Tag Archives: baking

Apr 13 2012

Tart Cherry Scones

I whipped up a double batch of these this morning. So warm and flaky – just right for a rainy morning.

Here’s what you need for a single batch, which makes 8 large scones:

2 cups flour

4 TBSP sugar

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP baking powder

6 TBSP cold butter

2/3 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup half & half

1 egg

 

These are very easy to make, you just need a pastry blender to mix in the butter.  This is what you do:

  1. In a medium bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
  2. Cut in butter
  3. Stir in dried cherries
  4. Measure the half & half. Break one egg into the measuring cup with half & half, beat until well mixed.
  5. Pour into the dry mix and stir with a fork until combined.
  6. Turn out onto a floured board. Knead a few times until dough stays together.
  7. Pat out into a circle 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.
  8. Cut into quarters, then cut each of those in half to make eight triangles total.
  9. Place on unbaked cookie sheet and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.

I like to buy the big bags of dried fruit at Costco. Our store usually has dried blueberries, cherries and cranberries. You could substitute any kind of dried fruit you prefer for the cherries. Happy baking everybody!

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Mar 31 2012

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

Isn’t this cute? It looks like it came from a bakery and tastes just as good. The best part is that this is so easy to do. The cookies only require 4 ingredients – you probably have everything in your pantry to make these right now! Here’s how to make them (full recipe at bottom of post).

 

Make a batch of shortbread cookies. Roll out and cut into your favorite shape. Once cookies are cooled. Melt chocolate chips for dipping. (see instructions below)

Carefully dip cookies half way into chocolate.

Allow to cool on waxed paper to prevent sticking.

Add a few rainbow nonpareils for a more decorative touch. Assistance of a cute kid optional.

Shortbread Cookies

  • 3 sticks of butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3½ cups flour
  1. Preheat oven to 350º.
  2. With an electric stand mixer cream butter and sugar.
  3. Add vanilla and mix well.
  4. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, mix again.
  5. Add flour and mix on lowest speed until it comes together into a dough. If it is dry and crumbly you didn’t mix it quite long enough.
  6. Turn out onto a floured surface. Press/knead gently until it comes together into one piece of dough.
  7. Divide in half and roll out.
  8. Cut into desired shape with a 2-3″ cookie cutter.
  9. Bake on ungreased sheets for 20-25 minutes or until edges are just slightly browned. Do not overbake. If unsure, use a spatula to lift up a cookie and check the underside. If it’s browned they are done.
  10. Move to wire rack to cool completely.

Now these shortbread cookies are VERY tasty just by themselves.  But if you want to go for a fancier look, dipping them in chocolate does the job. The combination of shortbread and chocolate is wonderful.

Chocolate Dip

  • about 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vegetable shortening (Crisco)
  1. Place chocolate chips in microwave proof measuring cup. I used a 1 cup Pyrex.
  2. Heat in the microwave in small increments, stirring after each.
  3. The chips will retain their shape somewhat, even after they are warm enough, so be sure to stir well.
  4. I did mine for 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 15 seconds.
  5. The chocolate was a little thicker than I wanted so I added a teaspoon of Crisco to thin it out. Be careful not to add too much or it will alter the flavor of the chocolate.
  6. Dip cooled cookies half way into the chocolate.
  7. Scrape the edge and bottom of cookie on the container to catch the excess chocolate.
  8. Once the dip was too shallow I used a small offset spatula to smooth the chocolate onto the last few cookies.
  9. If desired embellish with candy sprinkles.
  10. Allow to cool on waxed paper.

 

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Mar 11 2012
100

Angry Birds Themed Birthday Party

The big 5th birthday party was this weekend.  My son Sean has been a big fan of Angry Birds for a while so it was easy to pick a theme for the party.

I was originally going to do a large red bird cake or a pig castle structure with my 16″ cake pan, but Paul suggested creating a smaller cake with the structure and some cupcakes. That sounded like a good plan to me.

I looked at a lot of Angry Birds cake ideas on Pinterest and on the web. On App Cakes, there is a great compilation of Angry Birds cakes and cupcakes, including a video of a “playable” cake similar the Knock on Wood game.

I decided to make the cake decorations out of fondant, cookies and candies. I had never used fondant before, so it was a little bit of a learning process. It went well and I know I will have even better results the next time I use it.

Here is the finished cake:

For the cupcakes I started with boxed mixes. Yes, I totally chickened-out on making them from scratch. I was nervous about working with the fondant and doing all the decorating on the cupcakes so I just couldn’t handle making the cake from scratch too. I’ve never made cake batter and the day before a birthday party is no time to be trying out new recipes!

I decided to make four kinds of cupcakes: Red Bird (strawberry cake), Yellow Bird (lemon cake) Blue Bird (blue-tinted vanilla cake) and Pigs (chocolate cake).

After the cupcakes were completely cooled I tinted vanilla frosting to the colors of the birds. I used gel food coloring to get deeper colors.

I topped the frosted cupcakes with colored sprinkles.

I tinted small amounts of vanilla frosting for the face details and piped on the beaks, eyes and other details.

For the piggy snouts I snipped a large marshmallow into thirds with kitchen shears. I tinted the frosting a little more yellow and covered the marshmallow before placing on the cupcake.

So, you may be thinking “Gosh, that looks like a lot of work!” and you would be correct. I spent most of the day working on the cake and cupcakes. At least eight hours.  But it was SO worth it for the excitement the next morning when Sean woke up and saw all of his Angry Birds cupcakes and cake.

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Feb 12 2012

Valentine’s Day Inspiration

Thinking about baking something special for your Valentine? Here are a few things I’d like to try, found on Pinterest, of course! When you click on the title you will be taken to the blog that featured these recipes. Directions are found there.

 From Sweet Pea’s Kitchen: Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

From I (Heart)2stamp: Layered Cupcake

Pinned Image

From Tracey’s Culinary Adventures: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

cookies

 

 

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Nov 10 2011

Snickerdoodles!

The kids were asking for a dessert, or “burzert” as Audrey says.  I didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand so I went to the recipe box to look for a solution.  Snickerdoodles, of course!  They are simple, quick to make and oh, so tasty.

Here’s what you need:

Cookies

1 c. shortening (plain, not butter flavored)

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 eggs

2  3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

Coating

2 TBSP granulated sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

 

With an electric mixer, cream the shortening and sugar. Add eggs and beat until well mixed.  In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  Add the dry to the wet and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl.

In a small bowl or small rimmed plate mix the sugar and cinnamon.  Form the dough into 1″ balls then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar to coat.

Place cookies on an ungreased sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes at 400°.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

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