Life should be sweet for everyone

So I know many of you were wondering how the bake sale for Pitt-LiNK went...

Out of the 120 or so cupcakes and cheesecakes I made, only about a dozen were leftover! And the dozen or so quickly dwindled down after my roommates attacked them. :)

 

Vanilla Cupcakes, Chocolate Cupcakes, Raspberry Cheesecakes, and Oreo Cheesecakes were on drool-worthy display, as I womanned the table and yelled out:

"Cupcakes for North Korea!"

"Cheesecakes and cupcakes to help refugees!"

"Desserts for human rights!"

 "You know you want some!"

Some seemed frightened and looked the other way, several gawked at the desserts and regretted not having any cash to purchase the goodies, but many stopped for a bite and learned about North Korea and LiNK.


Trailer for the documentary Seoul Train

It felt great to bake for a good cause again; to be exhausted by efforts that were meaningful and had a selfless purpose. Though, I suppose it wasn't entirely selfless considering how much personal enjoyment I get out of baking :)

love at first sight

The cheesecakes were the goodies to sell the fastest, and they were the only treats I didn't get to taste! :( These goodies were the last batches I made in the evening, and they needed to refrigerate for at least 4 hours before I could try them. I ended up rushing out with all of them the next morning and didn't get one bite. But I guess that just means I'll have to make them again another time :)

The awesomely awesome part about the Oreo Cheesecakes were the whole cookies at the bottom of each one:

One man had eaten this right in front of me as soon as he bought it, and his "mmm"oan followed by, "Wow this is really gooood!" totally made my day.

These raspberry cheesecakes look all fancilicious, which they were, but the swirlies aren't hard to make at all. After adding three drops of the raspberry puree on top of the cakes, you just take a toothpick and swirl them around. If you want to get the heart shapes, you just connect the dots in a circular motion.

All recipes were from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. I can personally vouch for the tastiness of the cupcake recipes in this book, as I've tried a couple other in addition to these four for the bake sale.

Top to bottom: Devil's Food Cupcakes w/ Dark Chocolate Frosting, Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes w/ Fluffy Vanilla Frosting (dyed blue), Oreo Cheesecakes w/ Oreo Cookie Crust, and Raspberry Cheesecakes w/ Graham Cracker Crust

I was able to taste test the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, and they were absolutely delicious. I think I would've liked the chocolate ones to be a bit more moist, but the vanilla cupcakes made me do one of those "omgah" pauses where you roll your eyes back and just let out a long sigh of gratitude for having tasted something so good. I then busted out a little happy dance, which good foods often make me do.

It's somewhat ironic and sad that we get to indulge in such luxurious bites to help the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters all dying of starvation in the millions in a country known more widely for its nuclear threats than its insane violations of human rights. But, if we can use and leverage our privileges for the better, than we should consider them not only as our blessings to be grateful for but recognize the responsibility in our abundance and use our overflow to help others.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the greater concerns of all humanity." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you enjoyed watching my sweets, please watch the video clips that I've posted about North Korea to learn more about the situation, and share the stories with people you know to raise awareness. It isn't just an Asian issue, a political issue, a North Korean issue...it's a you and I issue - a human issue.


Clip from Seoul Train about Han-Mi and her family who tried to escape North Korea

(Seoul Train is available to watch on Netflix if you're a subscriber. Otherwise, please buy it here from LiNK's website, as the purchase will help their cause. Watching this documentary was the first time I really learned what was happening in North Korea; it is a must-see.)

Other than raising awareness, there's another way you can help. We sold the cupcakes at the price of $2 each. For about the price of 4 cupcakes a month, you can make a huge impact on the life of a North Korean refugee. Learn about LiNK's 9 Lives Campaign here.