Ms. Adventures in Baking

Whine

2011-09-16T10:19:00.003-04:00

My chiropractor (hi Michelle!) got on my case the other day about not having blogged in a while, so here a quick post to say...

...I miss baking! WAHHHHHHHHH!

We haven't started renovating the kitchen yet, but the renovations in the rest of the house having taken over every space, and it's just not logistically possible at this point to bake anything. I've had to turn down a wedding gig--which I don't ever want to do--and I'm missing it so much. I keep thinking of amazing flavour combinations that I want to try, and coming across recipes that I have to bookmark rather than run home and whip together immediately.

This is particularly frustrating for me because PUMPKIN SEASON is upon us, and every fiber of my being loves pumpkin. I've never had a pumpkin-flavoured ANYTHING that I didn't like. Not being able to bake pumpkin goodies is like being stripped of a super-power!

That said, I am currently dieting, and perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.

My Second Wedding Cake

2011-07-13T10:48:00.007-04:00

Baking the first wedding cake was an incredibly challenging and stressful msadventure but despite that, it went well and I learned so many invaluable lessons. I'm not saying that the second cake went without issue, but it went much more smoothly than the first, lemme tell you! And, thank goodness for that, because this cake was for my dear friend Laura.

I'm not arrogant enough in my novice wedding cake standing to assume I know all the ins and outs, but I will share a few knowledge nuggets to hopefully make your first wedding cake a smashing success.

Lesson #1: However much time you think you will need, tack on an extra day if at all possible. Life has this way of throwing you spectacularly-timed curve balls that will stress you out immensely if you let them interfere with your plan.

Lesson #2: If you're making home made marshmallow fondant like I did, dust your surface with cornstarch instead of icing/confectioner's sugar, as sugar makes your fondant a little too dry. That means when you cover your cake, the edges will crack slightly and not look as great as you'd like.

Lesson #3: If you're deciding to use a recipe that is unfamiliar to you, do a test bake WELL in advance. That will give you time to taste it to ensure that the recipe yields the taste, texture, colour, etc. that you were aiming for.

Lesson #4: Document, document, document! Take photos along the way, and make notes in your recipe books for things that you learn while baking, or adjustments that you make to the recipe. Trust me, you'll want this info later.

Lesson #5: Italian Meringue Buttercream is a real pain in the patoot, but it's SOOO worth the aggravation of learning how to do it correctly. You may think it has flopped, but if you keep throwing butter into it, it will come together and me the most amazing buttercream you've ever had. Personally, I have found that carton egg whites do not work for this recipe, so I only use fresh cracked whites, but others have claimed to use carton whites with success. All I know is, I have wasted dozens of eggs and several pounds of butter trying to master this IMBC, and will never use carton eggs for IMBC again.

Lesson #6: Be diligent about getting your stuff back! Even if your cake drum/pillars/stand/etc. are labeled, the kitchen is a bustling organism geared toward efficiency and will throw out things that aren't claimed by the end of the night.

Now for the cake!

A friend of the bride--a librarian by trade and thus a huge owl lover--gifted her a custom wedding cake topper from Etsy. It's made of Cloud Clay and weighs practically nothing, and was an amazingly cute topper for a whimsical yet elegant design.

Gum Paste Letters

2011-05-17T16:28:00.004-04:00

With this spare few minutes I have at work, I thought I'd post the results of my cupcake blitz this weekend. My friend Monica referred a friend of hers to me, who wanted cupcakes made for a pre-wedding party. His only request was "Maybe a good flavour (not chocolate) with G & B's or something on them?"

That's when my brain kicked into creative overdrive. G and B? Gold and Blue! Lucky for me, blue was one of the wedding colours. What flavour would go with gold and blue? Why, Lemon and Blueberry, of course!

I had some Wilton Pre-Made gum paste on hand from the Gum Paste course that I've enrolled in but has been canceled twice (*shakes fist in the air*), so I dyed some gold and blue, and added some cocoa to the gum paste to make a truer black. Using the Fox Run Mini Alphabet cutters I picked up from Golda's Kitchen, my helpers and I cut out Bs and Gs, and little triangles to make bow ties. Then the letters were painted with a little vodka (some for us, some for the letters!) to make the sparkles stick.

Voila!

A HUGE thank you to Laura and Victoria--fellow Pavlov's Dogs--for the extra hands. These gals earned the heck out of their brunch of Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread Pudding and Mimosas!

My First Wedding Cake!

2011-05-16T12:27:00.002-04:00

I really should have done this months ago, but with all the renos and selling the house I just couldn't.

However, I managed to post the few photos I was able to take, and here they are! Sorry for the poor photo quality; I was unable to locate my SLR amidst the renovation rubble, and all I had was my point and shoot camera that didn't handle the dim lighting in the venue very well.

Top Tier: White Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
Middle Tier: Vanilla Cake moistened with Maple Ice Wine syrup, with Maple IMBC
Bottom Tier: Dutch Chocolate cake moistened with Raspberry syrup, with Fresh Raspberry IMBC

All covered with home-made marshmallow fondant, and topped with a LEGO cake topper that I made for the Engineer newlyweds!

I'm baaaAAAAaaack....

2011-03-30T07:12:00.003-04:00

The house has been renovated, and has even been sold. I have my life back, and more importantly, my kitchen!

As soon as I find the energy, I will start baking again. First though, I need to update this blog to include a major accomplishment; my first wedding cake.

It's been a long road folks. Hope I haven't lost too many of you along the way.

Early Radiohead + Baking = WIN!

2011-03-11T06:51:00.000-05:00

Cup Size

2011-02-03T14:34:00.004-05:00

Courtesy of ILoveDoodle.

Ms. Adventures in Renovating

2011-01-28T14:34:00.008-05:00

The Manfella™ and I are renovating the house for sale. I've spent weeks with a torn-up disorganized labyrinthine kitchen (I'm pretty sure I had to ask the Minotaur to pass me the brown sugar this morning), and there really isn't any room anywhere to bake. Nor would I want to, unless sawdust muffins are your thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totes concerned with your bowel movements and regularity (Gassy? Gassy? Is it gas? It's gas, isn't it?), but not to the point where I'd feed you baked goods covered in splinters.

The bad news? I can't bake. Anything. For a while. This makes me a sad Keanu.

The badder news? I have my first wedding cake coming up near the end of February. HOLY. FLAMING. SHITBALLS.

Um yeah. See that look in her eye? That right there ^ is stark-raving renovation-induced MADNESS wrapped in a frilly yellow apron (hey man, just because you're bat-shit crazy doesn't mean you can't look PRETTY). Chuck Norris wouldn't dare piss this woman off, because she looks like she's about to eat a mountain lion for breakfast. Me? I only have a slight eye twitch right now. Talk to me about my breakfast choices in FEBRUARY.

So, for the time being, not so much with the blog updates. Things might get a little ghost-towny 'round these parts. When I get my house back you can bet your sweet patoot I'll be baking LIKE A BOSS.

A Bug's Life

2010-12-25T18:09:00.001-05:00

Cookie? Cookie.

2010-12-23T10:12:00.001-05:00

The oven is cool these days...

2010-12-15T14:54:00.005-05:00

...as I renovate my house in order to sell it. I've had several friends purchase their first home recently, and talk about the stress of it all; finding the perfect agent, locating an ideal home, the lawyers, the money, the closing, the moving, the OH-MY-GOD-WHEN-WILL-IT-ALL-BE-OVER?!

Well I'm here to tell you, friends, try doing that, PLUS selling off the house you currently own. Talk about YIKES. And, I don't even own the current house...the manfella does!

You know what though? I'm kind of in heaven. I love renovating; I'm a handy gal who owns her own set of power tools, and am no slouch when it comes to sprucing up the old homestead. Also, the point of this reno is to sell the house and buy a new one that is OURS. This excites me.

This requires sacrifice, however, and as such, my oven has been lonely since we started. No time for baking, no room to do it, and no energy. Sad, but true. *sniffle* Outlook....bleak...

I'm making one special exception this Sunday when I have my (volunteer) Little Sister over for a cookie baking activity; hopefully I will find some time to take and post photos.

Until then, when I'm up to my elbows in drywall putty I'll be pretending it's cake batter or bread dough and dreaming of the new kitchen I'll be baking in sometime in the new year...

Rollergettes End of the Year Bash Cookies + Home Made Cookie Cutter!

2010-11-18T11:19:00.011-05:00

My friend Jill got heavily involved in Roller Derby this past year, and a while back suggested that I set up a vendor table at one of their events and sell my wares. Figuring it was a great way to make some ~~desperately needed or Mastercard will come and break my thumbs~~ pocket money and get my name out there, I obliged to this end and this end (and one other end that never got blogged). Since she's quite good at making up Derby names--she is Jillennium Falcon, after all--she dubbed me "Achey Bakey". It tickled.

Since the Rollergettes lose access to their arena during hockey season, they held an End of the Year Bash in October, and Jill commissioned me to make some special cookies to give as a surprise gift to the team. She gave me free rein on the design, and I decided it was finally time to make that roller skate cookie cutter* that I've been meaning to make.

Off to the Home Depot I went. I bought some tin and some tin snips, carrying myself like one of those empowered "don't call me a chick" chicks. I went home, whipped together a home-made metal cookie cutter in about an hour, and felt so high on the endorphins of accomplishment that I could OWN Martha Stewart in a mano-e-mano craft-off.

Yes, Martha Stewart speaks in 18pt. Vivaldi. I speak in MS Paint. True story!

ANYHOO, armed with my new MADE-BY-ME METAL ROLLER SKATE COOKIE CUTTER, I pounded out some sugar cookies, decorated them, and still had time to make some bonus Pumpkin Fudge! I rule at this game!

This slide show has been brought to you by the letter L for "laziness". It's easier to whip out a slide show than post all those photos individually, let me tells ya.

* You'd think this would be an easy cutter to find in a sprawling megalopolis like Toronto, but I couldn't find one ANYWHERE. I did what any reasonable human being with a credit card and the ability to use the internet for things other than porn** would do: I GOOGLED. It tickled. The best result? OMGYG, it was thirteen dollars. AMERICAN. PLUS SHIPPING. Fogettabouddit!

One sheet of tin joisting that cuts into roughly 15 strips, one strip per cookie cutter: $5.00
One pair of tin snips that will last you forever and you'll use over and over again: $10.00

Math for the frugal! I should write a book.

** I also use the internet for porn.

Much ado about nuffin'

2010-11-11T10:13:00.011-05:00

This blog really should contain...

...and instead it contains...

At least, nuffin' since August. Boy howdy, the deadlines at work have been KILLING me. SRSLY. They are, however, all over now, so no more excuses!

I have been baking here and there when I've been able to, so let me dig up the ghosts of baking past.

Over the summer a work colleague was charged by the grandma-to-be with the task of hosting a baby shower that was more of a "classy tea party" than the "guess-the-poop diaper games" variant of the baby shower (yes, I've actually been to a baby shower in which melted chocolate bars were smushed into a diaper and we had to guess what the "poop" was for prizes. This is a thing that happened to me!). She didn't want cutesy or cheesy at this party, as most of the guests would be some older ladies who mightn't appreciate seeing baby bums everywhere.

This? Fine by me. I'm one of the silliest people I know, but when it comes to baking I love pretty things. Denyse gave me carte blanche to do whatever I wanted with 4 dozen mini cupcakes but hinted that she loved my lemon luxury cakes, so I made some "Silver and Gold" mini cuppies. Half were chocolate cupcakes with Raspberry buttercream sprinkled with silver dust and silver dragees, and the other half were lemon cupcakes with light and fluffy lemon cream cheese buttercream, sprinkled with 24k gold dust (edible gold, how I love thee) and topped with a gold dragee.

Speaking of gold dragees, those babies are HARD to track down outside of Christmastime! Bulk Barn didn't carry them, nor did 3 other bake shops that I patronized. My Wilton cake decorating class instructor bailed me out by selling me some from her shop (thanks Lynn!) Now that it's November and our lords will soon start a-leaping, I say do yourself a favour and STOCK. UP. NOW.

Reese Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars

2010-08-26T11:14:00.006-04:00

I'll give you a moment to wipe the drool off your chin.

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You done? Well, don't throw that tissue out just YET, because get a load of THIS:

Just baked, still cooling in the pan.

You can stop your cheesecakes from cracking by baking them in a water bath. I just didn't bother this time.

All cut into squares!

I could have done a better job with piping this chocolate, but at least I used a paper cornet!

Inside view of the deliciousness.

I served these at a BBQ recently and everyone loved them. I seriously couldn't stop eating them myself--which is a pretty lame quality in a hostess, I must say--but it speaks to just how gosh-durn yummy these are.

Here's the recipe for Reese's Cheesecake Bars. I didn't put a piece of PB cup on top like the recipe calls for because ~~I ate three Peanut Butter cups before the bars were baked~~ I didn't think they were necessary. Yeah THAT'S it.

Sugar Cookies Ahoy!

2010-08-12T13:16:00.007-04:00

Oh my god you guys (henceforth to be abbreviated OMGYG), all I've been baking lately is sugar cookies. Roller derby has been the main culprit, but I of course use the term 'culprit' loosely because I love love love doing it. However through the process of baking and decorating cookies en masse for a vendor's table, I have learned that I need to work on my time management skills. And how.

For the last derby bout I made CHOCOLATE sugar cookies, and dipped them in purple and green Merckens (which is essentially white chocolate). Think Black & White Cookie meets Rollergettes.

However, poor time management = rushing to get cookies done and out the door in time = stress = forgetting to take pictures. However I did manage to squeeze off this one:

Chocolate sugar cookie, half naked.

I'll try to get more photos of these, because they were kind of cool when the were done. I mean, chocolate cookie dipped in white chocolate? WIN.

And speaking of sugar cookies, July 9th was National Sugar Cookie Day!* The fabulous Sugar and Meringue has put together a free sugar cookie e-booklet called "Cookies for a Cause" (hmm, sound familiar?) to raise money for the Great American Bake Sale to end child hunger. It's filled with links for donating to the cause.

OMGYG, check it out.

*not an official holiday, so don't take next July 9 off work no matter how badly you want to.

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Roller Derby Cookies

2010-07-12T14:45:00.011-04:00

A few weeks ago I set up a vendor's table at the local roller derby bout in support of our girls--Rollergettes (sounds like "roller jets", in reference to Sufferagettes!). Using the "O" from their logo and their team colours, I made these:

Round sugar cookies. Fresh out of the oven while still warm I pressed a star cookie cutter into the cookie to make my piping guideline.

Boy, did I make a lot of these cookies! About 6 or 7 dozen, I think.

First, I piped the outline of the green icing.

I let the green dry while I piped the purple.

When they were all outlined, I decided to do the flooding.
First the green flooding...
Then the purple!

When all the cookies were flooded, I filled the star with white. I packaged one of each cookie into celophane bags, tied them up with black curling ribbon (to tie the black of their logo into it) and sold them for $3 per package, or 2 for $5. I sold all but 8 of them, and gave the rest to my very good friend (and Rollergettes' volunteer) Jill, who deserves much more than cookies for all her efforts.

I used Amanda's (she's so famed she goes by one name now) Sugar Cookie and Royal Icing Substitute, and they turned out splendidly!

Science for hungry people!

2010-07-10T22:44:00.000-04:00

Mocha Toffee Ice Cream

2010-06-23T10:32:00.007-04:00

Previously I've mentioned how difficult it is to bake during the summer. Well it's true! We don't have air conditioning in our house--save for a window installment in the bedroom for comfortable sleeping--and when it's hot outside the last thing I want to do is make it hotter inside.

So that, paired with the fact that May was colossally busy (I should have known!), my "May Flours" mission was an absolute flop. There, I admitted it. I do, however, have several flours waiting at home for me to turn into some gluten-free wonderfulness, and as soon as I find a day where the house isn't a sauna, they're all yours babies!

In the meantime, I've been using my ice cream maker as modestly as I can, (read: it's a epic struggle against making ice cream every single day), and so far out of the three kinds of ice cream I've made, Mocha Toffee is the best.

This recipe is super easy to make since you don't have to temper eggs; just combine the ingredients, chill, and put into the ice cream maker!

I made it special for my BBQ guests over the May-24 weekend, and again when my lovely friend Jax flew from the West for a visit. I knew she'd love it, because one of our bonding activities in university was to get together late at night for study-break mochas!

Jax enjoys the crunchy toffee bits and smooth coffee chocolate flavour of my Mocha Toffee Ice Cream. Food porn!

Thanks to Cuisinart, from whom I yoinked this recipe. I'm a devoted fan!

Mars Bar Biscuits

2010-06-22T10:25:00.007-04:00

I have a coworker from Northern Ireland (or, "NornIrn", the way her brogue curls around it) who brought in some Mars Bar Biscuits to work one day. After tasting one, my reaction was akin to this:

As she explains it, they're super-popular all over Ireland, and they're ridiculously easy to make. Although they're a Rice Krispie-based treat, they're easier to make than Rice Krispie squares, if you can believe it! Special bonus: you can very easily make this recipe Gluten-Free/Celiac safe*! You can find gluten-free/Celiac safe Krispies at any health food store, like Noah's here in Toronto.

*Although you'd think Rice Krispies are gluten-free since they are rice, they contain Malt (a barley derivative) which is not recommended for those with Celiac disease.

Step 1: Melt 4 Mars Bars together with 4oz butter. Melt on low heat JUST until all the big lumps are gone. Don't over-cook the mixture or you will carmelize your sugar and your bars will be hard instead of chewy. Trust me on this.

Step 2: Scale out 4oz of Rice Krispies, which you will weigh on your super-awesome digital scale. If you do not own a digital scale, well, what are you waiting for? Go! Right now. I'll wait.
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Did you get one? Good. You are now super-awesome just for owning one. Your baking life has just gotten infinitely better, my friend.

Anyway.

Mix the 4oz of Rice Krispies into the melted Mars Bar/butter mixture. Dump the mixture into an 8x8 pan and smooth it out using a spatula.

Step 4: Melt 1 package of Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips (in the microwave or over a double boiler) and smooth them over the surface of your Krispies, like this:

Put them in the fridge to cool and solidify, but make sure you take them out of the fridge at least half an hour before you wish to cut them or the chocolate will crack. Cut them as large or small as you want, but I usually cut 5x5 which gives you over 2 dozen bars. They're smaller, but they pack a delicious punch.

Trust me on this, unless your friends hate chocolate (and why are you friends with those people anyway?), they will LOVE LOVE LOVE these. That is, if you don't eat the whole pan by yourself first!

Thanks to Barb for the easiest no-bake recipe I've ever used!

Cookie related cuteness

2010-06-11T09:16:00.003-04:00

OMG you guys, it's a widdle iddy biddy cutie cookie kitty! *dies*

So, it's totally hard to bake when it's hot out. I've been making a lot of ice cream lately though!

Yikes.

2010-06-01T11:37:00.002-04:00

Between my vacation, and the big BBQ on the long weekend, and now my friend Jaclyn coming to visit, May--as always--has been a whirlwind!

I've baked some goodies, but haven't gotten around to posting them yet...but they're coming! I promise!

May Flours: Cake Flour

2010-05-04T11:33:00.007-04:00

I know I'm starting out with a commonly-used flour, but I HAD to for my entry into CupCakeCamp Toronto!

From the Wheat flour Wikipedia entry:

Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour.

I heard of an amazing recipe in the BakeBakeBake Livejournal community called "Woody's Luxury Lemon Cake". Adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes, this amazing cake combined white chocolate and lemon to make what sounded like a mind-blowing taste experience. I picked this monster cookbook up from the library and set to work on converting this recipe into mini-cupcakes for CupCakeCamp.

I won't post this copyrighted recipe in my blog, but let me assure you that based on this recipe alone, I will be spending the $50 to buy this book. It was a white chocolate cake with lemon zest, filled with homemade lemon curd, and topped with a buttercream made out of a white chocolate vanilla bean custard base mixed with some of the lemon curd OMG YUM.

I'm not going to lie, this was a complicated recipe. It wasn't difficult, but it was process-heavy and thus time-consuming. When it came time to decorate, I was far too tired to cut out, paint and hand-detail 4-dozen tiny fondant lemons like I'd intended, so I tossed a few gold dragees on each and sprinkled them with edible/non-toxic 24 karat gold dust. They sure looked luxurious after that!

I was a planner and volunteer for the event, so I spent most of my time in the back room at CupCakeCamp plating cupcakes, separating out and labeling samples of each to be judged, and helping to organize people and tasks. However, I was able to take a few breaks from the back room and come out and serve cupcakes, as well as present the ones that I made. I was happy to say that mine flew off the trays pretty quickly; not only were they rather fetching looking, but people were super impressed that these cupcakes were covered in real gold!

I was quite surprised and pleased to win the award of "Most Impressive Amateur", and accepted my prize with a giddy combination of jumping and spinning. I never win ANYTHING, so it was kind of awesome. In the prize bag I got a copy of Hello Cupcake!, some Wall-E cupcake liners, a 4-section shaker of Wilton sprinkles in different colours and shapes, and a necklace with a cupcake pendant! I'm wearing it right now, and it's totally cute.

Check out this slideshow of other people's photos. Other than the first two I took during and after the decorating process, I wasn't able to take any pics of my own at the event because I was in the back, but other attendees and bakers took some photos of my cupcakes so I yoinked them and compiled them below:

Sweet success!

April Showers Bring May Flours

2010-04-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

Luckily, we haven't had *too* many showers this April, and other than a few cold spurts it's been LOVELY weather. That means it's hard to want to stay inside and bake, so I'll give myself another task to keep me focused:

April Showers Bring May Flours

I do love a good pun.

So! In May I intend to bake several recipes using different kinds of flours, mostly ones that I've never used before. This means I'll end up with some gluten-free baked goods--which, again--I've not really done.

How exciting!

I will be away on vacation to Puerto Plata from May 7-14, so that will knock a week out of the running. Don't worry; the manfella and I will be eating and drinking our faces off and having a grand old time, but before I leave and when I come back there will be baked goods a-plenty, starting with...

CUPCAKECAMP TORONTO 2010!

Stay tuned, kittens.

News!

2010-04-16T15:49:00.003-04:00

March may be over, but this blog has just gotten started!

In Food Bank news: the current total raised so far is $500! That's double the original goal. While I am so very pleased with the generous donations from my personal network, the Food Bank is still in desperate need right now. They've fallen 3% short of their fundraising goal, even after extending their Spring Challenge until today. Unfortunately, during and since the recent market tumble, people have been donating less but needing the Food Bank more. I urge you to reach deep into your pockets or, failing that, your cupboards and make an effort give something to this very worthy organization. I still have cookies available if you want to give to the Food Bank and get something back!

In other news: I have had a very excellent April so far. I've gotten past a major work deadline, I've been healthy as a horse, I've been getting in fabulous shape by working out every day and seeing my trainer twice a week, I've reconnected with friends I didn't see in March, and in 3 weeks I'm off on a week-long vacation to Puerto Plata with my manfella. I've even baked a little! I've been cutting back immensely on my sugar intake (3:00pm jitters + bikini season = eat less sugar!) so when I had to bring dessert to a board games party in Aurora last weekend, I made No Added Sugar Piña Colada Mini Cheesecakes. Blog post with recipe and photos forthcoming!

In the meantime, I've got so many ideas for my next "project" that I can barely decide! I may launch something in May (despite being absent for a week) and continue to blog whatever I bake in the meantime. It's hard though, because both the manfella and I are trying to lose weight, but I want to keep baking! Guess what friends in real life, random goodies may be forthcoming.

One of the next things I'll be baking is iambaker's awesome sugar cookies for my Big Bunch. I got to meet my new Little last weekend, and she is a terrific kid. I figure I'll bake up a bunch (har!) of cookies, make up icing and pre-bag it, then we can all ice cookies as a group.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that there are still many Ms. Adventures in Baking to be had, so keep coming back for more!

March 31: Whoopie Pies

2010-04-07T12:34:00.003-04:00

Finally...the last post of March! I've been sitting on this badboy for a while, not having the opportunity to blog it until now. Well here it is! Can I get a 'whoop whoop'?

No? Anybody?

Well how about some WHOOPIE PIES?

I'd never heard of these crazy little cookies, let alone tasted one, but the name pretty much grabbed me the moment I read it. Apparently they're a Pennsylvania Amish treat, but I gotta say...it's hard to imagine the Amish making something so DECADENT. Yurm! (that's "yum" as said with a mouthful of Whoopie Pie.)

Essentially white icing sandwiched between to rich mini chocolate cakes, the Whoopie Pie is reminiscent of an Oreo (specifically, and Oreo "Cakester"), yet nothing in the Oreo history I have found mentions the Whoopie Pie. Perhaps it wasn't the inspiration for the Oreo like I imagined it would be. In any case, if given an opportunity to fight, the Whoopie Pie would beat the Oreo, hands down. You might say the Whoopie Pie would "whoop" Oreo's butt!

*groan* Okay I'm done.

Seriously though, I couldn't believe how tasty these are. The strong coffee used in the recipe deepens the flavour of the chocolate; you won't believe these are made with cocoa instead of real chocolate!

Also, they're surprisingly easy to make. I had these made, baked and sandwiched in an hour!

My only complaint: the use of shortening. The filling is half butter and half shortening, but I would change the ratio to 2:1 in favour of butter next time, because the filling didn't WOW me with its flavour. However, I suspect that it's not supposed to; the filling adds sweetness to a very chocolatey cookie and the whole thing just works. That's why, despite my not being a fan of shortening, these babies get a Final Grade of A+. The manfella also gives them his thumbs up seal of approval.

I almost don't want to give these away (more for me, haha!), but you can purchase your own Whoopie Pies for a good cause by sponsoring me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

You can find the recipe for Whoopie Pies on my Recipes Page.

March 30: Hello Dollys/Magic Bars

2010-04-04T21:55:00.005-04:00

Hello Dolly's are most likely the easiest thing I have ever made. There is no mixing whatsoever! All you have to do is layer butter, graham crackers, coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips (optional), nuts, and sweetened condensed milk. Then bake! That's it!

Ooey gooey goodness!

Hello Dollys are traditionally made with chopped walnuts, but I'm not a big fan of walnuts so I used sliced almonds instead. It was still really delicious, but I must say that--despite me using unsweetened coconut and omitting the butterscotch chips--these are very sweet. Best served with a glass of skim milk!

Final Grade: B+. Just a bit too sweet for me (personal preference!), although these get an A+ for ease. If you need to make a dessert fast, this is your go to recipe! You can find the recipe for Hello Dollys/Magic Bars on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Hello Dollys for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

Daring Bakers March 2010 Challenge: Orange Tian

2010-03-31T23:38:00.002-04:00

This month's Daring Baker's Challenge was Orange Tian. I'd never heard of Tian before this challenge, so I was quite pleased to learn something new.

tian
[TYAHN ]
A French word describing a shallow, earthenware casserole, as well as the food that it contains. A tian can be any of various dishes, but originally referred to a Provençal dish of gratinéed mixed vegetables.

© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

They call them "challenges" for a reason, folks. Everything must be made from scratch, including the marmelade, and there are a lot of steps. This is partly why I chose to make the dessert "family style" (this term will always remind me of The Salt Lick when we went to Austin, TX) rather than in individual portions. Also, I could bring this dessert to the manfella's mom's house for Easter this weekend.

Step 1: Blanch the orange slices 3 times to remove the bitterness from the orange peel and pith.

Step 2: Arrange orange (I used mandarins) segments in a shallow blow. Make orange carmel and pour it over top of the segments.

Step 3: Mince the blanched orange slices in a food processor, add an equal weight of sugar and pectin. Cook to make marmelade!

One orange, plus some orange juice made me a whole jar of marmelade!

Step 4: Make a pâté sablé crust.
Step 5: Spread the crust with a thin layer of marmelade.

Step 6: Layer the carmel-y mandarin segments in your tian vessel. In this case, I used a fluted rectangular tart pan.

Step 7: Layer stabilized whipped cream (that's whipped cream with gelatin, folks) over the mandarin oranges, then layer the pâté sablé crust--marmelade side down--over the whipped. Here you see the flaw in using a vessel that is narrower on the bottom than on the top, however it isn't THAT big a deal because the dessert gets inverted.

Step 8: Invert the vessel so that it is crust side down. Cut into slices.

Step 9: Before serving, drizzle each slice with some of the orange carmel you made in step 2.

Obviously I have over-simplified the steps for the sake of blogging, so the way I've presented it here may look like less work than it actually was. However, this dessert was very well-received! If I made it again, I wouldn't use equal weights of sugar and orange in the marmelade, as I found it a bit too sweet.

All in all though, my first Daring Baker's Challenge was a success!

March 29: Chocolate Crinkles

2010-03-31T20:38:00.001-04:00

Chocolate Crinkles are the original cake truffle! Made with real chocolate, these little balls of brownies-meet-fudge are easy to make, roll and bake. Don't let their small size fool you; they're bursting with chocolatey flavour.

After you make up the dough, you roll each ball in a thick layer of icing sugar then bake.

As the dough bakes it expands, causing the dough to "crinkle". The dark brown chocolate colour shows through the white, causing an interesting looking contrast.

You must not over-bake these cookies! If you do, they will be hard lumps, rather than the chewy fudgy little treasures they're meant to be.

Final Grade: A. You can find the recipe for Chocolate Crinkles on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Chocolate Crinkles for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 28: Linzer Cookies

2010-03-31T19:57:00.000-04:00

Linzer cookies originate in Austria, and is the cookie form of the Linzertorte. Linzer cookies can be "white" or "brown", depending on whether or not you toast your almonds. Traditionally the cookies are sandwiched with a layer of black currant jam, but raspberry jam will also suffice if black currant jam can't be found.

All you need are cookie cutters of different sizes, though they don't have to be the same shape. Experiment with different shapes for some really cool-looking cookies!

I had fun with these cookies and made the bottom halves "brown" Linzer, and the top halves "white" Linzer. I figured I'd get the best of both worlds!!

These are very delicious! Sweet and nutty, with a tangy raspberry jam filling. Be sure to find seedless jam if you can, as the raspberry seeds create an unpleasant texture.

Some of the best cookies I've made so far! Final Grade: A+. You can find the recipe for Linzer Cookies on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Linzer Cookies for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 27: Speculaas

2010-03-31T11:15:00.000-04:00

Speculaas come to us all the way from Holand. Traditionally made and served before Christmas to celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, this spicy cookie is served in both thin and crispy moulded forms, or soft and chewy rounds.

I made the chewy version because I don't own any cookie moulds, nor could I find any at the kitchen supply stores close to home. The chewy ones are much easier and less time-consuming, so you can mix your dough, roll balls, bake and enjoy all within less than an hour.

I'd used up all my sliced almonds on the Alfajores the night before, so I simply flattened the balls with a measuring cup dipped in granulated sugar. The result is a tasty cookie with a little sparkle.

Final Grade: B+. Speculaas are yummy, but they didn't blow my mind. I've baked and tasted a lot of European spice cookies in the past month, and still have a place in my heart for the Basler Läckerli.

You can find the recipe for Speculaas on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Speculaas for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 26: Alfajores

2010-03-31T08:51:00.000-04:00

I discovered the recipe for this cookie while searching for international cookie recipes for March of the Cookies. I didn't need to see the recipe to know that they made the cut; reading "These almond cookies are sandwiched with creamy layers of dulce de leche" cinched it.

Probably the best sandwich cookie I've ever tasted.

Once I made up and baked these cookies, however, I realized that it wasn't just the dulce de leche (literally "milk candy") that made them great. The dough contains lemon rind, vanilla extract and almond extract, as well as ground almonds. My baking instructor once said that you have to think about your flavour pairings and not use competing flavours, then used vanilla and lemon as an example of a bad match. As much respect as I have for Vita, this Alfajores recipe proves her wrong. This is truly one of the most tasty cookies I've ever had.

This cookie is already delicious, then you add the dulce de leche...and BOOM: magic.

You can, of course, buy dulce de leche, but I have found that jarred versions contain things like corn syrup, potassium sorbate (a preservative), and artificial flavours. Why eat that extra garbage when you can make your own? There are two ways to make dulce de leche, I chose to cook a can of sweetened condensed milk in a water bath and the result was excellent. I cooked it until it was a very thick spread, which was perfect for sandwiching the biscuits together.

You can take the awesomeness one step further by coating these in chocolate.

I could say so much more about these delicious cookies, but I will finish my saying, they're probably my favourite cookie I've made this month.

Final Grade: A+. You can find the recipe for Alfajores on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Alfajores for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 25: Rugelach

2010-03-31T07:53:00.001-04:00

Rugelach is a cookie that you have to taste to believe. I'd never heard of Rugelach before making it in my baking class, and I knew when assembling the ingredients that it would be delicious. First of all, the dough has cream cheese in it, so you know it's going to be tasty. Second of all...well, that's it actually. Cream cheese.

Little rolls of cream cheesy apricot goodness.

I work near Yonge & Eglinton, which is close to Toronto's Jewish community. As a result, us foodies are blessed with a plethora of Jewish bakeries and delis...all of which serve amazing goodies like Rugelach.

However, Rugelach tends to be a bit on the expensive side because...

...it's rather labour-intensive. After making the dough, you divide it into several pieces, and roll each piece into an 8" round. Spread the round with your filling, cut into 8 pie-slices, roll them up, egg wash and sprinkle with almonds. Repeat the process for each piece of dough. Woah!
...each round you roll only yields 8 cookies. This process would go much faster if if you could make up the whole dough at once, or if each piece yielded more, however you would not be able to get the small rolls called for by the recipe.
it contains an expensive ingredient. Cream cheese is pretty pricey, compared to the rest of the ingredients used.

In the bakeries I've been to, Rugelach is sold by the pound. I would guess that this is because seeing the cost of each individual piece would scare people from buying them. However, given how labour intensive they are, I can see why people would pay a premium to enjoy them without the work. That said, when you enjoy baking, these are fun to make!

So yummy, so worth it.

Final Grade: A. I used a simple apricot filling, but next time I make Rugelach I'll use a recipe that has cinnamon in it; cinnamon pairs well with the tang of cream cheese (that's why Cinnabon's frosting is so darned good!).

You can find the recipe for Rugelach on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Rugelach for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 24: Parmesan Rosemary Cookies

2010-03-28T17:48:00.004-04:00

Another savoury cookie!

At first I tried this recipe, but it was gross.

Instead, try this recipe. It is better!

See?

I'm already sold out out of these, but please consider sponsoring me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! I have other cookies for sale, so make your donation, then email me your order!

March 23: Rumballs

2010-03-28T11:31:00.005-04:00

Rumballs are traditionally a Christmas cookie, but when your treats contain liquor...well, they're suitable for any time in my books!

Rumballs are a no-bake assembled cookie, in that they are made up of pre-baked ingredients and held together with a binding agent like corn syrup or sweetened condensed milk. Oh, and don't forget the rum.

There is no definitive Rumball recipe; there are unlimited combinations of nuts, toppings, cookies and binding agents.

Rolled in icing sugar!

Whenever I make a recipe for the first time, I fall back on Joy of Baking. I wasn't disappointed! I swapped out the pecans for hazelnuts, and the results were like boozy little Ferrero Rochers (I can't help it; anything with hazelnuts will remind me of them!).

Chocolatey nutty rummy balls of goodness!

They were certainly messy to roll, but much like making mud pies as a kid, messy can sometimes be fun.

You can find the recipe for Rumballs on my Recipes Page. To purchase your own Rumballs for a good cause, sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Make your donation, then email me your order!

March 22: Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

2010-03-28T10:03:00.005-04:00

My friend Joanna gave me this recipe and I was very excited to try it. I'm sure it's clear by now that I prefer my cookies chewy, and this recipe marries that with my love of gingerbread.

You know those Chewy Ginger Cookies from Starbucks? These are them.

After making the dough, simply pinch off walnut-sized (or bigger!) pieces, and roll them into balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar, flatten slightly, and bake!

Rolling these in sugar before baking give the cookies a nice sparkly look!

It's tempting to roll a ball, roll it in the sugar then place it on the baking sheet and start again, however your fingers get covered in sugar, which you then roll into your next ball of dough. This adds a) too much sugar to your dough, and b) prevents the sugar from sticking properly to the outside of the ball. Instead, I recommend that you roll all the balls first, and then roll them all in sugar. Then place them all on the baking sheet; there's no need to flatten them, just bake as is.

These were so good that upon tasting one, a coworker bought my entire supply.

Final Grade: A+. Thanks Joanna!

You can find the recipe for Chewy Ginger Molasses cookies on my Recipes Page. I'm already sold out out of these, but please consider sponsoring me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! I have other cookies for sale, so make your donation, then email me your order!

March 21: Pumpkin Currant Cookies

2010-03-28T08:34:00.003-04:00

Me and pumpkin? We're friends. I love it, and it loves me. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin loaf, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin pie ice cream, all permutations of pumpkin are impeccably palatable!

As such, when I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Currant cookies, I knew right away that I HAD to try it.

They were really tasty, and even my manfella--who isn't a fan of pumpkin (this may be the reason we break up)--really liked them.

Orange pumpkin-y goodness!

These cookies are really moist, and the currants provide tasty little bursts of sweetness.

My only complaint is that these cookies are almost too soft; the combination of pumpkin--which already retains its moisture in baked goods--and the use of cake flour made these cookies more like little muffin tops. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but nothing about these screams "cookie". I think next time I make these I would use all-purpose flour instead of the called-for cake flour to give them more structure.

You can SEE how moist these are. The moisture makes these cookies delicate, but delicious.

Flavour Grade: A+. These cookies are really yummy! The combination of pumpkin and spices with currants is an absolute winner.

Texture Grade: C. Somehow...they're not cookies. This recipe as is would be best used with a muffin top pan, or substitute all-purpose flour to achieve something closer to a cookie.

FINAL GRADE: B.
You can find the recipe for Pumpkin Currant cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Pumpkin Currant cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 20: Snickerdoodles

2010-03-27T15:23:00.004-04:00

The only thing better than saying the word "Snickerdoodle" is eating one! These crispy cookies are coated in only cinnamon and sugar, and you would be amazed at how yummy these simple little cookies are. They're one of those recipes that have been around for ages, but don't mistake them for any old sugar cookie - traditionally Snickerdoodles are leavened by baking soda and cream of tartar, rather than baking powder.

Bake until golden around the edges for a crunchy cookie.

The acidity of cream of tartar helps soften the protein strands of the eggs and flour, which results in a chewier product when slightly underbaked, although a crispier product can be achieved by slightly overbaking.

I chose to overbake my Snickerdoodles when I made them, because for some reason these struck me as a cookie that would be better crispy. When I bit into one I was instantly reminded of Cinnamon Toast Crunch--one of my favourites as a kid--and my FAC (friend and coworker) Sarah said the exact same thing. Spooky!

The characteristic crinkled look of the Snickerdoodle.

Final Grade: A. These cookies are easy to make out of basic ingredients and will not disappoint.

You can find the recipe for Snickerdoodles on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Snickerdoodles, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 19: Vanilla Bean Spritzgebäck (Spritz) cookies

2010-03-27T09:13:00.005-04:00

AAAAAAAAAAAnd we're back!

You cannot believe how much it's bothered me how far behind I've gotten on my baking and this blog, but I was so sick that at one point I was convinced that I was going to the hospital. I still have a bit of a cough but for the most part I'm well, and have upped the baking tempo to prestissimo.

Let me start the catch up with Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies. Spritzgebäck (from spritzen, the German word for "squirt") is a cookie traditionally served around Christmastime. The dough is too soft to handle, so it must be squirted through a cookie press or a piping bag fitted with a tip. I don't own a cookie press (the last one I had was a cheap plastic one from Wal-mart that literally cracked under the pressure) so I used my piping bag and a large open star tip. The problem with this method, at least for me, is it's more difficult to get a consistent look to your cookies (although the photo from the Wikipedia article would have you believe inconsistency is just fine). However, if you don't spend your days typing like me, and you have strong tendons in your wrist (unlike me), you might be able to achieve consistent-looking cookies by not shaking when you pipe.

Some of these are lop-sided, the result of shaky wrists and uneven piping pressure. This is a skill that I may never be able to master due to my day-time profession, so I should buy a cookie press STAT!

I changed up the Joy of Baking recipe by adding a vanilla bean to the mix, giving these cookies the telltale vanilla bean speckle and richer, more genuine vanilla flavour. Also, just prior to baking, I added slivers of candied cherries to the tops to a) fancy them up, and b) give the cookies a little extra burst of flavour.

Seeing the vanilla bean speckles make these cookies instantly more delicious; after all, you eat with your eyes first!

These buttery biscuits almost melt on your tongue, largely because of how soft the dough is to begin with. Since they do not need to be handled, they require less flour which gives the cookies a lighter, airier texture and allows more of the butter flavour to shine through.

You can find the recipe for Spritz Cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Spritz Cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

Technical Difficulties

2010-03-22T14:42:00.006-04:00

Sorry for the delay folks, but I've been down for the count for a few days while I recover from some chest-cold-lung-infection-type thing. I'm behind on my baking, but I promise that 31 cookie recipes in March will be delivered!

March 18: Brownies

2010-03-19T11:42:00.009-04:00

Mmm...brownies. Although these goodies seem to stand in a class by themselves, (as my friend and coworker Sarah said, "But, but... those aren't cookies, they're brownies!") they are actually a sheet cookie just like Nanaimo Bars. Brownies tend to be categorized as either "cakey" or "fudgey", and since neither of those descriptions scream "cookie", therein lies the confusion. However an excerpt from Wayne Gisslen's Professional Baking will explain:

Sheet cookies are one of the easiest and least labor intensive of any category. A batter, which can be thin or stiff, is made up and evenly spread into a pan with sides. Some recipes include a cookie or crumb base that is pressed onto the bottom of a pan before a batter is poured over it. After baking, the cookies are cut into squares or even triangles or diamonds. There are endless varieties (e.g., Fudge Brownies).

A "cakey" brownie is achieved by using less chocolate and butter, creaming the butter with the sugar rather than melting it with the chocolate, and aerating the batter.
A "fudgey" brownie is achieved by using more chocolate and butter, melting them together and using more egg yolks.
A "chewy" brownie is achieved by using more flour and more whole eggs.

See this wonderful article on the nuances of brownie creation for more info.

Anyway, I once again relied on my go-to website, Joy of Baking, for the recipe, because it featured my favourite kind of brownie: chewy. A chewy brownie is half fudgey and half cakey, so you get the best of both in one.

"Gggggaaaaaaarrrrr! Arrrrhhhn."
(Chewie likes his brownies...uh, chewy.)

Le Creuset love!

Cutting the brownies into 2-bites. I love the crinkle texture on top.

These brownies were perfect, in my humble opinion, and I was especially pleased to once again get to use the Le Creuset square baker in kiwi that I won from Carol Ann's giveaway. That reminds me, your THANK YOU brownies will shortly be on their way, CAM!

You can find the recipe for Brownies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Brownies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

Oops!

2010-03-19T07:19:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday night, when y'all were out drinking green beer, I was at home making Pfeffernüsse and while the dough was chilling for an hour, I figured I'd make more Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, since I kind of oversold them (Oops #1).

Since they were so popular I decided to make a double batch, and used the yield calculator tool on the online recipe to double the measurements. I measured out my butter, then my brown sugar, then when I got to the white sugar for some reason I doubled the measurements again in my head (it's like I remembered I was doubling the recipe, but forgot I'd already done the calculations) and poured in 2 cups of white sugar (Oops #2).

There was no way to pull out all that white sugar, so I just decided to quadruple the recipe, and add more butter and brown sugar so that it was proportional. At that point, however, I was frustrated, and it was getting late, and I still had Pfeffernüsse to roll and bake. I covered the butter and sugar and left it to be made up the next day.

So last night, Brownies were on the agenda, but I wanted to finish making up that Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (estimated bedtime: 10:45pm). I put it all in my Cuisinart Stand Mixer (thank goodness for the 7-quart bowl) and 8 (E-I-G-H-T) cups of chocolate chips later (which used up ALL of my chocolate chips [Oops #3]), I had cookie dough. A LOT of it:

There's something odd here...oh yeah, it's the biggest pile of cookie dough you've ever seen. That's what.

ZOOM IN ON THE MASSIVE...uh...MASS OF DOUGH.

Perhaps these photos don't convey the sheer magnitude of this dough, so I plopped the whole thing on my digi-scale to give you a better idea:

ELEVENTY POUNDS (and 1.2 oz) OF DOUGH...and that doesn't count the bits I kept snitching from it. Mmm...chocolate chip cookie dough.

There was a little something inside me that wanted to keep this precious precious five-year supply of cookie dough all to myself...

WAPS, yo! (Wicked-Assed Photoshop Skillz)

It occurred to me that my manfella and the rest of the crew were scheduled to be stuck at work until after midnight, so I baked some off and took them to his work as a "You have to work until midnight and that sucks, but here are fresh out of the oven cookies, and that doesn't suck!" surprise. That's a +1 for me, however I didn't get home until after 10:30pm, and still had brownies to bake (Oops #4).

1/8 cup scoop versus 1/4 cup scoop...

1/8 cup: Good

1/4 cup: Better

At least I was smart and had the batter half made by the time I got back. It was a matter of mixing the flour in, prepping the pans, pouring and baking. Actual bedtime: 12:35pm (Oops #5).

No wonder I'm getting sick!* Duh.

*Don't worry, I always employ proper handwashing procedure in my kitchen. None of you will get sick eating my cookies...although, if you did, it would be totally worth it.

March 17: Pfeffernüsse

2010-03-18T07:49:00.000-04:00

Yvonne: Pfeffernüsse! Pfeffernüsse! Pfeffernüsse!
Pfeffernüsse: It's showtime!

80's kids in tha house!

Ahem.

ANYway...in the quest for international cookies, I came across this recipe from Holland called Pfeffernüsse (literally pepper nuts). "Pepper nuts" tickled me in just such a way that I simply had to make this recipe.

Although similar to Basler Läckerli, Pfeffernüsse differs from its Swiss counterpart in shape, lack of icing, and the addition of two special ingredients: pepper, obviously, and cardamom. Now I've made savoury cookies before, but this recipe called for pepper in a sweet dough, so needless to say that I was now both tickled and intrigued.

Make it, roll it, bake it.

These cookies were a quick make, which served me well after an evening appointment and an episode of Ally McBeal (What? My friends all watched it in high school and I never got into it, but I finally got around to seeing what the fuss was about. Don't judge me.) found me finally getting around to baking at almost 9pm.

When they cooled, I popped one into my mouth and savoured it for a moment. The only word that would come to mind was...weird.

Was it weird good, or weird bad?

I had no idea! I mean, I liked the crunch of the almonds and the chewiness of the candied fruit, but did I like the flavour?

I leaned on the side of no, not because of the pepper, but because of the cardamom. See, much like an ex you don't want to run into, if I know large amounts of cardamom are going to be at the party, I probably won't go. However, this recipe only called for 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom, which I likened to passing that ex on the street, where you see them, but they don't see you. That's why this recipe didn't intimidate me. Dig?

Sliced open: nuts and candied fruit

Turns out that 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom is like literally running into your ex at a party; the flavour was rather strong, and by my standards unpleasant. If you like cardamom (especially cardamom cookies), however, well these cookies are for you.

What I did enjoy, however, was the pepper. I used white pepper, which left an aftertaste that my manfella--whom I predicted would not like this cookie--described as "pleasant".

Final Grade (and remember, my personal tastes are the ones doling out the grades): C. They're not a fail, I just wouldn't make them again.

You can find the recipe for Pfeffernüsse on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Pfeffernüsse, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 16: Oatmeal Raisin cookies

2010-03-17T11:47:00.007-04:00

More than one person asked me excitedly what I made for St. Patrick's Day. Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but I didn't give it any thought at all. I'm sure I could have made some chocolate stout cookie, or cut and ice shamrock shapes, or something, but St. Patrick's Day has always been a non-event for me. I think I've gone out to celebrate it once, and have never had a green beer in my life. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I just don't understand going out to get wasted during the middle of the week, and regaling coworkers the next day about how hungover you are, and how you upchucked "green".

Well aren't I a little party pooper?

Well for those of you who really want some sort of Irish baked good, the best I can do is Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I mean, oats are a staple in the Irish household, right? Anybody?

Yeah. Suuuuure.

Anyway, I have to admit, Oatmeal Raisin cookies are not normally something I reach for, though if they're around I'll eat them because--let's face it--I love ~~cookies~~ ~~desserts~~ food. They do, however, seem to have a pretty hardcore following..that is, those who like Oatmeal Raisin cookies really LOVE them.

And they should! It wasn't until making them myself (for the first time ever, I might add) that I appreciated how great they are. Firstly, they're easy to make; the recipe employs your standard creaming makeup, and the drop baking method, so they're as easy as mix, drop, bake. Secondly, they're crazy delicious, full of fibre, and nice to chew on. Thirdly, this particular recipe is versatile. Once the flour is added, you mix in the oats (or puffed rice, or cornflakes, or...) and raisins (or dried cranberries, or chocolate chips, or trail mix, or...whatever!). Just like biscotti, you can make virtually anything out of this recipe.

Now I'm my harshest critic, but I have to say these are simply THE (as in "thee") best Oatmeal Raisin cookies I've ever tasted. I think it's the combination of cinnamon and cloves that really knocks these cookies out of the park. I also soaked the raisins for about 30 minutes (and then made sure they were super dry!) before adding them to the batter so that they'd be nice and moist. It occurred to me only afterward that I could have soaked them in rum...how delicious would THAT be? Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies? ZOMG.

Anyway, these cookies are an A+ for sure. You can find the recipe for Oatmeal Raisin cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Oatmeal Raisin cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

Public Service Announcement

2010-03-17T10:51:00.007-04:00

In this work-a-day world, nobody has the time to make a decent wholesome breakfast anymore. And what about all that mess? That's why there's BATTER BLASTER. And ooh! It's "organic". That means it's healthy.

Batter Blaster Organic Pancake and Waffle Batter - Funny videos are here

Don't walk, RUN to your nearest supermarket (in the U.S.) and stock up on these bad boys, because when the zombie apocalypse comes, there won't be TIME to make pancakes from scratch anymore. Oh, and don't forget to wear your pearls.

They don't sell this in Canada, you say? Shocking.

That's it, I'm referring to all of these disgusting lazy-man's products as shaker muffins. Let's face it, "shaker aerosol squirting pancakes" just simply doesn't have the same jazzy ring to it.

March 15: Fancy Icebox Cookies

2010-03-16T11:11:00.004-04:00

Last night an Icebox Cookie saved my life
Last night an Icebox Cookie saved my life, yeah
'Cause I was sittin' there feelin' like death
And in just one breath, it said
"All you gotta do is get up, you got get up, and slice me girl"

Last night I was stricken with my third migraine in the span of a week. I ran to my wonderful chiropractor (shout-out!) who treated me, and while I was sitting there in the dark room bawling my eyes out, all I could think about was cookies. As in, "Am I going to toss mine?"

Ew. TMI.

But seriously, I was worried that I'd be too useless to bake the March 15 batch, when I realized that I'd planned for just such an occasion by making a batch of Icebox Cookies a couple weekends ago.

Now I'm no masochist; I went home and took hours to recover. And when I was finally able to stand, all I had to do was slice these babies and bake 'em. I was on my feet for maybe 15 minutes total.

Slice and bake: on the cooling rack.

What's perfect about an icebox cookie is that you can do a lot with them: you can make plain vanilla or chocolate, or marble the two, or make checkerboards or bullseye cookies or WHATEVER, roll them and wrap them in plastic and refrigerate them for a week or two, or freeze them for months. When you know company's coming, pull them out, thaw them on the counter for 10 minutes, and slice them and bake. That way you'll always have fresh baked cookies around, and you spend almost no time or effort on the day you need them.

Pause for a short brainstorm: You could also make Neopolitain Icebox Cookies by making 2 vanilla doughs and 1 chocolate dough. Flavour 1 vanilla dough with strawberry extract and use red food colouring to make the dough pink. Layer all three and VOILA!

Anyway, I like a good challenge, so I tried making checkerboard cookies for the first time. It was certainly a learning experience; while the chocolate dough I made was a perfect consistency, the white dough was so weak and prone to ripping that it was almost impossible to work with. (The formula in my Professional Baking textbook called for pastry flour, but I think I'd use all-purpose next time to yield a stronger dough.) Lifting it onto the chocolate was a nightmare, so I was surprised I got anything even remotely resembling a checkerboard pattern at all.

Checkerboard...ish.

The recipe also said to roll the dough to 1/4" thickness, but I think this was too thin. I would go a full 1/2" next time to give perfect squares.

While not the perfect checkerboard pattern, these cookies still look pretty cool, and they taste great. Oh, and I got to make marble cookies out of my checkerboard scraps, and you can't mess these up!

Just don't overknead when making marble cookies or you will blend your doughs together and lose the marbling.

You can find the recipe for Fancy Icebox cookies on my Recipes Page (will appear later when I can type up the recipe).

If you'd like to order some of your own Checkerboard cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 14: Tropical Thumbprint Cookies

2010-03-16T10:52:00.005-04:00

After so much baking, I found myself with 9 leftover egg yolks. What in goodness sake would I make with that many yolks? The obvious answer seemed to be poundcake, but this is March of the Cookies, darnit, so I was going to find a way to make these yolks into COOKIES.

I found a wonderful recipe for Egg Yolk Cookies, which admittedly doesn't sound delicious, but my coworker says this was one of the best sugar cookies she'd ever had. The heavier citrus tones are what prevent this cookie from tasting too eggy. And while this dough was tasty on its own, I once again wanted to do my own thing with it, so I made "thumbprint" cookies.

After my macaroon making I found myself with some extra coconut, so I rolled the Egg Yolk Cookie dough into balls, rolled it in the coconut, and pressed my thumb into it. Then I filled the indentation with a Mango Coconut Jam that I brought back from Hawaii, and sweet mercy were they ever good!

I also made some with raspberry filling, which wasn't very "tropical" but still super delish nonetheless.

You can find the recipe for Tropical Thumbprint cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Tropical or Raspberry Thumbprint cookies, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 13: Double Chocolate Cookies

2010-03-14T20:24:00.008-04:00

When I made the first draft of the March cookie schedule, Double Chocolate cookies were not on the list. I was trying to get a very broad range of cookies, and trying to avoid "duplicates" or recipes that were too similar. To me, I already had a chocolate chip cookie, so I figured Double Chocolate cookies had no place in the march.

The irony? When I went to make today's cookie, Lebkuchen--a German cookie recipe--I had a bout of déjà vu upon reading the ingredient list. Sure enough...Lebkuchen is almost the same as Basler Läckerli, but with added molasses! Sneaky sneaky...but I caught the mistake before starting mise en plus, and--realizing the error of my ways--made Martha's Double Chocolate cookies instead.

Boy howdy I'm glad I did!

These chocolate cookies provide a nice crispy outside to accompany the chewiness of the cookie, and are rich in the good way. And using coarse salt instead of iodized insures you get that ever-so-slight salty/sweet contrast that is a nice surprise in a chocolate cookie. The only thing I'd change is to chill the dough before baking it so that it doesn't spread out, as the cookies ended up a little thin for my liking.

Final Grade: A. You can find the recipe for Double Chocolate cookies on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Double Chocolate cookies (packaged all pretty like this^), please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 12: Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

2010-03-13T19:38:00.006-05:00

Macaroons refer to a wide variety of cookie. Some consist primarily of almonds, some are mostly plain coconut, and some even have a jam center. While I am a fan of macaroons in all their permutations, I chose to make my very favourite macaroons from childhood: Chocolate Coconut Macaroons.

These macaroons turned out wonderfully...the chewiness of the coconut provided a delicious base for rich chocolate flavour. The sightly gooey centre is also a nice contrast to the crispier outside.

Final Grade: A+ You can find the recipe for Chocolate Coconut Macaroons on my Recipes Page.

If you'd like to order some of your own Chocolate Macaroons, please sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge! Simply make your donation, then email me your order!

March 11: Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

2010-03-12T07:07:00.001-05:00

INT. COFFEE SHOP - SUNDAY AFTERNOON

A busy but quiet cafe. Modern but homey.

Couples and individuals sit at tables, talking to themselves or reading a newspaper. MUSIC plays quietly in the background, contributing to the relaxing atmosphere.

YVONNE orders a latte and biscotti from the BARISTA and takes a seat near the window to enjoy her coffee in the sunshine.

She raises the biscotti to her mouth slowly, brushing the long, silky hair away from her face. (heh)

She takes a bite, and we see her face contort with pain.

YVONNE
(pain and surprise)
Mother of...!?

YVONNE clutches her jaw in anguish and throws the biscotti on the floor.

YVONNE
There’s got to be a better way!

Scene ends.

Is this scene familiar to you? That's because commercial biscotti is the suck. However, don't fret! One little step will prevent your biscotti from being the brick-like tooth breakers we've come to know and dislike.

To people who believe that biscotti are that hard because you're supposed to dip it in your coffee, I say pish-tosh! All cookies should be able to deliciously stand alone. There, I said it.

I was first introducted to Cranberry Pistachio biscotti in my Professional Baking class, and it was love at first bite. Rather than digging out my 300-page workbook and finding the bar cookie section, though, I decided to use the Joy of Baking recipe. What can I say, I'm a lazy baker sometimes...but not so lazy that I'd make shaker muffins. *shudder*

Imagine ten times the biscotti in a pretty glass jar. You can have your very own cafe at home!

So what's the secret to making "fluffy" biscotti that retain their dryness and long shelf-life but don't wreck your chompers? You MUST aerate your eggs for A FULL 5 MINUTES. Don't make me keep you after class on this one, kids.

Whipping your eggs with the sugar does 2 very important things for the texture of your biscotti:

It allows the granulated sugar to dissolve into the water content of your eggs, preventing any grittiness.
It incorporates the correct amount of air into your batter which will result in a lighter product that has a much more enjoyable mouth-feel than, say, gnawing on cement. These are the anti-brick, if you will.

If you like your teeth, you'll make your own biscotti. Besides...they're incredibly easy to make so there's really no excuse. Plus, they TOTALLY keep for like, EVAR! OMG!

This recipe is an excellent year-round choice, however because of the red and green of the cranberries and pistachios, they are a lovely cookie for Christmas cookie-giving.

Final Grade: A+. I'm in mad love with these biscotti and you can be too. Sponsor me for the Daily Bread Food Bank's Spring Challenge and I will personally deliver these cookies to you. Heck, if you donate a lot, I'll even bring the coffee.

Speaking of ordering cookies, I've put a link at the top of the page for the March Cookie Schedule so that you can see what's coming up. I originally wanted each day to be a surprise, but since people are ordering they want to know what's on the docket so here you go!

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti recipe. You can change the kind of nuts, fruit or extract to suit your tastes (and sense of adventure) because biscotti dough is very forgiving. Have fun!

March 10: Basler Läckerli

2010-03-11T06:55:00.001-05:00

I know what you're thinking...Basler-who in the what, now?

Basler Läckerli (or Leckerli) is a dry cookie containing spices, candied peel, honey, nuts and sometimes Kirsch (a cherry liqueur). Even without knowing that this cookie was created by spice merchants over 700 years ago in Basel, Swizerland, upon first bite you're whisked back to Old World Europe. Just close your eyes with a bite of Basler Läckerli on your tongue and you're there.

How to describe the flavour? Think about gingerbread and hot cross buns having a love child, and you've got it. Bow-chicka-bow-bow!

Even the preparation method seems rustic; you simply gather the dough, roll it out and cut it into squares. It's actually one of the easiest things I've ever made. However, I have a few tips to make it even easier, and some corrections to the instructions that will result in a nicer looking product.

One could argue that cutting the dough with a knife or round (pizza) cutter and eyeballing the size results in a more "rustic" look that would be expected of an old recipe such as this. Personally, I would use a square cookie cutter next time to get perfect, non-warped squares.

The recipe says to brush the flat icing on top of the dough directly out of the oven while it's still hot, but does not specify whether you should cut the dough before or after you ice it. I took the recipe literally and iced it before making the second cut, and I found that the icing cracked and flaked off when I tried to cut it later. Next time I would make my cuts first, and frost second for a perfectly smooth finish.

I brushed a second coating of flat icing on top to neaten up the cracked and flakey tops, but it ended up looking like when you paint over an paint-chipped window sill. However, I'm totally in love with the look of the flat icing running down the sides, so again: cut first, frost second.

I sacrificed a lop-sided one to bust open and show how packed full of candied peel and nuts it is.

Serve these babies with tea and you've got one lovely afternoon.

Final Grade: A. Find the recipe for Besler Läckerli on my Recipes Page.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page. They're in the freezer right now just waiting for you to give them a home...in your belly.

March 9: Cheddar Hazelnut...Cookies?

2010-03-10T07:56:00.003-05:00

Now before any of you come after me with pitchforks and torches ("Cookies are supposed to be sweet, not savoury, rabble-rabble-rabble"!) let me just go on record as saying that I agree. To me, cookies are small, dry sweet courses that contain flour, eggs, sugar and some kind of fat. When you replace the sugar with something else, say nuts or cheese (or both), I would call the resulting product a "biscuit". However in many countries these terms are interchangable, and therein lies the debate.

Whether they're cookies, or biscuits, or savoury cookies or whatever, when I came across a recipe for Cheddar Hazelnut Cookies in "The Ultimate Cookie Book" (published by the Canadian publisher Talonbooks, NOT the Better Homes and Gardens One"), I was agog and needed to try this recipe.

You can make these round or square.

Hazelnutty Goodness!

I love this process for two reasons:

I'm being exposed to exotic and unusual recipes and trying new things.
I'm learning not only new skills, but things about myself...good and bad.

I learned last night that I just can't help trying to make a recipe my own, and that this can--depending on the situation--be both good and bad. I think my artistic creative side is rebelling against the logic and science of baking; sometimes it knows better than the recipe, sometimes it doesn't.

Case in point: This recipe called for 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts in which to roll the dough (not to go into the dough). However, I thought that the cookie would have a better texture if the nuts were inluded in the dough, so I added them. I still liked the way the cookies looked when rolled in nuts, so I did that too (read: used more than 1/2 cup of hazelnuts). The recipe also called for 1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper, and given the amount of other ingredients, I thought the Cayenne would be lost, so I doubled it and used 1/2 a teaspoon.

Now don't get me wrong, I LIKE these biscuits, but in hindsight I should have just stuck to the recipe. Having little to no experience baking with hazelnuts, I didn't realize how strong their flavour actually is, and these came out more like "Hazelnut Cheddar Cookies" when I would have enjoyed a more distinct cheddar flavour. HOWEVER, I did like the spiciness of the doubled Cayenne pepper.

Texture!

One other thing: I used old white cheddar because they were out of yellow at the grocery store, but I would try to get yellow next time simply because the biscuits would have enjoyed a nicer colour.

Final Grade: B-. If you follow this Cheddar Hazelnut Cookies recipe the way it's written, however, I'm sure you'd get an A+.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

Daily Bread Food Bank

2010-03-09T15:33:00.005-05:00

My fundraising page is finally up!

Cookies for a Cause

When I was growing up, there were times when we needed to rely on the Food Bank. I'm sure it saddened my mother to have to ask an outside organization for help, but she checked her pride and refused to let us go without. The Food Bank was there for my family when we needed it the most, and now that I am grown I am able to give back.

As you know, I'm baking one cookie recipe every day in March. You can purchase these cookies for

$5.00 for a half dozen (or more, depending on the cookie)
$10.00 for 1 dozen
$15.00 for 2 dozen

...or simply donate to a wonderful organization that helps many individuals and families in the GTA every day.

Cookies that have already been baked are in the freezer waiting for purchase.

A special note for those with allergies: Please note that I cannot guarantee 100% nut-free preparation. Please err on the side of caution when ordering.

TO ORDER: When you make your donation, I will be alerted by email. Please email your order (type of cookie and amount) to ygettins (at) gmail (dot) com. We can arrange pick-up and dropoff of the cookies at a mutually convenient time/place.

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop

Oops!

2010-03-09T12:09:00.003-05:00

I just realize I forgot to include photos of the meringues. Oops. Good thing I didn't delete them off my memory card.

Anyway, I've updated the post, and you can check the photos out HERE.

Welcome to my kitchen!

2010-03-09T10:09:00.007-05:00

I made an exciting-to-me-boring-to-you purchase yesterday that I couldn't help but show off in pictures, because it's one step further in my quest for the perfect kitchen.

Stackable bulk bins for my flour and sugar! I know, right?

Well, I'm excited anyway.

Check it out, along with the rest of my kitchen. This is where the magic happens, darlings.

There are still many more goodies to come, including the Daring Baker's Challenge (which remains a secret until the end of the month...shh!) and my next project, which involves liquor! Wee!

March 8: Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-03-09T07:16:00.006-05:00

AAAAaaaaaaand we're back to the classics!

I love love LOVE peanut butter, and get very strong cravings for it on a regular basis). In fact, I can really relate to this guy:

NOM!

However, I tend not to go for peanut butter cookies when I'm out and about. Most often I find them to be cloyingly sweet and barely tolerable without an accompanying glass of milk. Commercial peanut butter cookies also tend to be imbalanced in that they are overwhelmingly peanut buttery; if I wanted that much peanut butter, I'd eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar. And I do. A LOT. But that's not what I want in my cookies.

These peanut butter cookies, however, are exactly what I like in my peanut butter cookies: a lighter shortbread texture with a hint of softness in the middle, and a more understated (but not subtle) peanut butter flavour.

Peanut Butter Pyramid!

The criss-cross pattern we all know and love.

Dip the fork in granulated sugar so that it doesn't stick. It also gives the cookies additional eye appeal without altering the texture.

I once again relied on my good friend, Joy of Baking, for this Peanut Butter Cookies recipe, which you can find on my Recipe Page along with my notes.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

March 7: Kourabiedes

2010-03-08T10:27:00.006-05:00

My previous apartment--before moving in with my manfella--was pretty close to Greektown. One of my favourite things to do early morning Saturdays was to grab a coffee from The One in The Only, take a stroll along the Danforth, enjoy the sunshine and stop in at my favourite Greek bakery Europa. I mostly partook of their amazing pistachio baklava (which I'd love to make from scratch someday), but something that always caught my eye was this big stacked pile of...something...covered in a mountain of icing sugar.

I was always a little afraid of it, because how can that much icing sugar be good? However, being the intrigued gastronome I am, I asked the shopkeep what they were. She said they were a Greek butter cookie called Kourabiedes (pronounced "kou-ra-bi-ETH-es") with almonds and spices. Upon hearing this I had only two questions:

"How much?" and
"Give it to me."

Mmmmm! It was a subtly-flavoured cookie with a light texture that was very enjoyable. The Greeks know what they're doing.

My favourite part of this recipe? Rolling little balls of dough by hand. I highly recommend scaling off your dough into evenly-weighted balls using a kitchen scale so that you guarantee they all come out the same size. My recipe yielded exactly 2 dozen 30 gram balls, which you then roll in ground almonds into cylinder shapes and form into crescents.

Fresh out of the oven.

Sprinkle generously with confectioners' sugar.

You could sprinkle even more sugar than this!

Opa!

I have to manually type out this recipe, so I'll post it when I get home. Look for it on my Recipes Page.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

March 6: Cinnamon Palmiers

2010-03-07T09:05:00.004-05:00

Palmiers are either the easiest cookie to make, or the most difficult, depending on whether you make or buy your puff pastry.

Making puff pastry (or any laminated dough for that matter) from scratch takes approximately 3 hours if you're rushing (which you shouldn't), and is so labour-intensive that--as our chef told us in class--if you make one per week for a year you'll shred the tendons in your wrists from all that rolling. It does, however, yield better-than-you've-ever-tasted results.

Because of how difficult it is to make scratch puff, most people and bakeries buy it pre-made. Tenderflake makes an all-right puff pastry, however it's not made from 100% butter and can leave a waxy mouth feel. This yucky coating in your mouth you notice after you've eaten a turnover from the grocery store is caused by the fact that shortening melts at a higher temperature than that of your body, so "melt in your mouth" does not apply. Science!

I make most everything from scratch. To me, boxed mixes are an abomination; refrigerated dough is the lazy man's fast-track to mediocre cookies, and don't even get me started on those muffin shakers (ew). However, my mother did not raise a fool; I like my tendons just the way they are, thankyouverymuch, and purchase my puff unless I'm commissioned for something special. That having been said, commercial puff is actually fine to use to make palmiers because you slice the dough so thinly and it bakes to such a crispness that you don't get much waxy mouth feel, if any at all.

Palmier is French for palm tree, and these cookies are so named because they look similar to a palm tree's leaves. In the US they are more commonly referred to as "elephant ears." They're so easy to make (if you buy your puff) that you don't really even need a recipe; just roll out your puff, spread with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon (optional) and sugar, roll, slice and bake.

Les palmiers manifique sur la natte Silpat du knock-off (par Fox Run pour dix dollars achetés de Kitchen Stuff Plus).

C'est bon, non?

These crispy, buttery, crunchy treats do not last long (in all senses...they only keep for a day or two, but will be gobbled up long before that), so they are best prepared a few hours before needed. It should be noted that palmiers are traditionally made without spices, just sugar, however if you're using a commercial puff you lose the butter flavour of home-made, so it's good to add spice to give the cookie a better flavour.

You may find the recipe for Cinnamon Palmiers on my Recipes page.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

March 5: Hamentashen

2010-03-06T22:59:00.005-05:00

I've never eaten a Hamentash, let alone bake one. However I love trying new things, and when I heard about a cookie with a whole cupful of honey in its dough I was all abuzz.

Hamentashen are Jewish cookies that are served primarily during Purim. The name hamantash is believed to refer to Haman, the villain of Purim, and the shape of the cookie represents his tricorne hat. Typically it is filled with a prune or poppy seed mixture, although modern versions see everything from cherries to peanut butter tucked into its honey dough folds.

I opted for poppy seed because several people I know say that's the best and most common, and the result was a buttery sweet cookie with a subtle honey flavour and crunchy texture. During my test bake, though, I found the folds of the "hat" came apart, and the first two test cookies came out looking more like caviar served on crackers. I was pinching the cookies closed in the correct fashion, and not knowing what else to do I whipped up an egg wash to "glue" the tricornes shut.

Success?

Yes!

The filling is made of poppy seeds, raisins, honey and grated lemon zest.

Texture!

Both the manfella and I agreed that these cookies were different, but good. The recipe for Hamentashen can be found on my Recipes page. L'Chaim!

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

March 4: Nanaimo Bars

2010-03-05T09:54:00.010-05:00

I am a long-time fan of Nanaimo Bars, but a first time baker (and I use the term loosely, as these are no-bake bars). I've only made them once before, ages ago, and used a box mix (ew). I have since come to see the error of my ways.

The Nanaimo bar originated in Ladysmith, British Columbia (south of Nanaimo) in the early 1950s. A local housewife named Mabel Jenkins submitted the recipe to the annual Ladysmith and Cowichan Womens Institute Cookbook fundraiser. It became popular, especially in company towns, and was sold in many of the coffee shops on Nanaimo's Commercial Street. Tourists in the region came to refer to these as "Nanaimo Bars".

Not knowing which recipe to use, I defaulted to my go-to website, Joy of Baking. The recipe went rather smoothly, save for the fact that I don't own a 9x9 pan. However, upon looking in my cupboard for a 9x9 pan, I discovered that I own six (count 'em, 6) 8x8 pans, including my latest and greatest addition which I won for free: the Le Crueset square baker in kiwi!! But I digress...

Mise en plus. Most of my baked goods are stuffed into Mason Jars and labelled with a Sharpie. I also got to use the vanilla I picked up in Mexico (the best I've ever used) and the cocoa I bought in the Dominican.

I could have squished the recipe into an 8x8 pan, but this would have resulted in thicker-than-usual bars (desirable for some, not for others), but instead I doubled the recipe knowing the recipe wouldn't pan out (har har) properly, resulting in THREE batches of Nanaimo bars: one for work and two for freezing/selling (Nanaimo Bars freeze very well, as evidenced by the fact that you can purchase them frozen at M&M Meats). YUM!

The harsh light of day. Easier to face with Nanaimos for breakfast!

The recipe turned out well; sweet without being cloying, and though I feel the base crust could have been less crumbly. My suggestion would be to add a bit more melted butter in order to bind it together. Also, I didn't feel like chopping walnuts last night, and since I already had chopped hazelnuts ready to go, I swapped them out, to the recipe's benefit I'd say. It's like a Ferrero Rocher...in Nanaimo form!

Zoom...

More zoom...

MAXIMUM DELICIOUSNESS ACHIEVED.

Final grade: A-. Points lost for crumbly crust (just add more melted butter and you'll be fine!) but overall, a great bar cookie. See the Nanaimo Bar recipe, including my comments and suggestions on my Recipes Page.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

March 3: Meringue Cookies

2010-03-04T11:51:00.006-05:00

I knew that life would get in the way of my little project at times, and tried as much as possible to schedule around it (concerts, weekends away, Tuesday night appointments). However, when you forget that you have theatre tickets for 8pm and your baking time is limited to 7pm - 11pm, it sort of puts a fly in the ointment. doesn't it!

I figured I'd make Meringue Cookies when I got home because it's just egg whites and sugar, and I could bake them off before the show. No problem, right? Except the TTC decided to be slower than molasses on the way from Eglinton to College (that 10 minute subway ride took almost 40 minutes!!), which gave me about an hour and a half to whip, pipe and bake. Oh, and eat dinner too.

Yeah.

The meringues were supposed to bake for at least an hour and a half at 200F, and not wanting to have to stay up late when I got home I decided to try the method I remembered my mom using when she made these when I was a kid. I let the oven heat up to about 450F, turned it off and left my meringues to bake while I went to see My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding (and was not disappointed).

At first glance they were perfect:

Unfortunately, I think my meringues were a little too big, because when I got home they were crispy on the outside, and the middle had flopped leaving a hollow shell and a chewy bottom:

Oops.

Of course, to taste them - they're delicious! I can even get on board with the chewiness...however you can't leave a moist middle like that, because it will make the rest of your meringues soggy within a matter of hours. Since sugar is hygroscopic, it will draw moisture from anything near it containing moisture (that's why those clay discs you soak in water keep your brown sugar moist). The dry outer shell will attract the moisture from the middle of the meringue, causing the shell to become moist and chewy--in a bad way--too.

So, back in the oven they've gone, in the hopes that any remaining moisture will be banished. Even if they become dry as a bone though, my cute little meringues will be delicious, but ultimately hollow.

Kind of like this guy:

Another mulligan! Learn from my mistake and give these Meringue Cookies the proper long, dry bake they deserve. Speaking of long bakes, 62 sleeps until Puerto Plata!

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" (don't worry, I'd make you new ones!) please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

March 2: Scottish Shortbread

2010-03-03T08:10:00.014-05:00

It's only Day 2 and already my first FAIL. Well, I wouldn't call it a complete and utter flop, but this recipe certainly didn't go as smoothly as I'd have liked. That's why it's Ms. Adventures, folks!

When a dough is "short", it means that the high fat content inhibits the strengthening and elongating of gluten strands (read: it shortens them). If you think of gluten as the bones of a baked good, high fat weakens these bones (or rather, prevents them from forming in the first place) resulting in a crumbly product. That tidbit was brought to you by Bakehouse Rock!*

Shortbread, then, is a high-fat cookie with a crumbly texture. Traditionally a shortbread is made with one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts (oatmeal) flour. This should have set off alarm bells when I laid eyes on the Scottish Shortbread recipe in The Ultimate Cookie Book, which calls for equal parts "superfine" sugar and butter.

Now, "superfine" sugar is a rather ambiguous description. Does it mean the finest grade of granulated sugar? Does it mean confectioners/icing sugar? Well, given that I've seen other Shortbread recipes that called for icing sugar, and I would certainly describe it as "superfine" I decided to go with that. This move turned out to be the Albuquerque to my Bugs Bunny.

The resulting dough was a crumbly mess that just wouldn't bind together--despite my adding an extra 1/4 cup butter--let alone lend itself for rolling and cutting. Not wanting to give up, I pressed the mess into my 10" round tart pan, docked it (lightly pricked the dough with a fork ) and hoped for the best. Worst case scenario, I've got a tart crust!

After baking I sliced the cookies into triangles before the dough cooled and set, and allowed it to cool completely within the pan. Results:

Aroma: This certainly smelled like shortbread! The sweet buttery aroma caused a reaction that filled my whole mouth with saliva.
Taste: I give it a 3 out of 4. A nice buttery and sweet taste without being cloying, but I could also taste the flour. This is a no-no.
Texture: It's crumbly all right, but it's also a little tough. This is where the main failure of the dough lies, in my opinion. This could be the result of several things:

I over-kneaded the dough. The recipe said to gradually add flour and knead until the dough no longer sticks to your kneading surface (in this case, my marble slab). Perhaps I should have stopped adding flour when this happened, even though that meant not using the full 2 1/2 cups.
The quantity of starch in the icing sugar. In a plot that I can only speculate was conspiratorially designed to bolster the Canadian corn farming industry, Canadian icing sugar contains up to 5% corn starch. Now I can understand in a humid country this might be necessary to absorb moisture from the sugar to prevent clumps, but Canada enjoys a mere two months of almost humid climes, instead opting to submit to its two other seasons (winter, and "construction"). Essentially, by using icing sugar instead of granulated sugar, I was introducing more starch to the dough, to its detriment. To account for this, I should have reduced the amount of flour, but of course, not knowing exactly how much corn starch was in the flour, I wouldn't know how much to reduce the flour by.
The ratios were off. Equal parts butter and sugar? Next time I'll try the traditional 1-2-3 ratio.

Final grade: C. I think I will mulligan Shortbread on the weekend. If you want to try succeeding at this recipe where I failed, you may find the Scottish Shortbread recipe on my Recipes page.

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" (don't worry, I'd make you some new ones) please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

*I can't decide which is worse, these Shortbreads, or my Photoshop skills.

March 1: Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-03-02T07:19:00.004-05:00

Who doesn't like a good chocolate chip cookie? It already has a rich, buttery batter, so when you add something as indulgent as chocolate to the mix, your tastebuds were had at "Hello."

As purposefully matched as the flavours seem to be, like most culinary wonders, the chocolate chip cookie was invented by accident in 1933 by Ruth Wakefield. Owner of the Toll House Inn (I think you see where this is going), Ruth was making chocolate cookies one day, and upon discovering that she'd run out of baker's chocolate, she used pieces of Nestlé semisweet chocolate assuming that they would melt into the batter to the same result. Later, Ruth sold her recipe to Nestlé and accepted a lifetime supply of chocolate chips as payment, and her recipe is found on every bag of Nestlé chocolate chips.

This reminds me of one of my favourite "Friends" moments, where Pheobe et al discover that her French great-grandmother's sacred cookie recipe was simply the Nestlé Toll House recipe:

While Ruth's recipe has become the go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I have never found much success with it. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if I just have a particular idea of how a chocolate chip cookie should be, but I always find the resulting cookies to be less flavourful than I want. Also, I find this recipe doesn't result in a chewy cookie, which I prefer.

However, I have found a recipe that calls for less white sugar, flour, egg white and butter (less butter sounds like it would be a travisty but it really isn't), and more brown sugar, salt and baking soda. The result is nothing short of Chocolate Chip Cookie perfection.

These cookies are the perfect balance of chewiness and crispiness, and because I used Ghirardelli's bittersweet chocolate chips rather than semisweet, they taste more chocolatey than sugary, which means they are indeed MY perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Final Grade: A+. Sweet success! You can find this Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe on my Recipes page. It should be noted that, for the cookies in the photos, I dropped the dough in 1/8 cup measures rather than the called for 1/4 cup. This economized the dough by producing over 2 dozen standard-sized (albeit thinner) cookies rather than 18 large ones. Whichever way you choose, they will turn out great!

To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.

It's March!

2010-03-01T07:25:00.000-05:00

On this day in history...

1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
1912 – Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.
1936 – The Hoover Dam is completed.
1947 – Alan Thicke, Canadian actor and songwriter is born.
1988 – Wayne Gretzky becomes the NHL's all-time assist leader breaking Gordie Howe's 26-year record.

Oh, and of course...

2010 – March of the Cookies begins.

See? March 1 a day for making history! Although lots of interesting things occurred on March 1, I reckon Alan Thicke would appreciate that--according to my timeline--nothing newsworthy happened in the 41 years proceeding his birth. Upon pondering Alan Thicke, three thoughts occured to me:

Playgirl, February 1987. Me-ow.
I miss jPod.
I wonder what Alan Thicke's favourite cookie is.

Ha! I KNEW it. Chocolate chip.

So, in honour of ~~this crappy Photoshop job I just whipped together~~ Alan Thicke, March's first cookie will be Chocolate Chip! Butter and eggs are on the counter at home coming to room temperature as we speak. When I get home from work, I'm going to whip up a batch of America's favourite cookie. Also, juxtaposing "America's" with the Canadian spelling of "favourite" = WIN.

Ramping up...

2010-02-27T16:38:00.002-05:00

I just returned home from my maiden voyage to Costco, and holy smokes that place is gargantuan! They have a walk-in refrigerator that I'm quite sure is bigger than our house. I came back with huge 20kg bags of sugar and flour, plus some other baking goodies in preparation for March of the Cookies.

That, and a new memory foam pillow. Sweet zzzzs are coming my way.

It's always better with butter

2010-02-26T12:36:00.005-05:00

Last week Shopper's Drug Mart (my Mecca, second only to Bulk Barn--swoon!) was having a sale on butter for $2.99 a pound, so I stocked up and froze it anticipating March of the Cookies. In total I purchased 24 pounds (as in, twenty four POUNDS!) of butter. I could feel my arteries clogging at the mere purchase of it.

My stars I love butter, I just didn't know it came in miles:

Marvel at the artistic reflection shot à la Cuisinart Stand Mixer:

(Don't judge my photography skills on these point and shoot camera snaps, by the by.)

The will and the weakness...

As you may have noticed, I totally caved and signed up for a Twitter account (*gasp!*). Those in my acquaint have overheard me utter many a quip at Twitter's expense, and I still believe I held out for an admirable length of time, given Twitter's pervasiveness. However the current Zeitgeist is that all thoughts should be broadcast to the public, and that said thoughts should be compacted into 140 characters or less. I'm sure I will have much on my mind as I bake my way through March, and figured someone might be interested in said direct-from-brain feed. I hope.

Meanwhile I am still formulating the charitable aspect of March of the Cookies. I would like to do something for the Food Bank, as I have a personal connection to this organization. Someone suggested to freeze the cookies, throw a celebratory shindig at the end, sell nicely packaged bags of said cookies, and donate the money. So far, this idea is the forerunner as in encompasses some of my favourite things: hostessing, cookies, and charity.

I will certainly think on this more.

Sweet Charity

2010-02-25T08:49:00.008-05:00

When I first dreamt up March of the Cookies, I will admit, it was for purely selfish reasons: I enjoy the science and artistry of turning a miscellany of ingredients into something that titillates the tastebuds. I even hope to bake professionally someday. Aditionally, I want to better my skills, and become familiar with new recipes. I, I, I, me, me, me.

The first thing people ask me is "What are you going to do with all those cookies?" Well, I thought I'd blog the experience, including snapshots of the goodies (and, lets face it, the spoils), taste-test and note the outcomes in said blog, and share them with my manfella, my friends and my coworkers. Then I thought I'd freeze the remnants and host a little soirée at the end of it all, which was culinary music to the bellies of my friends.

It occurs to me, however, that ambrosial buttery biscuits can accomplish so much more than putting a smile on the faces of those in my personal social network. Don't get me wrong, these are people I adore, but it behooves me to say that they are not in need.

My long-winded point? I endeavour to find some way to add charity to the mix (har har!) and bake up (ho ho!) a way for these cookies to help someone in need. Beyond hosting a sad little bake sale in the lobby of the building I work in, however, I have no idea how to go about doing this.

Your thoughts?

.
Charity begins at home, but should not end there.” - Thomas Fuller
.

March of the Cookies (dunh-dunh-DUNH!)

2010-02-23T15:35:00.006-05:00

I love love LOVE baking...almost as much as I love eating! Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to bake. What they may not know, what is indeed my secret shame, is that I'm not (yet!) terribly adept at baking cookies. For some reason, I've never been able to consistently make fabulous biscuits. They turn out tough, or the wrong texture (too crumbly, not chewy enough, etc), too brown on bottom/edges...and even though I know intellectually how to correct these issues (don't overmix, use less sugar, don't overbake, etc.) I still can't seem to develop the knack for certain cookies. There was one time in recent months that I made some really fabulous chocolate chip cookies, but as I recall, they were the ONLY chocolate chip cookies I've ever made that turned out the way I picture the perfect chocolate chip cookie to be.

SO! I propose March of the Cookies (à la Julie & Julia) in which I bake a different cookie recipe every day in March. Potential schedule snags: Jeremy--my manfella--and I will be going to Niagara Falls Friday and Saturday of one weekend, so I will bake 3 different cookie recipes on Sunday to make it up. I'm also going to an Air concert and two Tastes of Tomorrow events, all on weeknights. I'll make it up somehow. The point is, by the end of March, I will have baked 31 different cookie recipes. Not as impressive as taking on every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but you know, my French cooking skills are just fine thankyouverymuch; it's the cookies I stink at!

I will draw my recipes from a few different sources, namely:

Professional Baking (4th edition) by Wayne Gisslin
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (thanks Sarah!)
Some thrift-store cookie book find whose name currently escapes me (update: it's an older edition of "The Ultimate Cookie Book", but not the Better Homes and Gardens one)
Maybe some cookie recipe suggestions from friends? Haven't decided yet.

I'll try my best to blog with photos every day in March, but we'll see how it goes.

TO DO LIST:

Scour my sources to find 31 recipes that highlight a wide variety of cookies (they can't all be drop cookies, y'know!).
Plan what days to do which, accounting for schedule.
Grocery shop to ensure all ingredients are on hand.

So yeah....cookies! Wish me luck.

Yvonne

Welcome to Ms. Adventures in Baking!

2010-02-23T12:20:00.004-05:00

.After several weeks of designing and tweaking, Ms. Adventures in Baking is officially launched! I made it using Artisteer 2, an amazing little tool to create good looking blogs without having to become a programmer to do it. Me and CSS? We're not friends.

I wanted something that was feminine, but not girly, with a vintage flavour without being too retro-kitschy. I am pleased with the results (in particular: cookie bullets* the mini-me chef icon), but don't be surprised if it looks different tomorrow because I am also a perfectionist. For job interviews, perfectionism is one of those things that you say when they ask you what your flaws are. It's music to their ears, because in an employer's mind, it's a blessing, but I'm here to tell you, friends, when you spend weeks designing a blog that won't make you any money, or an entire day decorating cookies that should only take a couple hours, perfectionism isn't a blessing, it's a curse. You'll watch me struggle with this in my blog, I'm sure.

Please see the About page to learn a little more about myself (there are things beyond chronic perfectionist) and what this blog's all about.

So welcome, lovelies! I'm excited to read your comments and share some of my baking msadventures with you!

*Cookie bullets? I think I just solved world peace.