On the Same Page | Sunshine | Robin McKinley

Sunshine • Robin McKinley

So we’re only a month behind with this one, friends. That’s not bad at all, right?! I’m glad that we took our time to read SUNSHINE by Robin McKinley, though. It’s a very different vampire book than any other I’ve read, but in a good way. SUNSHINE is certainly not a book to devour quickly. And hey, since I introduced that eating metaphor, I might as well carry it through my post! No, no, I’m not going to talk about vampires feeding on humans. I’m talking about BAKING. You heard me right.

Sunshine is something of a renowned baker, working at Charlie’s Coffeehouse in New Arcadia. It’s America, but post-Voodoo Wars America, where vampires and weres and demons are on the verge of taking over the Earth. In the midst of all this supernatural drama, Sunshine gets up at 4:30 every morning to make her famous Cinnamon Rolls as Big as Your Head. I want to stuff one in my face RIGHT NOW. She bakes all kinds of things for Charlie’s customers, but there were a few that stuck out in my mind, and are what I would imagine are her “signature” recipes.

In honor of Sunshine’s baked goods that made me salivate while reading, I’m going to share some recipes with you! One of them I’ve used a number of times; in fact, I use it every Christmas. I can vouch for it’s UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLENESS. The other just sounds good and reminds me of a recipe of Sunshine’s. So break out your aprons and your measuring cups, friends! It’s SUNSHINE: THE COOKBOOK. (I wish this actually existed, though. I would buy it immediately.)

I’ve never made this recipe, and it actually isn’t called Bitter Chocolate Death. That’s Sunshine’s name for one of her chocolate masterpieces that NO ONE can replicate. This just sounds super chocolatey AND it won an award! YUM!

This recipe I HAVE used, and friends? IT’S FANTASTIC. Full disclosure, though: I don’t make it in a bread machine because I don’t have one, so I just combine the ingredients in that first group in a mixer (starting with the yeast [bread yeast IS different from instant yeast] and the warm milk; let those sit for a minute until the yeast blooms or gets little bubbles), then I let it mix using a dough hook until everything is combined and the dough pulls together on the hook and away from the sides of the mixer bowl, about 5 minutes or so. Then I turn it out into a greased bowl and let it sit someplace warm for about two hours until it doubles in size. Then I pick up at step number 2. I also double the amount of butter and brown sugar/cinnamon mixture for the inside of the rolls because WHY NOT. And I make my own cream cheese frosting: two sticks of room temperature butter, two 8 oz. packages of room temperature cream cheese, vanilla extract, and at least 1 1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar (although I change that based on how sweet I’m feeling). SINFUL I TELL YOU.

Don’t forget to check out Brittany and Alyssa‘s posts about SUNSHINE today!!