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!

Square Spice Cookies

Looking back onto the cupcakes I made, I already planned on cookies but decided to reuse the frosting.

I still wanted to make pumpkin without pumpkin so I made pumpkin spice cookies and added the brown sugar frosting.

Not the prettiest things in the world but they're super delish. Perfect fall spices for a perfect fall dessert. :) And I didn't waste any frosting. I was worried about it being too much on the cookie but it was perfect. 

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Good morning, pumpkin!

Fall is my favorite time of year. The cool weather, the colors of the leaves changing and of course, pumpkin. Pumpkin is huge now. Everything comes in pumpkin and pumpkin scones from Starbucks were always my favorite. I've never ventured into the scone world but I had been on a baking hiatus and was itching to try something new. It surprisingly wasn't as difficult as I thought. The only difficult part is some of the ingredients you may not have on hand. Which isn't necessarily difficult but annoying. I got over it though. 

Most scone recipes call for molasses which you can easily find next to the pancake syrup at the grocery store. You'll also need pumpkin spice. I actually found a bottle of pumpkin spice in the baking section of the store and it smells wonderful. If you can't find it, an easy mix of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger will do the trick. You'll still need pumpkin of course, which if you're like me you've stocked up while it's in season. Make sure it's canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie. You'll also need your basic flour, brown sugar and butter. Make sure your butter is cold! 

Not working with softened butter kind of freaked me out but just chop it up into small pieces and mix it into your flour and sugar mix, you want it to be crumbly but still completely mixed together. Mix in your pumpkin and other liquids separately and you'll form a dough. You'll want to knead it on a floured surface like you would any other bread and then you can take a pizza cutter to cut it into the normal triangle shape or however you'd like. Can't lie, I had some issues making triangles so I just scooped them up like cookies. 

While they're baking you can make the glaze which is super easy. All you need for the initial glaze is to whisk powdered sugar and milk together until it's thick. For the pumpkin, you'll still use powdered sugar but you'll add your canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix), pumpkin spice and milk to drizzle on top. I found it easier to make the white glaze in a wide enough dish so you can just dunk the scones in upside down when they're cool. Then take a spoon and drizzle the top with the pumpkin glaze. (Apologies for the lack of photos, I lost most of them when my phone had a heart attack)

They don't look like Starbucks scones but they definitely taste good! Enjoy for breakfast, after dinner or whenever you feel like a pumpkin treat. 

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Belated Thanksgiving; What's next?

I can't believe it's been a week already since Thanksgiving, and that I didn't post about the baby pies! That's right, I was on dessert duty (yea, pull my arm) and of course pumpkin pie is always the dessert for Thanksgiving. I didn't want to make just any pumpkin pie though, especially with such high expectations from my nephews. So I took to my favorite baking pan and made baby pumpkin pies!

The process may seem real tedious and time consuming but it is so worth it. Not only are they adorable, but they're super easy to eat and it actually baked a lot quicker than just one normal pie. Divvying up a round pie crust into squares was probably the most challenging part of the entire process. The baking was simple, crank the heat to 425 for 15 minutes, back down to 350 for another 15 or until a fork comes out of the middle clean. Don't worry about the holes, just cover it in cool whip. :) 

They're just too darn cute and super easy to eat! No silverware necessary, just how I like it.

Now that all that has passed, It's time to think about Christmas baking and I'm really trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I think I need a little more oomph. To help I bounced around Target for a bit and found these beauties courtesy of Wilton..

I've already begun to experiment and have already learned that less batter is more, as the gingerbread men tend to come out looking like overweight middle-aged men with beer bellies because muffins tend to rise... Still delish though, especially if you can avoid freeze-dried blueberries.

Going to enter the cookie realm next I think, I have my decorating supplies handy to slap the Christmas spirit into me if I have to, and plenty of gingerbread cupcake recipes to follow. 

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Another case of the Mondays...

Okay maybe not thaaat bad but Mondays are usually baking days which brings the pumpkin bars I've been talking about. It's not too late for pumpkin, it IS still fall! No skipping Thanksgiving.

Crunchy, cookie-esque bars complete with pumpkin and complimenting flavors like nutmeg and cinnamon. Not to mention the cream cheese frosting I made with little dashes of cloves and cinnamon, giving it that chai-like flavor.

Of course I didn't stop there. Couldn't decide if I wanted to make cookies or brownies, sooo I combined them!

Chocolate chip brownie meets chocolate chip cookie. What's even better is eating them warm with vanilla ice cream on top. Or just eating them warm with your favorite cup of coffee (again, Verona's cocoa flavor notes go perfectly with all the chocolate madness going on) or a hot chocolate. Just feels right now that it's snowing in November.

In preparation for that I picked up stuff to make gingerbread cakes. Still think it's too early to tackle that, I'm not a fan of skipping holidays. But, speaking of gingerbread and spices, what the end of Thanksgiving means is the return of Christmas Blend to Starbucks! Also known as Holiday Blend (yes, they really are the SAME thing)

Starbucks has managed to throw you for even another loop by creating Christmas Blend Espresso roast.

What's the difference?

Well first, people automatically assume that espresso roast can only be used for espresso machines and espresso beverages. Nope! It's just a stronger roasted coffee that yes, is used in espresso machines but can be made in your coffee pot at home.

Back to the Christmas Blend. The normal blend is sweet, spicy and herbal and will go perfectly with all your gingerbread and nutmeg treats.

The Christmas espresso roast is basically the same thing, but has a little more kick. Not in caffeine, but in flavor. Remember, the darker the roast the LESS caffeine there is.

It's deeper and darker with that the help of the rich espresso roast but still holds the spicy and sweet and a smooth-like carmel feel to it.

Getting waaay ahead of myself. Even though Starbucks already has the red cups, it's only fair to let Thanksgiving Blend finish it's course.



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Coffee Talk

Say hello to my new favorite toy! Well, maybe at least until I join the Keurig frenzy.

Coffee's the perfect pairing for anything baked but the right coffee is always key. Being a barista for, yes, eight years, I tend to be pretty picky in this department.

Obviously, pumpkin syrup in any coffee goes with anything pumpkin but if you're a not-so-fancy coffee drinker and a chocolate lover, I have to admit Starbucks' Cafe Verona is the way to go. Even as a barista I wasn't a huge coffee drinker but this full-bodied, multi-region blend with a touch of Italian Roast is perfect.

It's a blend of of Latin American and Asia/Pacific coffees and a touch of Italian Roast for depth. The rich, well-balanced flavor, cocoa texture and slight roasted sweetness pairs well with your favorite fudge brownie or chocolate chip cookie.

Some say Starbucks' coffee is too strong, and this drives me up a wall. Coffee is only as strong as you make it. The coffee beans at Starbucks come from the same place in the world as similar blends of beans at Dunkin Donuts, Intelligentsia, Lavazza, etc. It's all how they're prepared. Starbucks' grind-to-water ratio may be a little higher which is why some people don't like it; you can actually taste the coffee. They make it so you can catch those flavor notes, tell which part of the country their from with their acidity and pair it with things while it's not clogged up with extra cream and sugar.

Another fun coffee myth; The darker the roast the stronger it is. Stronger in flavor? Yes. Caffeine? Nope. The roasting process takes out the caffeine so if you think you're being gutsy by choosing Thanksgiving Blend over Pike Place this week at Starbucks, think again.

Okay one more fun coffee myth; Espresso has way more caffeine than brewed coffee. Nope. Two shots of espresso (give or take four ounces) has less caffeine than a 12 ounce cup of coffee. Why you ask? Espresso is shot out at about 20 seconds per 2/4 ounces depending on if you pull single or double, while brewed coffee does exactly that; brew. It takes about four minutes for a regular cup of coffee so the coffee grounds have more time to soak. Weird, huh? Did I lose ya? Probably way more than you wanted to know about coffee but something to think about next time you set that coffee pot for the morning.

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