Bunnies, Kitties, and Flowers

We had a glimpse of spring yesterday: blue skies, 60F weather, and tulips galore! That was not the case today so Rosalind tackled the mist and the cloudy skies with her army of bunnies, kitties, and flowers.

As usual, she used our basic shortbread recipe with only butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla.

She got bags of pastel sprinkles from the Home Cake Decorating Supply Company and she was not  afraid to use them.

But first, the tops were brushed with egg white wash.

When the time came to sprinkle, she was audacious and unstoppable.

After all, she's just another nine-year-old girl that indubitably brightens the world with pink, yellow, purple, and everything shiny.

Happy Valentine's Day

Rosalind made these sparkly heart cookies for her class. She mixed a basic shortbread dough, rolled, cut, brushed the tops with egg white wash then sprinkled red decorating sugar all over. The cookies were baked at 350F for 10 minutes.

Hearts

Shortbread hearts with chocolate glaze


President's Day weekend, usually one of the slowest times at the restaurant, turned out to be one of the busiest weekends we've had in a long time. The reason, of course, is that it coincided with Valentine's Day.

When I left the restaurant kitchen earlier this evening, things were starting to heat up. Dozens of ticket orders lined up to be filled. Voices were starting to go up. Dirty dishes were piling up in the dish room. The lead cook was already screaming for clean saute pans. Servers and bussers were hustling to and fro.

As I passed through the kitchen door to the dining room, I noticed one of my favorite servers carrying the dessert tray to a table. The lights were dimmed. There was soft music in the background. Couples conversed in low voices. Nobody could hear the noises nor feel the chaos permeating throughout the kitchen, which was how it was supposed to be.

Unless you work in a restaurant, it's difficult to fully appreciate the turmoil that comes with cooking for 500 people in the course of 6 hours. I don't know too many cooks who don't look forward to the clamor and commotion. A decade ago, when I was a line cook, it was almost like a drug. My energy level would hit the ceiling and at the end of the night, I was exhausted beyond comprehension yet I felt alive and satisfied.

Being a baker, I usually don't take part in all the chaos. I leave work as it starts. But then I start work early in the morning, even before the cleaning crew comes, so I just surmise how the rest of the night fared by the ravages my coworkers left behind.

Cocoa Brownies

This just beats all. How can you top an afternoon spent making (and eating) soft gooey brownies with one of your bestest friends in the whole wide world?

Cocoa Brownies

1 1/2 c cocoa powder
2 1/2 c sugar
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt
2 1/2 sticks (10 oz) butter (melted)
4 eggs
2/3 cups flour

In a large bowl, mix the cocoa and sugar. Add the vanilla, salt, and melted butter.

Mix.



Add the eggs one at a time. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in the flour just until blended.

Spread the batter evenly on a sheet pan (or jelly roll pan, or 9x13 pan) lined with parchment paper (or wax paper or foil).

Bake at 325F for about 20 minutes. Let cool before cutting.




I asked Rosalind and Nina to use a half sheet pan because I wanted the brownies thinner than usual. Little did they know that I had planned on claiming half of their creation to use as crust and topping (brownie cubes) for my turtle cheesecake.

Crinkles or Crackles

Crinkle crackle cookies are such fun! I originally developed this recipe to use for ice cream sandwiches but these cookies can definitely stand on their own because they are so versatile and pretty.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups all purpose flour

In a large bowl (or a KitchenAid bowl with paddle attachment), beat together eggs, both sugars, and vanilla until thick. Mix in cocoa and baking powder until well incorporated, starting with low speed and gradually increasing the speed. Add the melted butter. Stir in the flour.

It will be easier to work with the dough if you refrigerate it for an hour or so.

Scoop out 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar, coconut, sunflower seeds, or chopped nuts.






Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes.

Vegan Ginger Cookies

This is the double ginger cookie recipe without the eggs. The absence of eggs changes the texture: these are more dense than soft and a little more crumbly. Still, they are moist, flavorful, and simply delicious. And notice the beautiful crackly look of the cookies!

Double Ginger Cookies

Soft. Moist. Gingery!



Double Ginger Cookies

"Dry" Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

"Wet" Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup molasses
2 eggs

In a large bowl, whisk together all the "dry" ingredients.

In a liquid measuring cup (4 cup capacity), measure out the "wet" ingredients. (We start out with the oil to keep the molasses from sticking to the measuring cup.) Whisk together.

Make an indentation in the middle of the "dry" ingredients and pour out the "wet" ingredients.

You can use a whisk, a spatula, or your hands to mix it all together.

Scoop out one inch balls and coat them with granulated sugar.

Bake at 350F for about 10 minutes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cyclops

These are called "Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies" in the cookbook, Cookies! A Cookie Lover's Collection. I altered the formula a little bit: I changed all other forms of shortening to butter, increased the oatmeal and chocolate chips, and lessened the flour. The oatmeal is a prominent part of the cookie so we'll call our version:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cyclops

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups oatmeal (uncooked)
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
miniature peanut butter cups (about 3 dozens)

In a large mixing bowl (or KitchenAid bowl using paddle attachment), beat together brown sugar, butter and peanut butter. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until incorporated. Add oats, flour, and salt. Beat at low speed until soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls an inch apart on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, press a peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie.

Madeleines for Mrs. H

This recipe is from Baking From My Home To Yours.

Traditional Madeleines

2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the KitchenAid bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Add the eggs to the KitchenAid bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat in the vanilla.
With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter.


Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours. Chilling the batter will produce the characteristic bump of madeleines. We skipped this part and baked ours right away so ours are bumpless.

Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds. Dust the insides with flour, and tap out the excess.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top.


Bake at 400F for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Release the madeleines from the molds by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Dust the cookies with powdered sugar. We brushed ours with lemon glaze (mix together 1 c powdered sugar and juice and zest of 1 lemon).