hello kitty cookies for grace!!!

Happy

6th

Birthday

Grace!!!

new faux baked goods on etsy

So when I'm not actually baking something in my kitchen, I'm "making" faux baked goods!!! Here are a few new items I have added to my Etsy shop.

 Chocolate eclairs.....

Faux-stess cupcakes.....

Whoopie pies.....

And a French patisserie inspired set of 4 macarons, 2 croissants, 2 petit fours, 2 cupcakes and 2 chocolate eclairs.

These are all fat & gluten free!!!

Please visit my Etsy shop. :)

cinnamon biscuit rolls

Who wants to wait around for dough to rise for cinnamon rolls when you can whip up a batch of cinnamon biscuit rolls and eat them warm and drizzled with icing in less than an hour? 
I do! I do!!

The first time I made these, they were good but I knew they could be better. And after my second attempt at making these, they still could be even better! I tweaked the recipe a bit by adding more flavor and I'm pretty close to making them the best that they can be.

Cinnamon Biscuit Rolls
adapted from the brown eyed baker's blog
makes 12 

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter - melted
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 vanilla bean - seeds removed

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Lightly butter a 9-inch round pan. ***I used a glass round pan here.*** Place rack in the upper third of the oven. 

In a small bowl mix together dark brown sugar, cinnamon, kosher salt and vanilla bean seeds. Set aside.


In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and kosher salt. In a separate bowl whisk together sour cream and heavy cream. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix/fold together with a wooden spoon or spatula. If the mixture seems a little dry, add a tiny bit more heavy cream. The dough should look shaggy.

Turn the shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently either 30 kneads or 30 seconds. ***I kneaded mine for 30 kneads.*** Lightly flour your surface again (if needed) and roll your dough out to a 9 x 13-inch rectangle. 

Brush your dough with the melted unsalted butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture over your buttered dough; leaving a 1-inch border at one of the long ends. Gently press down the sugar mixture.

With the 1-inch border farthest from, starting at the opposite long side, to roll the dough into a cylinder. You'll need to roll tightly (but not too tight) so that the sugar mixture stays intact. After you've rolled your dough into a cylinder, pinch the edge onto itself.

With a sharp knife, cut the roll in half. Cut your halves in half again and then cut into thirds. 

Carefully place your biscuit rolls into your buttered dish leaving a little room between them since they will expand while baking.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. 

Once the rolls have cooled a little, gently separate them and continue to cool on the wire rack.

While your rolls are cooling, mix together the powdered sugar and milk. If your icing seems thick, add a tiny bit more milk. Mix together until completely smooth with no lumps.

Generously spoon the icing over your rolls letting it drip into the crevasses and down the sides. 

Yum!!! Happy Saturday!!!

a princess castle cake for bella!!!

Sculpted cakes are really not my specialty and since I've given up on using fondant to cover the outside of cakes I was up against a major decorating dilemma.

For Bella's princess castle cake I didn't waste any cake and absolutely no fondant was used. I do admit that icing a cake with just Swiss-meringue buttercream was quite challenging but I somehow made it work here. I'm also a fan of Candy Melts that I used to pre-pipe the doors and windows.....

The cake isn't picture perfect and there are things that I would have done differently, but for my first ever princess castle cake it's not THAT bad. Is it???

After I frosted the base of the cake, I added cupcakes and ice cream cones for the turrets. I also cheated with some cut ribbon for the flags.

I wanted to go crazy with a walkway and grass. But at the umpteenth hour I was only able to do very little.




HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
BELLA!!!

fruity pebble crunch cookies

Fruity pebbles? Check.
Mini marshmallows? Check.
Browned butter? Check.
Dark brown sugar? Check.
Vanilla extract? Check.
Oats? Check.
Flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, baking soda & kosher salt? Check, check, check, check, check, check!!!

This recipe for fruity pebble crunch cookies is the perfect combination from Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milkbar's Cornflake-Chocolate Chip-Marshmallow-Cookies and another all-time favorite The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie from Cook's Illustrated. Which I blogged about here.

These cookies take a lot longer than the average recipe for cookies, but it will be worth the wait. And you can trust me on this....

Fruity Pebble Crunch Cookies
original recipe courtesy of bon appétit via Two Bouroughs Larder
makes 15 - 24 cookies

Before you bust out your mixer and ingredients, the fruity pebble crunch needs to be made. And if you decide that the crunch is all you need and want then I suggest sprinkling it over vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt or eating it straight up. It's THAT good.

Fruity Pebble Crunch
makes one recipe for cookies

2-1/2 cups Fruity Pebble cereal
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 300ºF.
Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix cereal, oats, dry milk powder, and kosher salt. Stir to combine. Pour melted unsalted butter over mixture and toss to thoroughly coat.

Spread out onto your prepared cookie sheet and place in oven. Bake for 20 minutes rotating baking sheet after 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, the cereal should feel/look slightly toasted.

Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

for the COOKIES!!!

16 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups bread flour ***The original recipe called for all-purpose flour, but Christina Tosi uses bread flour in her cookies so I thought I'd follow her lead.***
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 recipe of fruity pebble crunch
1-1/4 cup mini marshmallows

Combine bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, place 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat melt the rest of the butter. While swirling the pan constantly, little brown flecks will form at the bottom of your pan and  the butter will have a nutty aroma. Once butter has browned, pour this over the butter in the stand mixer and stir to melt.

Add both sugars to butter and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Let mixture rest for 5 minutes. Turn on mixer again for 30 seconds and then let rest for 5 more minutes. Do this one more time for a total resting time of 15 minutes.

Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until all the flour is incorporated.

Add the Fruity Pebble Crunch and marshmallows, and mix on low until everything is evenly distributed.

Using a cookie scoop, portion your cookies and place on a parchment lined sheet and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight, ideally. ***I must have a lot of patience because I chill mine overnight.*** Also tuck the mini marshmallows into the dough so that very little of them are exposed. This will prevent them from just melting all of the place in the oven while they bake. 

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place balls of cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 5 minutes. Check your cookies and if the marshmallows are peaking out, push them back in with a small wet offset spatula. Bake for another 5 minutes. With a wide spatula, gently press the cookies down so that they bake evenly. Bake for another 5 - 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and light golden brown. ***I baked my cookies for a total of 20 minutes.*** 

The cookies will still be gooey in the center. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

baby bootie cupcakes, an ombre cake & a happy mother's day!!!

I piped over 90 pairs of pink baby booties with royal icing for Joslynn's baby shower today!!! The weather was a little humid this week which made it difficult for any type of sugar work to dry. Especially royal icing. Luckily the baby booties dried completely after 2 days.

Classic flavors.....7 dozen chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.

I just LOVE a small cake!!! This size cake will feed 6-8 people respectfully but it will be a huge star in today's cake centerpiece.

I've always wanted to make an ombre frosted cake. This was my first and hopefully not my last. 

CONGRATULATIONS Joslynn & Eddie!!!

50th solid gold disco party dessert bar

50 mini cupcakes, 50 bites of brownies, 50 blondies, 50 rice crispy treats & 50+ sugar cookies for a 50th solid gold disco party for Veli!!!

50 mini cupcakes with a gold "v" for Veli.

50 bites of blondies & brownies.

And rice crispy treats too!

More than 50 mini sugar cookies, bagged and bowed for a take away favor.

Plus 50 mini sugar cookies for the dessert bar.

Mounds of gold foiled candies.

And a small and simple birthday cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELI!!!