Grunes - The Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook

Fund-raising plans come and go, but the bake sale perseveres. Sweet baked goods for sale remind us of parties in the gym, the senior trip to Washington, D.C., or raising money for a new church roof. In recent years, bake sales have enjoyed a new surge of popularity as a way to raise money. Bake sales are an instantly recognizable event because just about anyone who belongs or has belonged to any groupwhether it be a school, church, synagogue, mosque, or social clubhas attended a bake sale or been asked to contribute to one.

• Political candidates or movements, both local and national
• High school band trips
• A gift to celebrate the service anniversary of a favorite teacher
• The senior class trip to Washington, D.C.
• Sports teams
• Cheerleaders
• The school library
• The music program at the high school
• The new private school
• The local day-care center
• Community theater
• A new furnace for the temple
• Donations to the Red Cross to help hurricane and earthquake victims
• Help for a co-worker whos fallen on hard times
• Holiday toy drives for needy children

If you are as busy as most people these days, it may be tempting to just pick up some cookies at the grocery store. But how much more meaningful it is to bake something, to show off your baking skills and teach them to your children (or your nieces and nephews or your friends children).

Bake sales can be great learning experiences for kids. When my grandsons school held a bake sale, the kids baked cookies, made signs to advertise the sale, decorated their tables, and waited on customers. After the sale, they used the money to buy holiday presents for less fortunate children in the area. They learned not only about earning money, but about giving.

I hope the recipes in this book inspire you to bake creations that disappear faster than you can say, That will be fifty cents, please.

What sets a bake sale book apart from other baking and dessert books? Well, lets start with the three Ps:

Presentation. Looks count. While pretty presentation isnt mandatory, it will help your baked treats sell faster, and maybe even fetch a premium price. The emphasis in this book is on baked goods that show wellsugar pretzels, decorated cupcakes, and so on.

Portability. Dragging a lemon meringue pie off to the bake sale just doesnt cut it, and dont even think about letting chocolate mousse sit out in the gym for two hours. If it isnt portable and doesnt hold up well under variable conditions, its not in this book.

Portions. The same church ladies who normally cut two-inch brownies into quarters to avoid eating a real dessert will throw fat and calorie worries out the window when theyre buying brownies at a bake sale. Forget petitethat brownie had better look like its worth paying for. While you can sell a plate of smaller cookies or brownies, selling items by the piece usually yields better profits.

Another factor is familiarity. Bake sale foods tend to be old favorites, the sorts of items our mothers or grandmothers or aunts baked for school or church events: cherry pie, angel food cake, sugar cookies, brownies. People relate warmly to family connections and wax nostalgic about the kind of baking they rarely do themselves. Labeling a dessert Grandmas Lemon Squares or Aunt Lucys Famous Apple Pie always sparks interest, especially if you have a good story to accompany the recipe.

Many of these recipes are fun to make with children. It is great for children to learn to give from the heart and the kitchen (especially to make money for the basketball trip or the new air conditioner for the school). And measuring ingredients is always a good way to sneak in a math lesson. Children love to bake sweet, fun things, such as Frosted Ice Cream Cone Cakes or a cake with a frosting so they can lick the bowl. Since children arent always as hygiene-conscious as they might be, see .

The recipes in this book are easy to make and dont require exotic ingredients. When you come home from a frazzled day at work and suddenly remember that, oops, the fourth-grade bake sale is tomorrow, the nearest supermarket is about as far as youll want to travel for ingredientsif theyre not already in your pantry. And youre not likely to want to make anything that requires sixteen steps or four hours to put together.

Do try to avoid last-minute baking. When youre in a hurry, Murphys Law too often applies.

Of course, these recipes arent only for bake sales. Thanks to their portability and ability to hold up well, these desserts and treats make good host/hostess gifts, holiday presents for teachers, potluck contributions, and, in the case of most of the cookies and brownies, gifts to be mailed to far-off friends and relatives.

Think outside the boxor plates, in this case. Party stores, dollar stores, supermarkets, and, yes, your own closets can provide creative packaging materials. Put together a craft box in which you save small pictures of flowers and food that can be cut out and glued to plastic cups or boxes. Have glue, scissors, and markers in the box so they are handy when you need them.

Craft and party stores sell see-through cellophane wrapping to wrap gift and Easter baskets. It comes in various colors, such as pink, light blue, and green. Buy some extra wrapping and store it until the next bake sale rolls around. Some supermarkets also carry plastic wrap with decorative party patterns, as well as colored plastic wrap.

Stock up on paper or plastic plates in various colors and sizes. They can be used to evoke holiday themes: black and orange plates for Halloween, yellow and red for autumn, blue and white for Hanukkah, red and green for Christmas, pastels for spring.

For labels, buy the fancy labels often used for home-canned goods. Or, find some fun clip art and fonts on the Internet and print your own labels.

Stickers in various themes can be used to seal packages and to decorate bags, cups, boxes, plates, and wrappings.

Collect decorative tins at house or yard sales, or save those you receive with a gift. Or stock up on discounted tins at craft and other stores after the holidays.

For a rustic or country look, line a straw basket with a colorful printed napkin, or weave raffia around the rim of a straw plate holder.

Chinese takeout-style boxes in various colors, available at some party goods or kitchenware stores, make fun containers for two or three large cookies and, of course, for Chocolate-Dipped Fortune Cookies.

Party goods stores are also good sources for goodie bags, the paper or plastic bags that are filled with treats and given to childrens birthday party guests. You can often find fun and/or pretty gift bags in discount stores.