A Sharing Snack: Recipe

This must be when it starts...

My four-year old has been assigned the classroom "bookworm librarian" for tomorrow at school and she was asked to bring in her very favorite book and a sharing snack to go with it. She picked a Barbie book about 12 sisters who get into trouble trying to save their father, the king, from being poisoned by the evil aunt. It's rather sinister. When each little girl simultaneously stands on a flower etched onto a stone a magic portal opens to a fantastic place.

We started out thinking we would make sugar cookies in the shape of ballet slippers since the Barbie sisters are dancers. But we couldn't find a single cookie cutter like that. Then I saw this neat looking pan with 12 spots in the shape of little rose buds. I offered that we make little rose-flower cakes, as an alternative. My daughter took me up on the solution and now, as they cook, I think I'm a bit on the crazy side for having suggested this this. Oh well. She'll enjoy the cakes with her friend tomorrow and maybe she'll enjoy this post one day. We did make the batter together, which was really fun and I am sure that was part of the assignment.

Individual Rose Cakes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup of butter
5 eggs
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Grease and flour a rose-petal baking pan. Preheat oven to 325.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together. Mix well until very light and fluffy looking. Add eggs, one at a time and mix after each one. Add in the vanilla and one half of the milk. Mix well and scrape sides of the bowl often. Mix together flour and baking powder and add one half to the bowl. Add in the remaining milk and mix. Then add in the remainder of the flour and mix.

Spoon mixture into the prepared pan, about 2/3 full in each cup. Smooth top of the batter. Bake 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and turn out onto cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.