Food Blogger Bake Sale

Last year I participated in a nationwide Food Blogger Bake Sale to fight childhood hunger and I am participating again this year.

If you’re not familiar with the event, it’s the brainchild of Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking. Last year thousands of food bloggers in 26 bakes sales across the country participated and collectively we raised $25,000 to fight childhood hunger. Our goal is to raise $50,000 this year!

If you’re in the San Diego area, our sale will be held at Great News! in Pacific Beach on Saturday, April 28, 2012 from 10am to 2pm. That’s 3 weeks from today, Saturday.

Here’s a list of some the San Diego-area bloggers involved and we have our own website.

Our group is being organized again this year by the lovely Marie, with whom I had the pleasure of attending this event and this event in the past few weeks.

Ways to Get Involved:

Check Gaby’s site to see if there’s a bake sale happening in your area.

If you’re a blogger, and want to participate, reach out and see if you can jump in to an existing sale in your area.

If you’re not a blogger, but are a blog-reader and a baker and want to bake something to donate, reach out with an email and see if you can jump in.

If you want to volunteer something else, there may be a way to put your good intentions to use. Letting bakers borrow your extra folding table and chairs for the day of the event or if you know someone who makes labels and they can donate some labels as price stickers or if you have access to a great venue or ice packs or umbrellas in case of bad weather; whatever it is that you may be able to provide, reach out because it may come in handy.

If you’re a blog reader who wants to show your support for this cause, that’s fabulous. Get out there and buy some goodies at the bake sales in your area!

You can also donate money online here

Thank you in advance to anyone who participates, at any level. It is appreciated!

There’s nothing as “too small” but reach out sooner, rather than later, since the event is coming up so quickly. It will be held nationwide on Saturaday, April 28, 2012.

Now for the big question: What should I make?

If you were a buyer, what looks the best to you? – I gave pros and cons for each choice:

1. Fudgy Nutella Brownies

I made these last year for the sale and you can’t go wrong with brownies (pro).

However, I didn’t frost them last year because frosting is messy and I didn’t know how well climate-controlled things would be (con) so skipped the frosting, which felt like a crime to me.

2. White and Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake Bars – These are rich, chocolatey from the cake, the two kinds of chocolate chips (white and dark chocolate chips) and people love chocolate (pro).

However, not everyone loves cream cheese (I think that’s crazy) and the cream cheese layer, although it’s been baked, is gooey and can be messy. Also, these bars taste optimally when well chilled and at a bake sale, that’s not likely to happen (con). They’re fine even if they’re not chilled, but they’re heavenly when they are.

3. Coconut Peanut Butter Magic Cake Bars – These are one of, if not my favorite, dessert of 2012. They are truly fabulous and combine so many layers of flavor in each bite (pro) and for a  bake sale, they are not messy to package and don’t require frosting. And did I mention, I personally think they’re the best thing since sliced bread.

The negatives are that not everyone likes coconut (crazy) and I don’t believe they have the “curb appeal” and wow factor that chocolate does. If this recipe was  house, I fear that this house is like a 3 bedroom ranch and the two previous choices are 6 bedroom sprawling mansions and people may not see the glory and charm in these.

4. Special K Bars (No Bake) – A favorite recipe, from my Grandma, and I grew up eating these and adore them. Everyone who tries and readers who have made them tell me they love them and are instant favorites (pro).

They can be a little messy and I don’t know if they are “fancy” enough to catch people’s eye (con). However this is a bake sale; we’re not cooking for the President so I don’t know if “fancy” is needed or even desired.

5. Nutella and Peanut Butter Graham Bars (No-Bake) – These are dense, rich, and combine Nutella, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate in one tightly packed bar (pro). Can’t go wrong with that trifecta of ingredients.

However, these, like the Special K Bars, don’t necessarily feel fancy enough or special enough for a bake sale (con). But maybe it’s all in my head.

Have you ever participated in a bake sale? Donating, volunteering, or showing support by buying some bake sale goodies?

The buying and eating is the best part of a bake sale. So many great, homemade, wonderful goodies under one roof. It’s usually hard to know what to buy and taste next.

I wish there was a tapas menu so I could try one or two bites of just about everything I saw.

Which recipe of mine would you be most inclined to purchase?

I purposely didn’t include cookies because bars are faster and easier to make than cookies. I also think my bars have some uniqueness and are different from standard-issue chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies.

Taking into account daytime temperature, wrapping and packaging them, transporting them, the messy or melty factor, the curb appeal and wow factors, and flavors that the average person likes (chocolate and peanut butter) are all reasons I am leaning toward what I chose.

However, if there’s anything here that just jumps off the page at you, please tell me.

Thanks for the KitchenAid 7-Quart Stand Mixer Giveaway entries