something really new

You don't say how old your daughter is -- knowing her age would be helpful in making suggestions. However, I do have a couple of things which might be interesting; none of them are particularly complicated.

***** Cookies are always well-received. Here are two of my favorite recipes which get rave reviews every time. Both are from "Ideals Cookie Cookbook," by Darlene Kronschnabel.

Raisin Crisscross Cookies [These make a very tender, almost shortbread-like cookie and are even better drizzled with lemon icing (mix a bit of fresh lemon juice with confectioners sugar until you have the right thickness)]

1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract 1-3/4 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup raisins

Combine butter, sugar, egg and lemon flavoring. Mix well. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture. Mix in raisins. Roll in 1-inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten with fork dipped in flour, making a crisscross pattern. Bake 8-10 minutes in a preheated 400F oven [these should not be browned on the top and only a light to medium brown on the bottom]. Cool on rack. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Apricot Unbeatables [These are great -- a little bit fragile, but not unworkable. They're even nicer with a bit of melted bittersweet chocolate drizzled over the top or spread on the bottom.]

2 cups confectioners sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup (3-4) egg whites 2 cups chopped walnuts 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and egg whites. Add walnuts and apricots; mix well. Drop by teaspoons onto well-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 325F for 15-18 minutes. Cool on rack. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

*****

In the realm of unusual cakes, there's always Baumkuchen, a traditional German cake. Not difficult, but needs some time and attention to detail. I'd say it's well worth the effort, though -- I went to a wedding a few years ago where Baumkuchen served as the wedding cake. Delightful! This recipe comes from "Cake Making and Decorating" by Barbara Maher.

Baumkuchen (Tree Cake)

250g / 1-1/4 cups butter 250g / 1-1/4 cups sugar 7 eggs, separated 2 tsp lemon zest 1 tbsp rum 50g / 1/4 cup ground almonds 130g / 1-1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted 130g / 2/3 cup potato flour, sifted oil for greasing apricot jam for brushing lemon-flavored icing (lemon juice and powdered sugar) for glazing Broiler: 350-400F for 4-5 minutes each layer

Spit cooking was the usual method of roasting in early times, and a tree cake was quite popular. It was baked on a hand-turned, tapered, wooden spit, set in front of an open fire, and it was made of a thin batter, ladled on slowly as it cooked. Each wafer-thin layer was toasted to a golden brown color, and then another coating of fresh batter was poured on, to be roasted in its turn. The tree effect was created by varying the rotating speed of the spit as fresh batter was poured over. To create a rough uneven pattern, some of the cooked mixture was brushed or carved away. As many as 20-30 layers could be built up in this way, and sometimes dried and crystalized fruits were embedded in the mixture.

While the cake was still hot, thin icing was poured over it and, once cooled, each end was trimmed straight and the wooden spit drawn out. The Baumkuchen was placed on a large elegant serving platter and a sprig of foliage inserted in the open hole at the top. Sometimes it was decorated with a great plume of finely spun sugar and the base encircled with small elegant pastries.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tree cakes reached their treatest popularity in Europe, particularly for festivals and celebrations; sometimes as many as 300 eggs were used for an especially grand occasion. Though forgotten elsewhere, Baumkuchen still remains popular in Germany today, particularly at Christmas time when Father Christmas shapes may also be found.

It has quite a special flavor and almost crispy texture because of the unique cooking method. Commercial concerns still use the old method of spit cooking with up-dated machinery, but at home we have to adapt the technique, and the modern broiler is most suitable. You can use a plain baking pan or springform pan for a basic cake, or you could try experimenting with different forms such as a gugelhupf or angel cake mold or with shapes that can be assembled later with apricot jam before being iced.

Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and creamy, beat in the egg yolks one at a time, mix in the lemon zest, rum and almonds. Sift together the flours, and beat two spoonfuls at a time into the egg mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl until firm, then lightly fold them into the main mixture. Lightly oil the chosen cake pan (9-1/2 diameter). Smooth 1-2 tablespoons of cake batter on the base and place under the broiler. Cook until golden brown. Remove from the heat and smooth over another thin layer of mixture. Cook again. Continue toasting the layers until all the mixture is used (about 16-18 layers). Leave to cool in the pan. Unmold; brush with warm apricot jam and glaze with lemon-flavored icing.

This cake keeps fresh for 2-3 weeks.

*****

And finally, a bit of chocolate. This simple tart gets rave reviews every time I make it. For seriously chocolate lovers only. The recipe is from Alice Medrich's "Cocolat."

Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Tart serves 12-16

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces [do *not* use chips] 1-1/4 cups heavy cream 9-1/2 inch chocolate tart shell (see below), baked and cooled 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (optional, for stenciling)

For the shiniest tart: if possible, avoid using a knife or spatula to spread or smooth the surface of the filling once it is poured into the tart.

For the smoothest, creamiest filling: do not whisk or stir the truffle filling too briskly or you will create air bubbles and foam, which cause a dry, grainy texture.

1. Place chocolate in a medium-sized heatproof bowl; set aside.

1. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour hot cream over chocolate; let stand for 30 seconds. Stir very gently just until chocolate melts completely and mixture is smooth.

2. Pour chocolate mixture through a fine strainer directly into cooled chocolate tart shell. Tilt or shake pan gently, if necessary, to spread chocolate evenly over shell. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, until set. Tart may be made to this point up to 2 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate until ready to decorate.

1. Center a stencil or doily over well-chilled tart. Use a fine strainer to sift cocoa over the stencil. Remove the stencil carefully. [Hint: Practice this several times before doing it over the actual tart -- removing the stencil without dropping excess cocoa back on the tart is tricky.] Refrigerate tart in a covered container.

2. Remove finished tart from refrigerator 45 minutes or more before serving to soften filling slightly and bring back its shine. (Be sure that you applied the stenciled cocoa to the cold tart *before* allowing it to soften.)

Chocolate Tart Pastry Makes enough for one 9-1/2 inch fluted tart shell or one cheesecake crust.

3 ounces sweet butter 1/2 cup sugar 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1-1/2 ounces) sifted unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup (3 ounces) pastry or all-purpose flour [I've always used all-purpose flour with no problems]

Special Equipment: 9-1/2 inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom

1. To Make Dough in a Food Processor: Combine butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Process until mixture is creamy. Add cocoa and process until mixture is a dark, smooth paste. Add floru and pulse just until incorporated but still crumbly. Pulse a few more times to form a dough.

To Make Dough with an Electric Mixer: Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt just until smooth. Add cocoa and mix just to a dark, smooth paste. Add flour and mix just until barely incorporated but still crumbly. Mix a few seconds longer to form a dough.

1. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and press into a large flat disk. Wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes, or until ready to use. Pastry may be completed to this point up to 3 days ahead or frozen for up to 6 months.

1. To Line Pan and Bake Tart Shell: Remove chilled dough from refrigerator. If it is hard, let stand for 20-30 minutes or until it is rollable but still firm. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap until about 1/8 inch thick and roughly 11 inches in diameter. Peel away top sheet of plastic, pick up the bottom sheet and invert dough into tart pan. Line pane with dough, using plastic wrap on top side to ease dough carefully into corners. Pinch off dough at upper rim. (If dough becomes too soft to handle, stop and refrigerate it for 5-10 minutes before continuing. Peel away plastic wrap; check to see that pan is evenly lined, patching and correcting as necessary. Cover and refrigerate tart shell for at least 30 minutes before baking. Tart shell may be made to this point up to 3 days in advance (unless dough was already stored for 3 days) or frozen for up to 6 months unless it was previously frozen.

2. Preheat oven to 375F. Prick bottom of tart pastry all over with a fork. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until it is set around edges, but may still look slightly wet or undone in the center -- this is okay. Cool on a rack. Always be srue that tart shells are completely cool before glazing, assembling or filling.

*****

Hope this helps. Don't be put off by the length of the tart recipe -- it's all basic stuff, very well explained.

-j

Let HER decide....otherwise...you entered HER contest.

How is it cheating for a parent to help a child out with some ideas? If the parent crosses the line and does the project, then yes, that's cheating. But assistance in finding ideas, assistance/supervision in the kitchen? I don't think so.

-j

Nope, it's still cheating. The idea of a contest like this is to come up with an idea, develop it and then present it as your own work. If you come here and ask for ideas it's not your child's work, it's ours or yours. When my kids have a project I point them in the direction, I explain how to do the research, but I don't go to the net for them.

In this case you might explain about certain ingredients, or what things can go together to make no bake deserts and let her come up with the actual idea. Point her to your cookbooks, to get ideas, or to a couple of sites and them sit down to sift through the ideas she comes up with. That would be a valid way to help. Coming to RFB and asking for recipes/ideas teaches her nothing IMNSHO.

Eileen Mother of two kids one of whom happens to be a disabled 13 year old boy who makes up his own recipes, including Chicken sautéed with Granny Smith Apples which was to die for. The only help he got was me going to the refrigerator for him, and coring the apples.

yours. When

teaches her

Note: I am not the OP in this case and it's not my kid. I don't see that much difference coming to rfb and asking for ideas versus taking the kid to the library and pointing him/her towards certain baking books for ideas (not that I have any interest in debating it at this point -- I don't have children, don't plan to have any and have no interest in discussing what I'd do with any hypothetical children I might have had, had I chosen to have any). Because I don't know any details about the OP, her kid, her kid's project, her level of involvement (positive or negative) with her kid's projects, etc., I thought it would be helpful to post a few suggestions -- rather than just one (to avoid the whole "do this" mentality -- at least there's a choice here). *shrug* Differences of opinion, clearly.

Regards,

-j