Runs on Coffee and Cream

Over at IGGPPC, our January round theme is 'Retro Gaming' and we've been having numerous discussions about games we grew up playing. This conversation has found its way to Adam so we've been discussing games we loved playing growing up too. It's been a fun trip down memory lane. Though, we do play older games sometimes and have some installed on our Wii and Playstation 3 so it hasn't been that long since we've played some of them. 

My first experience with the Nintendo Entertainment System was at my Aunt and Uncle's. They had Super Mario Bros., Bubble Bobble, and Super Dodgeball. I remember playing all these games vividly. I was hopelessly addicted to Bubble Bobble and this love transferred over to Bust-A-Move when I was in high school. 

Bubble Bobble

Then came Super Nintendo. It was the first system my parents bought for us and it transformed our lives. I remember playing Super Mario World, Turtles in Time, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Mario Kart, and Donkey Kong Country all the time! We spent countless hours playing these games. It was definitely something that helped bond me and my brothers. There's nothing like team work to help siblings get along. 

Turtles in Time

Source

But my favourite gaming system, Nintendo 64, came out during my preteen years, though, that didn't slow me down from playing it forever really (let's be honest, we have our N64 still set up). This system was made for households with more than two children. Me and my two brothers could all play at the same time. There was no 'the person who lost (usually me) passes the controller'. We were thrilled with multiplayer games or multiplayer options in games.One of the first games we got for the system was Diddy Kong Racing and it feels like I played that for half of high school.  I spent the other half of high school playing Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. I spent many afternoons and evenings in the living room playing multiplayer rounds, missions, and challenges in those two games. Then there was Super Smash Bros., Bust-A-Move, and Mario Party. Do you remember the blister you'd get on the palm of your hand from playing Mario Party? That toggle was the death of my hand.

Look at those sweet graphics in Goldeneye!

Perfect Dark is easily one of my favourite video games ever!

There are some changes happening over at IGGPPC for 2015 and it's all very exciting! So in the spirit of doing more activities and getting members more involved, I'm going to be taking over the baking and cooking activities on the site. Which means I'm back to cooking up fandom recipe ideas (get it? haha). I'v decided to make and share a fandom recipe every month based on whatever that month's theme is. 

This month's theme is Retro Gaming and the recipe options are virtually endless. I ended up making something that I've considering doing in the past - Yoshi's Cookies cookies. When I was making fandom recipes before, Adam suggested trying this but it seemed overwhelming. But after a bit of research and brainstorming I figured out a way to make them. 

I choose to make a cake mix cookie over classic sugar cookies for two reasons - 1. I've been very busy lately and making classic sugar cookies didn't appeal to me since they are a full afternoon process and 2. The cookies in Yoshi's cookies cover art look puffier than a flat sugar cookie.

Yoshi's Cookie

Cookies:

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 package French Vanilla Cake Mix

The cookie cutters I used:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

2. Combine butter, egg yolks, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Blend in cake mix gradually. At this point, my rings were removed and I worked the cake mix in with my hands until the dough wasn't sticky.

3. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased baking sheet. 

4. For cookies in donut shape, sprinkle a mix of sugar and cinnamon on the cookie before baking. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.

5. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet and then remove cookies to cooling rack. Once cookies are cooled, it's time to decorate. 

Decorating:

Piping gel

Icing colours - purple, green, red, and yellow

Add the appropriate icing colour to a tablespoon or so of piping gel. Mix well and then either with a spoon or piping bag, make circles, squares, or hearts on your cookies. I found blending the gel with a spoon worked well. I made the brown colour with the leftover purple I had and some yellow and red gel added in. 

I played around with a lot of ideas for the centres of the cookies. I felt that coloured icing wouldn't be shiny or vibrant enough. I considered using jam or jelly but the idea of buying and opening three different jars didn't sound like a good idea to me. Plus the centre wouldn't really set and I wouldn't be able to stack them up nice in a tupperware container. This is when I though of the container of piping gel in my cupboard. I could manipulate the colour easily, it was inexpensive in case I messed up anywhere, and it would give the shiny texture I wanted. 

I really love how they turned out! They are a yummy, not too sweet cookie and I love how they look set up like a Yoshi's Cookie level. I've shared the recipe over at IGGPPC and I'm super excited for next month's recipe already (it's a secret!!). I'm also planning on doing another live bake-along in February which should be fun. 

Have you tried any fandom recipes? 

xo Jen