Giveaway: Duncan Hines Frosting Creations

What a yummy giveaway we have planned. It's with Duncan Hines and its new Frosting Creations line. I had a chance to sit down recently with Chef Joe (Chef Joe DiPaolo is the corporate pastry chef at Duncan Hines) and go over the new product line.

Flavors! There are twelve now, more expected as the line grows. Chef Joe said he's been working on this new line for two and a half years. Busy moms and dads (Chef Joe has a newborn at home, I heard) especially will love this line, as kids can participate in the flavor choices and the mixing/making of the frosting. Perfect for bake sales!

Chef Joe decorating mini cupcakes:

I tried the best-selling cotton candy (tastes just like cotton candy!) and the caramel, which had a milky, creamy cajeta/dulce de leche-like flavor. Heavy on the dairy notes.

While the new line is available at Wal-Mart now, it should be available everywhere baking products are sold soon. Flavor base will go for about $1.90 and the flavor packets should be approximately $1.00. You'll need to buy the flavor base and a flavor packet to make the frosting but it's self-explanatory and very simple. Chef Joe made a frosting kit for me in less than a minute.

We're giving away Duncan Hines Frosting Creations VIB (Very Important Baker) package for one lucky winner. The VIB box contains: two cake mixes (chocolate and vanilla), three frosting bases, twelve flavor packets and a recipe book!  The giveaway is only open to United States residents with a street address (no PO boxes or APO/FPO, sorry).

To enter, please tell us your favorite Duncan Hines Frosting Creations packet flavor (see list here) and leave a contact email address in the comment section, below. We will randomly select a winner on Monday, March 19, 2012 at 5:00 pm EST, and contact you via email. Products will be shipped from the company, not CTTC.

You can keep up with Duncan Hines on Facebook and Twitter too. Check back often as I hear that a recipe challenge with gifts and prizes will soon be posted.

BabyCakes NYC Launches Cupcake Cake Art of the World contest

From the latest BabyCakesNYC newsletter and their blog:

It’s real easy: Make a cake using the BabyCakes mixes and frosting and decorate it with whatever Spring-inspired splendor you can imagine—there are no rules limiting your creative hankerings. Then, by April 19th, send a picture of this masterpiece to contest@babycakesnyc.com, along with your name, city and state, and what you are calling your cake. You can then consider yourself entered in the inaugural BabyCakes Cake Art Contest of the World! (If you want to send a photo of yourself as well, cool!)

We’ll set up an online gallery where your friends and loved ones can vote your cake into prize territory. The first place winner will receive a $100 BabyCakes gift certificate, both BabyCakes cookbooks, and an official BabyCakes apron exactly like those that the bakery bakers wear. There are also prizes for 2nd and 3rd place winners, because that seems fair.

BabyCakes has locations in New York City's Lower East Side, Los Angeles and Downtown Disney® Marketplace at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Visit babycakesnyc.com for more information, and visit their online store where you can buy gluten free cake mix, frosting and more. And from their blog, a baby and cupcake photo I couldn't resist:




cake mix, $36, official description:

Here you go, the magical foundation of the cakes we make at the bakery, consisting of garbanzo-fava bean flour, rice flour, potato starch, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum. All you need to have in the cupboard is: vanilla, oil, agave nectar, and applesauce (preferably unsweetened).

Recipe and Giveaway (!): The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook

 I'm loving these vegan allergen-free frosting recipes from Elizabeth Gordon's new cookbook, The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook.  Every recipe is free of gluten, eggs, soy, nuts and dairy, perfect for those on a gluten-free diet, those who suffer from Celiac disease, or those who prefer a dairy-free diet.

The cookbook is beautiful (great paperstock and gorgeous images) to boot, and can be yours free of charge if you win our giveaway. Details follow the recipes, below.

 

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

10 ounces gluten-, dairy-, soy-, nut-, and egg-free semisweetchocolate chips

1 tablespoon Lyle’s Golden Syrup or corn syrup

1⁄3 cup well-shaken canned coconut milk

1⁄4 teaspoon espresso crystals

1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon canola oil

Makes 11⁄2 cups

1. Place the chocolate chips, Lyle’s Golden Syrup or corn syrup, coconutmilk, and espresso crystals in a small saucepan. Stirring constantly, so as notto scorch the chocolate, melt the mixture over low heat.

2. When the chocolate is two-thirds of the way melted, remove fromthe heat and continue stirring until it is completely smooth. When the ganacheis completely smooth, beat in the confectioners’ sugar and canola oil with ahand mixer until a thick, smooth frosting has formed.

3. Leftovers may be stored, refrigerated, for up to 5 days. Let thefrosting stand at room temperature until it is soft enough to spread.

Supermarket Frosting

3⁄4cup organic palm fruit oil shortening

1⁄3cup powdered vanilla rice milk

5cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1⁄4cup plus 1 tablespoon water

1⁄2teaspoon salt

1teaspoon vanilla extract

Makes 3 cups

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the organic palm fruit oil shorteningand the powdered vanilla rice milk until they are light and fluffy.

2. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time. The mixturewill be crumbly.

3. Slowly stir in the water, salt, and vanilla extract and thenbeat the frosting for 3 minutes on medium high.

4. Use the frosting immediately or store it in an airtightcontainer with plastic wrap pressed directly on top of it in the refrigerator for3 to 5 days or, in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the frosting completelyand beat it again before using.

Recipes and images reprinted with permission.

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So...you want a copy don'tcha? I promise you do. Leave us an email address where we can contact you below, in the comment section, telling us about your allergy/food issues. We'll choose a winner at random on February 10, 2012 at 5:00 pm ET. The cookbook will be sent from the publisher and there are no shipping restrictions on this so all are welcome to enter!

Good luck.

;)

Kids + Cupcakes: Growin' Owen

Here's my buddy Owen from Los Angeles-area, California, making cupcakes all by his lonesome.  Well...maybe momma Shannon helped?

Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix with Pillsbury Valentine's pink vanilla frosting, and getting ready for Owen's favorite special touch:  extra sprinkles!  Way to go, Owen.  Cell-phone snapshot courtesy Owen's momma Shannon and his poppa Mike, via Facebook.