment in Vermont--such things proved a bit more elusive in Rhode Island. Finally, however, I struck gold at Adler's (they always seem to have the one thing I can't find anywhere else; I should start looking there first...), so on we go!

A 4 oz. quilted jelly jar. Exactly cupcake-sized. (It sounds like you can also use wide-mouth half-pint jars.)

There seemed to be a few different ideas about how to assemble everything in the jars. I decided to slice the cupcakes in half horizontally, with a layer of frosting piped in the middle. I also tried a couple with three layers of cake; it seemed to work well too. Some of the examples I saw had the frosting on the top, but that seemed like it would be a bit messy when the lids came off.

Assembled!

I put these in the freezer overnight, and then wrapped them in tissue paper and packaged them right before shipping them Priority mail (2-3 days). Looks like they made the trip pretty well!

UNfreezing Cookie Dough

Believe it or not, I wasn't planning on baking today. However, the surprise arrival of the Silpats today left me with absolutely no choice! The frozen snickerdoodle dough from last weekend was pretty ideal for testing. (Icy!)

Not bad! And not even a little bit of sticking. Non-stick and reusable? Better than parchment!

Freezing Cookie Dough

Lately, I've been getting the urge to bake something at least once a week. That many baked goods--while wonderful to have on hand--cannot possibly be part of a balanced diet, so I decided it was time to find some way for baking and nutrition to compromise. Freezing cookie dough seems to be the solution.

I've made large batches of gingerbread in the past, freezing big blocks of dough for later use, but I have never tried to freeze cookies in their pre-baked form. A strong and inexplicable craving for Snickerdoodles on Thursday prompted this:


Here are three dozen cookies, frozen, ready to bake at any time within the next three months. Saves me from eating them all immediately, and saves time in future--homemade deliciousness during midterms? Now a very real possibility. Assuming I don't bake them all before midterms.