Sunday, December 18, 2011
Christmas Cupcakes
These are just dark chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with butter cream icing and a fondant poinsettia.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Gingerbread Play-dough
While the cookies were baking, Bella and I made Gingerbread Play-dough. Another great recipe from Sweet Sugarbelle.
Gingerbread Play-dough
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tsp orange extract (optional, I used vanilla)
In a medium saucepan whisk together dry ingredients. Next mix in the water, oil and extract until a thick batter is formed. Cook on low-medium heat until a thick dough forms. Turn out onto parchment paper and knead until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of dough.
Bella had so much fun playing with this. It is smooth and soft like cookie dough and less like the store bought play-dough, which is nice. She felt like she was baking at the kitchen counter and not so much playing. Also, if she cuts out shapes we can let them dry and make them into ornaments.
I might try different spices for different times of year. Apple pie spice and pumpkin pie spice. A good suggestion was to use expired spices for this.
Gingerbread Play-dough
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tsp orange extract (optional, I used vanilla)
In a medium saucepan whisk together dry ingredients. Next mix in the water, oil and extract until a thick batter is formed. Cook on low-medium heat until a thick dough forms. Turn out onto parchment paper and knead until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of dough.
Bella had so much fun playing with this. It is smooth and soft like cookie dough and less like the store bought play-dough, which is nice. She felt like she was baking at the kitchen counter and not so much playing. Also, if she cuts out shapes we can let them dry and make them into ornaments.
I might try different spices for different times of year. Apple pie spice and pumpkin pie spice. A good suggestion was to use expired spices for this.
White Velvet Cutouts
This week Bella and I made cutout cookies for Christmas. I found this recipe in a little booklet called Cookies for Christmas from Taste of Home Books (2001). I liked this cookie so much that I made the recipe part of our wedding favors 5 1/2 years ago. They were recipe cards with a heart shaped cookie cutter attached with a ribbon. Anyway, back to the cookie.
2 cup of butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
(I used royal icing to decorate.)
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour. Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm. Roll out on a floured surface 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch shapes and place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until set, but not browned. Cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool. Frost as desired.
A few notes, this is a lot of dough. It completely filled my mixer, so I might halve it next time. It is also a really sticky dough to begin with so it has to be chilled. However, I split mine into 2 and wrapped in plastic wrap before chilling. It takes up less space in the fridge and isn't a bear to get out of the bowl once its chilled. Let the chill come off before trying to roll out. It is sticky enough to allow for the addition of flour in rolling. These cookies are amazing.
I will post pictures as soon as I can.
White Velvet Cutouts
Makes about 7 dozen
2 cup of butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
(I used royal icing to decorate.)
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour. Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm. Roll out on a floured surface 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch shapes and place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until set, but not browned. Cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool. Frost as desired.
A few notes, this is a lot of dough. It completely filled my mixer, so I might halve it next time. It is also a really sticky dough to begin with so it has to be chilled. However, I split mine into 2 and wrapped in plastic wrap before chilling. It takes up less space in the fridge and isn't a bear to get out of the bowl once its chilled. Let the chill come off before trying to roll out. It is sticky enough to allow for the addition of flour in rolling. These cookies are amazing.
I will post pictures as soon as I can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)