Fancy Flours: Where Bakers Bloom

If you haven’t seen a Christmas tree decorated with good old fashioned cookie ornaments you’ve missed out on something special. You can make the ornaments with regular cookies but salt dough ornaments are more durable and will last longer.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Mix salt and flour.
2. Add in half the water, then gradually add the remaining water.
3. Knead until the dough is smooth, this can take up to 10 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough on baking paper and cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters.
5. Use a straw to make a hole so you can hang the ornament.
Baking:
Temperature: 325 degrees
Time: 1 1/2 hours - or until dry

This is a lovely glaze with a subtle sheen

Recipe:
1 egg yolk
Few drops water
Paste food coloring

Use a new paintbrush to
add fine details.
1. Stir together egg yolk and water. Divide mixture among several bowls. Mix a little paste food coloring into each.
2. Use a small, clean watercolor paintbrush to paint various colors onto unbaked cutout cookies. Clean the brush between colors using plain water. Put only a small amount of paint on the brush. If the Egg Paint thickens while you’re working with it, stir in a little water, a drop at a time. If using more than one color, leave a narrow strip of cookie between painted areas so the colors don’t run together.
3. It’s important to use egg yolk paint only before the cookie dough is baked so that the raw egg is cooked during the baking step. Bake as cookie recipe directs.

How to Separate an Egg

Many of the techniques, such as egg yolk painting above, will require a separated egg.

To separate an egg white from the yolk:
Gently tap egg in center against a hard surface, such as the side of a bowl.
Holding a shell half in each hand, gently transfer yolk back and forth between the two halves. Allow the white to drip down between the two halves into a bowl.
When all the white has dripped into the bowl, place the yolk in another bowl. Store unused egg yolk, covered with water, in airtight container. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Create Your Own Edible Sugar Decorations

Using any candy makers mold you can create your own edible sugar decorations for cakes, cookies or cupcakes.

Recipe
2 cups Granulated sugar
4 tsp Water
1/4 tsp Meringue powder
Food coloring (optional)
Mix by hand, kneading for about 1 minute until sugar is moistened and packs like wet sand. Keep mixture covered with a damp cloth. Add 1/4 tsp meringue powder for strength.
To tint, substitute part liquid food color for water in recipe. Tinted sugar makes the pretties molded decorations.
To make sugar molds, pack the sugar mixture into mold as firmly as possible. To make multicolored mold, start with features and press the desired tinted sugars into mold. When making more than 4 sugar decorations from the same mold, dust mold with cornstarch to prevent sticking. Scrape off excess sugar mixture with a spatula, so top is even with edge of mold. Unmold sugar at once by placing cardboard over mold. Turn mold and cardboard upside down and lift mold off releasing sugar shape. Let dry 5 hours or in 200 degree oven for 5-10 min.
If using a large sugar mold you can decorate with royal icing using your favorite decorator tips.

Beautiful Butter Frosting

This is an easy and delicious frosting which is great on cookies! This frosting may be spread on a cookie or piped with a pastry tip. While the icing will form a thin crust, it will be soft when bitten into. Do not stack these iced cookies or the details will be lost.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, softened
4-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Milk
Food coloring

Try This Technique:
1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.
2. Slowly beat in remaining powdered sugar. Beat in additional milk, if needed, to reach spreading consistency.
Tint with food coloring. Makes about 2 cups of frosting

Piping with Colored Cream Dough

You can add special details to cookies before baking with this Cream Dough recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons light cream or half-and-half
1 cup all-purpose flour
Paste food coloring
1. Beat softened butter in a small bowl on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar and beat until combined. Beat in light cream. Add all-purpose flour and beat until smooth. Divide dough into 2 to 3 portions. Color each portion with paste food coloring.
2. Place each color in a decorating bag fitted with a writing, rose, or star tip. The dough must be stiff for the designs to hold their shape, so don’t be tempted to add liquid. Pipe one color on all the unbaked cookies on the cookie sheet, then do the same with the second color, then with a third, if desired. Bake as cookie recipe directs. Once baked, the piped-on designs are durable and the cookies store and freeze well.

Creamy White Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract, orange extract, or almond extract
4-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Food coloring

Try This Technique:
1. Beat shortening, vanilla, and extract with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Slowly add half of the powdered sugar, beating well. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk.
2. Gradually beat in remaining powdered sugar and enough of the remaining milk to reach spreading consistency. Tint with food coloring. Makes about 3 cups frosting.

Yields approximately 12 mini-doughnuts

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
25 chocolate candy melts
assorted toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Directions:
Sift flour, baking powder & salt into large bowl & stir in sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, oil & vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fill a 12-hole mini-doughnut pan with mixture and bake for 8 minutes or until cooked. Allow to cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (dont let the bowl touch the water). Dip half of each doughnut into the chocolate and decorate with toppings.
Topping variation: Sift ? cup powdered sugar into a bowl with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice and stir to dissolve. Dip half of the doughnut in the icing and decorate with toppings.

CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE
This cake is put into a cold oven and then baked slowly at gradually increasing temperatures.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs, room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups sifted all purpose flour

Butter and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Using electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add sugar and salt; beat 10 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat in flour at low speed until batter is smooth (do not overbeat). Transfer batter to pan.
Place pan in cold oven. Set temperature at 200?F; bake 20 minutes. Increase temperature to 250?F; bake 20 minutes. Increase to 275?F; bake 10 minutes. Increase to 300?F; bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour longer. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap; store at room temperature.)

Makes 1 large cake.

Bon Appitit
December 2003
Epicurious.com All rights reserved.

This is the best gingerbread cookie recipe we have ever tasted! Makes approximately 6 dozen 3 wonderfully crisp cookies.

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
1 cup light molasses
2 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger (ground)
2 tsp. cloves (ground)

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add salt, soda and spices. Add eggs and molasses. Add flour. The dough will be very soft and must be well chilled before handling.

2 Preheat oven to 350?F. Roll dough out on a heavily floured surface. Dough must be rolled very thin- thick- in order to keep the shape of the cookie cutter.

3. Decorate and bake for 8-10 minutes.

The secret to royal icing is in the consistency. Fortunately, royal icing is very forgiving. Does it seem to thick? Add a few drops of liquid at a time to thin it down. Is it too thin? Add a small amounts of confectioners’ sugar and stir until you get it thick enough.

Makes 2 cups
1 pound confectioners sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1/2 cup of water

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until smooth and creamy, about 7 to 10 minutes. If icing is too thick, add more water. If too thin, beat icing 2 to 3 minutes more.

Color icing with desired food colors by blending a drop of coloring into the icing. Gradually blend additional drops until you achieve the desired color.