Holiday baking! (Part 1)

I've finally finished my last exam before Christmas so naturally I spent the day baking with my family. Here's what we made!


My brothers made our mom's famous Coffee Cake. My mom has made this cake every Christmas for as long as I can remember.

This cake is made with sour cream and lots of butter. It has a toasted walnuts and sugar topping. Cover in icing sugar and it is delicious with a warm cup of coffee. 

I can't give away this recipe since it's a family secret... But here's a different recipe :)


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I also made some lemon shortbread. I made it in a traditional ceramic cookie mold. 

You just butter the bottom and flatten your cookie dough making sure it covers all the edges. Bake like a normal pan of shortbread.

Here's what it looks like once it comes out of the oven:

So pretty!! and delicious to boot!

Ingredients:

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Line two baking sheets with parchment. Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer bowl (use the paddle attachment) or a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until the butter combines with the sugar but isn't perfectly smooth, 1 to 2 min. Add the flour and lemon zest and mix on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until the dough has just about pulled together, about 3 minutes; don't overmix.

Roll: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Aim for a uniform thickness to ensure even baking.

Cut: Cut the dough into bars or squares with a sharp knife or, using cookie cutters, cut out shapes as close to one another as possible. Press the scraps together, roll them out, and cut out more cookies. If the dough becomes sticky, refrigerate it briefly. Arrange the cookies on two parchment-lined baking sheets and chill at least 20 min.

Bake: Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F. Bake the cookies until golden on the bottom and edges and pale to golden on top, 30 minutes to 1 hour. (After 15 min., swap the position of the baking sheets and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking.) If the cookies are done before 30 min., reduce the oven temperature to 275°F for the remaining batches; if they take longer than 1 hour, increase the temperature to 325°F.

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Mouahaha!!

I don't really like Halloween... Especially the dressing up part. Call me boring but I will only dress up when someone makes me (and then I'm not happy about it.) 

But I guess I must write something to acknowledge the season so here we go.

This week I made a buttery vanilla cake which takes merely 10 minutes to whip up and is extremely easy to make. Anyone can make it! I'm not exactly sure where the recipe came from. 

Lazy Daisy Cake:

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

4 tbsp butter

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp cream

1/2 cup of either shredded coconut or any coarsely chopped nut.

Beat the eggs and vanilla until frothy and light (About 30 seconds)

Gradually add the granulated sugar and mix

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

Then add the dry ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture.

In the microwave, heat the milk and 1 tbsp of butter. (Now you must be fast) Add that to the egg mixture and poor it in an 8" pan. You must do this step quickly because the warm milk will react with the baking powder and we want it to start baking as quickly as possible.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350°F

Meanwhile... 

In a small saucepan, heat 3 tbsp of butter, brown sugar, cream and the 1/2 cup of coconut (or nuts)

Heat until everything melts (Takes only a couple of minutes)

When the cake is done, pull it our of the oven and pour melted butter + sugar mixture on the top of the cake.

Broil the cake and keep a very close eye on it because it will burn easily. Broil until the top becomes a nice golden brown (Takes seconds)

And this is what you get! It looks really simple and not that delicious looking but I assure you its really good and buttery. It's my favorite cake to eat when I'm in a hurry and I just want some sweetness.

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BOO!!

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