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Cookie Recipe : Tips & Tricks : Inspiration : What 's New at KCI : Questions
Lesley's Thoughts : Contact Info : Past Newsletters
Cookie Baking and Decorating Ideas - Summer 2007
Welcome! It ws time for a change! I decided that after seven years and 181 newsletters we needed to kick it up a little. Please scroll through and read everything in this letter but on your second pass, click right to what you're looking for by clicking on one of the links above.
Any and all feedback about the changes and anything else on your mind are always appreciated. Remember, I taught junior high for 23 years so you cannot hurt my feelings.
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Do you still love those old fashioned chewy sugar cookies you had as a child? Try this recipe and recreate the pleasure.
Chewy Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons buttermilk
Sprinkles or colored sugar, for decorating
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and
vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Add enough of the buttermilk to
moisten the dough and make it soft, not wet.
Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls and place on a ungreased cookie sheet.
With a brush or fingers, moisten the top of each cookie with the remaining
buttermilk and slightly flatten the top of each cookie. Sprinkle with raw sugar or
colored sprinkles.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly golden. Let stand for 2 minutes before
removing to cool on a rack.
Printer Friendly Version of this Recipe
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TIPS AND TRICKS
(I found these on a website called Chef Jamie Gwen - From My Kitchen to Yours. Some of them I knew, some I didn't but I thought they were tips we could all use. )
To test the freshness of baking powder, just mix 1 tsp. of the baking powder with 1/3 cup hot water. If it doesn’t foam, it’s not fresh…
Often times a recipe calls for buttermilk. If you don't have any, just combine 1 cup milk with 1 T. white vinegar…let sit 5 minutes than use!
Before chopping nuts in a food processor, dust them with flour. This keeps the nuts from sticking to the blade or the bowl!
If you have run out of brown sugar, create a substitute! Using white sugar, begin adding molasses to it, combining with a fork. Continue to add molasses until desired darkness is achieved.
Spray non-stick cooking spray or wipe a little oil into measuring cups when measuring honey or peanut butter for a recipe. It pours right out!
Always keep a clean plastic baggie handy when you have both hand in any food you are mixing….If the phone rings, just slip your hand into the baggie and pick up the phone.
Use cocoa powder to dust baking pans when making chocolate cakes. The cakes will not have that white flour look on the outside.
When shipping cookies and baked goods for the holidays, pack them in layers of popcorn. Not only does it prevent breaking, but it's edible too!
This ones from me:
I went to the national ICES convention (cake decoratoring) in Omaha last week and was fortunate enough to have dinner with Ernie and Fay who own Americolor, the company that makes our gel color. We talked a lot about icing and one great tip, which I haven't tried yet but am dying to share, was to mix a drop or two of bright white gel color with a bright color such as Electric Purple to create a pearlized effect.
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Cookie Decorating Inspiration From You!
| Cinda, from Oregon, sent us these pictures. She started doing cookie bouquets for friends and it looks like she's ready to branch out! |
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Martha, who took one of my cookie decorating classes, sent us this picture of her work! Great idea!
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Tara was kind enough to send us this picture of her work! Bravo!
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Thanks to all who sent us pictures. They're always fun to see and a great inspiration for all of us. If you'd like to send a picture or two or three to share with the newsgroup, email them to me: lesley@kitchengifts.com
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WHAT'S NEW AT
KITCHEN COLLECTABLES, INC.
We're adding new designs almost every day. Here are just a few that I've put on the website recently.
Shiny Icing Revisited
On my list of most frequently asked questions one of the top ten is "How do I keep my icing shiny?" Generally, I politely, tell people that they probably can't keep that shiny wet look that they had when they made their cookies. However, a few months ago I got to thinking about it and did a little research. I found a product called "Edible Spray Lacquer" and ordered a can to try out. It works just like any other lacquer spray and I can't say it makes the cookies "shiny" but it does make a difference. We carry it so if you want to learn more or purchase a can, click here.
Paula Dean's "people" contacted us this summer and wanted some cookie cutters for an upcoming episode of "Paula's Party" on the Food Network. I know one of the designs was the classic high heel, can't remember what else. If you watch her show, keep an eye out in September for one with a famous cookie decorator..
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QUESTIONS!
In my last newsletter I asked about fondant -- hints, tips, etc. Lynn was kind enough to send us this information.
"Satin Ice" brand Fondant is the best tasting and best texture fondant out
there - I have tried several brands and everyone seems to really like the
taste of Satin Ice. They also have a chocolate fondant which (to me) tastes
just like tootsie rolls. It comes in a white tub - you can order it online
and it can be found in some well-stocked cake decorating stores. It can
also be purchased pre-colored - a great time saver. You can knead flavoring
into it (I use "Fiori di Sicilia" flavoring from King Arthur Flour, which
has a citrus-vanilla flavor - a little goes a long way), as well. It is
fairly expensive, but a tub lasts a long time if you are using it to
decorate cookies (vs. cakes which uses more to cover).
I wear disposable rubber gloves (the latex surgical no-powder kind) when
kneading color into the fondant to avoid staining my hands.
It is really easy to work with fondant - just roll it out as thin as you can
(1/8" or thinner is best) and cut it with the same cutter you used for the
cookie. If the fondant stays in the cutter when you cut it, it's even
easier to apply to the cookie - just position over the cookie and gently
coax the fondant out and on to the cookie. If it doesn't stay in the
cutter, just wait a few minutes and slide a thin metal spatula under it. If
the cookies are cooled, you can just brush them with a little water and the
fondant will stick.
When rolling the fondant out, you can either put cornstarch on the surface
you are rolling on (you can use powdered sugar, but it adds unneeded
sweetness, which cornstarch doesn't), or I use just a blue Ateco silicone
mat and a *very* thin film of Pam spray (wipe away excess with a paper towel
after spraying). If you want a shiny surface on the fondant, just lightly
buff the surface of the fondant with your palm or a fondant smoother once it
is on the cookie.
I had a lot of problems with my royal icing colors bleeding in the past, so
I have switched almost exclusively to using fondant as a base. There is no
drying time with fondant, it is durable and the cookies can be stacked.
Accents can be added with more fondant cut-outs or royal icing.
If you don't want to purchase fondant, you can make your own fondant from
store-bought marshmallows and powdered sugar (which I haven't personally
tried, but I have read about several people who use it and they say it
tastes great). It is done in the microwave, I believe. There are several
recipes online.
If you have a questions, please email it to me (lesley@kitchengifts.com) and we'll see what we can do about getting an answer for you.
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LESLEY'S THOUGHTS
Ok, here is where I come clean about why I haven't written a newsletter in a LONG time. Earlier this year my hard drive crashed (NEVER try to uninstall Norton Antivirus by yourself) and along with it went the address book that contained all of the email addresses for the newsgroup. I had pretty much everything else backed up on my external drive but I have never been able to figure out how to save a Microsoft Outlook address book (any pointers would be appreciated). Anyway, I did manage to make a hard copy of the list a couple of years ago but the thought of typing 3,000 email addresses into my new computer and the fact that many of them were out of date sent me into a frenzy of cleaning out drawers, closets, bathrooms or anything else to avoid the task.
This month I finally ran out of closets, drawers and bathrooms. All the woodwork is cleaned, the store room is organized, and you could eat off my garage floor -- alas nothing left to do but tackle the newsletter crisis.
Thank you so much for your patience as I traverse life's little challenges..
Lesley
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CONTACT INORMATION
I'm easy to get ahold of, just send an email to lesley@kitchengifts.com But PLEASE include a subject line that means something so I don't delete your email with the hundreds of pieces of junk emails I get every day.
If you would like to order a product or just browse through the ton of information, recipes, tips, videos, etc. go to www.kitchengifts.com
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8901 J Street, Suite 2
Omaha, NE 68127
Please do not reprint without permission.
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