Thursday, December 11, 2008

Operation Baking Gals-Captain Marcus Hampton


Round 5 of Operation Baking Gals is upon us just in time for Christmas! For those of you who've missed this in the past, Operation Baking Gals is a group of bakers who get together once a month and send care packages to our awesome men and women in the Armed Forces. It's great fun and I encourage everyone to get involved. Clink the linky link for more information.... LINKY LINK.

This round I joined the SugarBakerz team so that I could bake for Captain Marcus Hampton of the US Air Force, who is currently stationed in Qatar. I was told that he likes Red Velvet Cake and is quite partial to coffee. I really had no idea just how to get a full cake shipped to him properly and the thought of chopping it up into little bits to ship in sections just seemed wrong. So, very, very wrong. Anyhoo, after doing a little internet searching I ran across Red Velvet Cake Balls at Bakerella's bloggity blog. Really how did we ever do anything without the internet? Oh yeah, we read books. Never mind.

Have a gander at them. I decided to make them a little lumpy and imperfect to ensure they had that homemade feel. Yeah, that's it, just like I do with my gravy. Lumpy=Love!

I also made up some Coffee Brownie Bites which really are to die for!

Coffee Brownie Bites
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons instant coffee
1/3 cup powdered sugar (for topping)


Mix together butter, sugar eggs and vanilla. Beat in remaining ingredients until combined(except for powdered sugar).
Bake in mini muffin cups for 10 mins at 350F.
Once cooled dust with powdered sugar.

Of course what would a care package be without some Oatmeal Raisin cookies and Christmas colored M&M cookies? We then topped things off with some candy canes and my grandma's traditional Life Saver Christmas Sweet Story Book.

Again, I urge everyone to get involved in sharing some love with our troops.

If you happen to read this Captian Hampton, my family thanks you for everything you're doing to make the world a better place to be. Merry Christmas!

7 comments:

Flibbertigibbet said...

This might be sacrilige, but I don't drink coffee. Well, I don't even like coffee, or tea for that matter, so how on earth did you make those coffee cakes look so fine!
I was thinking of making Red Velvet Cake for the first time the other day, do you reckon I should start with the full cake or these wee bites?

gigi said...

Thank you for this information. I can't wait to get started on this. I love to bake but the southern man I'm married to is diabetic and so when I bake I'm always looking for someone to give it to in a hurry so that he nor I will be tempted to eat it all. I told him about this last night and he too thought it was a grand idea. So thanks for sharing the info. Merry Christmas!

Pamela said...

I shipped to Capt. Hampton, too. You did an AMAZING job with everything you sent to him. I have seen the cake balls and I think that they look fabulous. I am sure he is going to LOVE them! Great job.

An Apron Straitjacket said...

Stephanie- I'd absolutely make these little wee bites. A WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM!!!!

Gigi-I'm thrilled you'll be joining the baking brigade. I look forward to seeing what goodies you create.

Pamela-Thanks for the kind words. You did an awsome job yourself. Those brownies you made look delicious!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

These are some yummy looking treats. It's great that you guys get together and make these care packages each month. I know a several people who are servicemen, and I know it means a lot to them, to get these!

Anonymous said...

I love the name of your blog! Great job with our soldier's package! See you next round! Do you want to exchange links?
DCRose

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVED all the food, but when I tasted the Red Velvet cake balls...I couldn't stop eating them! The men and women here truly appreciate the time you ladies took out of your schedules to bake for us! Thanks again!

v/r
Capt Marcus Hampton