4th of July Cookies

Happy 4th of July everyone!!! This is my first 4th of July actually living in the US! After all the immigration hoops we've had to jump through (just to move 1 hour across the border from BC to WA) I am especially excited to celebrate this wonderful country.

Made my favorite sugar cookie recipe for these, along with my favorite recipe for sugar cookie icing. This is the kind of icing that pipes beautifully and dries hard and shiny so you can stack the cookies. It is also delicious!



Wishing you all a safe and happy day! God Bless America!!!

Rolled Sugar Cookies
Makes 60

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

-----------------
Best Sugar Cookie Icing
Makes enough for 20 cookies

2 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp milk
4 tsp light corn syrup
dash of vanilla

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well until smooth.
2. Divide into separate bowls and add food coloring as desired. (I prefer gel or paste food coloring. It is more intense and doesn't water down your icing).
3. Best used immediately as it will harden if left out. You can microwave it to soften it if it starts to harden while you are working.

Tia the "Baker" is Engaged!

I've been sitting on a piece of news for a little while now because this is a baking blog and I don't usually talk about personal stuff here. BUT... I can't keep a secret any longer. I'm too excited and I want to share it with everyone. I am engaged!!! My fiance's last name is Baker. Couldn't be more perfect for a girl like me who has always been a baker at heart.

I adore my amazingly sparkly solitaire engagement ring. Not only because it is GORGEOUS but because it symbolizes the life we have to look forward to and that I have found the kind of love that runs deep into your soul and brings tears of joy to your eyes.

We broke the news on facebook today too and it puts a smile on my face reading all the wonderful comments and seeing all the "likes" from friends and family.

Right now we are looking at a December wedding this year. That leaves us with 10 months of planning! I hope to still keep up with my baking, but with all the busy-ness ahead it might be a challenge. I look forward to being able to share some of the wedding planning here as well as lots of yummy treats (as usual).

xoxo

Butter Twist St. Patrick's Day Cookies

"Never iron a four-leaf clover because you don't want to press your luck - Daryl Stout. Along with these words of wisdom, I'd also like to share these St. Patrick's Day inspired cookies! My son was thrilled to bring these to school to share with his class today.



They are dressed up butter twists from Martha Stewart's Cookies. Part shortbread, part sugar cookie, all buttery delicious and crisp.

I made this recipe in two parts. The first time without food coloring and the second time I added a bunch of green food coloring for the St. Patrick's Day theme. I found it easier and quicker to just make 2 separate smaller batches - one color per batch - instead of making one larger batch and dividing it to color it. Besides, this dough is a one-bowl wonder. So simple that you would even be able to make a whole rainbow of colors in no time if you wanted to.

Another nice thing is that the dough doesn't need any refrigeration before using, although you could make the dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for a few days until you are ready to bake it. It handles really easily with minimal sticking and zero mess. I didn't use ANY extra flour while shaping these! Just for fun I made some pretzel-shaped ones with the last dough scraps.

Tip: Roll out all the white dough first and then the colored dough so that the color doesn't transfer from your hands back to the white dough.



Butter Twist Cookies
Makes 20 | adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
food coloring
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour
Coarse sanding sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Using an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until well combined and light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. Add food coloring at this point (if using). Continue mixing to combine. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the flour and continue mixing until it forms a ball. It should be the consistency of Play-Doh. Not sticky but not dry either. Set it aside and make your second batch of dough (if you are making a different color).

3. Shape the dough however you like - pretzels, twists, spirals. I rolled mine into thin strips then twisted the 2 color strips together.

4. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar (optional but pretty). Bake 13-15 minutes or until just starting to color. Cool fully then store airtight at room temperature up to 3 days.

Copycat Club: Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix Clone

Happy 4th birthday Zachary! I made this construction-site cake for his birthday party. We had so much fun decorating it together. I let him pick out which construction vehicle toys he wanted to put on top and he helped crush up the oreo cookies for the "dirt" on top.



Instead of buying a cake mix, I decided to give this copycat recipe from Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes a shot. The texture was spot on. and everyone raved about the taste. I doubled the recipe to make a 2-layer cake and filled the cake with raspberry jam.

The beautiful part of this recipe is that you can make this mix ahead of time and store in a zip-lock bag. When you are ready to make the cake, just add the same amount of water, oil and eggs just as you would with a storebought mix.





Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix Clone
Makes equivalent of 1 box of mix

3 cups cake flour
2 cups superfine sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons imitation butter flavoring
10 drops yellow food coloring
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

To make the mix: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Combine shortening, vanilla, and food coloring with an electric mixer in a small bowl.

Spoon shortening mixture into dry ingredients and beat well with mixer on medium speed. Mix until no chunks of shortening are visible. The mix should resemble cornmeal. This is your cake mix, which you can keep in a sealed container for several months until you are ready to make the cake.

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the sides and bottom of two 9 inch baking pans or one 13x9 inch pan. Lightly flour pans.

Blend dry cake mix with the water, oil, and eggs in a large bowl on low speed until moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for two minutes. Pour batter into pans and bake for 30-33 minutes for 9 inch pan, 35-38 minutes for 13x9 pan. Cupcakes take 19-22 minutes.

Milky Way Cake

This is a sinfully decadent cake with actual Milky Way Chocolate bars melted into the batter! One tiny tiny slice is enough to satisfy any chocolate craving. I increased the recipe by 1.5x and made a 4-layer-cake which stood 5" high. It was enough to feed an army! This would be wonderful served with ice cream to cut the sweetness a little bit. I made chocolate dipped strawberries, alternating white and dark chocolates, and put little pink frosting dots along the sides of the cake for a feminine touch or color.

The recipe is adapted from Sunday Baker's Blog and Grouprecipes.com. The nice thing is that you can switch it up by using different melted chocolate bars. How about Snickers and chopped peanuts?! Mars bars and pecans?!



Milky Way Cake 8" - 3 layer cake 8 regular-sized Milky Way bars
1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Icing:
3 regular-sized Milky Way Bars
1 stick butter
2 teaspoon milk
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1. For cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease three 9" round cake pans.
2. Melt butter and candy bars then set aside to cool slightly. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Sift together the dry ingredients then beat into the wet mixture. Fold in Milky Way mixture. Do not over mix.
3. Spread evenly in the prepared pans. Bake for 1h 10m or until cake tests done.
4. Icing: Melt candy bars and butter. Stir in milk and powdered sugar. Add additional milk if needed. Beat until smooth and spread on cooled cake. [I just coated mine with a chocolate ganache made with 1 part heavy cream to 1 part bittersweet chocolate]

Cake Pops: Snowmen and Polar Bears

This was my first foray into the realm of cake pops. If you haven't hopped on this fad yet, I highly recommend it. They're so cute that it's worth the nit-picky work they take to make!

Bakerella, the author of Cake Pops, recommends using a cake mix and canned frosting so that the results are predictable, especially as you are learning. I used a cake mix but made my own frosting - a simple American Buttercream and had wonderful results.





Some tips based on my first attempt:
-Make the cake balls and refrigerate them overnight before you dip them. This gives them lots of time to set fully and makes it easier to plan your time and split the work up over a couple of says.
-Don't add too much frosting at once. I did this and then I had to keep adding more crumbled cake to balance out the frosting.
-Make extra cake to have on standby just in case you need it.
-Candy melts harden quickly, so have your decorations ready to go at your fingertips so they can be 'glued' onto the pop before the coating hardens.
-Tweezers are invaluable.
-If you don't have a styrofoam block to hold your pops, use a cardboard box turned upside down with holes poked in it (Use a nail, small screwdriver or letter opener).
-I couldn't find a black edible ink pen so I used Wilton Black Icing Color in a little jar (only $1.42) and painted on the faces with a fine paintbrush.
-I used a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup to melt the candy melts and to dip the pops in. It was the perfect depth and it was microwaveable which made life SO much easier.
-eBay is a great place to buy your supplies for cheap. I got my lollipop sticks for a fraction of the cost of Michael's.

DB: Christmas Stollen

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.



Stollen is a fruitcake made with yeast, water and flour, and usually dried citrus peel, dried fruit, almonds, and spices (cinnamon, cardamom, mace). The dough is rich with butter and eggs and slightly sweetened with sugar. The fruits are soaked in brandy or rum and the finished cake is sprinkled with icing sugar.

I used a combination of recipes from the kitchen staple cookbooks: The Fannie Farmer Baking Book and the Joy of Cooking.

I made a non-traditional shape - a braid instead of a wreath or loaf. I just couldn't bring myself to cover up the beautiful, golden-brown, fruit-studded bread, so I opted out of the powdered sugar on top.



It was very festive looking and very tasty and reminded me of hot cross buns! This was the first stollen I've made, but I'm sure it will make my holiday list in years to come. Thank you, Penny, for opening my eyes and tastebuds to this delicious sweet bread!

Semisweet Chocolate Layer Cake with Bakery Frosting

I volunteered to make a bunch of cakes for a cake walk at our church, so I was in mass production mode. I came up with the idea to bake two jelly-roll sheets 11" x 17" and cut each into 6 smaller rectangles, make 2-layer high cakes from these rectangles. It worked out *so* well. The layers were perfectly even, I didn't have to worry about splitting my cake into layers after it was baked, so from now on I will be making my layer cakes in sheet pans so they bake thinner and more evenly, then just cutting circles of cake from the large sheet pans.

This is a must-try frosting recipe, especially if you are in a bind for refrigerator space, as I often am. The frosting is just like the bakeries use on their cakes and does not require refrigeration if you are serving the cake within a day of making it. The Coffeemate instead of milk/cream makes it more stable. For longer storage it may be kept up to 3 months covered in the refrigerator. Just bring to room temperature before using.

Semisweet Chocolate Layer Cake
Makes 3 - 8" rounds | Gourmet, Feb. 2006

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 3/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter three 8" cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper round; butter parchment. Place chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth.

2. Whisk all purpose flour and next 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl to blend (mixture will be crumbly). Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in warm melted chocolate. Mix in dry ingredients in 2 additions alternately with buttermilk in 1 addition. Divide batter among prepared pans.

3. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely. Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap cakes in plastic and store at room temperature.

Bakery-Style No Refrigeration Needed Frosting
Makes 8 cups | adapted from Kittencal on Food.com

1 1/2 cups shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup non-dairy powdered coffee creamer (Coffee Mate)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 (32 ounce) package confectioners sugar, sifted
1/2-3/4 cup water
1/4 cup, approx. cocoa powder (optional)

1. In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening, butter, creamer and vanilla.
2. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar.
3. Add in enough water (starting with 1/2 cup) until frosting reaches desired consistency.
4. To make chocolate frosting, beat in cocoa powder to taste or to achieve the desired chocolatey-ness.

DB: Sugar Cookie Pops

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” . Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I made these sugar cookie pops as part of the baking catering I did for a co-worker for her grandson's dedication earlier this year. I didn't have time to do intricate sugar cookies this month so I apologize, but wanted to share these with you for Daring Baker's this month as I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and back when I originally made them, it certainly was a challenge!

I have never made cookie pops before but these turned out so well that I would definitely do it again. I made the sugar cookies a little thicker than normal and reinforced the backs of the sticks with extra dough. Not one fell off the stick even when the kids bit into them. The feedback I received was that they were the highlight of the party. They were such a huge hit that the kids just held onto them and admired them, not wanting to eat them for the longest time. Aww... I love that I can make people happy with my baking. It brings a smile to my face.
One more thing: I can't speak highly enough about this sugar cookie icing recipe (below). It is the kind of icing you'd find at a bakery. It dries shiny, smooth and hard enough to stack the cookies. It is a pleasure to work with and very yummy!




Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Makes 15 cookie pops | Adapted from Land-O-Lakes

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder

1. Combine butter, sugar and egg in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining cookie ingredients. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds; wrap in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours).

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Press the lollipop sticks into the cookies then cover the sticks with a small, flattened piece of dough so the stick is not visible. Flip the cookie over and place onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 6 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheets. Cool completely before frosting.



Better than Bakery Icing
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup icing sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring
In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Add corn syrup and vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

Blueberry Lemon Cream Cake

After anxiously waiting for the marks to be released, I found out that I PASSED my accounting exam! I can add those 3 little letters - CMA - after my name. It feels fantastic and this cake was a great way to celebrate!

It has 4 thin layers of lemon flavored sponge cake sandwich 3 layers of fresh, plump blueberries suspended in a slightly tart lemon cream filling. This was a delightfully light and summery dessert. Fancy enough for a special occasion yet not overly fussy.

The recipe comes from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book: The Essentials of Home Baking.

Note: It's important to use an electric mixer for the cake to get the maximum rise by beating the eggs thoroughly.



Blueberry Lemon Cream Cake
1 - 10" Caks | adapted from Canadian Living

3 cups (750 mL) raspberries (or any fresh berries)
1 tbsp (15 mL) icing sugar

Sponge Cake:
6 eggs
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, melted

Lemon Cream:
1 pkg unflavoured gelatin
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1-1/4 cup (300 mL) granulated sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) grated lemon rind
2/3 cup (150 mL) lemon juice
1-1/3 cups (325 mL) whipping cream

1. Sponge Cake: Line bottom of 10" springform pan with parchment paper; grease side. Set aside. Set eggs in bowl of warm (100°F/40°C) water for 5 minutes.

2. In electric stand mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually beat in sugar until pale yellow and batter falls in ribbons when beaters are lifted, about 10 minutes. Fold in lemon rind and vanilla.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt ; sift one-third over egg mixture and fold in. Repeat twice. Transfer one-quarter to bowl; fold in butter. Fold back into remaining batter. Pour into prepared pan.

4. Bake in centre of 325°F (160°C) oven until cake springs back when lightly touched in centre, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove side of pan; let cool on rack. (Make-ahead: Wrap in plastic wrap and store for up to 24 hours, or overwrap with heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks.)

5. Lemon Cream: In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 3 tbsp (50 mL) water; set aside. In heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice. Place over simmering water; cook, stirring frequently, until translucent and thick enough to softly mound on spoon, about 20 minutes.

6. Strain into large bowl. Stir in gelatin mixture until melted. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate, stirring every 10 minutes, until cool and mixture can mound on spoon, about 1 hour. In bowl, beat cream; fold one-third into lemon mixture. Fold in remaining cream. Fold in 2-1/3 cups (575 mL) of the berries; set aside.

7. Assembly: Line bottom and side of same pan with waxed/parchment paper. Cut cake horizontally into thirds. Place top cake layer, cut side up, in pan. Spread with half of the lemon cream. Top with middle cake layer, remaining lemon cream and remaining cake layer, cut side down. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

8. To serve, remove side of pan. Sprinkle top with icing sugar. Arrange remaining berries around top edge.

Chocolate Cupcakes - Happy Easter!

We're just getting ready to go for a pancake breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt at my son's preschool. Right now as I type this he's pretending to be a little chicken making peep-peep noises on the bed beside me.

I just bought the Martha Stewart Cupcake book from Costco - only $15.99 - so of course I used any excuse to make some cupcakes. (I also bought the companion cookie book too because I couldn't resist). This is the first recipe I've tried and I'm pleased that they turned out moist, chocolatey but not too sweet. These One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes turned out light and fluffy. It seems like cupcake stores are popping up everywhere I turn. 2 new ones just opened up in our local mall. $3-5 for one little cupcake - yikes!

Happy Easter everyone!

Train Cake & Construction Site Cake

Happy Birthday Zachary! I love you more and more as each day goes by and your personality develops and shines through. I am constantly amazed and amused by the things you do and the talents you have. Thanks for sticking out the past 3 years with me :)
*****
So... Today is my son's 3rd birthday. I still remember being pregnant, worrying about delivery, being HUGE and waddling around - lol. I can hardly believe 3 years has gone by and my baby boy will be starting preschool next week. I feel like the time is moving too quickly and I'm not doing enough of the things I should be doing for him. As (most) moms probably do, I worry that I'm not a good enough mother.

But for now... let's eat some cake!!! This year he was very much into trains. The Thomas set we have takes up way too much floorspace in our living room and has me constantly tripping over trains, but I guess it's worth it for the smile on his face.

How I made the cake:

Baked the cake 1 day in advance and refrigerated it to make handling easier.

Piped melted chocolate for the rail-road track.

I baked a regular yellow cake in 2 loaf pans and a soup can. To remove the cake from the can, just open the other side of the can and push the cake through.

For the engine I used 1 loaf. I cut off 2" from one end and stacked that on top of the loaf and held together with a skewer pushed all the way through. Level one side of the cylinder so it sits better on top of the loaf cake.

Used a marshmallow for the smoke-stack.

I cut the second loaf in half for the 2 smaller cars.

The circus car cage bars are finger-type cookies and the top of the cage is made from a graham cracker.

The wheels are Oreo cookie halves.

I frosted this cake with a no refrigeration needed frosting, recipe below. I fell in love with the consistency and ease to work with. It's not too sweet either.

The assembly took 3 hours (baking time excluded).





I also made a second cake, construction site themed, for the party at his preschool. It was such a huge hit especially amongst the little boys who started digging at the Oreo "dirt" with the toy vehicles on the cake. Compared to the train cake, this one was a breeze. I used a sour cream chocolate frosting, recipe here.

No Refrigeration Bakeshop Frosting
Makes 3 cups | adapted from KittenCalsKitchen

1 cup shortening
1/4 cup powdered coffee creamer (Coffee Mate)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
16 oz. confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/3 cup water (approx.)
food coloring as needed

In a large mixing bowl beat the shortening creamer and extracts. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar. Little by little add in enough water until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add food coloring until the desired shade is achieved.

DB: Gingerbread Houses

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

Every Christmas I make a gingerbread house with my sister. It's fun but I have to psych myself up for the long process of making the dough, chilling it, making my template, rolling and cutting the dough, baking it, cooling it, assembling it then FINALLY decorating it. I know I could cheat and buy a gingerbread house kit but they taste terrible and I can't bring myself to spend money on something I could make better myself.

I love baking way more than I like decorating (which I find to be messy, time consuming and fiddly). I'd much rather sink my hands into a big ball of dough and knead away. However, because of this DB challenge and the fact that my son wanted to do a gingerbread house, there was no skipping it this year. I made 3 small houses so everyone could use their own creative flair.

We really were down to the wire this year. It felt like Christmas snuck up on us way too soon. We only finished making these on Christmas morning after breakfast!



The recipe I've used for 9 years is here, from Allrecipes.com. It produces a cookie full of spice, soft and tender yet sturdy enough to build into houses. We always eat our houses because are too yummy to waste! This recipe tastes as good as it looks and the dough can be refrigerated for 3-5 days before baking for easy prep during a busy time of year. One of my friends begs me for these cookies every year. My mom likes them so much she'd rather eat them without icing so she can taste the gingerbread without any distractions. Highly recommended. I tripled the recipe for my 3 small houses but you could just double it if you are making one standard sized house.

Tip: Tie the pastry bag with a rubber band to prevent it from oozing out the top when squeezed by little hands.

Gingerbread Cut-Outs
24 -2" gingerbread men

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1.In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
2.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

Mango Cheesecake

Today was my mom's birthday. For several years now I have been in charge of baking everyone's birthday cake. Unfortunately, my very unadventurous family always requests my New York Cheesecake. Plain, no topping, no garnish, no sauce... just pure, unadulterated cheesecake. While this has given me the opportunity to perfect my NY Cheesecake recipe, it's getting a little boring baking the same thing 4 times per year when my mind wanders to the multitude of fancy cake recipes I could be trying out. So... I was thrilled this year when my mom asked me to make a mango cheesecake for her birthday! And whaddyaknow...I'm happy to say that we have found a new family favorite! This mango cheesecake was exquisite. Everything from the vibrant orange color to the shiny mango mirror glaze on top and the slivered almonds along the side... It was so pretty. I never knew mango and cream cheese could go so well together! The cake recipe is from Nigella Lawson from the Food Network but the mango mirror, red piping gel and almond decorations are my contribution.





**TIP Re: Make your own Piping Gel** You can make your own piping gel easily by following the recipe below. It's so much cheaper and more customizable then the little tubes you buy in the store. For 1 cup of piping gel, combine 1 tbsp gelatin powder with 1 tbsp hot water. Stir to dissolve then mix in 1 cup of light corn syrup. Divide into desired portions and color with food coloring. I have successfully halved and quartered this recipe for smaller batches.

Mango Cheesecake
Makes one 9" cake | Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Crust
2 cups crushed digestive biscuits
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Cake
3 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar (or to taste, depends on how sweet your mango puree is)
2 cups mango puree
1 tsp lemon juice
4 large eggs

1/2 cup slivered almonds, for decorating

Mango Mirror
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tsp hot water
1/2 cup mango puree

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wrap your spring form pan with foil around the bottom and outside to prevent water from getting in when you put it in the water bath to bake. **Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before you begin. I usually take them out of the fridge and put them on the counter at least 1 hour before I start baking.
2. Prepare crust: Mix all crust ingredients and press into a lightly greased 9" spring form pan, pressing slightly up the sides of the pan.
3. Cake: In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and mango puree until smooth. Add sugar then taste the mixture to see if it needs more sugar. I use canned mango puree which has sugar added so I use less than you would if you made your own mango puree from fresh mangoes. Add lemon juice then eggs, one at a time. Scrape down bowl often and beat until smooth but do not over beat.
4. Bake in a water bath - a large tray filled with hot water - for 1 hr 20 mins or until only about 1" in the center jiggles. Turn the oven off and let cool in the oven with the door open. Refrigerate overnight before decorating/serving.
5. Mango Mirror: Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water and stir it into the mango puree. Cool to room temperature or slightly cooler then spread over chilled cheesecake.
6. When mirror is set, press slivered almonds around the sides and pipe red dots on top or decorate as you wish.

Tuxedo Truffle Cake

On Friday we threw a wedding shower at work for one of our co-workers. I was in charge of making the cake. I decided to try replicating one of my favorite cakes - the Tuxedo Cake.
You can buy this cake from 2 canadian sources: M&M or Save-on-Foods:

Basically it's 3 layers of marbled cake with a layer of dark chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse in between, coated with ganache on the top. I took recipes from several sources to put this cake together. Success! While it's not as pretty as the commercial ones, everyone loved it and it tasted pretty damn close to the ones you buy.

Tuxedo Truffle Cake

Marbled Cake
3 cups Sifted all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups Buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Mousses
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
4 oz white chocolate
3 cups whipping/heavy cream

Ganache
6 oz bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup whipping/heavy cream

Directions

1. CAKE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15x10" jelly roll pan with parchment paper and grease and flour it. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter at medium speed until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and vanilla, and continue until lightened, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides once or twice. Gradually add eggs, beating after each addition until batter is no longer slick, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, about 5 minutes. Slowly add the sifted flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, a little of each at a time, at low speed, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape 2/3 of the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. Add the cocoa to the remaining 1/3 batter, mix it in then drop by the tablespoonfuls onto the yellow batter. Marble with a knife. Bake for approx 30 minutes or until cake is done. Cool fully, overnight in the fridge is better/

2. MOUSSE: In two separate small bowls, place the finely chopped white and the bittersweet chocolate. Bring 3/4 cup cream to a boil then pour half over each of the chocolates to melt them. Stir the hot cream in well to ensure it is free of lumps and chocolate is fully melted. Set aside for 10 minutes until slightly cooled. Whip 2 1/4 cups of the cream until soft peaks form. Divide the whipped cream into two equal portions and fold the chocolate into each. You should now have one bowl of white chocolate mousse and one bowl of dark chocolate mousse. Store in fridge.

3. ASSEMBLY: With the long end of the pan facing you, cut your baked cake into thirds, creating 3 layers. Spread the dark mousse over the first layer and freeze for 15-30 minutes to set. Top with next layer of cake then white mousse. Freeze again. Finally, put the last cake layer on top and store in freezer while you make the ganache

4. GANACHE: Place the finely chopped bittersweet chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil then pour over the chocolate. Stir to incorporate and melt chocolate. Spread over the top of the cake. Tada! A fancy and very tasty tuxedo cake.

DB: Dobos Torte

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

When I first looked at this recipe I had no idea what to do with such a festive, upscale looking cake. Then coincidentally my mother mentionned she was going to the annual potluck barbecue hosted by the Cancer Agency where she volunteers. PERFECT! Now my cake will have somewhere to make its appearance and be appreciated. The barbecue was on Saturday, so that's the reason/excuse for why this Dobos Torte is a little late for this month's DB. It was a hit! Everyone thought my mom had bought it and asked her what bakery it was from. To me, that's the ultimate compliment.

The ingredients and procedure for this cake are surprisingly simple. As others have mentionned, the most challenging part is the caramel layer. I didn't use the one provided with this month's challenge. I opted for a dry rather than a wet caramel. I cut the slices through all the way before covering with caramel. When the caramel was semi-set I used a very sharp, very buttery knife to cut through the caramel and separate the wedges to set fully. This seemed to work quite well. If i had a Silpat mat I would have definitly used it! My buttercream didn't turn out as dark as I wanted although it was still delicious. I would make this again but reverse the flavors so it would be a white chocolate buttercream on a dark chocolate sponge cake.

I urge you to try this recipe. I have included my adapted version below. For the original, see either one of the hosts' blogs above.

Dobos Torta
Recipe adapted from Kaffehauss by Rick Rodgers | Makes 8" cake

Sponge layers:
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner’s (icing) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour
pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream:
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping:
200g sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp butter

Finishing touches:
8" cardboard round
12 whole nuts (hazelnuts, pecans, whatever)

Directions for the sponge layers:
NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.
1. Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).
2. Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn’t touch the cake batter.)
3. Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner’s (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes.
4. In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner’s (icing) sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5. Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers.

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:
NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.
1. Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3. Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4. Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. Make sure the butter is very soft (running a knife through it will provide little resistance) before you try to beat it into the chocolate mixture. Also, if you beat the butter in while the chocolate mixture is hot you’ll end up with more of a ganache than a buttercream. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Directions for the caramel topping:
1. Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. Bring to room temperature before spreading the caramel on it. Place the reserved cake layer on a greased jellyroll pan. Cut the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly butter a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2. Place the sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan over low-medium. It will slowly dissolve. Keep a close eye on it and swirl the pot every few minutes. It will also darken. Add the lemon juice when almost all the sugar has dissolved. Lift and swirl. The moment the caramel darkens to an amber color, stir in butter. (It will hiss and bubble and spit at you!). Stir it in to melt it, working quickly before the caramel hardens.
3. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set. Using the tip of the hot buttered knife (keep re-oiling this between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Assembling the Dobos:
1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Holding a knife vertically up to the side of the cake, carefully level out the sides. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3.Optional: press 1/2 cup chopped nuts onto the sides of the cake.
4.Propping a nut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.