Méli-Mélo of baked goods

Here are some pictures of various baked goods I've made throughout the years. I'm feeling somewhat lazy tonight so I won't bother writing the recipes. Maybe I'll add them later. Just thought it was about time I added another post so here are a bunch of pictures for your enjoyment (or your mouth's)!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Caramel Crème Brûlée

Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl Brownies

4 Tier Cinnamon and Chocolate Cake

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Hazelnut-Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Bowtie Cookies with Apricot Preserves

Aren't Thumbs the Best?

Here's a family favorite cookie (especially for the kids) and so easy to make! They also taste scrumptious. If you like mint chocolate, this is going to be a favorite of yours! 

Chocolate-Peppermint Thumbprints:

Ingredients:

For the Cookie:

1 cup + 2-1/2 tbsp flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

For filling:

4 oz (3/4 cup) chopped semi-sweet chocolate

3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

1/4 tsp pure peppermint extract (Although, I added more. Just taste and drop, taste drop)

Make Cookies:

Sift the flour and cocoa together into a medium bowl. 

Mix cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 

Add the vanilla and salt; continue beating until blended and smooth, about 1 minute more. 

Add the flour-cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms, about 1 minute. 

Chill the dough in the refrigerator until firm enough to roll into balls, 40 to 60 minutes.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. 

Using your palms, roll heaping teaspoonfuls of the dough into 1-inch balls. Arrange them 2 inches apart on the lined sheets. With a lightly floured thumb or index fingertip, press straight down into the middle of each ball almost to the cookie sheet to make a deep well. (Or use the end of a thick-handled wooden spoon.)

Bake one sheet at a time until the tops of the cookies look dry, 8 to 9 minutes. Gently redefine the indentations with the end of a wooden spoon. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes and then let them cool completely on racks.

Make Filling:

Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set in a wide skillet of almost simmering water. Stir with a heatproof spatula until almost melted, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until melted and smooth, about 30 seconds more. 

Stir in the mint extract. Let the filling cool, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and a bit warmer than room temperature, 30 to 40 minutes.

 Spoon the filling into a small pastry bag with a small plain tip. (Or use a small plastic bag and cut a tiny bit off a bottom corner of the bag.) Pipe the filling into the center of each cookie. Cool completely before serving or storing. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 to 5 days.

Holiday Baking! (Part 2)

Better late than never, here are some baked goods that a made as a Christmas present.


Chocolate Drizzled Florentines (Recipe below):

These have a sugar cookie first layer that is baked first. 

I had to weigh down the dough so it doesn't shrink too much. I did this with beans but there are "baking beads" that you can buy that are reusable.

Then I filled the baked cookie dough with an almond candy filling that I cooked until golden brown.

Then I baked the whole pan until the candy hardened and the cookie has browned. 

Once the pan cools I popped the whole dough out and  scored it then cut through the cookie dough.
Then I cut through the candy layer in straight lines. I did this so the cookie wouldn't crack.

Now it just needs chocolate!!

 

TADA!!!!!!

Sugar Cookie Dough:


Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 
1-1/2 tsp. finely chopped lemon zest 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 tsp. table salt 
1 large egg 
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
1 lb. 5 oz. (4-2/3 cups) all-purpose flour 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the softened butter, zest, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat with the paddle until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat it in well. In three additions, stir in the flour until blended. Spread the dough out, about an inch thick, on a sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm. You can refrigerate the dough, wrapped well, for up to a week.

Almond Florentines:

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

3/4 cup water

14 tbsp unsalted butter

3/4 cup honey

1 cup heavy cream

2 tsp freshly grated orange zest

4 cups sliced almonds

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate

Lightly grease a half sheet pan (a sided pan that measures 11-1/2 x 16-1/2-inches). Line the pan with parchment.

Roll the chilled sugar cookie dough between two pieces of parchment into a rectangle until it's between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top piece of parchment and flip the dough into the prepared half sheet pan so that it fits along the bottom and up the sides completely. If the dough cracks a bit, just press it back together. Press it into the sides of the pan; don't leave any gaps. Cut off any excess dough by running a rolling pin along the edges of the pan. Chill until firm.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the dough with foil or parchment and weight it with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until the edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and the foil or parchment and continue to bake until completely set, about another 10 minutes. Let cool before filling.

In a large heavy-based saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water and bring to a boil. Cook until the mixture becomes amber in color (approximately 350 degrees F to 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer). Immediately remove from the heat. Carefully add the butter and honey, return to the heat, and stir until dissolved. Bring the mixture back to a boil and carefully add the heavy cream and zest (the mixture will bubble up and may splatter). Boil the mixture until it reaches 250 degrees F on the candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the almonds (and candied citrus peel, if using). Quickly pour the mixture into the baked sugar cookie shell before the caramel cools. Spread the nut mixture evenly with a lightly greased spatula.

Bake until the topping begins to bubble, 18 to 20 minutes. Put the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut along the edge of the pan to loosen the edges. Turn the Florentines out, upside down, onto a clean cutting surface. Line two clean baking sheets with parchment.

With a serrated bread knife, score the ragged edges of the cookie crust, cutting through the crust but not the filling. With a large chef's knife, cut through the filling to trim off the ragged edges completely. Next, using the serrated knife, score 1-1/4-inch-wide horizontal bands top to bottom (again deeply, through the crust but not through the filling). To make the diamonds, score 1-1/4-inch strips starting at the top left corner and dividing that corner into two 45 degree angles. Continue scoring at this width and this angle until all the cookies are scored.

Follow the scoring lines with the chef's knife, using steady force to cut through the thick nut filling.

Turn each Florentine over and set on the clean sheet pans. Fill a pastry bag with a tiny tip (or a heavy plastic bag with a corner cut off, or a paper cone) with the melted chocolate (or use a fork dipped in the chocolate) and drizzle it on the diamonds. The cookies are best at room temperature but can be refrigerated if the kitchen is too warm for the chocolate to set.

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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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A little sweetness to cheer us up.

It's cold and dark out so early now. You feel like a mole trapped inside with only the dark night surrounding you. (Well, I do)
Not a cheerful thought...


So here are some delights to make us forget about the long winter to come.


(I haven't actually baked anything this week since it's midterm time but here is a desert that I've made in the past with a very good friend of mine.)

Apricot bow ties

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I made these with my friend when she came out to visit me in the country. They are really easy to make. We cheated by using apricot jam bought from the store but it tasted just as good as homemade jam. The recipe was from a Fine Cooking Magazine. It was a special edition all about cookies. Yum!

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened 

1 cup unsalted butter, softened 

2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted; more for rolling 

3/4 cup apricot preserves

One large egg, beaten

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting 

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and the butter until light and fluffy.

On a low speed, gradually mix in flour until a smooth dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, kneed the dough into a ball and divide the ball in 3 equal pieces.

Wrap each piece in wax paper and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. 

Preheat oven too 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove one piece of dough from the fridge and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Then cut about 2-inch squares (Works better with a pizza cutter)

Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of apricot jam/preserve in the center of the square. Fold one corner into the center, dab with the beaten egg, and then bring the opposite corner into the center and pinch firmly together to seal the corners.

Repeat with the remaining dough...

Bake until golden and puffy. It will take about 10-12 minutes.

Let the cookies cool and then sprinkle with confectionners' sugar.

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This cream cheese dough can also be used for another kind of cookie. 

This one...

Cardamom Palmiers

You only need some sugar and spice.




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