Experimenting gone right!

In my previous post I wrote about something I fiddled with, a new experiment with ingredients that didn't go so well. It happened before that instance too. (I'm still not over the mousse catastrophe).

Now I've made snicker doodles before.


I made a chai glaze that I was worried about but they ended up being fantastic so I knew I couldn't screw up a basic snicker doodle. (I highly recommend the recipe from yours truly) And since I can't just keep things simple I wanted something more than just cinnamon and sugar. It's still pumpkin season and without adding real pumpkin, partially so it would last longer, I made another glaze. I've gotten better at glazes/icing, where it actually looks like it should and I'm pretty proud of this one.

I usually use a mix of spices to get that pumpkin flavor. You know, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. And in a glaze or an icing you need is powdered sugar and some sort of liquid. If you want more of a clear glaze you can use water but I wanted it to be more like icing and a different consistency so it didn't look slimey. In that case you'd use milk or half and half but I found the best of both; my favorite coffee creamer this time of year. Pumpkin Pie Coffee Mate. I just mixed that with powdered sugar and even just a touch of shortening to thicken it up and it ended up being a lot better than I thought. If you are just trying to whip it up quick like I did without breaking out the mixer, make sure you get your arm muscles ready to go so you can continually whisk to get the air it needs. A good 3-4 minutes if you can manage.

I have found this to be the easiest method for frosting cookies. Just dunk them upside down and quickly flip them over and place on a cooling rack or a plate. I fell in love with my new three tier cooling rack from Wilton and it works perfectly if you just put some paper towels, wax paper, parchment paper or even tin foil below so you don't get icing all over your workspace. 

After a dip into the pool I sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice, or you can use the extra cinnamon sugar, just cinnamon, cloves, etc. etc. Let them rest and you're ready to go. 

Once again I have amazed myself. Not to toot my own horn but, toot toot! That's twice now within a month, remember these??

This is again something I will make again, or at least a variation. I haven't given up on experimenting despite some disasters I've made, from cookies and brownies as hard as rocks and mousse that turned into soup. I'm not giving up and hope you learned as much as I have!

Tea and Crumpets? Kinda...

Crumpets are a griddle cake that pretty much look like an English Muffin and are mainly eaten in the United Kingdom with tea. Well around these parts, I bake cookies with my tea.

Let's start with the tea. Chai tea has always been my favorite, especially the chai tea lattes at Starbucks. Chai is a black spiced tea from india and the word Chai simply means 'tea' in Hindu. There are strong notes of cinnamon and cloves that stand out but also cardamom and ginger.

I wanted to play off the cloves and cinnamon aspect of the chai. I've made chai frosting before with pumpkin bars but that's a whole new ballgame that we'll get to come fall. I've ironically not been much of a fan of cinnamon but I do enjoy cinnamon sugar so I wanted to incorporate that into the cookie but not too much to where it would take away from the spiced chai flavor.

So I turned to the snickerdoodle. I haven't experimented with the snickerdoodle much but I'm glad I did. The dough is stickier and more doughy than normal cookie dough which gives it a little flakiness. I rolled the dough into balls, rolled it into some cinnamon sugar and baked about 10-12 minutes at 350.

While they were baking I made a chai glaze. It's easier than it sounds. All I used was powdered sugar, water, ground cinnamon and ground cloves. I combined everything with a whisk until I reached a taste and consistency that I wanted and dunked the cookies in. The advantage to the square shape is that it sinks a little in the middle and holds onto more of the glaze that hardens in the fridge after awhile.

I dont mean to toot my own horn but I continue to impress myself and definitely see myself making these in the future. Tea party or not.

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Super Simple Cobbler

Okay, I found this on Facebook and I couldn't believe how easy it was until I tried it. And how good it is. You no longer need a fire pit and a grocery bag full of ingredients to enjoy a good chunk of cobbler.

No joke, all you need is frozen berries, cake mix and 7-up. Any berries you'd like or any frozen fruit even, lay them in a cake/brownie pan and sprinkle cake mix - your own or store bought - over them. Finally, pour a can - or two - of 7-up/sprite on top. Don't stir because the bubbles will give you that crisp topping but make sure all the flour and cake mix is covered and not dry. If you don't, you'll have small groups of unbaked cake on top. The second time I made it I used two cans or a can and a half of 7-up just to be safe.

I went with blueberries because they're my favorite. It looks weird, but trust me, it's amazing. 

After that, all you need to do is bake it for 45 minutes! 

(Side note - Weight-conscious or dieting? Try sugar-free cake mix and diet 7-up!)

Second time around I sprinkled some cinnamon and brown sugar on top about before baking and it made it even crispier and perfect on top. Scoop out and serve with whipped cream or ice cream and you're done! That simple. 

(Side note - Not dieting? Try Cinnamon Swirl cake mix!)

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Beach Bums

Well, it's been awhile since I've pulled out the oven mitts but now that life has settled down a little, I'm back in business. It also helps that I've basically turned my boyfriend's kitchen into a bakery. I may have taken over three or four cabinets but I don't think he and his roommate mind getting cupcakes for cabinet space.

I've had this idea for awhile, thanks to some help from Pillsbury and finally made it happen. It's super simple but super cute. Pick your favorite cupcake recipe and grab some Teddy Grahams.

Make the cupcakes like normal and your favorite frosting (I chose vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting) and smash up some graham crackers or some Teddy Grahams to use as 'sand'. This is where the fun stuff comes in. Find some drink umbrellas at the grocery store, plant a Teddy Graham belly-up and give him some shade. 

Be warned: I tried using some red icing to draw a beach towel underneath the Teddy Graham. Sounded like a cute idea until the icing ran off the cupcake and it looked like a Teddy Graham murder scene and less like a beach scene. 

Not only are they cute but the cinnamon Teddy Grahams added an extra kick to the vanilla cupcake, just enough cinnamon crunch to make it more than just a normal cupcake. 

Super simple, super cute and just in time to finally get some nice weather out here. 

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Long time no bake!

Can't believe it's been so long since I pulled out the oven mits and got to work, but I'm back and it's been a very productive day.

First let's look back at the mini lemon loaves I made for Christmas. I knew I couldn't completely imitate the Starbucks ones but I did my best and they came out pretty darn good. Amazing what some pound cake, lemon juice and icing can do.

Instead of going with all white icing, I also made a lemon glaze. Didn't want the cake to be pure sugar so I just crosshatched some white icing so it wasn't overpoweringly sweet.

Now today, I may have broken my rule a little but it's worth it when it comes to Cinnamon Toast Crunch Muffins..

Yup, just like the cereal, only in amazing muffin form. They're not square but I got to use my killer new Wilton baking gear thanks to my wonderful boyfriend. The least I can do is make the guy some normal looking muffins, which could have been his plan all along but I'll take it!

Now, the kicker is a version of salted carmel cupcakes.

Pretty simple really, starting with just a normal pound cake recipe. While they're still warm, poke holes in them and drizzle carmel on top. Either home made or store bought carmel sauce works.

Now I wanted to make salted carmel somehow but I normally don't have sea salt on hand in the apartment and you can't pour normal salt on a cupcake. Well, you could, but that'd be kinda gross.

So I decided to chop up some pretzels and add them to the frosting.

Crazy how simple it is. It's really just butter, carmel, powdered sugar, pretzels and boom. Awesome frosting. Something I'm still pretty proud of considering I almost ditched the salted carmel idea because I didn't have sea salt. You never know what you'll find in your kitchen to turn into a cupcake.

But wait.. can't leave you hanging without a coffee suggestion. Casi Cielo is back. A medium-roast coffee from Guatemala that actually translates as "almost heaven," is the perfect sweet and smooth roast to go with salty sweet carmel.

Oh and guess what?! It's available for Keurig now too! This roast is the most elegant in the Starbucks family being paired well with gourmet desserts and better served straight. It's smooth body, dark cocoa notes was originally created exclusively for gourmet restaurants. Sounds strange but now, with cupcake in hand, bring gourmet into your kitchen!

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