March 23, 2009

Friendship, Milk and Cookies

Posted by Susan at 10:25 AM 7 comments
It's funny how you make lasting friendships throughout your life. I sometimes think of how hard it is to make lasting friendships once you've completed school. No matter how much we hated the "cliques" in school, in some way we all belonged to one. We had that friend, or group of friends that we met between classes, ate lunch with and saw movies with on the weekend. Most of the closest people to me I've known since high school, even junior high!

On the flip side of that, I realize how many friends I've made since graduating college. At my first "real job" post college I made a few great friends, who I am still friends with today, despite the fact that I left that job years ago. One of those friends is Maria. She is the most detail oriented, perfectionist to the point of obsessed person that I know, and when she told me she was venturing into event planning, I knew she had found her calling.

Maria was planning her stepdaughter's wedding and had asked me to make cookie favors, because really, who doesn't love an edible favor? She purchased adorable milk bottles and I made 3 different types of cookies to be tied to the bottles and handed out to the guests at the end of the night.


I made chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin. They were a hit with all the guests and my husband got to enjoy all the cookie rejects the morning after.


Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie (allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS


- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins (via epicurious.com)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup raisins (soaked in wateter overnight)


DIRECTIONS


- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil; butter foil. Blend first 5 ingredients in medium bowl.
- Using electric mixer, beat butter, vegetable shortening, and both sugars in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in honey, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, raisins, dates, and walnuts. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing mounds 2 inches apart. Flatten cookies slightly.
- Bake cookies until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on sheets.


March 18, 2009

A Little Break

Posted by Susan at 10:21 AM 1 comments
Its been a month since my last post, but for good reason. I spent the first 2 weeks in Egypt visiting family. Then the day after I returned home my sister gave birth to her two beautiful daughters. Its been an exciting few weeks around here, to say the least!

February 18, 2009

The Best Strawberry Cupcakes

Posted by Susan at 9:30 AM 41 comments
I love anything strawberry, ask my closest friends what my favorite food is and sadly they would all say a Dunkin Donuts Strawberry Frosted Donut!!

Since I started baking a couple of years ago I've been on the hunt for the best starwberry cake/ cupcake recipe. Most recipes out there start with a box mix, but I prefer to bake from scratch. I was on the hunt for a moist, fresh delicous strawberry cupcake, and I finally found it.


This is the recipe I used to make the cupcakes for my sister's baby shower, they went over so well, that I am making it my go to strawberry cake recipe.

Strawberry Cupcakes (makes 18 cupcakes):
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 teaspoon strawberry extract
1 cups pureed fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 cup butter-softened
1 8oz package cream cheese-softened
2 teaspoon strawberry extract
6 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
Pink Food Coloring

Directions :

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • In a large mixing bowl,beat sugar and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg whites one at a time,beating well after each addition.
  • Stir in strawberry extract,pureed strawberries,and sour cream.
  • In a medium mixing bowl,sift together flour,baking powder,soda,and salt.
  • Gradually add to butter mixture,beating until combined.
  • Pour batter evenly into prepared cupcake pans.
  • Bake for 15-20minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove onto wire rack.
  • Cool completely before frosting

Frosting:


  • In a large bowl,beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth.
  • Add strawberry extract beating until combined.
  • Add food coloring until desired color is reached
  • Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.

February 17, 2009

Mona's Baby Shower

Posted by Susan at 10:13 AM 4 comments
This weekend was my sister's baby shower, she is pregnant with identical girls!!!! Of course I couldn't wait to throw her a pink themed baby shower.

For favors I made onesie butter cookies.





Instead of a traditional cake I made cupcakes, chocolate, strawberry and yellow cakes, and I mixed the frostings, vanilla and chocolate buttercreams and strawberry cream cheese frosting.



























I love rainbow cookies, normally they are red, white and green, but I stuck with the pink theme on these too.




February 13, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day

Posted by Susan at 9:54 AM 1 comments
Happy Valentine's Day!

My husbands favorite cookie is the madeleine, so being the loving and thoughtful wife that I am, I made some pink sugar tipped madeleines for him.

While I was creating a mess in the kitchen , I figured I may as well make some chocolate chip cookies with the Valentine'd Day M&M's I had.
Being the loving and thoughful man that he is, my husband cleaned all the mess, without me having to ask, best valentine's day gift ever!

January 29, 2009

Cake Decorating with Toba Garrett

Posted by Susan at 10:12 PM 2 comments
Last week I took a cake decorating class with Toba Garrett at ICE in NYC. It was INCREDIBLE, I learned so much in the 4 days I was there. She began the class with basic fondant skills and then jumped right into stringwork and gumpaste flowers. Toba Garratt is one of the best in her field and is one of the greatest cake decorating teachers I've ever had.

This is the my final cake, fondant covered with stringwork and gumpaste flowers.
























Here is a close-up of the gumpaste flowers
 

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