Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies

It's back.  Secret Recipe Club that is.  We took a break in December since the holidays are such a busy time for most.  It feels like we've been on hiatus for more than a month though.  I'm glad we're back in business!

This month I was assigned Danielle's blog, Hugs & Cookies XOXO.  WOW.  Hugs & Cookies is teeming with uber decadent desserts.  And I mean decadent!  Most of her sweets involve several layers of flavor and texture...by combining cookies, brownies and caramel or chocolate sauces/ glazes with various types of candy worked all into ONE serious treat.  To see what I mean, check out these Oreo cheesecake bars on a chocolate chip cookie crust topped with chocolate glaze, raspberry M&M's and more Oreos.  Or these quadruple layer chocolate cheesecake Kit Kat bars--now that's some chocolate love.  Danielle's creativity is evident in the seemingly endless combinations of sweet goodness she shares on her blog (nearly daily).  The sky's the limit.  If you are looking for a crowd pleasing dessert to take to a Super Bowl party I'm certain you can find something inspirational on Hugs & Cookies.   

I kept some cookies unglazed

Though I was tempted to make one of Danielle's really indulgent treats (like those Kit Kat cheesecake bars--hello!), I ended up picking something a little more straightforward.  I was drawn to her vanilla bean sugar cookies for two reasons.  One, I have Madagascar vanilla beans that I've been itching to use since the fall.  And two, Hubs is a big sugar cookie fan.  In fact, sugar cookies are his favorite type of cookie.  Oh, I and I just thought of a third reason.  It was the perfect opportunity to use my heart shaped cookie cutters which have gotten very little air time since I purchased them. 

The glaze takes on a matte finish after it fully dries

The recipe comes together easily.  I decided to create a vanilla glaze to top these little beauties with even more vanilla (I think Danielle would approve).  I added in wisp of orange extract which brought a really subtle citrus perfume in the background while still allowing the vanilla to shine through. 

Hubs, our resident sugar cookie expert, gives them a thumbs up.  He hinted that it would be A-Okay if make them again.  Thanks Danielle!

Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
adapted from Hugs & Cookies XOXO

Cookies:
2 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
2 tablespoons milk
left over vanilla bean pod from the cookies plus another 1/2 vanilla bean with the seeds scraped out
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon orange extract (optional)
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy about 2 minutes.  Add egg and beat until combined.  Add vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract and beat until just combined. 

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Turn mixer to low and slowly and dry ingredients into the butter sugar mixture until fully combined and a dough forms.  Turn dough out onto plastic wrap and divide in two equal pieces.  Flatten each piece into a round about 1 inch thick.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. 

Roll out dough between two large sheets of parchment paper to just under 1/4 inch thick.  Flour the parchment and dough well as the dough tends to be sticky.  Use your favorite shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies.  Carefully remove each shape and place on the parchment lined baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart.  To help coax the cut out cookies off the parchment, place your hand under the bottom sheet of parchment and pull the parchment away from the dough so you can gently remove the cookie.  Place baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes to chill the cut out cookies.  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until bottom edges appear lightly golden brown.  Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 15 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.

While cookies are baking start on the glaze.  Place the milk, vanilla bean pods and seeds in a medium bowl.  The idea is to get all the vanilla goodness infused in the milk.  Set aside.

While cookies are cooling remove vanilla bean pods from the milk and add vanilla extract and orange extract if using.  Whisk in powdered sugar.  Glaze will be loose and pourable.  Set aside until cookies are completely cooled. 

Set up a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (you can use the same sheet the cookies baked on).  Place a wire rack on top of the baking sheet.  Dip the face of each cookie so it is completely covered in glaze.  Place cookie face up on the wire rack allowing any excess glaze to drip off on to the parchment paper below.  Allow glaze to dry completely, about 90 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen 3 inch cookies.

Strawberry Tid Bits and a Tart

I did it.  I ate all three baskets of strawberries I bought last Sunday at the farmer's market. 

By myself. 

It took me 6 days and three breakfasts of strawberries, yogurt and granola, one breakfast of berries with a Nutella scone, two desserts of strawberries dipped in Nutella and the finale was this strawberry tart.  And surprisingly, I am not sick of strawberries!  I am actually a little sad they are gone.  I might just be heading back to the farmer's market this week.

Storing Your Strawberries - Tip of the Day

I mentioned earlier this week, I've struggled in the past to store strawberries for more than a day or two without them growing mold or looking sad and sickly.  I've tried several methods which have all proven to be unsuccessful.  Some of these unsuccessful methods have included, storing them in the fruit drawer of the fridge in the packaging they come in; storing them in a cool, unrefrigerated, spot in the packaging they come in; washing the berries, removing the green tops, allowing them to fully dry and storing them in the fridge in a zip top bag with as much air removed as possible (this is the most successful of the unsuccessful methods).

Now that you know what doesn't work, I am happy to say I can now tell you what does work.  The lady who sold me the berries at the farmer's market shared her preferred method for storing these crimson beauties.  I tried her suggestion and I got 6 full days of beautiful berries.  I had eaten them all by day 6, but I have a feeling they could have gone at least another day or two, possibly more.  Here's the method:

1. Don't wash the berries until you are ready to use them
2. Remove any berries that are already soft or where the skin is broken and discard or set aside to eat (you could use these in a smoothie, strawberry sauce or strawberry puree)
3. Place a paper towel on the bottom of a tupperware container (with a tight fitting lid) large enough to hold all your berries 
4. Place the dry, unwashed, unblemished berries on top of the paper towel, in a single layer, preferably not allowing the berries to touch and top with another paper towel
5. Layer paper towels and berries until all your berries are stored, finishing with a paper towel on top of the last layer and store the tupperware in the refrigerator

When you are ready to use your berries, simply wash them, pat them dry (or let them air dry on a towel) and use.  This storage method has by far, been the best I've tried to date.  If you have strawberry storage tips I would love to hear about them in the comments section below.

Strawberry Facts

Did you know....

• 1 cup of strawberries has more vitamin C than an orange? 
• Strawberries are high in fiber, potassium and anti-oxidants (all good things from what I'm told)
• 1 cup of halved berries is approximately 50 calories and low in sugar
• Strawberries can be used for beauty purposes too...make a strawberry face mask consisting of berries, heavy cream and honey....sounds a lot like dessert to me!
• Strawberries are delicious (okay, this more my opinion than a fact)

Now let's talk tarts.  I pulled together two recipes I've had success with to come up with this personal sized strawberry tart (or you can also make one large 9 inch tart).  Back when I made these lemon tarts, I froze two mini tart crusts.  Figured it was about time to use them.  And remember the Boston cream pie I made late last year?  And how I RAVED about the pastry cream?  Yep, I made the vanilla pastry cream for this tart (though the chocolate pastry cream would be equally tasty). 

The sweet almond shortbread crust from the tart makes a great base to fill with thick, creamy vanilla custard.  It's like eating cookies and pudding.  Top it with fresh strawberries and you have a pretty irresistable dessert on your hands.

You can make this recipe over two days, making both the tart dough and pastry cream the day ahead.  You can either bake off the tart crust the day before and then wrap it in plastic wrap for filling the next day...or bake it the day you serve it.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Tart

Yields 4 mini tarts or 1 nine inch tart

Note: If you make the entire recipe in the same day, start by making the pastry cream since it needs to chill for a few hours. 

For the vanilla pastry cream filling:
adapted from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito's Baked Explorations

Note: Only half a recipe is needed to fill 1 large tart or 4 mini tarts. The full recipe is listed below. This custard is delicious all on its own so feel free to make the full recipe.  You could even dip berries in it.

7 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons light rum (I omitted)

Set aside a medium heatproof bowl and fine mesh strainer.

Whisk egg yolks, half of the sugar, salt and cornstarch in a medium bowl until the mixture is pale, thick and smooth.

Bring the milk and remaining half of sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Once the mixture boils remove the pan from the heat and very slowly whisk 1/3 of the hot mixture into the egg mixture, whisking continuously (you don't want scrambled eggs).  Slowly pour the tempered egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk while continuously whisking.  Place the pan back on the stove over medium heat and continue to stir until mixture boils for 2 minutes (or until thick, like pudding).  Be careful not to overcook or burn the pastry cream or it will have a bitter aftertaste.

Remove the pan from the heat and strain the pastry cream into the medium bowl you previously set aside.  Stir in the butter and vanilla (and rum if using) until butter is melted and fully incorporated.  Allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes and then place plastic wrap directly on the surface to keep a skin from forming on the pastry.  Refrigerate until fully chilled and set, about 4 hours or overnight.

For the tart dough:
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 ½ cups all purpose flour (or 1/4 finely ground almonds or another nut and 1 ¼ cups flour) - I used nuts and flour

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ tsp salt

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 T) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

Place the flour (and ground nuts), sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Drop in pieces of cold butter and pulse until mixture has pea size lumps of butter.  Stir the yolk in small bowl and add it slowly to the flour mixture through the feeding tube, pulsing after each addition. Once the egg is in, hold the pulse button down for 10 seconds at time until the dough looks like curds.  Once you reach this point, turn the dough out onto a clean work surface.  Using your hands, knead the dough very lightly to incorporate all the dry ingredients.

Dorie recommends pressing the dough into a buttered 9-inch tart pan (or 4 mini tart pans) with a removable bottom, pressing the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Be gentle with pressing the dough into the pan allowing the pieces to just come together.  Prick the bottom of the crust several times with a fork.  Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes prior to baking. 

The method I used is to gently roll the dough to 1/4 thick between two pieces of waxed paper or parchment, laying the dough into the buttered pan(s).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Use cooking spray or butter to coat the shiny side of aluminum foil and place it buttered side down, against the crust.   Place the tart pan(s) on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes for mini tarts and 25 minutes for a large tart.  Remove from oven and gently remove the foil.  If the crust puffs up just gently press it back down with the back of a spoon. Return to oven and cook for an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until set and golden brown.  Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

For the strawberry topping:

3 cups of sweet, ripe, strawberries, washed, dried, hulled and sliced vertically into 1/8 - 1/4 inch slices.

Assemble the tart:

Wait until you are ready to serve your tart(s) before assembling so the crust does not get soggy.  Fill the tart(s) full with vanilla pastry cream.  Top the tart(s) with the sliced strawberries, in a circular pattern starting from the outside of the crust and working your way in, allowing the strawberries to overlap slightly.  Serve immediately.

Strawberries, Yogurt and Granola

If you read my last post you might have anticipated my next post would be for creamy mushroom soup.  Hope you aren't too disappointed to see berries instead.  The soup recipe came from a highly credible source, Cook's Illustrated.  The soup turned out okay, but I didn't love it.  I haven't given up on it though.  I have some ideas of what may have held this soup back from being great so I'll give another go at some point.

In the meantime, what I know is great, are fresh, ripe, sweet strawberries straight from the fields to the farmer's market.  Living in southern California gives me pretty good access to local berries early in the season.  The funny thing is I didn't have my first berries of the year at home.  Two weeks ago Hubby and I took a trip to the mid-west and I was pleasantly surprised when some phenomenal strawberries appeared on my yogurt and granola breakfast in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.  I thought perhaps it was a fluke.  Then last week I was in New Jersey for work and I had more amazing strawberries.  Really, really amazing.  I've had strawberries on the brain ever since.  I knew a trip to my local farmer's market was number one top priority business this past weekend. 

I wasn't disappointed.  The market was teeming with berries, some big, some small, some gi-normous.  I sampled the small berries and they had the most unbelievably sweet flavor.  Sold!  I'll take 3 baskets, please!  Hubby doesn't eat strawberries so that's 3 baskets of berry heaven all for me.  I decided the first order of business was a simple, but delicious, application of my new found treasures.  Vanilla yogurt topped with fresh cut berries and crunchy honey kissed granola.  I plan to rinse and repeat at least a few more days this week.  A great way to start the day!

I always struggle with storing strawberries.  I feel like they start growing mold the day after I bring them home.  So I asked the girl behind the table at the farmer's market how she recommends storing them.  She suggested placing a papertowel in the bottom of a tupperware and placing a single layer of berries down.  Cover with another paper towel and a layer of berries, and repeat.  Store the tupperware in the fridge.  I'm only on day two, but I think it's going to work.  I hope to be posting more strawberry focused posts this week so I'll let you know how this method holds up.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Yogurt with Strawberries and Granola

3/4 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, washed, stems removed and cut in quarters
1/3 cup granola (my favorite is honey flax granola from Fresh and Easy)

Place 1/2 of the yogurt in a small bowl and top with 1/2 of the granola.  Spoon the remaining yogurt on top and finish with berries and remaining granola.

Creme Brulee

When Hubs and I go out for dinner, I almost always order dessert.  Shocking, right?  But most of the time I can't get Hubby to help me eat it.  Unless....it's creme brulee.  If creme brulee is on the table, you better get your spoon in there before it gets inhaled by he who shall not be named.  I think it's pretty safe to say it's Hubbies favorite dessert to order out.  Honestly, I think it's the only dessert he orders out.  So when I planned the menu for our Mystery Dinner this past weekend, I knew creme brulee would be our dessert. 

I didn't realize how easy creme brulee was to make. Though it's easy, you have to build in time for baking, cooling and chilling in the frigde.  I'm not always good at reading a recipe through and factoring all these little details in.  But thankfully, we started the creme brulee first and had enough time for our dessert to be ready by the time we finished eating dinner. 

So when Hubs and I got married 9 years ago, one of the fun kitchen gadgets we got for our wedding was a kitchen torch.  It's been sitting, unused, in it's original box for 9 years.  Pretty sad.  I think I was a little afraid of it.  Turns out torching stuff is fun.  Ok, torching sugar is fun.  I haven't torched anything else....yet.  If you don't have a kitchen torch, I hear you can caramelize the sugar under the broiler. Though I also hear it's more difficult to get the desired affect.

This recipe is another example of how a few simple ingredients can turn into a fabulous dish.  The best part is the spoon making that first crack through the browned glassy sugar surface.  Then you find the light, creamy vanilla custard lying beneath.  Delicious! 

Creme brulee has very impressive flavors especially since there are only 4 basic ingredients.  Sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and heavy cream.  The creme brulee starts on the stove top by heating the cream and sugar until scalding, but not not boiling.  You slowly stream in the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks to "temper" the eggs or bring them up to temperature so that the hot liquid doesn't scramble the eggs.  Stir in vanilla and pour the liquid through a mesh strainer to catch any bits that may have formed, ensuring you have a silky smooth mixture.  Pour the custard into ramekins and bake for 45 in a water bath.  Cool and then refrigerate to set.  The recipe recommends allowing at least 6 hours to make the creme brulee, but we only had about 3 1/2 and it was just fine.  I halved the recipe and ended up with six 4 oz portions.  I have noted the halved version of the recipe below.

Now, go buy yourself a kitchen torch!


Creme Brulee
adapted from Sarabeth's Bakery From My Hands to Yours

For the custard:
1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup superfine sugar
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

For the topping:
1/8 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 cup superfine sugar

Allow at least 4 - 6 hours of prep and cook time before you want to serve your creme brulee.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.   Whisk egg yolks in a medium heat proof bowl and set aside near your stove.  Combine cream and sugar in a heavy bottomed small sauce pan.  Bring the cream to barely a simmer, without boiling.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup ladle the hot cream mixture and drizzle it slowly into the egg yolks.  Repeat 3 or 4 times and then combine remaining mixture and eggs together and whisk until fully incorporated.  Whisk in the vanilla.  Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large liquid measuring cup or a bowl with a pour spout.  Divide the mixture evenly amongst six 4 oz ramekins.  Skim off any bubbles from the surface with a small spoon. 

Place the ramekins in a 9x13 baking dish or shallow roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan in the oven and pull out the rack and pour hot tap into the pan so that the water comes up half way up the sides of the ramekins.  Do not get water in the custard.  (I like to add the water once the baking dish is in the oven because I don't want to balance a heavy dish filled with hot water as I move it from the counter to the stove).  Bake for about 45 minutes or until custards are set.  The custard will move as one solid unit with a small center section that may look uncooked.  Carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath and place on a wire rack to cool.  Allow to cool about 45 minutes and cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to fully set.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or over night.

Make topping mixture by combining the brown and superfine sugars.  Press them through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl.  Remove custards from the refrigerator and remove plastic wrap.  Sprinkle sugar on top of the custards between 1/16 and 1/8 inch thick.  Fire up your kitchen torch and slowly caramelize the sugar, holding the torch 3-4 inches from the custard's surface.  Torch until you reach the desired sugar caramelization.  Garnish with fresh berries and serve.

Boston Cream Pie

Pastry cream.  Pastry cream.  Pastry cream!

Boston Cream Pie (which is really in fact a cake, not a pie) is filled with sweet delicious vanilla and chocolate pastry cream.  I am super jazzed that I have finally made pastry cream.  I think my life has been incomplete without it.  Well maybe that's a slightly dramatic, but really I can't get over how much I love pastry cream.  Pastry cream is a pudding like filling often used between cake layers or to fill cream puffs or donuts.  I have eaten it before, but have never made my own.  Lucky (or perhaps unlucky) for me it is very easy to make.  I could not stop dipping my (of course impeccably clean) fingers into the bowls to get just another taste.  Then I did something I haven't done in years....I licked the bowl.  Well not really.  I used a spatula to scrape all the delicious remnants straight into my mouth.  I didn't let any of this precious magic cream go to waste.  I was little skeptical about using 2 flavors of pastry cream.  I believe traditional Boston Cream Pie only uses vanilla.  But the chocolate and vanilla pastry creams were equally delicious. 

Is it really obvious I adored the pastry cream portion of this dessert?  I guess I need to discuss the other components now.

Let's start with the milk sponge cake.  It had a slightly bizarre texture.  Almost a little tough?  But still moist?  Is that even possible? I don't know.  When you layer all that tasty pastry cream in there it's hard to tell.  I don't think I'd use this sponge cake recipe next time I make Boston Cream Pie (already planning for the next time!).

The cake is topped with rich chocolate ganache-like glaze/frosting.  I thought the topping was pretty delicious and love the contrast of the dark chocolate glaze with the soft luscious pastry cream.  See how I took it back to the pastry cream? 

Overall, this is a pretty special dessert.  Even hubby liked it....well sort of.  Guess what?  He only liked the (vanilla) pastry cream!  He said the cake was "weird" and he's not a chocolate fan.  But like me, he couldn't keep his (not so impeccably clean) fingers out of the vanilla pastry cream.  I am already looking forward to eating this again for breakfast!

Making a Boston Cream Pie is a bit involved with three (well technically four) separate components that have to be made then all assembled.  Consider making the pastry cream the night before you plan to serve the cake.  It needs to chill for 4 hours (or overnight).  You could also chop your chocolate for the chocolate glaze at the same time you chop the chocolate for the chocolate pastry cream and store it in a tupperware for use the next day.  The day you want to serve the Boston Cream Pie bake the sponge cake and once cooled store the layers wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator while you make the glaze.  The cake is easier to slice in layers when it is chilled. 

I halved the recipe and baked the cake in 2 six inch cake pans.  My cake layers were on the thin side because of the size pans I used, but it worked out ok, because the layers of pastry cream were about equal in size to the layers of cake.  Can't get enough of that pastry cream.

Ok, this is ridiculous.  I have used the words "pastry cream" 20 times in this post thus far.  I will consider seeking help.  Right after I think of other ways to incorporate pastry cream into my life...

Boston Cream Pie marks recipe number 5 with Club: Baked.  You see, a group of food bloggers are baking our way through Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  So far the recipes have been pretty darn impressive.  If you'd like to join our baking adventure head over to the Club: Baked site and get in touch with Karen.  It's a ton of fun, a great way to learn new things and meet some great people.  To see how the other bakers of Club: Baked did with their Boston Cream Pies, click here.  At a minimum, I am pretty certain your life would be enhanced by a little pastry cream.  ;)
     

Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies

I've been slacking on the blog.  I made these cookies nearly 2 weeks ago but haven't gotten around to posting yet.  I have grand dreams of getting up to daily posting one of these days....well at least 5 days a week.  What I found is it's easy to get behind.  And I could kick myself because somehow I completely blanked on the last post on 8/21 concluding the Sweet Melissa Sundays baking group.  Though the last 2 weeks have been busy, I'm ready to get back in business here...Starting with these frosted soft sugar cookies.

I first saw these cookies on Tracey's Culinary Adventures.  She posted them 2 days before I was leaving for my annual girls getaway to the desert.  My two pals and I usually take 3 days off of work every summer and sojourn to the 110 degree heat of the desert for a little food (ok, a lot of food), a little sun (we, or me I should say, spend quite a bit of time in the shade or mostly submerged in the pool) and a little shopping.  Normally this type of cookie wouldn't make it on my must make list mostly because I'm not a big fan of sugar cookies.  But I was thinking of my girls knowing this is exactly the type of cookie that would put a little sparkle in their eyes.  So the day before we left I got busy. 

Like Tracey, I decided to only make half the recipe given I would not be partaking in the finished product.   Half a recipe yielded 12 large soft, tender, cakey sugar cookies.  I did take one bite out of one cookie for the sake of a photo and I thought I should at least try it, even if it's not my favorite.   kind of cookie.  They tasted ok to me, but I'm not really a good judge.  Hubby tasted one and I thought he would like them because he's a big proponent of sugar cookies and sweet frosting, but apparently he wasn't in love either.  He said he didn't care for the texture and they were too soft, sticking to the roof of his mouth.  My girls seemed to enjoy them however, polishing off every last one that I brought along on the trip.  I'll take that as a good sign.

These are easy and fun cookies to make.  You can can get creative with your frosting by tinting it with various shades of food coloring and decorating it with festive sprinkles or candies, personalizing it for any occasion.

Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies
from Annie's Eats (adapted from Hostess with the Mostess) via Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

For the Cookies:
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
5 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Frosting:
5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
7-8 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)
Food coloring and sprinkles (optional)

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time into the butter sugar mixture.  Add vanilla and mix until fully combined.  Turn mixer to low and gradually add the flour until just incorporated.  Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 and prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Using a large ice cream scoop (about 1/4 cup) to scoop out dough and roll into a ball.  Place the ball of dough on the parchment and press down to flatten slightly spacing at least 2 inches apart.  I baked 6 per sheet.  Bake for 12-13 minutes and edges are just set.  Cookies will be pale in color.  Cool the baking sheets on a wire rack for about 5 minutes and then transfer the cookies directly to the rack to complete cooling.

In a medium to large bowl whisk the confectioners sugar, butter, milk and vanilla together.  Add more milk if necessary to achieve desired frosting consistency.  You want it a little thick so it doesn't run over the sides of the cookie.  You can also add additional confectioner's sugar if you want a thicker consistency.  Add food coloring if you want to tint your frosting.

Once cookies have completely cooled, spread a generous amount of frosting on the top of the cookie leaving a 1/4 edge around the top.  Decorate with sprinkles or candies if using.  See cookies aside (or place in the refrigerator) to allow the frosting to set.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Yields 24 large cookies







 

Vanilla Cupcakes

I love it when I have an actual occasion to bake for.  I find most of the time I am baking for a baking group assignment or just because I have a compulsion to bake every few days or so.  So when I saw my friend Sharon's birthday was coming up on the calendar my mind kicked into to gear to decide what  to make for the occasion. 

Cupcakes!  Everyone loves cupcakes right?

Sharon's favorite cake is vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.  I rarely make white cake (since I'm a chocolate girl through and through), so I went in search of recipe.  I added Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook to my collection a few months back but had not had the opportunity to break it in.  If you can call making one recipe breaking it in...we are now broken.  I made her white cupcake recipe.  I cheated a bit on the frosting and used Trader Joe's white frosting box mix.  And to spruce it up I filled the cupcakes with raspberry jam. 

The cake was light and tender.  The frosting was super sweet...think buttercream.  And the tartness from the raspberry jam brought it all together.  Next time I would try a lighter frosting...like this whipped cream frosting.  When we ate them I think we all had a major spike in our blood sugar, but they were still tasty!

Enjoy!


White Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

3 1/4 cup of sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, sift cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Stir vanilla into milk and set aside.

Cream butter with an electric mixer on high until smooth.  Slowly add in sugar and beat until the mixture is pale fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture until everything is just combined.

In separate bowl beat eggs whites on medium speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.  Fold a third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten the batter.  Gently fold in the remaining egg whites in two batches until just incorporated.

Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.  Tap muffin tins on the counter top to release any air bubbles.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  A toothpick should come out clean.  Cool on a wire rack. 

To fill cupcakes with raspberry jam, cut a cone shaped hole out of the top center of the cupcake and set it aside.  Fill with a teaspoon or so of jam and then replace the cut out piece of cake to fill the hole.  To see an example of filling a cupcake, click here.

Top cupcakes with a frosting of your choice.

Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

You know what vanilla ice cream is good with? Chocolate sauce. A lot of chocolate sauce.  Or strawberry sauce.  Or strawberry sauce and chocolate chips.  Or crushed up Oreos.  I have never in my life ordered vanilla ice cream when given other flavor options.  Vanilla is absolutely my last pick in the ice cream world.  Sorry all you vanilla fans, but I think it's a little boring.

I love ice cream and enjoy it most on it's own. I don't want any pie or cake to get in the way (and in reverse, when I'm eating pie or cake, I don't want any ice cream to compete with my cake or pie).  But as with most things in life, there are a few exceptions to this rule.  Like ice cream cake (mint chip ice cream with chocolate cake from Baskin Robbins).  And I also made an exception when I baked a Plum and Raspberry Pie for Father's Day thinking a nice sweet vanilla would pair well with this (what turned out to be very tart) fruit pie.  And it did!  (Post on the pie coming in about 2 weeks.)

I will note the 2 issues I had making this.  Both are most likely attributable to user error.  One, I could not get my custard to reach 180 degrees.  It would not budge past 160 on my candy thermometer.  After nearly 40 minutes of stirring (when it's supposed to take 10) I decided to call it a day.  The mixture had thickened slightly and if the temperature didn't come up after 40 minutes, I figured it never would.  Two, I failed to read the entire recipe through before embarking on this the day guests were coming over for Father's Day.  It takes 8 1/2 hours to make....which of course I didn't have.  I had about 6 hours before dessert was tentatively scheduled to be served and I decided to forge ahead.  It turned out great despite the shortened freezing time. 

This vanilla ice cream is pretty exceptional.  That is saying a lot coming from a chocolate girl.  See, this vanilla ice cream is different.  It's brown sugar vanilla. And I like brown sugar.  So I guess it is safe to say I also like this vanilla ice cream.  The brown sugar gives it almost a caramel flavor. I even think this ice cream might make a repeat appearance in my kitchen.  But don't be surprised if it's served with a little chocolate sauce and maybe some peanut praline.


Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream
by Melissa Murphy from Sweet Melissa Baking Book

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dry skim milk powder
5 large egg yolks
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped, reserving the seeds and pod
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Bring 3 inches of water to a simmer in a large pot.  Select a large bowl and fit it inside the pot so the bowl is not toucing the water.  Remove the bowl and whisk all the ingredients together until fully combined.  Place the bowl back over the water and stir continuously for 5 to 10 minutes until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and has reached 180 - 185 degrees on a candy thermometer. 

Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath in a bowl large enough to fit the bowl with the custard mixture.  Once custard is ready, place the bowl in the ice bath for 15-20 minutes.  Strain mixture into a smaller bowl or container with a lid and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.  Pour the cooled mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions (mine takes about 30 minutes).  Transfer ice cream to a freezer safe container with a lid and freeze for another 4 hours or overnight prior to serving.

Yields 1 quart

Sugar Hearts

I spent this past Saturday enjoying an awesome day with my 2 nieces and nephew. One of the activities we did was to decorate heart shaped sugar cookies. The cookies were simple...a Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix and a variety of store bought frosting. Throw in a little food coloring and some sprinkles and you have cookie master pieces in the making! And a little bit of mess. But that's half the fun right?


We packaged up the cookies to give to the kids parents. The kids did a great job and we all had a blast.


Happy Valentines Day!

Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwiches (Oreos)

You might not be able to tell from the photos, but these are homemade oreos....on steroids. They are 3 times the size of a standard oreo. When I saw these in Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook, I thought they would be soft chewy cookies with cream filling. But they have a crunchy crumbly texture...with a delicious cream filling.


I didn't set out to make oreos, but it turned out to be a nice detour. This recipe calls for scooping out dough with a 1 1/4 inch cookie scoop then flattening out the cookies to 1/8 inch thick using the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. This makes for a huge cookie. Next time I make these, I will roll the dough out and use cookie cutters.

After baking up a the first batch, I thought the cookies would look nice with a little extra sparkle so I dipped each flattened cookie in sugar before baking. They don't really look like oreos with the sugar coating, but they are still tasty. Messy (when they crumble), but tasty.

You can also dress these up with a little decoration by rolling the edges in colored sprinkles or candies. I rolled some in blue sanding sugar to give as a gift for a the parents of a new baby boy.


To get the recipe click here.

Holiday Cream Wafers

Like my leaning tower of cream wafers? For any given blog post I usually take between 70 - 120 photos. This one, I took 8. In a rush. We were on our way to a friends house for dinner with 2 other couples. I thought cookies would be a nice treat to bring along. And I won't lie, I've been looking for opportunities to test out some new (to me) holiday cookie recipes.

In case you are wondering...it's not always wise to try out a new recipe when it's T minus 2 hours and you have to mix up dough, chill it, roll it out, cookie cutter (that's a new verb!) it, toss the cookies in sugar, place them on a baking sheet, poke four sets of holes in the top with a fork, bake for 7-9 minutes, cool, fill with frosting (which also has to be made separately...one kind wasn't enough for me or the time allotted...so I went with vanilla and raspberry) and then sandwich together. Are you tired yet? I am. During the 2 hour countdown I also had to shower, blow dry, brush my teeth, flat iron and swipe on some mascara among other make up products. Wow, I sound high maintenance. Now I'm extra tired. Anyway, clearly my time management skills could use a little....work.

But somehow we, and the cookies, made it to our friends house with exactly zero minutes to spare. We enjoyed good company and tasty food. Have you ever had spaghetti with meat sauce Persian style? Or yogurt sauce with shallots? On your Persian spaghetti? Yum.

And the cookies were a hit too. With a nice cup of Earl Grey tea. On a cool December evening.

These cookies were a Christmas staple made annually by my mom when I was a kid. I remember these cookies being so delicate and delicious. She always filled them with red and green tinted frosting for a festive touch. Funny how you always want to go back to your childhood treats. At some point she relinquished her holiday cookie making to other family members and it has been years since we've had this Betty Crocker classic. This week seemed like a good time to revisit an old favorite. I wanted to give the red tinted frosting a little twist and I added 2 tablespoons of seedless raspberry preserves to the (full) frosting recipe. It's a nice addition and I actually prefer it to the standard vanilla filling.

The wafers are tender and flaky and almost melt in your mouth. The dough is simple...consisting of flour, a little heavy cream and butter, dusted with sugar. The frosting is simple....butter, sugar and vanilla extract. The sweet filling makes up for the small amount of sugar in the wafer. These fun cookies take a little patience (and timing skills) but make a special holiday treat! To get the recipe click here.

This coming weekend is my official cookie making weekend. Check back next week to see Gingersnaps, Linzers sandwiched with raspberry preserves and lemon curd, Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies, Chocolate and Red Velvet Cake Truffles and Meringues. I'm already feeling the sugar high!

Peace Birthday Cake!

Birthday cake is the best part about a birthday, in my opinion. No birthday is complete without cake! I was thrilled when my brother asked me to make a cake for my niece's birthday. She wanted yellow cake with chocolate frosting. So I went on the hunt for some good recipes. I used the vanilla cake recipe from my go to cake blog, How to Eat a Cupcake (also check out the Red Velvet Truffles--I have these babies bookmarked)! I doubled the cake recipe so it would work for two 9 inch pans and it turned out to be more white then yellow, but it worked out fine. The "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" chocolate frosting was also from How to Eat a Cupcake.


The cake was moist and tender. The frosting was good--solidly chocolaty. But it wasn't my favorite chocolate frosting. Next time I'd try a chocolate cream cheese frosting. The decorations were the most fun! My niece is into hippy-ish kind of stuff (among lots of other teenage interests) so I thought of the peace sign which is constructed of skittles. I also did the lettering....and could use a little practice in that area! But it turned pretty good considering I don't make a whole lot of cakes.

We spent Saturday afternoon with 20 plus family members eating, talking and celebrating. My brother made a tasty meal geared especially toward the birthday girl--grilled chicken, pasta alfredo, broccoli and the best part--delicious garlic cheese toast with browned melty yummy mozzarella cheese. We finished the celebration with cake and lots of presents.


Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece, Kenzie! I love you!

Mysterious Meringues

The mystery of meringues kicks off my very first blog post. Simple ingredients form this funny little cookie. I'm a lover of cookies and baking. But meringues are a mystery to me. Are they really a cookie? No butter. No flour. No baking soda. Just egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla. I was in a baking mood last Sunday and I asked Hubby what he thought I should make. I said what about oatmeal cookies? Cause I know he's a fan. He said what about those things that are little, you know, fluffy...things. His description was accompanied by some hand gestures inferring a small round object. Like most cookies. Small round objects. But after 11 years together I was able to decipher his request. "You mean meringues?". Ya, sure, he says. He proceeded to tell me how he made them once in a high school home ec class and he thought they were pretty cool.

I have never made meringues before. I have never made meringue before. But I dug out my Cookies cookbook by Martha Stewart and found a few meringue options. I was a little intimidated by the recipe. Sometimes fewer ingredients equals greater complexity. I had all the ingredients on hand so I gave it a go. I followed the recipe to the letter because I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't sure how stiff the peaks should be or what the texture should look like. I have seen lots of cooking shows that instruct the stiff white peaks should slump over a bit when turned upside down. When the fluff looked nice and fluffed I dipped in my rubber spatula to test my peaks. They looked like I thought they should. The fluff had a slight gloss to the texture. I wasn't sure if that was how it was supposed to look or not. But the peaks looked right so I went with it.

I put half the batch in a large ziploc bag and snipped off the corner. I made an attempt to pipe out uniform swirls of vanilla meringue on my baking sheet. I stirred in 1/8 cup of cocoa powder into the remaining half and filled another bag. The recipe suggested a 1/2 inch star tip. But my ziploc bag would have to do. To be honest the chocolate batch looked like little dog doodies. But the doodies were for me, so it was ok. Hubby is vanilla. I am chocolate.


The recipe said 175 degree oven for 2 hours. 2 hours in, we did a taste test. Crisp and airy on the outside...chewy on the inside. Is that right? It didn't seem right. Hubby agreed. Back in the oven. 2 additional hours later, I deemed the cookies done. Mostly because I was annoyed at how long they were taking. Seems like I could have cooked them forever and they would be totally fine. The end product was a tasty, crisp, yet airy treat. It was a nice departure from the traditional cookie.


I wouldn't say the meringue mystery has been solved. But it's ceratinly a little less elusive.