Sending sugarHI creations to the Big Island

A good friend of ours, Lisa C., was heading off island for a friends retirement party and for a little mini vacation to visit friends. So we figured this would be a great opportunity to send some "sugarHI creations" to the Big Island! We could spread the sugarHI word and Lisa would have some gifts to give to the friends she would be seeing. We asked if she'd be interested and she graciously agreed :) She mentioned that she would be seeing lots of people, but also some that dance with a  hula halau there. That inspired the cookies we decided on sending.

Tahitian Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies with Lemon Icing

I am feeling much more confident with our hibiscus and pineapples. And was pleasantly surprised that my first try with the ipus was pretty successful. I wasnt sure if those would translate well, but I had 3 or 4 people correctly identify them on their first try and my husband took only 2 trys. In his defense, I asked him what he thought they were before I added the green detail so at that point they looked like some kind of weird bib thingy or the beginning of a one eyed monster...LOL!!)

Lisa C. left Friday and wont be back till Monday so we anxiously await word to see how everyone like them. If all goes well, we'll hopefully post a update...so stay tuned!

Vintage Inspired......

So for this blog, I'm posting some photos of a few cookies I did today.  These were done using an embroidery method I found online and fell in love with.  See what you think, and keep in mind, first time doing this style.

 My icing was a little to thin for the detailing below, so next time I would have a thicker consistency.

And all together.

I have to say this is on the top of my list for favorite techniques.  These are very "me" and they look very similar to the quilt on my bed!  So I hope you like them, I'm sure I'll be doing more of this style in the future.  I can't wait!!!

THANKS FOR LOOKING!

Mini Samples

People have been asking for some samples so we baked up our first batch of minis. Man! One batch makes A LOT of minis!

What do these remind you of?

The more I decorated these, I realized they weren't really "pretty". I couldn't quite pin it but then Anjell said, "Gee Whiz, It's Cheez Whiz!" Don't they look like Ritz crackers and Cheese from a can? Funny!

Although these taste significantly better :)

Plumerias and Maui

I'll admit it...these scared me. Seriously! I had my hopes so high and the picture in my head was clear but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to translate that to the actual cookie. 

I confidently baked up a batch, made my shapes and then...

...let them sit in their nice container, and left them there. Walked by them, walked by them again and just couldn't get myself to start them.

FINALLY...after getting the kids to bed one evening, turning on some Taylor Swift, (I know, kinda funny listening to country while decorating Hawaiian cookies!)  and getting my icings in order, I just went for it and let the creativity roll.

Now, mostly we'd like to share only our beautiful, pretty successes but...from time to time, I guess we'll share some not so successful attempts.... and there was one of them that evening.

FAIL! I over flooded and had a spill on one of my plumerias!

Oops...oh well! I didnt let it stop me...plus there were like 10 other ones so I was willing to sacrifice the one cookie, and learned a great lesson! Less sometimes is more :) Also, as you notice in the picture, I did try some pink plumerias, however, I was a little overzealous when mixing my color and so rather than a nice pale pink I ended up with BRIGHT pink and that wasnt really what I was going for. 

There were a few survivors though. And I am pleased with them. I have plans for more and things that I will do differently, but I am glad I finally overcame my fear of the plumeria!!

My mom happened to call and ask for some "Hawaiian-ish" cookies for some friends that are here visiting from New York...and how convenient...I happened to have some! So I bagged them up, (everything looks prettier packaged up nicely!) and delivered them to my mom. The friends loved them and are even taking one of the packages back to New York for my dads friends that are there. Yes, thats right, sugarHI's cookies are headed to NEW YORK !! So cool!!

Foxy Cookie!

So here's what I've been up to this week.  I've been wanting to do this cookie for several weeks and I finally tackled it!  Check it out!

First, Bake!  (Vanilla Bean Sugar Recipe)

Then Outline & Flood

Finishing Details!

And here they all are!

Definitely have many more ideas we're itching to try.  Hope you like them!

Jimmy Mac and the Kool Kats

We had our first "order"...kinda :) The order came from Chris and was for a band that he works with, Jimmy Mac and the Kool Kats. While of course its for "love", we still considered it a real order, planned our attack and worked step by step to complete it. We started with our Chocolate Cut-Outs and a new Vanilla Sugar cookie recipe that is as of now, our new FAVORITE!! The cookie is yummy and sturdy and pretty!!

Outline...

Flood...

(Keep in mind, one of the bands signatures is matching aloha print outfits.)

And the finishing touches...

They are packed and ready for delivery tomorrow...our delivery boy (haha!) has strict instructions to "HANDLE WITH CARE!!" We hope they are well received!

Let us know what you think :)

Happy 22nd Anniversary!

My mom and dad celebrated their 22nd anniversary last week and so I made up a batch of Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies and Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies. I tried out zebra print for the first time as well as Food Decorating Pens and had a lot of fun with it!

Cookie jar :)

Our NEW labels!

Stay Tuned: We've been working on a fun set tonight...new post to come soon!!

The Beginnings

Here are a few photos of what we've been working on...enjoy! And please don't be shy...we'd love to hear what you think! It's pretty easy to leave a comment....go ahead...try:)

Vanilla Sugar Cookies with Coconut Icing

These went all the way to Oahu to be "tested" by relatives!

Sugar Cookie with Icing and Gumpaste & Fondant Combo Details

Fell in love with making ladybugs! Expect more to come :)

Here's a close up of the little guys.

  Sugar Cookie with Coconut Icing.

Love this classy color combination of marigold & eggplant. 

Fondant flowers with a little silver luster dust accent.

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies with Icing

Cakes are fun!

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookie with Icing

A cupcake cookie...it's the best of both worlds!

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies with Icing

Red, yellow, green, black...whats not to love! First time trying bikinis, shirts and slippers so bear with me...lol!! And a test cookie for Superb Audio Inc. (Chris-Ka'ala's husbands business)

 One of many palm trees.

My favorite is the middle.  The one on the right,
the top actually broke off, so I turned it into a new style.

 These remind me of confetti!

Cake pops!

Dark chocolate cake inside dipped in white chocolate!

Before cookies we experimented with cupcakes.

These are just a few of what we've been working on :) And please bear with us as we are working on taking better pictures!! See you all soon!!

We are sugarHI!

Hello! It's nice to meet you! I am Ka'ala (on left) and I am Anjell (on right) and we are sugarHI! We are from Maui, Hawaii and are setting out on a sugar journey. We started out thinking cupcakes were our thing but as we delved deeper into the baking scene we stumbled upon decorated sugar cookies and were hooked! With cookies, icing and some creativity and imagination, the sky is the limit! 

Currently, we bake and create for the love of it. Our husbands, kids, family and friends are our taste testers and "constructive" critics. With their help and support, we've come a long way in just the month or so since we started out. We hope to expand and create for others in time and spread our baking love!

We are inspired by many bloggers such as Bridget from "Bake at 350" , Callye from "The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle", and more! We look forward to someday being among the ranks of these cookie masters!

As mentioned, we have only been creating for about a month or so but what a month it's been! We have gathered lots of supplies, made many batches and learned A LOT! We have a way to go, but are enjoying every second of it!

That being said....once again...it was nice to meet you!! Please bookmark us and come back often to see what we've been creating :)