Kim-Joy - Bake Me a Cat

It feels like the idea for this book has been floating in my brain since forever, and Im so overwhelmed with happiness that it finally exists in physical form. Those of you who made this a reality know who you are, and I want you to know how much I massively appreciate your help, advice and support. I couldnt have done it without you. There are also many more of you who may not know who you are, but you have also contributed to this book being what it is because the reason this book is here is a collection of loads of small fragments of support, kindness and community. Maybe I was having a bad day and you randomly said something nice to me. Maybe you inspired an idea, directly or indirectly. Maybe you have helped a cat, therefore growing the love for cats in the world.

This book wouldnt exist without you all and your love for baking, kindness and cats. Youve all helped it become what it is, and this book has a piece of many of you in it, whether you know it or not. Thank you.

And of course thank you to my boys, my feline family, my sidekicks in life: Inki, Mochi and Nabil. Im also forever grateful to all the cats of this world for being constant sources of joy, weirdness and inspiration.

Perhaps most importantly, thank you to those of you who have ever done something kind for a cat in any way. Keep spreading the happiness in this world.

Anything you bake whether it be a simple cake, a tray of doughnuts, a stack of pancakes, a crme brle, a pile of croissants litter-ally ANYTHING can be elevated to maximum kitten cuteness with the addition of any one of these easy, simple techniques or with any of the edible 3D cats in this section.

You have a choice of cats in the form of 3D cookies, marshmeowllows, meowringues, buttercream, fondant or marzipan. And each recipe section shows you the main shapes and tips that work best with each medium of baking, keeping the shape as simple and uncomplicated as possible for fast cat creating but still with meowximum impact. You can stick to the ideas shown here, or you can totally go off in your own direction with colours, different expressions and your own cute accessories. There are so many ways to do it, so get your thinking cat on!

Many of these techniques and recipes are stand-alone creations, so you can happily serve a plate of . You can even use these in your everyday store-bought or homemade bakes because every bake without a cute cat is a missed oppawtunity!

CAT TIPTo make these Scruffy Meowringue Cats, make the .

DIFFICULTY

These are German-style cookies, which have a unique melt-in-your-mouth texture due to a secret ingredient potato starch! It might not sound that tasty an ingredient on its own, but put it into a baked cookie and its a game changer. Feel free to make cats of all shapes, colours and sizes, and dont fur-get the bigger the cat, the longer it will take to bake. This dough is super tactile and therapeutic, both to work with and shape almost like working with playdough, but edible!

DIFFICULTY The dough is incredibly quick and simple to make, then all you need to do is to shape the kitties. You can make these as simple or as elaborate as you like.

125g [ cup plus 1 Tbsp] salted butter, at room temperature, cubed (or vegan butter use one thats close to 80% fat content)

40g [3 Tbsp] icing [confectioners] sugar

tsp vanilla bean paste

125g [ cup] potato starch

80g [ cup minus 1 Tbsp] plain [all-purpose] flour (or to make gluten-free, substitute with a gluten-free plain flour blend plus tsp xanthan gum)

gel food dyes (brown, orange and black help create realistic kitties, but you can also use blues, purples and pinks for meowgical cats!)

tsp water

20g [2 tsp] icing [confectioners] sugar

black gel food dye

1 / Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.

2 / Add the chopped butter to a large bowl along with the icing sugar. Beat together with a spoon or spatula until smooth and spreadable, then add the vanilla and mix again until combined. Add the potato starch and plain flour (plus xanthan gum, if gluten-free) sifting if there are any lumps then use a spoon or spatula to mix into a paste. Avoid overmixing. Use your hands to combine the dough into a ball.

3 / Divide some of the dough into different bowls (depending on how many different colours you want) and use a spoon or your hands to mix in food dye to colour. Using your hands and the pictures above as a guide, shape the dough into 8 cat shapes. Avoid pressing too hard and sticking your fingers too far into the dough if you want to stop it sticking to your hands! You can use a little flour to stop them sticking, but you shouldnt need any if you try to handle the dough lightly.

4 / Place the shaped cats onto the prepared baking sheet and chill in the fridge for at least 40 minutes, or in the freezer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 140C [275F/Gas mark 1].

5 / Bake for 2040 minutes depending on the size of the cats you can take smaller ones out sooner, but be careful as theyre very fragile! They will expand a little in the oven and can crack ever so slightly, but will hold their shape well. You can tell when they are ready as the whites will look lighter in colour, but its best to give them an extra 5 minutes past that point to ensure they are properly baked in the centre. Once baked, they will be firm enough to pick up without collapsing gently transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

6 / After the cookies have cooled, you can give the kitties their facial features using quick black icing. To make this, whisk the water and icing sugar together in a small bowl until smooth, then add black food dye to colour. You may need to add a tiny bit more icing sugar or water to adjust the consistency so that its suitable for piping. You are looking for an icing that holds a trail for 1520 seconds, then goes smooth and flat.

7 / Transfer the icing to a piping [pastry] bag and cut a very small tip. Use this to pipe on eyes, whiskers and mouth details. There are so many different ways to decorate these you can even create different icing colours and pipe on cute accessories, or make quirky accessories from fondant! Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

CAT TIPThe main thing to purr in mind when baking us is that we are COOKIES, so our butter melts and gravity will take effect while baking. As a general rule to ensure were feline fine, avoid placing our heads where they might sink backwards with gravity, or our paws in the air as they will sink down! But dont worry too much unusual and different looking cats are what makes us interesting and funny, so experiment and see where it takes you.