Monday, March 29, 2010

Happy Happy Easter!

Ok, so maybe this week's post doesn't exactly involve baking per say, but it does involve boiling water and decorating fun!


Here's the plan:
1. Boil a dozen Eggs
2. Prepare the dye cups
3. Be creative!

What you need:
1. A dozen Eggs - save your egg carton to store decorated eggs
2. Cups for dipping eggs (I bought a PAAS kit that came with cups)
3. Egg Colorant (PAAS is good - I tried something new called Dudley's Dazzle)
4. Wax Paper!
5. Paper towels - to dry off the eggs before changing colors

1. Boil a dozen Eggs
So apparently according to Martha Stewart I have been boiling eggs wrong my entire life! She brings them to a boil in the pot and then takes the pot off the heat and lets them sit for 10 minutes. I tried this and some of my eggs were a little too soft boiled for my liking so I let them sit another 5 minutes.

2. Prepare the dye cups
These cups were so handy!

My colorant had oil in it which I thought was strange. That must be an easy way to get the paint splatter effect that they showed on the box.

Egg Station - Ready!

Eggs - ready!

3. Be creative!

Fun!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Snickerdoodles Oh My!

There is just something wonderful about the cinnamony-sugary cookie called the Snickerdoodle. They are fun to make, fun to say, and always a hit with the masses.


The Plan:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Cream wet ingredients (Butter and sugar first, then add everything else)
2. In a separate bowl whisk dry ingredients, then beat slowly into wet ingredients
3. Whisk cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl
4. Roll dough into balls, roll in cinnamon sugar mix
5. Bake 8-12 minutes and enjoy!

What you will need:
Wet Ingredients
1 cu (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 cu Sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Dry Ingredients
2 3/4 cu Flour
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix for Rolling
1/4 cu sugar
2 tbs cinnamon
dash of nutmeg (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 375. Cream wet ingredients (Butter and sugar first, then add everything else


2. In a separate bowl whisk dry ingredients, then beat slowly into wet ingredients


3. Whisk cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl


4. Roll dough into balls, roll in cinnamon sugar mix
You will want to space them out about 2 inches on a silpat mat or baking sheet.


5. Bake 8-12 minutes and enjoy!

Monday, March 15, 2010

St. Patty's Shortbread Cookies

I like to be festive and St. Patty's Day is no different. Since I already posted about cake balls (and there have been many posts about green velvet cake) I decided to go a different direction. I settled on shortbread cookies. They are simple and usually have four ingredients (mine have just a few more to make them fabulous!)

Here are the steps:

Shortbread Cookies
1. Preheat oven to 350, Combine dry ingredients (except sugar), set aside
2. In mixer cream butter and sugar, beat until smooth and add vanilla
3. Slowly beat in dry ingredient mix until just combined
4. Flatten, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour
5. Roll 1/4 thick and cut into shapes - chill 15 mins before baking (to help maintain shape)
6. Bake 8-12 mins (until lightly golden) - Let cool

The ingredients:
Dry
1 1/2 cu. Flour
1/2 cu. Cornstarch (you can omit this and use flour instead but the cornstarch gives the cookies a melt in your mouth texture)
1/4 tsp salt
For Mixer
1 cu unsalted butter
1/2 cu powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla (I used my expensive vanilla for this recipe)
~ 1 tsp Food coloring (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350, Combine dry ingredients (except sugar), set aside
2. In mixer cream butter and sugar, beat until smooth and add vanilla




3. Slowly beat in dry ingredient mix until just combined

Once everything was combined I removed half my dough. For the half left in the mixer, I added green food coloring. First I added a 1/4 tsp of coloring but it wasn't enough for the amount of green I wanted (see picture) so I squirted in some more (roughly 1 tsp).



4. Flatten, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour




5. Roll 1/4 thick and cut into shapes - chill 15 mins before baking (to help maintain shape)

For this step I used a clover cookie cutter




You will notice that half the cookies look a little different. I wanted to test out an egg wash (egg yolk and milk) and sparkling sugar. According to my husband (a self proclaimed cookie expert) those tasted better than the plain ones, but I think the plain ones are prettier.

6. Bake 8-12 mins (until lightly golden)- Let cool

See how the plain ones below are lightly golden?


I decided to turn my shortbread cookies into sandwiches using a little chocolate ganache. I simmered a 1/3 cup of cream (milk could work) on low until very hot, then I turned the stove off and added in my chocolate (I used about 3-5 oz. of dark chocolate). Keep adding chocolate until you get the consistency you want. Scoop ganache into a ziploc bag and clip just the corner off. Pipe and outline and then fill it in. Delicious!

You could make classic, chocolate, or colored cookies with mint filling, chocolate filling, bailey's cream filling, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Strawberry Galette

To my delight, strawberries, my absolute favorite fruit, were on sale at the grocery store the other day. I loved them so much when I was little that my Grandma used to grow them in her garden for me. Since they were on sale this was the perfect opportunity to make a strawberry tart or pie this week, but as I was looking through the baking section of my cabinet I noticed that my pie plate was no where to be found! So I turned to Martha for a solution. What I found was a Galette. A Galete is a pan-less tart (Perfect!) usually made with fruit, but it can also be savory. The steps below are adapted from Martha Stewart.

Here is how to make a Fruit Galette:
1. You make a crust similar to a pie crust
2. Arrange fruit in concentric circles in the center
3. Fold the edges in
4. Egg wash and bake

1. Make a crust similar to a pie crust
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup plus 2 tbs ice water

Combine flour, salt, and sugar (in food processor or by hand). Add butter, and pulse (mix) until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add ice water, and pulse (mix) until just combined (dough will still be crumbly). Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Here's where I took an hour break)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out a 10-inch round, and transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. (While I waited for the dough to chill I moved on to preparing the strawberries)




GALETTE
2. Arrange fruit in concentric circles in the center
3. Fold the edges in


Ingredients:
1 pound strawberries, hulled
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tsps cornstarch

For the egg wash and sugar finish:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbs water
1 tbs Sugar
1 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces



Cut strawberries lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Mix slices with 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch, and immediately arrange them in concentric circles on dough. Start 1 inch from edge, overlapping slices slightly. Fold edge of dough over berries. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.



4. Egg wash and bake
Whisk together yolk and water. Brush dough with the egg wash, and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Dot berries with butter. Bake until crust is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.



Serve with cool whip for a tasty treat!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Cake Balls

Today's baking adventure was inspired by Bakerella. I have been completely seduced by Bakerella's luscious little cake balls so I decided to try them for myself. How does she do it? Is it really as easy as it seems?

5 Easy Steps
1. Bake a regular 2-3 layer cake
2. Let cool completely and crumble in a big bowl
3. Mix in a tub of cream cheese frosting
4. Roll into balls(about 1 ¼ inches in diameter)and refrigerate - you may want to use gloves
5. Dip in Chocolate and let set and you're done!

Here is how easy it is. I used the recipe for my brother's red velvet birthday cake because it's the best red velvet cake I've ever tasted. Mine turned out a little pink because I didn't have enough red food coloring, but no worries! Pink is also delicious!



1. Bake a cake. Here's my famous and delicious Red Velvet Cake recipe:

2 1/2 cups Self-rising flour
1 tsp White vinegar
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Soda
1 cup Buttermilk
2 lg Eggs
1 tsp Unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cup Cooking oil
1/4 cup Red food coloring; 2 bottles

Mix all cake ingredients together at medium speed in a mixer until well blended. Pour into 3 prepared 9" cake pans. Bake at 350~F for approximately 20 minutes.

2. Let cool completely and crumble in a big bowl
3. Mix in a tub of cream cheese frosting
4. Roll into balls(about 1 ¼ inches in diameter)and refrigerate - you may want to use gloves



5. Dip in Chocolate and let set

Heat chocolate chips until smooth and dip cake balls. I used a spoon and a toothpick to help with dipping.

How to heat chocolate: Place coarsely chopped chocolate (or chips) in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering, water. Melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove the top part of the double boiler from the bottom


I used dark chocolate chips for the shell. I had to add a little bit of canola oil to thin down the dipping sauce, but I think my heat was too high. The oil does soften the shell slightly.



They turn out delicious and definitely worth it!