Happy 1st Birthday Myles!

Shiver me... whiskers?

This past week I had the privilege of baking cookies and cupcakes for a very special bunch... of cats. I donated cookies and cupcakes to a fundraiser to benefit Happy Endings No Kill Cat Shelter. This fundraising event was a private screening of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I was asked to create pirate-themed sweets for a Bake Sale being held in conjunction with the movie. This is the largest cookie order I have done in quite some time and I was thrilled to be able to create these for such a wonderful cause.

New laptop up and running, and I'm back! I attempted a few times this past year to update this blog from my iPhone but I gave up every attempt out of frustration.

I have not decorated anywhere near the amount of cookies I had been used to since I last posted. It's been pretty busy here. but although my piping bags have taken a backseat, my oven has not. And now I'd like to introduce the primary cause of my blog hiatus, Myles.







Myles was born in June 2010 and just turned 9 months old. He is quickly becoming my second set of hands in the kitchen. I've got a few quick pictures from this past year or so to share for now...

Now, my next project is to get into my old flickr account and link some more pictures =]

Happy Spring!

Sorry it has been SO long since I've been able to update... It's been a very busy summer and, sadly, I haven't been able to make a lot of cookies.

Last week I got a request from a friend who is a tattoo artist. I thought cookies as tattoo designs would be a ton of fun to make so I accepted the challenge. I used a newer recipe for these, which is quickly becoming the favorite around here =]

Cream Cheese Cut-Outs from karenscookies.net

1 cup butter
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Beat butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add sugar; beat until fluffy.

Add egg, vanilla and almond extract; beat well.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder.

Add dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture; beat until well mixed.

Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours.

Preheat oven to 375°. Roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. (very large cookies may take longer to bake)

The first time I used this recipe I made Lemon-Drop Martinis, so I substituted lemon extract for the almond the recipe calls for. They were such a hit that lemon is the standard flavor I use for this recipe.

Both batches of cookies were decorated with Royal Icing.

Style Cookies, Version 2

Punk-Rock Chic? For another Special Birthday this month... It's been Busy! Lots of skulls, some Chuck Taylor's (all the best colors!), Emily the Strange, a few neon electric guitars, and some rocker Tees! Yummy Thick Cut Outs with Royal Icing.

Style Cookies, Version 1

Special Birthday cookies for a wonderful friend! Thick Cut Outs with Royal Icing. These were a blast to make! I don't know what came over me... the ideas were just pouring out! The Zebra Print is my favorite, of course... Can't wait to use that again!

And what 21st Birthday would be complete without a few martinis?... & some hot pink nail polish.... :-)

Hello Kitty Chocolate Cookies

Found this recipe on cakecentral.com for Dark Chocolate Rolled Cookies.... It is definitely as good as the reviews made it out to be! They're a little bit crisp on the outside, but have a soft, chewy middle.... kind of like a brownie! The combination of Dark Chocolate cocoa powder and espresso makes for a deep chocolate taste, unlike any other chocolate cookie I've tried yet!

Had to use the Hello Kitty cookie cutter for these because I just finally got it! Found it on Ebay last month.... International shipping is SO expensive, and takes SO long! But it was worth the wait! The icing that I used on these is one I've posted before.... Kind of like buttercream, but for cookies. Since it's thick, and doesn't flow very well, I had to inprint the face onto the white icing before I added the face & bow. When I make these again, with Royal Icing, they'll look much smoother.... But Royal Icing, though beautiful to look at and work with, would not have done these yummy chocolate cookies any justice!

Dark Chocolate Rolled Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of butter softened

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup of sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

Cream butter, shortening & sugar until fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla and espresso powder, until blended.

Combine dry ingredients. Take the flour mixture and add it in with the butter mixture on low until combined.

Take out of the mixer and pat into a few disks, wrap in plastic and chill for a few hours.

Bake at 350 14-16 minutes.

Mini Black & White Cookies

A traditional New York favorite, and MY personal favorite cookies. A very "cakey" cookie that is not very sweet on it's own is complemented by very sweet vanilla and chocolate fudge icing. It took a few tries to get the icing to look decent, but none of these were wasted in the process! These cookies remind me of yellow box-mix cake with chocolate frosting.... and who doesn't love that!

I don't live in New York, so the only place I can get these is at my local Starbucks, and the are usually out of them... And so began my pursuit for the perfect black & white cookies! I found this recipe on epicurious.com.

For cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

For icings

2 3/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 to 6 tablespoons water

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Special equipment: a small offset spatula

Make cookies:

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing just until smooth. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter 1 inch apart onto baking sheets. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed, edges are pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Make icings while cookies cool:

Stir together confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth. If icing is not easily spreadable, add more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to thin to same consistency as vanilla icing. Cover surface with a dampened paper towel, then cover bowl with plastic wrap.

Ice cookies: With offset spatula, spread white icing over half of flat side of each cookie. Starting with cookies you iced first, spread chocolate icing over other half.

A Few Adjustments:

The first time I made these, I followed the recipe exactly.... and the weren't exactly what I had been expecting.

1. If you want to cookies to be round, dropping the batter on the cookie sheet doesn't work. I learned my lesson after the first time, and now i suggest using a pastry bag with a large round tip to pipe the cookies on the the cookie sheet. I use my disposable decorating bags, fitted with a coupler, but with no tip.... the large opening works perfect!

2. I never butter or grease my baking sheets. Use parchment paper or a Silpat Liner.... These will stick to the pan otherwise!

3. There is no place for the lemon flavor in the chocolate icing. Mix all the ingredients for the icing except for the lemon... divide into half, and only add lemon juice to the vanilla. less than a teaspoon is more than enough!

4. In case you can't figure it out by looking at the cookie, the icing goes on the bottom. Yes, I did almost miss that the first time i made these...

Also, I don't usually have buttermilk in my fridge... I learned on allrecipes.com that adding one tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of milk makes an acceptable replacement for buttermilk... good to know!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

"Young Cat, if you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you would learn! The most wonderful stuff!"


These cookies were made for a cookie club theme on http://cakecentral.com/ a few months ago. These were the first cookies i made without a cookie cutter. I had so much fun making these! But i couldn't bear to eat a single one... :)
Today, March 2nd, is the official birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel. The 'unofficial' holiday wil be celebrated tommorow all across the country as it has been for the past 10 years. March 3rd kicks off "Read Across America".

"The more that you read, The more things you will know. The more that you learn, The more places you’ll go."

For more information, visit http://www.nea.org/readacross/index.html

SpongeBob & the Princess....

My weekend project...

I love a challenge, so when my friend's daughter wanted spongebob cookies, i was up for it!

I had a picture up on my computer screen the whole time i was working on these, but no matter how much I looked I couldn't *quite* ace him... but i'm pretty pleased anyway!

The little sweetie wanted her name on all the spongebobs.... That wasn't about to work for me, so i compromised with jumbo Birthday-Cake-Cookie! Pretty sure she'll be happy with that :)

Holiday/Winter 2007

I've never spent as much time in my kitchen as i did this winter. And, of course, I loved every minute of it :) Tried a few different recipes this Christmas for Cut Outs.... none of which i will probably ever make again... The chocolate was okay, but nothing special.. (and I've since found a MUCH better one....) Gingerbread is apparently not something *everyone* likes, because i can't even count how many times i wanted to throw away the dough just because of the smell and forget i ever tried to make them.... Glad I didn't, though, because I'm told they were very good! (That's what gingerbread is supposed to taste like? no thank you!)

Stemming from a thread posted on http://cakecentral.com/, these cookies were an attempt to recreate a cookie that someone posted a picture of. They looked like little scoops of ice cream, so i tried a recipe for spritz cookies, as those are known for holding their shape as they bake, added some flavors and coloring, and this is what i came up with.... the mint chocolate chip was the best!




INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract




DIRECTIONS
Mix the butter or margarine, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour and mix by hand.
Spoon into cookie press and press onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugars.
Bake in preheated 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven for 7-10 minutes.










My Favorite recipe this year was one shared by a co-worker.... Easiest, fastest, & yummiest snack you can make!




Don't have the exact recipe handy, but basically you just cover the bottom of a pan (i used a 9"x13") with graham cracker squares, melt butter (maybe 1 stick)over the stove, add some brown sugar and vanilla and pour over the graham crackers. sprinkle with chopped pecans and bake for 8-10 minutes.






And I had to try the Holiday Icebox Cookies (Pinwheels) from Martha Stewart. The chocolate/vanilla were very good. I also made peppermint/almond. I learned that next time i make cookies with peppermint in them, they should be packaged seperately from the other cookies... or all the cookies in the tin taste minty-fresh..... live & learn!






And just as soon as i got the last of the cookie dough scraped off of every kitchen surface, it was New years already! Don't think i'll make a habit of decorating cookies for every new year's eve, but i had a few i deas to try out....

The clocks are definitely my favorite!

And what would a new years celebration be without some fireworks & balloons!

Fall 2007

Added a little spice to these Cut Outs for Fall.


A bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a few others :)Iced with Toba's Glace, to which I added some Maple flavoring. Perfect combination!

And then there's Halloween, of course! My favorite this year were the Teddy Bears-in-costume! The mummies were fun as well, but could use a little improvement next year.... :)

Spring/Summer 2007

Made these cookies just for fun, to try a new icing recipe. It didn't harden completely so stacking them was quite a mess, but the taste definitely made up for it!



1 stick of butter

5-6 TBSP Liquid CoffeeMate Creamer

A few cups of Powdered Sugar



Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave, or you can melt it in a pot on the stove.

Once melted, whisk in a few big splashes of CoffeeMate. (I don't usually measure these things...!)

Add Powdered Sugar, until the consistency you need is achieved. (just a few cups if you want to dip the cookies in it, or make it thicker if you want to pipe it on with a pastry bag.)

If you add to much powdered sugar, just add a little bit of creamer at a time until its as thin as you need!

And this was the first time I made Royal Icing. I was always reluctant because when you think of Royal Icing, you think of the Break-Your-Teeth, Rock-Solid Gingerbread House "Glue". Found this recipe on Cake Central, posted by Antonia74

(Check her out @ http://marmaladecakecompany.com/ !)

I absolutely love this, and now use it more often than ony other Icing!

6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water

5 Tablespoons meringue powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar

In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened...about 30 seconds. Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more. Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer. Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy. Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying. Tint with food colourings or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.

I add different flavorings sometimes. I've added Lemon Extract, or Imitation Butter Flavor... They're both very Yummy!

Valentine's Day :)

2007: Only my second attempt at decorated cookies:

And Now:

.....Practice & Patience DO pay off!

Easter Cookies

I haven't started on my Easter cookies for this year yet, but with the holiday less than a month away I'm already planning!

These are from last year. I still love the "chick".... and will probably use that one again this year! As for the Easter Eggs.... I have big plans for those! And a few more in mind also.... :)

I've tried a few different Cut-Out Cookie recipes, but my *favorite* is from allrecipes.com

Thick Cut Outs

6 egg yolks
4 eggs
2 cups butter, softened
2 1/8 cups white sugar
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (um... i use quite a bit more!)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. (I use parchment paper) On a floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place 2 inches apart on to the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

This makes a very large batch of cookies.



The Icing on these cookies is not one I use often, but it is delicious!



Toba Garrett's Glace Icing


1 lb. confectioners' sugar

3/8 cup milk

3/8 cup light corn syrup

flavoring as desired


In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and milk first. Add corn syrup just until combined. Divide to flavor and add color.



I always double this recipe, mainly because the powdered sugar I buy comes in 2 lb. bags. :)

So Much To do!

I have only been decorating cookie for just over a year. I'm starting this blog to share my progress with friends & family... as well as to keep track of my own progress! I've learned tons over this past year, and I have to thank all the wonderful members of CakeCentral.com for that!


I'll start with my most recent cookies, and over the next few day, hopefully i can got some more pictures on here... and some recipes, too!



Frames and "Canvas" are Royal Icing, and the "Art" is fondant. I've only recently began working with fondant, so i thought Cookie Picture Frames would be perfect for showing off my practice....