Baked Occasions: A Review of the ENTIRE Cookbook

Starting in January of 2015, I had the idea to make all of the recipes in the Baked Occasions cookbook.  And to make them all in one year! So here I am sitting on December 31st, 2015 and can say that as of today, I have made all 75 recipes!  That comes out to 1.44 recipes each week.  I can say that my family, friends and co-workers have enjoyed many treats this year.

So, now that I have made all the recipes, I thought an overall post was in order.  I enjoyed the concept of this book.  Having go-to recipes for each holiday is exciting - even the little holidays like World Nutella Day.  One thing I really wished the book had for each recipes is a "Time to Make".  A lot of the recipes would require prep work and would need to set overnight.  I would not realize this until I read through all of the steps. Knowing if each recipe was a quick one or a 2 day one would be helpful.  As for the recipes: some of these were AMAZING...and others were not good... I expected them to all be fantastic, so when some were less than enjoyable, I was a bit saddened.

Now, let's break these recipes down!

All The Recipes:

Color Coding: Green (AWESOME), Yellow (Nothing Special), Red (Never Again), (*** favorite)

• JANUARY
• Baked Ultimate Birthday Cake (Baked's Birthday)
• Hair of the Dog Cake (New Year's Day) (***)
• Brutti Ma Buoni (Ugly but Good) Cookies (La Befana)
• Caramel-y Banana, Peanut Butter, And Chocolate Bread Pudding (Elvis's Birthday) (***)
• Dolly's Doughnut (Dolly Parton's Birthday)
• Chinese Five-Spice Sesame Scones (Chinese New Year)
• FEBRUARY
• Toffee Coffee Cake Surprise (Groundhog Day)
• Nutella Chip Cookies (World Nutella Day)
• Conversation Heart Cakes (Valentine's Day)
• Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake with Milk Chocolate Glaze (Valentine's Day)
• The New Orleans (Mardi Gras)
• Kitchen-Sink Dutch Baby (Shrove Tuesday)
• Cherry Almond Crisp (Washington's Birthday) (***)
• Pistachio White Chocolate Cheesecake (National Pistachio Day)
• MARCH
• Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (Texas Independence Day)
• Blood Orange Tiramisu (The Ides of March)
• St. Patrick's Drunk Bundt Cake (St. Patrick's Day)
• Light and Lemony Jelly Roll with Raspberry Cream Filling (Vernal Equinox)
• APRIL
• Mega Easter Pie: A Meat and Cheese Utopia (Easter)
• Easter Coconut Sheet Cake (Easter)
• Hippie Cake (Earth Day)
• Buttery Pound Cake with Salty Caramel Glaze (Shakespeare Day)
• Caramel Candy Popcorn Balls (Secretary's Day)
• MAY
• Strawberry Supreme Cake (May Day)
• Black Forest Cupcakes (Black Forest Cake Festival)
• Derby Cookies (Kentucky Derby)
• Old-School Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Teacher Appreciation Day & National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day)
• Ultralemony Lemon Bundt Cake with Almond Glaze (Mother's Day)
• Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze (National Wine Day)
• JUNE
• Chai Spice Trifle with Mixed Berries (The Queen's Birthday)
• Rainbow Icebox Cake with Homemade Chocolate Cookies (Gay Pride) (***)
• Brown Sugar Shortcakes with Brown Sugar Syrup, Mixed Berries, and Whipped Cream (Flag Day)
• Dad's Black Cocoa Bundt with Butter Whiskey Glaze (Father's Day)
• Hot Chocolate Pudding Cake (National Chocolate Pudding Day)
• JULY
• Nanaimo Ice Cream Bars (Canada Day)
• Orange Buttermilk Picnic Cake with Chocolate Chips (Independence Day)
• Cheesy Bastille Day Beer Bread (Bastille Day)
• Gonzo Cake (Hunter S. Thompson's Birthday)
• AUGUST
• Everyone's Favorite Birthday Cake (Martha Stewart's Birthday)
• Salted Caramel Souffle (Julia Child's Birthday)
• Brioche Ice Cream Sandwiches (Ferragosto)
• Nonnie's Blueberry Buckle (Blueberry Month)
• Chocolate Chip Hush Puppies (National Dog Day)
• SEPTEMBER
• Frozen Swiss Chocolate Pie (National Grandparents Day)
• Orange Pancakes with Honey Butter (Rosh Hashanah) (***)
• Mini Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes (First Day of School)
• Chocolate Rice Crispy "Cake" with Homemade Marshmallow "Icing" (Mildred Day's Birthday)
• OCTOBER
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Crumb Morning Muffins (Eleanor Roosevelt's Birthday)
• Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies (Columbus Day) (***)
• Individual Baked Alaskas with Vanilla and Coffee Ice Cream (Alaska Day)
• Milk Chocolate Malted Brownies with Chocolate Ganache (Halloween)
• Chocolate Pop Tarts with Peanut Butter and Jam Filling (Halloween)
• NOVEMBER
• Chocolate Cinnamon Chipotle Sugar Cookies (Day of the Dead)
• Election Palmiers (Election Day) (***)
• Brown Butter Apple Cranberry Galette (Thanksgiving)
• Sweet Potato Tart with Gingersnap Crust and Heavenly Meringue (Thanksgiving) (***)
• Chocolate Espresso Tapioca Pudding with Kahlua Whipped Cream (Black Friday)
• DECEMBER
• Twelve Days of Cookies (S Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Gingersnaps with Lemon Sugar, Exceedingly Chocolaty Crinkles, Whipped Shortbread, Peppermint Chocolate Chip Meringues, Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies, Lebkuchen, Mae's Crescent Cookies, Campfire Cookies, Traditional Linzer Cookies, Date Squares (***))
• Brown Sugar Oatmeal Whoopie Pies with Maple Marshmallow Filling (National Maple Syrup Day)
• Wintermint Cake (Winter Solstice)
• Pink Peppermint Stick Ice Cream with Homemade Hot Fudge (Christmas Eve) (***)
• Tricolor Cake (Christmas)
• Orange Pineapple Walnut Fruitcake (Christmas)
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcake Shakes (Boxing Day)

Looking for a 2016 challenge?  Pick up the Baked Occasions book today!  :)

Happy New Year!

p.s. my 2016 goal is to give up sugar ;)

Baked: Individual Baked Alaskas with Vanilla and Coffee Ice Cream

Well folks, we finally made it!  The last recipe in the Baked Occasions cookbook!  This one is from back in October but it intimidated me since it has ice cream AND it has baked meringue on the outside.  Meaning they have to be eaten immediately - all 12 of them.  Turns out I should not have been so intimidated.  They needed a lot of prep work and need to be in the freezer with the meringue for a couple hours before baking at 500 degrees.  Could easily make them, then take them out and have ready in 3 minutes for dinner guests  :)    We did just that!  My mother in law had my parents and grandparents over to see her new place and I popped these in the oven quick.  A good way to celebrate the last recipe!!

75 FINISHED!  ALL DONE!!!  :D

Baked: Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcake Shakes

This is the final recipe in the book!  Celebrating boxing day;  the day after Christmas.  I made this one along with the baked Alaskans which I am making today.  They both required cupcakes.  If you have cupcakes,  then this is the easiest recipe in the book.  Blend and eat!

74 done!   Only ONE recipe left!  Can you belive it?!

Baked: Orange Pineapple Walnut Fruitcake

Do you like rum for breakfast? Then you will enjoy this fruit cake! There are over three quarters of of a cup of rum and this baby. Half of it's been cooked down though so I guess it doesn't count.  Another easy recipe that doesn't require a stand mixer or blender. The hardest part is waiting 24 hours before eating the thing.

73 complete.  2 left!!!!!!!!!  And 3 days left in the year. 

Let's do this! 

Baked: Pink Peppermint Stick Ice Cream With Homemade Hot Fudge

Any normal winter in Michigan and there is no way we would be eating ice cream during Christmas.  This winter however, it is about 20 degrees F warmer than normal, so ice cream tasted pretty good!  The peppermint ice cream is perfect.  The hot fudge is awesome.  Great recipe if you have an ice cream maker  :)  I have been borrowing one for the 2 recipes in this cookbook that required it.

Merry Christmas!  If it is above freezing where you are, you should enjoy some peppermint ice cream too :)

72 complete.  3 left!  I can see the finish line!!

Baked: Twelve Days of Cookies

I condensed this 12 days of cookie making into two days.  Two glorious days of baking!  I ended up with a LOT of cookies.  I brought in a large platter today to work and I still have enough to last through Christmas!

S Cookie
Biscotti-ish type of cookie.  I like the plain-ness and the shape.  Needs to be dunked in some coffee!  These were the least liked cookies at work.  Of all the cookies that were eaten, I still had 3 of these to bring home.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
These are a kind of "been there done that" type of cookie.  I wasn't too interested in making these..but I did, and they went like hot cakes at work.

Gingersnaps with Lemon Sugar
This one is my favorite.  Ginger and lemon...mmm.  They were the perfect amount of crunch and taste!  Peeps at work also liked these.

Exceedingly Chocolaty Crinkles
White sugar on the outside, chocolate goo on the inside - a chocolate lovers dream.  Another favorite at work.

Whipped Shortbread
One of my favorites.  So soft and brittle, so buttery.  The husband says no nuts should be in desserts, but these pecans on top worked perfectly with the cookies.

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Meringues
The husband loves meringues.  He says these taste just like his grandma's...but they weren't cooked right.  SOO close!  They seemed to collapse in the center instead of baking evenly and crunchy throughout.  Still good!

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies
I didn't really care for these but I am not much of a butterscotch fan.  A few peeps at work really enjoyed these - they must have been butterscotch fans.

Lebkuchen
Absolutely dislike these cookies.  They are not crunchy, they taste strange, and the chocolate on top does nothing for the cookie.  I will not be eating a second one...  Those at work familiar with German cookies assured me that this is what they are supposed to taste like and that I didn't do anything wrong.  Someone else mentioned using an orange extract instead of the orange peel.  I think that might help.

Mae's Crescent Cookies
Yum!  These remind me of these little walnut balls that my grandma makes for Christmas, only these are crescent shaped.  A lot of people at work knew what these were, so they must be popular.

Campfire Cookies
These went over well at work.  I don't feel like they are anything that amazing.  I may need to eat another one ;)

Traditional Linzer Cookies
These taste pretty decent, and they look awesome!  The little star cutouts got good reviews at work.  No one mentioned anything about this cookie in particular, so I feel it is good, but not a standout.

Date Squares
My absolute favorite - although I think it is a stretch to include these in the cookie section, baked people ;)  They deserve a day of their own!  I grew up making date bars from the box.  Slowly stores stopped carrying them, to the point when we found a random place that still had it, we would clean out the shelf!  It never occurred to us to make them from scratch. Now that I am all grown up, I have made them from scratch, and I prefer the recipes with little to no added sugar.  Voted #1 "cookie" by one of the guys at work who claimed to have eaten all 12  :)

71 done.  4 M.O.R.E

Baked: Brown Sugar Oatmeal Whoopie Pies with Maple Marshmallow Filling

The husband is on his second (at least) holiday party of the year.  So, he got the wintermint cake and these whoopie pies.  Ok, I will admit, that even though the recipe says in bold print 2 different times NOT to use imitation maple extract...I used it....  it was all that I could find and I had 2 containers left over from a cinnamon roll bake off 3 years ago...so, alas, I did not follow the recipe 100%.

That being said, these were not bad.  I have an aversion to maple syrup in general, especially the fake kinds.  So, after eating one of these to see what they tasted like, I had enough.  The cookie part was quite good - who can go wrong with 2 cups of brown sugar?! - but the filling was quite fake maple-y tasting.

He took them to work, and like a good husband, came back with only one left for himself for dessert after dinner  :)  They went over really well, he said.  And I am happy to have them out of the house as I have 16 more recipes to make in 16 days!

Oh and there was leftover filling, so I popped them in the oven at 250F for an hour and wala! Meringues!  :)  Husband likes meringues. This recipe was a win win for him.

59 DONE.  16 remain.   sooooo close!  This weekend is going to be a cookie baking frenzy!