Diamonds for Dessert

Inauguration Cake: Raspberry Vanilla Cream Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 04:10:00 +0000

Happy Inauguration Day!!! What a historic and joyful day :D! We now have a president with both a pandemic plan and a climate change plan ready to go and a female Black-South Asian American Vice President in the White House! To quote Kamala on Election Day, "We did it!"

I have been waiting for this day to come for so long! It has been so heartbreaking to see the division and polarization within our country these past 4 years, and this past year has been particularly rough. To celebrate the inauguration, I baked this mini Raspberry Vanilla Cream Cake, because all celebrations deserve some cake! We still have so much work to do these next few years, but today I finally feel the first twinges of hope.

Raspberry Vanilla Cream Cake
Vanilla Cake Recipe
Whipped Cream Recipe
Pint of Raspberries

Red and blue food coloring

Rainbow sprinkles

Bake vanilla cake recipe per above in two 8inch round pans (the cake recipe in the link is super thorough). Let cake rounds cool. If you desire to make a mini cake, use a sharp knife to cut out a 5inch cake round from each 8inch cake (I traced a small plate I had). Cut the cake layers in half lengthwise so you have 4 thinner cake layers.

Whip your whipped cream per recipe above; I used 2 cups whipped cream + 1/4 cup sugar + gelatin mixture (2 tsp gelatin dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water) and mixed until I had stiff peaks. Spread whipped cream on a cake layer, place a layer of raspberries cut in half, more whipped cream. Repeat with remaining cake layers. Once 4th cake layer is placed on top, do a crumb coat over the while cake. Chill cake for a 30 minutes.

Add another layer of whipped cream. Take remaining whipped cream and tint red and blue. Place colored whipped cream in piping bags and use to pipe lettering and hearts. Add sprinkles (I just separated out red, white, and blue jimmies from my rainbow mix). Enjoy!

Dumpster Fire Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 02:31:00 +0000

Happy New Years!!! I'm a couple days late, but we survived 2020! It was a tough, eye-opening year for all of us, filled with lots of "it can't get any worse, right?" dread and disappointment. This year for New Years I was debating what to bake, and instead of the usual gold glitter, pretty sparkles, champagne and strawberries type of dessert I would normally made, I decided to switch it up and make something more representative of how awful 2020 was.

It was a dumpster fire of a year, so why not make dumpster fire cookies? Some people make gingerbread houses, apparently I make sugar cookie dumpsters now :P. I had an internal debate on whether to make 2D vs 3D cookies, as usual 3D won. I decided on a base of colorful sugar cookie dough that would be cut into parts and glued together with colored royal icing. I free hand cut the cookie flames and baked them with my fingers crossed hoping they would turn out ok (they ended up way better than expected!). And made a chubby little trash panda (meet Kevin!) with the leftover dough. So there you have it, 2020 in cookie form.

I wanted to ring in the New Year with some "out with the old, in with the new" positive affirmations. I decided to symbolically "throw away" all my disappointments and frustrations from 2020 into the flames (to name a few: never-ending construction while working from home, everyone who spread false information about COVID-19 and undermined medical experts, the current administration, all those cancelled vacations, "all lives matter", fake news, racial and socioeconomic injustice...) and smash them with a hammer. It felt very cathartic :)! From the ashes and debris of 2020, we see a new dumpster representing 2021 (it's green because we're going to work on climate change this year, along with continuing the fight for equality :D). Hopefully 2021 will be a better year!

Sugar Cookie Recipe
Adapted from iambaker

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour

1/8 tsp salt
Food coloring, as desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder until a dough forms. Portion off the dough and mix in food coloring as desired to the different portions.

[Note: I used a lot of food coloring because I wanted darker colors and I think the coloring made the dough crumbly. I wrapped up the different colored doughs in plastic wrap and let them rest for a few hours in the refrigerator before rolling them out, which helped.]

Roll out cookie dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut out shapes as desired and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake in oven for 4-8 min, depending on cookie size. Watch carefully that they don't burn. Let cool on baking sheet until firm enough to move to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Wait until totally cool before icing and decorating.

Royal Icing Recipe
Adapted from The NYT

1 egg white
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Food coloring, as desired

Combine powdered sugar, cream of tartar, and egg white in a mixing bowl. Whip with an electric hand mixer until glossy and stiff peaks form. Divide into small bowls and color the icing in each bowl with food coloring as desired. When not using, cover the bowls with plastic wrap with the wrap touching the icing creating an airtight cover. The royal icing dries out when exposed to air.

Dumpster Fire Cookies

Sugar cookie recipe, above

Royal icing recipe, above

Piping bags

I used a knife and a ruler to make the different shapes for the dumpster. The whole dumpster was around 3 x 6 x 4cm in dimension. I did a lot of estimating and in the end still needed to trim some of the edges after baking because I didn't account for the edges of the cookies when making measurements. Baking times below are estimates, will vary from oven to oven so watch the cookies carefully with the goal to remove them from the oven before the edges start to turn golden to retain color.

For the dumpster body, the front and bottom were 6 x 3cm rectangles, back was 6 x 4cm rectangle, sides were 3 x 3 x 4cm right angle trapezoids, the side handles were 3 x 0.6cm rectangles. The front, bottom, back were baked 5-6 min, sides were baked 4-5 min, and handles were baked about 3 min.

For the dumpster lids and feet, I made black cookie dough. The lids were 3 x 3.5cm and the feet were 1x1cm. The lids were baked around 4-5 min and the feet were baked about 3 min.

For the flames, I portioned out red, orange, and yellow cookie dough and used a knife to freehand cut out flames. The red base was about 3cm in width and the tallest flame was about 5cm in height. The orange and yellow flame patterns were copies of what I did with the red but progressively narrower so I could stack them. The flame cookies were baked about 4-5 min.

For the raccoon, I made a gray dough and used bits of leftover black dough, baked about 6-7 min. After cooled, I used white and gray tinted royal icing to add details on the face and tail. Eyes were black nonpareil sprinkles.

For construction, once all the pieces were fully cooled, I used white royal icing to write "2020" and " 2021" on the front pieces and colored royal icing to glue the handles onto the sides. After that all dried, I piped royal icing along the bottom edge of the back piece to attach the bottom piece. After that dried, I piped icing along the edges of the sides and front pieces and attached them to the back/bottom pieces. (Carefully trim cookie edges as needed with a sharp knife between gluing and make sure to brush away crumbs before applying royal icing.) Once all that was dry, I flipped the dumpster upside down and glued on the feet.

Happy Thanksgiving and a "Pun"-pkin Pie!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 04:03:00 +0000

Hello Dear Readers! A quick announcement that I do have plans to start posting again on this blog in the very near future. Time has passed by so quickly; I can't believe my last post was in 2016. For now, what's Thanksgiving without a "Pun"-pkin Pie? Happy Thanksgiving and stay safe everyone! More updates in an upcoming post :).

Sorry, no step-by-step recipe post today!
Recipe Used: "Perfect Pumpkin Pie" by Once Upon a Chef (make sure not to over-bake to prevent the pumpkin pie filling from cracking!)

Decorations: I rolled out extra pie dough and used a knife to freehand cut the letters and leaves! Bad pun by me, original lyrics by Jay-Z and Kanye :3.

Golden State Warriors Lemon Curd Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 06:15:00 +0000

This cake has been a long time coming! Every year, when the NBA playoffs come around, I always think about making a Warriors-themed cake (not sure why these thoughts don't pop up during the regular season, haha). But I always find myself busy with one thing or another and it never happens. This year I have no excuse! I'm currently on vacation before residency starts and one of my goals is to work on this blog and catch up on all the baking ideas I've had stored up… hopefully.

Additionally, I finally started using Instagram this past year (follow me: @diamondsfordessert :D!), and not too long ago, I discovered Joy the Baker's account @drakeoncake!!! It's the best, seriously. I was listening to music and 0 to 100 came on and I thought, you know what would be even better than Drake + Cake? Drake + Dubs + Cake!

I been Steph Curry with the shot

Been cookin' with the sauce

Chef Curry with the pot, boy

360 with the wrist, boy

So there you go. It was either 0 to 100 or Summer Sixteen :). Originally I was going to do a blueberry lemon cake, but the blueberry frosting ended up being a lot of work and not very blueberry-ish. So it ended up being a lemon cake with blue frosting (still looking for a good blueberry frosting!), but still yummy with the tart lemon curd filling. I ended up making a mini cake, but included the instructions for a full sized cake, a mini cake, and cupcakes (in case you're not up to making a full sized cake, but still want to try this recipe). Enjoy!

P. S. And yes, it is raining 3s in the background. I didn't want to wait for online shipping to buy basketball themed paper, so I made my own. Also, go Dubs! Happy NBA Playoffs :).

Lemon Curd Cake (large)
adapted from Buttercream Blondie & The ATK Family Baking Book

Lemon Curd
6 ounces butter
zest of 3 lemons
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
9 egg yolks

Lemon Cake
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar

Vanilla Frosting
3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring of choice

Chocolate Letter Decorations
yellow candy melts (or white chocolate + yellow candy coloring)

Lemon Curd: Melt butter and lemon zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add sugar, lemon juice, salt, and egg yolks. Place back on med-low and cook until thickened (show be able to coat the back of a spoon), stirring constantly, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the curd. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the curd so a skin doesn't form. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Lemon Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside for now. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Cream the sugar and butter. Mix in vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate mixing in dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture.

In a different mixing bowl, add egg whites and cream of tartar. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat until frothy. Then gradually mix in the 1/4 cup sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks. Stir some of the egg white into the batter to lighten in. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites in two additions, just until combined. Do not over mix.

Divide batter evenly between the two round cake pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean, the tops are set, and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool in pans for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to completely cool.

Vanilla Frosting: Cream the butter. Mix in 3 cups of powdered sugar. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Then if necessary, mix in more powdered sugar. Add food coloring of choice.

Chocolate Letter Decorations: Print out desired text from computer (make sure to flip the text horizontally so it's mirrored when it's printed out). Place parchment paper over the printed text. Pipe out melted candy melts/colored white chocolate over the text and fix details with toothpicks. Let set and dry. Once ready to use, cut off excess parchment paper around the text. Place chocolate side down on frosted surface of cake, lightly press on the letters, then gently peel off the parchment paper.

Decorate: Place one layer of the cake on a clean surface (I use a round piece of cardboard covered with foil so it's portable). Put some of the frosting in a disposable piping bag/zippered plastic bag. Cut off some of the tip of the bag and pipe a ring of frosting along the edge of cake (this keeps the lemon curd from oozing out the sides). Spoon some lemon curd onto the middle of the cake and then smooth it out. Place the next layer of the cake on top. Repeat again with next layer. Once the last layer is on, press down gently on the cake.

Frost the whole cake with a thin layer of frosting for the crumb layer. Refrigerate the cake for 8-10 minutes for the frosting to set a bit. Add another layer of frosting, smoothing out this layer. Then decorate as desired, piping on frosting decorations, adding chocolate candy letters, or using sprinkles.

Lemon Curd Cake (small, I made a small cake)
Lemon Cake: Follow recipe above, but instead of using two 8" cake pans, use one 12 1/4 x 9 1/8 inch rectangular sheet pan. (I had enough batter to also make 6 cupcakes in addition to the rectangular cake). Spray the sheet pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on metal rack. Once cool, flip the cake onto a clean, flat surface covered with plastic wrap.

On a sheet of paper, print out a 5 3/4" diameter circle (easy to do with MS Word using the circle shape) or draw one using a compass. Cut out the circle stencil and use it and a knife to cut out two 5 3/4" circles from your rectangular cake. Cut both circles in half hamburger bun style and then decorate as indicated above.

Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Lemon Cupcakes: Follow recipe above, but instead of using two 9" cake pans, use cupcake pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let rest in pan for a few minutes, then remove cupcakes to cool on a metal rack. Let cool all the way before filling and frosting.

Decorate: Use a knife to cut a cone out of the top of each cupcake. Cut off most of the cone, leaving a cap to put back on the cupcake. Spoon some lemon curd into the hole. Place the cake cap onto the cupcake. Frost cupcake as desired.

Now, I'll leave you with this old but still wonderful gem of a video (from Ayesha Curry aka the real Chef Curry's Little Lights of Mine):

Apple Pi(e) Pops

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 21:41:00 +0000

Happy Pi Day!!! It's an even more precise Pi Day today since it's 3/14/16 (if you round up pi, you get 3.1416 :D). So of course, I have a pie recipe for you today: Apple Pi(e) Pops.

These apple pie pops are great on the go and for sharing, like on a picnic. They're the perfect little bites of sweetness for when you're craving pie, but don't want a whole slice. I actually really like to have a greater pie crust to filling ratio, so if that's your preference, this is the dessert for you. Plus they're just really cute and festive.

And just FYI, the leftover filling is perfect for mixing into plain oatmeal, like the instant packets of apple cinnamon oatmeal, but better because it's made from fresh apples! I've definitely made just the filling before to make apple cinnamon oatmeal :).

Apple Pie Pops
adapted from Sweet Little Details and Cooking with Chopin

Pie Crust
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 stick (8 tbsp) cold butter
1 egg, beaten
cold water
sugar for dusting

Apple Pie Filling
2 apples, diced very fine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water

For the pie crust: Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea sized lumps. Form a well in the center of the mixture. Add the beaten egg. Gently knead the pie dough, but don't overwork it! It should clump up when you squeeze it, but still be crumbly.

Gather the dough in a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and let it rest. Once chilled, let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Roll it out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/16-1/8" thick.

For the filling: Place the diced apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until boiling, and let cook for 2 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the water and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the saucepan and cook the filling until thickened, 5-10 minutes. Set aside for now.

For the assembly: Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut small rounds from the pie dough with a round cookie cutter and place on baking sheet. Place lollipop stick in the center of each round.

Spoon some pie filling on top. Wet around the edge of the round with water. Place another pie crust round on top. Press down on the edges to seal, then crimp with a fork. Use a knife to cut out pi on top, or just lines for venting. Repeat with rest of dough. Sprinkle the tops of each with sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 20:52:00 +0000

So... I really love sprinkles (I've found that this is a common trait among baking bloggers). I'm that person who always reaches for the sprinkle covered donut (is it donut or doughnut?), who drowns my sundaes in sprinkles, who chooses funfetti over vanilla or even chocolate, who always says "yes!" to "do you want sprinkles on that?" (not that I get asked this very often :P). I love the pop of color sprinkles can add to any dessert.

This recipe is definitely one that is going in my go-to recipe collection. It's fairly straightforward to make. The cookies turn out soft and chewy with a nice touch of fluffy frosting on top. And in addition to being tasty, they're nice to look at. You can use whatever color of food coloring for the the frosting and the sprinkle mix of your choice to decorate the tops. With all the dreary winter weather lately, I find that a rainbow sprinkle covered sweet, like these frosted sugar cookie bars, can really brighten up the day :).

Frosted Funfetti Sugar Cookie Bars
adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Bar Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (jimmies, not nonpareils)

Vanilla Frosting
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp heavy cream or half-and-half or milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt, optional
food coloring
extra sprinkles for decoration

Bar Cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with foil leaving an overhang (to easily lift bar cookies out of pan after baking). Spray foil with nonstick spray. Set aside for now.

Cream butter with sugar in mixing bowl. Mix in egg and egg yolk. Add vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, repeat 2 more times until all wet and dry ingredients are combined. Fold in rainbow sprinkles.

Spread the batter in the foil covered baking pan. Bake bar cookies for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Let cool on wire rack before decorating with frosting.

Vanilla Frosting: Combine softened butter with powdered sugar. Add cream and vanilla extract. If using unsalted butter, consider adding the pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness. Add more powdered sugar or cream if too thin or thick respectively. Tint with food coloring (1-2 drops for pastel color).

Spread frosting over cooled bar cookies. Decorate with extra sprinkles. Cut into squares, wiping knife off on paper towel between cuts. Enjoy!

Makes 16 bars

Chewie Gingerbreadwookiees

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 00:30:00 +0000

Happy Holidays! I can't believe almost another year has passed. As usual, this holiday season, I made my favorite thick and chewy gingerbread cookie recipe. Each year, I try to do a different design, having made Gingy-bread Men (from Shrek) and Gingerbread Gentlemen cookies in the past, I wanted to continue this tradition this year.

I had just seen Star Wars: Episode VIII last week. And having made Chewie Wookiee Cookies (Chewbacca CCCs), Han Solo cups, and Yoda Match Truffles, I thought, why not more Star Wars? I thought about possibly making Ewoks, Jawas, or Banthas, but in the end decided to stick with Wookiees :). Perhaps next time for the other creatures!

I don't have wookiee shaped cookie cutters, so I drew my own stencil on paper and used that to guide my knife when cutting out shapes. Since I wanted to make these cookies holiday themed, I decked out Chewie's bandolier with holiday sprinkles instead of cartridges. But if you want to make this for any day of the year or you don't have holiday sprinkles, you can always draw in the cartridges with white chocolate like I did for one of the cookies in the photos. Enjoy, and may the force be with you :P!

Chewie Gingerbreadwookiees
thick and chewy gingerbread cookie recipe
semisweet chocolate
white chocolate
holiday sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Make gingerbread cookie dough recipe and roll it out to between 1/8-1/4 inches thick. Print out and cut out stencil (should be 5" tall). Spray stencil with nonstick spray (so it doesn't stick to the dough), and use it as a guide for cutting out cookies. Place cutouts on baking sheet. Use a fork to press lines into the dough for "fur". Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes. Let the cookies cool before decorating.

Melt semisweet chocolate. Use it to draw a sash across each cookie for the bandolier. Press in holiday sprinkles before chocolate solidifies. Use a toothpick to draw chocolate eyes and a nose. Melt white chocolate to draw in the teeth.

(If making non holiday Chewie, draw the semisweet chocolate sash, eyes, and nose. Wait for semisweet chocolate to solidify. Melt white chocolate and use it to draw in the cartridges on the bandolier as well as the teeth).

Apple Cider Caramels

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 03:14:00 +0000

Life has been busy and I haven't gotten to do as much baking as I've wanted these past few months! I've made a few older tried-but-true recipes (like Strawberry Cream Cake and Celebration Oreos) but I haven't had time to tinker with anything new. Slowly, I'm working baking and blogging back into my routine. Here's a recipe that I was going to post last October, but didn't get the chance to... but it's relevant again since fall is here :).

Last fall, I went apple picking for the first time, and it was awesome! I've always wanted to go apple picking, but this is the first time in my life I've lived less than an hour's drive away from an apple orchard. At the orchard, along with my fresh-off-the-tree apples, a dozen homemade apple cider donuts, and some garlic cheese curds, I picked up a bottle of apple cider specifically so I could try out this recipe. I'm very glad I did.

These caramels are amazing! They have a strong apple flavor with touch of cinnamon, like apple pie. I was very impressed by the apple flavor. There's the yummy butteriness and the occasional bite of sea salt that mellows out the sweetness. Straight out of the refrigerator, the texture is firm and chewy, but at room temperature, the texture is soft and sticky, adaptable to different people's preferences (I like them straight out of the fridge). And now I'm thinking about what other fruit flavored caramels I will make next :)… I definitely recommend you give this recipe a try!

Apple Cider Caramels

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

4 cups apple cider

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 stick (8 tbsp) butter, cut up into 8 pieces

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Boil the apple cider over high heat until it reduces to 1/3-1/2 cup of liquid. (This took me 2 hours, but in the original recipe it took about 40 minutes, so I guess it definitely depends on the size of your pot. I used a normal saucepan.)

While the apple cider is reducing, mix the sea salt and cinnamon together in a bowl; set aside for later. Spray a 8x8" square cake pan with nonstick spray and line it with two crisscrossing rectangles of parchment paper.

Once the cider is reduced, remove from heat. Add in the cream, butter, sugar, and brown sugar and stir. Return to heat and let boil until it reaches 252°F, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon/salt mixture. Pour the caramel into the prepared cake pan. Let sit until firm, about 2 hours.

Remove the caramels from the pan by pulling on the edges of the parchment paper and transfer to a cutting board. Oil your knife well (I sprayed mine with nonstick spray every few cuts). Cut into as many pieces as desired. Wrap the pieces in squares of wax or parchment paper. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Makes a lot (will update with a more exact number once I remake them this year!)

Painting with Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Sun, 18 Oct 2015 17:57:00 +0000

New fall-themed post coming up later this week. Finally, right? In the meantime, enjoy this video on chocolate sculpture where they recreate Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring in chocolate! So lovely.

Seriously, painting with chocolate (think of the possibilities). Now I want to get my hands on some cocoa paints to try this out for a future project!

Yoda Matcha Truffles

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 05 May 2015 04:18:00 +0000

Happy Star Wars Day Everyone! May the 4th be with you. I made Chewie Wookiee Cookies (from exactly 2 years ago) yesterday… and had them for breakfast this morning. Seriously, cookies for breakfast = win!

Anyway, aside from the Chewie Wookiee Cookies, I wanted to make another Star Wars-themed recipe for this year's Star Wars Day. I've been craving something with matcha for a while, so I thought Yoda Matcha Truffles would be perfect. Aside from both being green, I associate both matcha and Yoda with zen and wisdom, so a perfect match!

The recipe is fairly straightforward. What was challenging was melting chocolate in humid weather, definitely not one of my favorite things to do. I also thought about just mixing white chocolate with matcha powder for the outside coating, but it turned out pretty grainy and icky looking, so I went back to relying on candy coloring to get the green tint for the coating. Other than that, they turned out pretty well, perfect for Star Wars Day.

P.S. In case you were wondering why these truffles only have eyes… I tried adding a mouth to some of the truffles (an example above ^), and for some reason they looked really strange to me. As I was decorating the other truffles, it hit me. The one with mouths really reminded me of the Adventure Time goblins rather than Yoda. I decided to hold back on noses as well since that would have made them look even more goblin like ><! When you make them, it's up to you whether to put a mouth on or not :P.

Matcha Truffles
8 oz white chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 tsp matcha
pinch of salt

Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double boiler. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then add to melted white chocolate and mix. Sift the matcha (I used a mesh tea infuser), add to the white chocolate, and stir in until all blended. Pour mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool to room temperature. Chill mixture until set. Once the mixture is chilled, decorate as desired.

Makes 12 truffles.

Yoda Truffles
matcha truffle mixture
white chocolate, chopped
semisweet chocolate, chopped
yellow candy coloring
blue candy coloring
black nonpareils

Melt white chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. Add yellow and blue candy coloring until you get an olive green. Spoon some green chocolate into a ziplock bag. Cut a bit off the corner of the plastic bag. Squeeze out some pointy small triangles of green chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. These will be the ears. Chill in refrigerator until set.

Roll the matcha truffle mixture into 12 balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate. Slightly flatten them. Chill the balls in refrigerator until hard. Dip the truffles into the melted green chocolate, shaking off the excess chocolate, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place two black nonpareils for eyes and stick two of the ears (flat side facing up) into the sides of the truffle while the coating is still wet.

Dip the rest of the truffles. Place baking sheet in refrigerator until chocolate coating is set. Melt the semisweet chocolate. Spoon into plastic bag. Snip off a small bit of a corner of the bag. Squeeze lines onto the ears and two arced wrinkles above the eyes. Let the chocolate set and they'll be ready to serve. Keep refrigerated if not ready to serve.

Homemade Marshmallows

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 23:43:00 +0000

I'm back (finally)! So, my third year of medical school has ended up a lot busier than I planned, and I haven't gotten much baking done. But I think I've got my time management down and I'm going to try to work baking and blogging back into my regular schedule. Plus, over winter break, I did some holiday baking, so I have some of that to share as well.

Today I have my go-to recipe for homemade marshmallows. I'm quite surprised that I've never shared it here before. For the most part, I try to share recipes that use minimal equipment, but this recipe requires a stand mixer due to safety (sorry), so maybe that's the reason. Anyway, if you've never made homemade marshmallows, I definitely recommend it. They turn out soft and fluffy and they just taste better than store-bought marshmallows. I have another recipe for flavored marshmallows that I'll share in a few weeks, but this recipe makes wonderful vanilla marshmallows, the perfect addition for s'mores and hot cocoa.

Usually, when I make these for everyday eating, I'll just cut them up into squares, but for my holiday baking this year, I wanted something more festive. So I decided to make them look like snowmen. I halved the recipe so they'd be thinner and easier to cut into circles. Then I gave them faces with royal icing leftover from decorating gingerbread cookies. I also added a touch of cinnamon to the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture used to powder the outside of the marshmallows to make them extra festive. No matter squares or snowmen, they're still equally delicious.

Vanilla Marshmallows

adapted from about.com

1 1/2 envelopes (1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

cornstarch

powdered sugar

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the 1/4 cup of cold water. Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the water and let the gelatin soak. Cover a 8x8" square baking pan with plastic wrap and spray the plastic wrap with nonstick spray; set aside for now.

Mix the sugar, corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan. Place over the stove and bring to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute. Pour the boiled sugar syrup into the stand mixer bowl over the gelatin. Add salt. Mix on high for 12 minutes. Add vanilla and mix a few more seconds. Use an oiled spatula and scrape the marshmallow mixture into your prepared square baking pan. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with nonstick spray and place over the marshmallow mixture, greased side down. Press on the plastic wrap to smooth out the marshmallow.

Let set for a few hours. Once ready to cut, in a wide bowl, mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar with 1/2 cup cornstarch and add the pinch of cinnamon if desired. Peel the plastic wrap off the baking pan. Move the marshmallow over to a cutting board and cut into squares with a knife sprayed with nonstick spray. (If you want to make snowman marshmallows, use a round cookie cutter sprayed with nonstick spray to cut out circles.) Roll the marshmallows in the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture as you cut them out. Once all are cut, keep in an airtight container until ready to serve.

NOTE: Above measurements are halved from original recipe. Feel free to double recipe for thicker marshmallows.

Snowman Marshmallows
circular marshmallows
royal icing recipe (don't need to make whole recipe, can make 1/8 recipe)
black food coloring
orange food coloring
toothpicks

Color half the royal icing black and half of it orange. Keep the orange icing covered when using the black icing first. Use a toothpick to dot black icing for eyes and mouths. It might not stick very well since the marshmallows are covered with powder, so press the icing into the marshmallows, sort of like inking a tattoo. Blob on orange icing for the noses, pulling the toothpick upwards so the icing is slightly pointy.

A Short Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:00:00 +0000

Hi Dear Readers,

Just wanted to let you all know that I'll be taking a temporary hiatus from blogging. I'm spending the next month or so studying for Step 1, during which I'm challenging myself to minimize my time spent on the internet. (Replace Twitter in the image below with Pinterest/Tumblr/Blogs and that's where all my time seems to go!)

Credit: Fuchia Macaree

During this time I won't be checking the comments here, my blog e-mail, or the DforD FB page, just FYI. Sorry! That being said, I hope to be back to blogging soon. I have many posts on the backlog as well as a ton of new ideas that I'm looking forward to sharing.

See you all soon!
Susan

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To end on an inspirational note, here are 15 of my favorite food/baking/dessert-related images :D:

Credit: Questionable Content

Credit: Mike Stimpson

Credit: Crystal Barlow

Credit: NY Daily News

Credit: Alexandra Snowdon

Credit: David Olenick

Credit: Desserts for Breakfast

Credit: Unknown

Credit: Richard Austin

Credit: Old English Co.

Credit: Jenna Sue Design Co.

Credit: Adventure Time

Credit: Atlas Hands Cover

Credit: Gemma Correll

Credit: Unknown

Pot of Gold Truffles

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 05:30:00 +0000

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!!! For today, I gave my Bailey's Truffle recipe a festive twist, giving them a bit of gold sparkle and rainbow color.

I decided to use the same recipe as the Bailey's Bear Truffles, since I thought the Irish Cream would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day. If you're a long time reader of this blog, you might remember my Pot of Gold Cupcakes? Well, this year, I thought I would take the same idea and adapt it to truffles, since decorating truffles seems to be my new obsession.

Pot of Gold Truffles
Bailey's truffles recipe
6 oz white chocolate
red, yellow, blue oil-based candy coloring
8 oz semisweet chocolate
gold sprinkles

Make the Bailey's truffles recipe. Let chill in the fridge for a few hours, or until firm enough to work with.

Melt the white chocolate. Split it between 3 bowls. Tint one of the thirds red, one blue, and one yellow. In a separate bowl, start with yellow and slowly add a little red at a time until you get the orange you want. In another bowl, start with yellow and add a little bit of blue until you get the green you want. Lastly, in another bowl, start with red and slowly add blue a bit more at a time until you get the purple you want.

Now you should have 6 shades of colored white chocolate: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Place the different colored chocolates into separate ziplock bags. Cut off a tiny bit of the tip of a corner of the bag of red chocolate. Squeeze an arc of red on a piece of parchment paper on a flat surface. Repeat until you have about 24 arcs (extra in case you mess up).

Next cut off a tiny bit of the tip of a corner of the bag of orange chocolate. Squeeze and arc of orange right each arc of red chocolate (they should be touching). Repeat this with the yellow, green, blue, and purple bags of chocolate. Let your chocolate rainbows totally dry/harden before using. Once dry, carefully peel them off the parchment paper. Feel free to take a sharp knife to trim the two ends of the rainbow if they're messy.

While waiting for the rainbows to dry, you can shape the truffles. Scoop the truffle mixture out of the bowl and roll it into 18 balls (I like to split the mixture into two. Then split each half into thirds. Then split each third into thirds to get 18 almost even sized blobs of truffle mixture.) Place the balls onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Let chill in the fridge until firm.

Once firm, take the balls out of the fridge. The side of the balls touching the cookie sheet should be slightly flat (this side will be the bottom of the pots). Take a knife and slice a bit off the top of each ball (this will be the top of the pots). The sliced off portions can be rolled up into another truffle (that's how you end up with 19 truffles, instead of 18). Place the truffles back in the fridge to firm up a bit.

Melt the semisweet chocolate. Dip all the truffles in the chocolate, shaking off the excess chocolate, and place each truffle on a piece of parchment paper on a flat surface to dry, with the "tops" of the pots touching the parchment (the larger flat side should be facing down). Let the truffles dry/harden before proceeding.

Once the truffles are dry, peel them off the parchment and flip them around. Take some melted chocolate to patch up any holes/bald spots. Then use a toothpick to spread some melted chocolate to the top of each truffle. Press a white chocolate rainbow into the center of each truffle. Cover the rest of the top of each truffle with gold sprinkles. Let dry before serving. (If not serving immediately, keep refrigerated. Let reach room temperature before serving).

Makes 19 truffles.

Bow Tie Macarons

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 05:37:00 +0000

Here are the other macarons I made for NYE! As I mentioned in my last post, I made black & white macarons for NYE. The black sprinkle macarons in that post were definitely more New Years specific and more time consuming to decorate, so for my white macarons, I wanted something simpler that would take less time to decorate, yet still be cute and classy.

Like how the black macarons were influenced by my New Years manicure, these macarons were inspired by my New Years Eve dress (actually, to be more accurate, the dress I was going to wear… I'm ridiculously indecisive, so I came prepared with 3 dresses and ended up wearing something black instead :P… while this bow dress ended up as the background for these photos, lol). Half of my white macarons were decorated with bows, and the other half were covered with rainbow sprinkles for a pop of color, both designs perfect for any party or celebration!

Bow Tie Macarons
adapted from A la cuisine

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup finely ground almonds
3 egg whites, aged at room temperature for 48 hours
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Tape two sheets of blank printer paper together to form a large sheet about the size of your parchment. Trace 1-inch diameter circles onto the now large sheet of paper to form a stencil. Set aside for now.

Mix the powdered sugar and ground almonds together. In a clean bowl, add your aged egg whites and salt. With an electric mixer, beat on low until frothy. Turn up the mixer to high and slowly add in the granulated sugar as you continue to mix till the whites are stiff peaks (when you lift up the mixer, there should literally be stiff, shiny peaks).

With a spatula, gently fold in the powdered sugar/nut mixture until incorporated. Place a plain piping tip in a piping bag and fill the bag with your macaron batter. Now take that circle stencil and place it under a piece of parchment and use as a guide as you pipe out your macarons. When done, slide out the paper, place it under your other parchment, and repeat. Let your macarons dry for a few hours, until the tops are completely dry.

[To keep your macarons shells white colored while baking, the top heating element of your oven needs to be covered before preheating the oven. This can be done in one of two ways. Make sure your oven is completely cooled down before attempting either method.

Method #1 (the one that I used): Move your top oven rack to the highest position. Cover the entire rack with sheets of aluminum foil so that the rack you'll be putting your tray of macarons on below is completely shadowed. The point is so the heat from the top heating element won't directly touch your tray of macarons while baking.

Method #2 (I haven't tried this yet, but theoretically it should work): Your oven absolutely has to be cool to attempt this so you don't burn yourself. Use aluminum to wrap the entire top heating element of your oven.

Try whichever method you prefer. I still need to test out the second method, but it seems easier than the one I tried. Btw, the second photo in this post shows the difference between the coloring of the shells. On the right is a slightly tanner macaron from my first batch, before I played around with Method #1. The macarons on the left and in the other photos are the white macarons that are from the later batch, after I perfected my method of covering the oven.]

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake your trays one at a time for 8-10 minutes or until the macarons are set on top. Let them cool on the parchment on a cooling rack. When cool, carefully peel the shells off the parchment.

Pair all the macarons up by matching size. Decorate one of the macaron shells as indicated below. Fill a piping bag with almond filling (recipe below), pipe filling onto the non-decorated macaron shell in each pair, and sandwich the filling with the decorated matching macaron shell. Once done, refrigerate the macarons to let the flavors meld.

Almond Filling
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) salted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2-1 tsp almond extract

Cream the butter and powdered sugar. Mix in the almond extract.

Decorating the Macarons (Bow Ties)
sugar cookie icing
black gel food coloring
gold pearl dust (optional)

Color the sugar cookie icing with the black food coloring. Use a toothpick to trace out two triangles on a macaron shell to make a bow tie shape. Repeat with other macaron shells. Let the icing dry. Then trace a small rectangle to cover where the two icing triangles touch to finish off the bow tie.

Let the icing dry before filling the macarons. If using the pearl dust, after the icing dries, use a clean paint brush to brush a small amount of pearl dust on each icing bow tie.

Decorating the Macarons (Rainbow Sprinkles)
sugar cookie icing
rainbow nonpareils

Spoon some uncolored (white) sugar cookie icing onto the macaron shell. Spread the icing out to cover the top of the shell. Sprinkle some nonpareils onto the shell. Repeat with the other macaron shells. Let the icing dry before filling the macarons.

New Year's Eve Macarons

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 07:29:00 +0000

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the holidays :). I'm currently trying to get all my holiday cookie photos edited, but hopefully I'll have them up soon. This year I made a variety of cookies for Christmas and then a few more sweets to celebrate New Year's Eve last night. I'll start with posting my New Year's desserts, then move onto my Christmas cookies.

For this New Year's Eve, I really wanted to make some black and white macarons. Today I'll present my black macarons, and in my next post, I'll share my white macarons. Other than black and white, I also associate New Year's Eve with a ton of glitter and confetti, which inspired my manicure from last night: mixed rainbow glitter (Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday) over black nail polish (Chanel Black Satin). In turn, my manicure became the source of inspiration for these macarons.

I knew I wanted to make these macarons glittery and rainbow, since I figured that would contrast well with the black color, sort of like how fireworks show up so well with a dark night sky. So, I decorated them with the edible equivalent of glitter and confetti: shimmer dust and sprinkles. I also wanted to try something new, so rather than just cover the macarons with nonpareils, I ended up spelling out "NYE" and "2014" on the macarons to make them just a bit more fancy. These were definitely the perfect dessert for celebrating New Year's Eve.

^A preview of my white macarons.

New Year's Eve Macarons
adapted from A la cuisine

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup finely ground almonds
3 egg whites, aged at room temperature for 48 hours
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
black gel food coloring

Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Tape two sheets of blank printer paper together to form a large sheet about the size of your parchment. Trace 1-inch diameter circles onto the now large sheet of paper to form a stencil. Set aside for now.

Mix the powdered sugar and ground almonds together. In a clean bowl, add your aged egg whites and salt. With an electric mixer, beat on low until frothy. Turn up the mixer to high and slowly add in the granulated sugar as you continue to mix till the whites are stiff peaks (when you lift up the mixer, there should literally be stiff, shiny peaks). Add in the black food coloring and mix a few more seconds.

With a spatula, gently fold in the powdered sugar/nut mixture until incorporated. Place a plain piping tip in a piping bag and fill the bag with your macaron batter. Now take that circle stencil and place it under a piece of parchment and use as a guide as you pipe out your macarons. When done, slide out the paper, place it under your other parchment, and repeat.

Let your macarons dry for a few hours, until the tops are completely dry. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake your trays one at a time for 8-10 minutes or until the macarons are set on top. Let them cool on the parchment on a cooling rack. When cool, carefully peel the shells off the parchment.

Pair all the macarons up by matching size. Decorate one of the macaron shells as indicated below. Fill a piping bag with blackberry filling (recipe below), pipe filling onto the non-decorated macaron shell in each pair, and sandwich the filling with the decorated matching macaron shell. Once done, refrigerate the macarons to let the flavors meld.

Blackberry Filling
adapted from about.com

2.5 oz blackberries (about 12)
1 tbsp powdered sugar
4 oz white chocolate
3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 tbsp corn syrup

Puree the blackberries in a blender and then press the puree through a sieve. Mix the puree with the powdered sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until boils and thickens to the texture of ketchup.

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in a microwave-proof bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a small saucepan until simmering. Pour the heated cream over the white chocolate and mix. Add in the thickened blackberry puree and corn syrup. Mix until even. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let cool to room temperature. Move the mixture to the refrigerator to chill for a few hours.

Decorating the Macarons
sugar cookie icing
black gel food coloring
rainbow nonpareils
gold pearl dust (optional)

Color the sugar cookie icing with the black food coloring. Use a toothpick to trace out "NYE" or "2014" on a macaron shell with the black icing. Sprinkle rainbow nonpareils over the icing. Shake off any excess sprinkles. Use a different toothpick to push off excess sprinkles and neaten up the sprinkle letters. Repeat with the other macarons (you only need to decorate one shell in each matching pair of macaron shells).

Let the icing dry before filling the macarons. If using the pearl dust, after the icing dries, use a clean paint brush to brush a small amount of pearl dust on each decorated macaron shell.

Coffee Crunch Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 04:52:00 +0000

Apparently my blog is 4 years old! As I've done in the past, I want to share recipes for my favorite cakes for my blog's belated birthday. Today, I'll be sharing a new favorite of mine: the Coffee Crunch Cake. This summer, I was back home in California doing research in SF, a city near and dear to my heart. Throughout the summer, I spent my time after work and on the weekends exploring the city: the bakeries (duh!), restaurants, ice cream shops, food trucks, bars, art museums, shopping, etc.

I discovered a tiny bakery in Japantown that's known for Coffee Crunch Cake, something I never heard of before, but with all the good review on Yelp, I decided to take a risk and get it. Well, it was delicious! Naturally, I decided that I needed to make one at home from scratch. By the way, just fyi, back in the day (in the 60s), there used to be a pastry shop/candy store/soda fountain in SF called Blum's which was where this cake was created. The shop is no longer open, but the cake is still made at a few select bakeries in CA, and, of course, you can make it at home :)!

I like to call it "the Thing" cake (you know, Fantastic Four). It's not the most attractive cake (I do think it's eye catching though), but it tastes amazing. Like a creme brûlée flavored cake! It's made of a few layers of fluffy chiffon cake alternating with plenty of freshly whipped cream and covered with lots of yummy honeycomb candy AKA coffee crunch. For me, the best time to serve this cake is a few hours after decorating, after it has chilled it in the fridge; at this point, the coffee crunch has had time to melt into the whipped cream, yet it still retains its crunch. Yum!

Coffee Crunch Cake
adapted from Fancy Food Fancy

Coffee Crunch Topping
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 tbsp baking soda

Place the coffee, sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until all the sugar is dissolved. When the mixture begins to boil and turn clear, increase the heat to medium-high, cooking until it reaches 290°F.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda; it will foam up.

Pour onto the parchment lined baking sheet and let it cool (at least 1 hour).

Place the candy into a freezer bag and roll over it with a rolling pin to crush it into small pieces. Keep in an airtight container until ready to use.

Chiffon Cake
1 1/4 cup flour, sifted
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup water
1 cup egg whites (6-8 egg whites)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and salt into a bowl and set aside for now.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer until it is thick and pale. Add the water and beat until thickened (about 4 minutes).

In another mixing bowl, use the mixer to beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and mix until soft peaks form.

In a steady stream, mix in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, until stiff peaks form (2-3 minutes). Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Fold the yolk mixture into this mixture. Then fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture from earlier. Repeat two more times with the flour mixture until everything is just combined.

Pour the cake batter into two 8-inch round cake pans sprayed with nonstick sprayed and lined with parchment paper on the bottoms. Smooth out the tops with a spatula. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when touched. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then transfer the cakes to cooling racks to finish cooling.

Whipped Cream
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until soft peaks form.

Assemble the Cake

Slice the cooled cakes into 2 round layers each. Place one layer on a large plate. Spread whipping cream on top. Repeat with the other cake layers until you have the four cake layers sandwiched together with whipping cream. Cover the cake with the rest of the whipping cream.

Press the small pieces of coffee crunch into the sides of the cake. Spread more coffee crunch to cover the top of the cake. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours so the coffee crunch and whipping cream can meld. Now it's ready to serve. Enjoy!

Homemade Celebration Oreos

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 03:57:00 +0000

It's been a while... Originally I planned this post for July 4th, so I could use my red, white, and blue sprinkles, but there was a terrible heat wave and I couldn't summon the fortitude to turn on my oven.

Hot weather + baking = no way!

When I finally got down to making these cookies, July 4th was past, so I wanted to adapt my original idea into something less holiday specific. That's how I ended up with these Homemade Celebration Oreos. Remember when I made TKOs (Domo-shaped ones, to be specific)? Well, I thought they were wonderful, but they definitely were not what I think of when I crave an Oreo. What I want in an Oreo is a crisp, chocolate, slightly salty cookie with a white, shortening-based filling, which I got by combining two popular homemade Oreo recipes (the one from Flour Bakery for the cookie and the one from Retro Desserts for the filling).

To give them a special homemade touch, I covered them with rainbow sprinkles (3 kinds... because I could :D)! Perfect for any celebration since desserts and celebrations go hand-in-hand. Great for a birthday. Any sort of party. Or just because you want to brighten up someone else's day. But feel free to customize them for a specific occasion. Red, white, and blue sprinkles for July 4th (pictured below). Green, red, and gold sprinkles for Christmas. Assorted baby blue or baby pink sprinkles for a baby shower. The colors of your favorite sports team. The possibilities are endless!

P.S. Feel free to make them sprinkle-less. They're just as delicious ^_^.

P.P.S. I still made some 4th of July cookies in the end. Just because :).

Homemade Celebration Oreos
adapted from Bakerella and Smitten Kitchen

Cookies
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder (either Dutch-processed or dark)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
assortment of sprinkles of your choice

Filling
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the cookies, melt the butter in the microwave. In a different bowl, melt the chocolate chips. Let cool slightly before using.

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside for now.

In a separate bowl, mix the butter and the sugar. Add in the vanilla and melted chocolate chips. Mix in the egg. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until no streak of flour are left. Repeat with the other half of the dry ingredients. Cover the dough and leave it at room temperature for 1 hour to firm up.

Split the mound of dough into two. Place 1/2 of the dough on a piece of plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a log about 2 1/2 inches in diameter; roll up the log in the plastic wrap. Repeat with the other 1/2 of the dough. Place both logs of dough in the refrigerator and let chill for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Take out a log of dough. Cut slices from it about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Place the slices on parchment lined baking sheets. Repeat with the other log of dough. Mix together your assortment of sprinkles. Spread the sprinkles over half of the cookies (these will be the tops, the bare cookies will be the bottoms).

Chill the sheets of cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Place the sheets in the oven to bake about 15-20 minutes, until they are firm to the touch. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely, then match up each sprinkle covered cookie top to a bare cookie bottom.

For the filling, mix the shortening and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Mix in the vanilla. Transfer the filling to a piping bag and use it to pipe filling on each cookie bottom. Or you can just take a knife and use it to spread the filling on the bottoms if you don't mind that it will be messier. Cover the cookie bottoms with the tops and press lightly so the filling reaches the edges. Then enjoy!

Art Deco Petit Fours

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 04:42:00 +0000

Finally, my first post this summer. I definitely have a lot of posts in mind (and on the back burner, some even from last summer :O), just trying hard to find the time to put them together. At least I'm back home for the summer, which means I have 24/7 access to an oven :).

A few weeks ago, I kicked off the summer with a 1920s cocktail party. I had just seen The Great Gatsby in theaters a few days before the party, so I was pretty inspired to make a lavish, yet delicate dessert. There's this one scene where Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick have tea at Nick's little cottage. Gatsby has all these lovely flowers and desserts (macarons and tiered cakes) brought into to fill up the house. At first I was going to bake macarons, but that seemed too obvious of a choice. And I didn't want to make a full cake since it was a cocktail party with appetizer-type foods. Finally, I settled on petit fours.

While searching for the perfect petit fours recipe, I came to the conclusion that they are difficult to make.... which pretty much sealed the deal, since you all know I love a good baking challenge. Since petit fours tend to be little square cakes, I decided that it would be fitting to decorate them in an Art Deco style (popular in the 1920s), with geometric shapes and clean lines. I searched high and low for the perfect cake and poured fondant recipes to use, to make sure this would be a success.

I knew a variety of different cakes could be used for petit fours, but I ended up with a sturdy genoise since I wanted a cake that wouldn't fall apart when I dipped them in fondant. Also, I found the perfect poured fondant recipe. I wanted a fondant that was opaque and good for dipping, so this fit the bill. And yes, though it's called "poured" fondant, I decided to dip the cakes in fondant rather than pour them since pouring fondant seemed to be the biggest hassle for bloggers making petit fours. So in the end, this turned out rather well, not really a challenge after all. Lovely little cakes, perfect for a party.

Art Deco Petit Fours
Genoise
adapted from Baking with Julia

1 1/4 cups cake flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
4 egg yolks, room temp
2 eggs, room temp
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
jelly (flavor of your choice)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 9" square baking pan with nonstick spray. Line it with parchment paper. Set aside for later.

Sift the cake flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and the salt onto a piece of wax paper or foil. Set aside for now. Mix the eggs, egg yolks, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix. Add the rest of the sugar and mix.

Use a mixer on medium speed to whip the mixture 4-5 minutes, until it is pale and has tripled its volume. (When you lift up the mixer, the egg mixture will fall in a ribbon that lasts 10 seconds on the surface of the mixture. Keep mixing if the ribbon disappears too fast.) Mix in the vanilla extract.

Add 1/3 of the flour from earlier. Use a spatula to gently fold in the flour; stop when the flour is incorporated so you don't over mix. Fold in 1/2 of the remaining flour. Repeat with the last bit of flour. Take about 1 cup of the batter and place it in a small bowl with the melted butter. Fold the butter into the cup of batter. Once the butter is incorporated, fold the batter back into the rest of the cake batter.

Move the batter into the square baking pan you previously prepared and smooth it out. Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you press the cake. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift the cake out with the edges of the parchment paper and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Once the cake is cool, cut it into 36 cubes. Then, slice each cube in half sideways (like a sandwich). Take three cake slices, spread a thin layer of jam between the slices to glue them together, and place them on a baking tray or a freezer safe container. Repeat with the rest of the cake slices. Freeze the cakes for 30 minutes before dipping them.

Poured Fondant
adapted from King Arthur Flour

5 oz white chocolate chips or white candy melts
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract
green food coloring

Boil water in a saucepan (this is separate from the hot water above).

Mix the powdered sugar with the honey in a heatproof bowl that will be able to rest comfortably in the saucepan of boiling water. Pour the 1/4 cup hot water over the sugar and honey. Mix until smooth. Melt the white chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Scrape the melted chocolate into the powdered sugar mixture and stir until smooth. Add the vanilla and a little bit of food coloring and mix.

Remove the pan of boiling water from the stove and place the bowl with the fondant in the pan to keep the fondant warm and melted. Use a fork to dip one of the frozen cake stacks in the fondant. Place the dipped cake on a wire rack to dry. Repeat with the rest of the cake. Stir the fondant every so often to keep it smooth. Wait for all the dipped petit fours to dry before decorating.

Art Deco-fy the Petit Fours
sugar cookie icing
black gel food coloring
gold pearl dust
flat paint brush

Make 1/4 of the sugar cookie icing recipe. Tint it black with gel food coloring. Use the icing to draw the outline of a triangle on each petit four. Fill in the triangle outlines with icing. Let the icing dry before proceeding. Take a flat paint brush and dip it in the shimmer powder. Use it to draw a shimmery triangle inside the black icing triangle. Go over the triangle with more powder to make it more opaque. Repeat with the rest of the petit fours.

Chewie Wookiee Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Sat, 04 May 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Happy Star Wars Day! I made these Chewie Wookiee Cookies at the end of spring break for my brother (who's a huge Star Wars fan & loves CCCs) since his break was the week after mine and I wouldn't get the chance to see him. My mom suggested leaving him a note, but I thought cookies would be better (i.e. more delicious) :D.

So the story behind these cookies started a few years ago, when I saw Philip Tseng's "Han Solo Cup & Chewbacca the Cookie" (below) online. Seriously, baked goods and Star Wars in an adorable presentation; it does not get better than that. And you know I'm all about the food puns :). Btw, check out the other illustrations on his site for more food illustrations (even a "Cherry Pie-rate"! Remember my Apple Pie-rate Ship?) and pop culture references (Adventure Time, TMNT, Arrested Development, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Back to the Future, Gameboy). If you like them, many are available as t-shirts and prints!

[Han Solo Cup & Chewbacca the Cookie | Image Credit: Philip Tseng]

Okay, flash forward to last year. I was visiting my brother in LA and saw his new Threadless shirt, with that same graphic! After seeing it again, I knew I needed to bake these cookies. Plus I'd been hoping to make something Star Wars related for a while. I took out my staple Thick & Chewy CCC cookie recipe and adapted it to this project.

I knew I'd be decorating the cookies with chocolate, so I left out the chocolate chips (feel free to leave them in if you like things extra chocolatey). And since I had some mini red Solo-ish cups lying around, I busted out my craft skills and decorated one of them, because just like Han needs Chewie, cookies need a cup of milk.

P.S. If you don't use all the cookie dough to make the Chewie Cookies, take the remaining dough, add chocolate chips, cut up some Snickers bars, and make Snickers stuffed CCCs!

Chewie Wookiee Cookies
Thick & Chewy CCC recipe
semisweet chocolate
white chocolate

Make the Thick & Chewy CCC dough without the chocolate chips, and bake as indicated in the recipe. Let cool before decorating.

To decorate, melt the semisweet chocolate. Dip the bottom of each cookie in the chocolate and place the cookies dipped side down on a piece of parchment paper. Let dry.

Remelt the semisweet chocolate and use it to trace the dark brown parts on each cookie (look at the illustration above). Wait for the chocolate to dry and set. Melt the white chocolate and use it to draw on the white parts of each cookie. Let the chocolate dry and enjoy.

Makes 18 cookies.

Snickers Stuffed CCCs
Thick & Chewy CCC recipe
4 Snickers king sized bars

Use a sharp knife to cut 3 of the king sized Snickers bar into 8 pieces each. Chop up the last bar into little bits to sprinkle over the cookies at the end. Set aside for now. Preheat the oven.

Make the cookie dough as indicated in the recipe. Split the dough into 24 parts. Take one piece of dough, flatten it between your palms, wrap up a Snickers piece, then place it on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. Once finished, sprinkle all the cookies with the small bits of Snickers from the chopped up Snickers bar. Bake cookies according to the recipe.

Makes 24 cookies.

And just for fun...

Cello Wars: Lightsaber Duel | The Piano Guys

Bailey's Bear Truffles

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:23:00 +0000

I'm sure you've noticed the lack of posts these past 2 months, all due to computer woes and the lack of a decent kitchen. But no worries, I was recently home for spring break, and I finally had the time to create some desserts!

Actually, I've made these Bailey's Truffles a few times already, with rave reviews. The great thing about truffles is that they don't require a lot of ingredients and are rather easy to make, yet everyone always thinks they took more work than they did ;). Being without a kitchen has made it hard to get any baking done this year, but with a microwave and a mini fridge, these truffles were definitely doable.

Usually truffles are just rolled into balls and either dusted with cocoa powder or dipped in chocolate, but I wanted to play around with the shape of my truffles just to see if it could be done (without any molds or any fancy equipment)... and somehow I ended up with truffle bears. But then I figured, everyone likes bears, what with teddy bears being so popular, so why not?

To give them a pop of color and to spiffy them up, I gave my bear truffles bow ties (plus I just really like bow ties). The ties also allow for a bit of customization. The first time I made these bears, I gave them green bow ties for St. Patrick's Day, while for this blog entry, I gave them classic red ones. But of course, these truffles don't have to be shaped into bears. Rolled into balls, dipped into chocolate, and topped with whatever you want: sprinkles, a white chocolate design, or even left plain, they're still equally delicious!

Bailey's Truffles
adapted from Pie with Sparkles

8 oz white chocolate chips*
pinch of salt
2 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then add to the melted white chocolate. Stir in the salt. Mix in the Bailey's and vanilla extract. Stir until everything is incorporated and it smooths out. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Chill for a few hours in the refrigerator until solid enough to roll. Then either proceed to the instructions below to make bear-shaped truffles, or just roll the truffles into balls and dip them in melted semisweet chocolate and decorate as desired.

Makes 18 truffles.

Bear Truffles
8 oz semisweet chocolate
black nonpareils
semisweet chocolate chips**
dark chocolate chips**
1/4 of the sugar cookie icing recipe
black food coloring
red food coloring

Roll out the truffles to form 9 balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and chill them in the refrigerator until firm. Remove them from the refrigerator and use a knife to cut each ball in half to make 18 hemispheres. Place them back on the parchment paper and chill them until firm.

Take a dark chocolate chip and press it into each hemisphere to leave a dent for the snout. Keep the truffles chilling in the refrigerator while you melt the 8 oz semisweet chocolate. Dip a truffle in the melted chocolate, shake off excess chocolate, and place it on a baking sheet lined with a new piece of parchment paper.

Place a dark chocolate chip into the dent made earlier for a snout. Take 2 semisweet chocolate chips and press them to the top sides of the truffle to form ears. Add 2 black nonpareils above the dark chocolate snout for eyes. Repeat with the other truffles. Remelt the semisweet chocolate if it begins to solidify.

Once finished dipping the truffles, let them rest while the chocolate hardens. While waiting, make the sugar cookie icing (not that much is needed, so divide the recipe by 4). Split the icing in half. Color one half black and the other half red (or whatever color you want the bow tie to be). Use a toothpick to draw on two red triangles below the snout for the bow tie. Use the black icing the draw a nose and a mouth on the large chocolate chip. Lastly, add a dot between the two red triangles to finish the bow tie.

*Note: For best results, use Nestle brand white chocolate chips (Nestle White Chocolate Morsels).
**Note: I also used Nestle semisweet and dark chocolate chips, but any brand is fine. Basically what you need are standard sized chocolate chips for the ears and a larger size chocolate chip for the snout (Nestle Dark Chocolate Morsels or Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips.

Happy 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:54:00 +0000

Another year over and a new one beginning! Happy 2013!

The beginning of a new year is always a time for self-reflection (I'm big on New Years Resolutions). This year, one of my New Years Resolutions is to find balance. As you've probably noticed, these past few months have been lacking in posts. So a part of this "balance" is figuring out how to introduce hobbies back into my life, things like art, baking, learning languages, and of course blogging.

With a semester of medical school behind me, I have a better idea of what I can handle. This semester, I hope to find a way to work my hobbies into my schedule so it's not just study study study all the time. In terms of art, I'm thinking for February, I'm going to challenge myself to do at least one sketch a week (I'll save painting and pastels for summer), and for March, a photograph a day. In terms of baking, I'm going for a more structured approach since the process takes such a large chunk of time, what with planning, buying ingredients, the actual baking, and decorating. And, of course, my goal for blogging for now is to post at least once a month; no more months with no posts >:|.

A little bit on these cookies. For NYE this year, my friends and I decided to stay in for a casual get-together (lots of Mario Party while sipping sangria). To match the mood, I opted for something a bit fancy, but not over-the-top, which resulted in these cookies. They're not too hard to make and are quite pretty. I really like the contrast between the more demure pink icing with white pearls and the wilder black icing with silver balls. These are perfect for both a fancy dressy event and a casual night-in chilling with friends.

P.S. Did any of you make any interesting New Years Resolutions? Share :)!

2013 Cookies
sugar cookie dough recipe
sugar cookie icing recipe
pearl sprinkles
silver sprinkles
gel food coloring

number cookie cutters
toothpicks

Make the cookie dough as indicated in the recipe. Cut out 2, 0, 1, and 3 from the dough. Place the numbers in order on a parchment lined baking sheet so that the numbers are touching. No need to chill the cut-outs. Bake the cookies until the edges are slightly golden. Take them out, let them cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Let the cookies completely cool before decorating them. Make the sugar cookie icing as indicated in the recipe. Tint it with gel food coloring (since it's pretty concentrated, you won't need to add that much. Spread the icing on the cookies. I used a toothpick to spread it, but you can probably pipe it on with a piping bag (it'd probably go much faster). After icing a cookie, place either the pearl or silver sprinkles on the cookie, following the numbers. Repeat with the other cookies. Let the icing dry and serve.

Sucré Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 19:22:00 +0000

This post is going to be short but sweet (literally). It's my first giveaway (exciting!!!). The lovely people at Sucré want to give one of you their Holiday Chocolate and Macaron Collection!

"Discover true Holiday bliss with our 15 piece festive Mint Chocolate & Dark Truffle Collection paired with our 15 piece peppermint and chocolate flavored Holiday Macarons."

Sucré is a sweet confection studio located in New Orleans, Louisiana. They have two shops in New Orleans where they sell a variety of amazing desserts: cakes, cupcakes, pastries, gelato sundaes, chocolates, and macarons. But if you're not from New Orleans, don't fret as they offer many of their scrumptious sweets online as well. I've listed their website below, check it out!

To Enter:
1) Leave a comment below telling me your favorite holiday treat (mine: peppermint hot chocolate and chewy gingerbread cookies).
2) You must be a follower of Diamonds for Dessert (click "Join this site" on the right via Google Friend Connect).
3) Fill out the entry form to provide your e-mail address so I may contact you should you win.

Rules:
1) Contest only open to those residing in the continental US.
2) This giveaway ends at ~~11pm PST on 12/26/2012~~.
3) The winner will be announced at ~~12am (midnight) of 12/27/2012~~ here on this post and will also be contacted via e-mail. They will have 24 hours to respond with their shipping info (if they fail to do so, another winner will be chosen).
4) Duplicate entries and those that don't complete all three "to enter" tasks (as listed above) will be disqualified.

This giveaway is sponsored by Sucré.
Website: http://www.shopsucre.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shopsucre
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SucreNewOrleans

P.S. I know I announced last week that I'd have this up on Saturday but 1) I got stuck at the airport for 1 1/2 days (SNOW >:|), 2) my laptop died (so I didn't have computer access until I got home), and 3) I got sick :(. Sorry for the delays!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED!
Congrats to the winner: Madonna (I've e-mailed you)

Cinnamon Apple Macarons

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 05:34:00 +0000

Fall is definitely here. The leaves are changing, it's getting chilly, and suddenly I'm craving the warm, cozy scent of cinnamon as well as pumpkin baked goods. I say it's the perfect time to bake some Cinnamon "Apple" Macarons.

I'm going to straightforward; these macarons aren't very apple-ly in flavor. It's more like cinnamon with a hint of apple. My brother calls them Apple Jacks Macarons, you know, like the cereal, which is actually pretty accurate. But I find them pretty cute, so I couldn't resist posting them anyway.

They are technically still Cinnamon Apple Macarons in that they look like apples and taste like cinnamon :). I think if I were to make them again, I'd devise some sort of apple jelly center to up the apple flavor. But despite the lack of apple flavor, they still taste wonderful. Happy Autumn Everyone!

Cinnamon Apple Macarons
adapted from A la cuisine

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup finely ground almonds
3 egg whites, aged 48 hours
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp finely ground freeze dried apples
red gel food coloring

Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. Tape two sheets of printer paper together to form a large sheet about the size of your parchment. Trace 1-1.5" diameter hearts (I traced a heart cookie cutter) onto the now large sheet of paper and alter the heart outlines as shown above to form the basic apple shape. Set aside for now.

Mix the powdered sugar, ground almonds, and ground freeze dried apples together. In a clean bowl, add your aged egg whites and salt. With an electric mixer, beat on low until frothy. Turn up the mixer to high and slowly add in the granulated sugar as you continue to mix till the whites are stiff peaks (when you lift up the mixer, there should literally be stiff, shiny peaks). Add in the red food coloring and mix a few more seconds.

With a spatula, gently fold in the powdered sugar/nut/apple mixture until incorporated. Place a plain piping tip in a piping bag and fill the bag with your macaron batter. Now take that large stenciled paper and place it under a piece of parchment, using it to guide you as you pipe out your macarons. When done, slide out that paper and place it under your other parchment and repeat.

Let your macarons dry for a few hours, until the tops are completely dry. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake your trays one at a time for 8-10 minutes or until the macarons are set on top. Let them cool on the parchment on a cooling rack. When relatively cool, carefully peel the shells off the parchment.

Decorating the Macarons
semisweet chocolate chips
green candy melts

Pair all the macarons up by matching size. Place 1/2 of each pair of macaron shells on a sheet of parchment paper, remembering which shell goes with which. Melt the chocolate chips. Use a toothpick to place a blob at the top of each of the shells on the parchment paper to form the stem of each apple, making sure that the chocolate touches the shell (so it sticks when it dries). Let dry.

Melt the green candy melts. Use a toothpick to draw a leaf on the top right edge of each of the macaron shells on the parchment paper. When the candy coating is almost dry, take a toothpick and run it through the center of each leaf to form a vein. Let dry. Carefully pull the decorated shells off the parchment. If necessary, add some chocolate to the bottom of the shell, touching the stem to help it adhere better, and let dry. Once dry, re-pair all the macaron shells.

Fill a piping bag with the cinnamon apple filling (recipe below), pipe the filling onto one half of a pair, and sandwich the filling with the matching macaron shell. Once done, refrigerate the macarons overnight to let the flavors meld.

Cinnamon Apple Filling
3 tbsp salted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp apple juice

Cream with butter with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Add in the cinnamon. Alternate between adding the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar and the apple juice. If the filling is too stiff, add more apple juice, and if it is too watery, add more powdered sugar.

Cake Batter Ice Cream Fairy Wands

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 02:59:00 +0000

Been getting settled in at school; I just finished my 1st week of M1 :). It's been hot here in Illinois... like ice cream weather hot, which makes it the perfect time for me to post this recipe for Cake Batter Ice Cream, which I formed into both fairy wand pops and bonbons.

I had this idea to make pastel pink and blue fairy wand ice cream pops: star-shaped with a cute striped stick. I was inspired by Deborah Lipmann's "Glitter In The Air" nail polish, Little Twin Stars (Sanrio), and the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. To make them even more fanciful, I made my own cake batter ice cream, chock full of rainbow sprinkles and cubes of cake, to go inside the pops. They're the perfect sweet treats to add a little bit of magic to a hot summer day.

Cake Batter Ice Cream
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup white cake mix
3 tbsp rainbow jimmies
1 cup frozen cake cubes*

Mix the milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and cake mix in a medium saucepan. Cook the mixture over med-low heat, until it reaches 160°F, whisking it frequently. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker to churn the ice cream. The churned ice cream should reach a soft serve consistency. Fold in the sprinkles and cake cubes if you choose to use them. Scrape the ice cream into a 2-quart plastic container, cover, and freeze overnight.

Or, if you plan to use the ice cream to make the Fairy Wand Pops, scrape the ice cream mixture into a 9" x 9" square baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray and lined with parchment paper. Freeze the ice cream overnight.

*For the frozen cake cubes, I baked the remainder of the cake mix cake, let it cool, cut it up into 1/2" cubes, placed the cubes on a baking sheet, and froze the sheet for a few hours.

Fairy Wand Pops
ice cream of your choice
white chocolate
pink oil-based candy coloring
blue oil-based candy coloring

star-shaped cookie cutter
long lollipop sticks
striped gray paper straws
parchment paper
baking pan
baking sheet

For the ice cream, I used the Cake Batter Ice Cream recipe posted above. But feel free to use whatever ice cream recipe you'd prefer or even use store bought ice cream. Spray a baking pan with nonstick spray and then line the pan with parchment paper (the nonstick spray helps the parchment adhere to the pan).

Make sure the ice cream is at a soft serve consistency (so either use ice cream freshly made in an ice cream maker or let your store bought ice cream sit out a few minutes until softened a bit). Scrape your ice cream into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Ultimately, the ice cream pops should be 1/2-3/4 inch thick, so choose the baking pan that will allow your ice cream to be in a layer that thick. Freeze the tray overnight.

Carefully remove the ice cream from the pan by pulling at the parchment paper lining and place the ice cream (still on the parchment paper) on a flat surface. Cut out ice cream stars with your cookie cutter and place the stars on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Stick a lollipop stick in each ice cream star and place in the freezer for a few hours until hardened.

Melt half of the white chocolate. Tint it with a few drops of pink candy coloring. Dip half of the ice cream stars in the pink chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and keep frozen until ready to serve. Melt the other half of the white chocolate, tint it blue, and dip the other half of the pops in the blue chocolate. When ready to serve, slip a striped paper straw over the lollipop stick of each pop.

Fairy Star Bonbons
ice cream of your choice
white chocolate
pink oil-based candy coloring
blue oil-based candy coloring

mini star-shaped cookie cutter
parchment paper
baking pan
baking sheet

Instructions very similar to the ones for the Fairy Wand Pops above. Instead though, the soft serve consistency ice cream should be spread in a thinner layer, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. And use a mini star cookie cutter to cut out tiny ice cream stars. Freeze them. Use a fork to dip them into the pink and blue chocolates. Shake off excess chocolate while still on the fork. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and keep frozen until ready to eat.

Inspiration:

[Photo Credit: Top image from Sanrio Co. Japan / Bottom image from Disney's Cinderella]

Olympic Macarons + News

noreply@blogger.com (Susan S) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 01:25:00 +0000

I know that I said that I'd blog about the Southern Dinner Party in my Mini Moon Pie post, but since the Olympics ends today, I decided to do an Olympics themed post instead. But don't worry; the Southern party photos and details will definitely come another day.

But before I talk about the Olympics, I first want to let you all know that I'll be starting medical school at the end of this month! I'm super excited :D. And I intend to keep this blog running even after school starts. That's partially the reason I've been MIA here this past month. I'll be living in the dorms for my first year, which means not having my own kitchen, so I've been baking like crazy, taking advantage of the kitchen at home, preparing back-up posts in case I really won't have access to a kitchen in the coming months. So hakuna matata :).

Back to the Olympics. Did you all watch them? My favorite events are always gymnastics and swimming but this year I've discovered that I also like pole vaulting and synchronized diving. I set out to bake something simple but Olympics themed and somehow ended up making Olympic ring macarons :P. Technically these are more meringues since they didn't form feet, but since I used a macaron recipe, I'm going to stick to calling them macarons. I also made individual rings with the leftover batter and they ended up with feet, so go figure. Keep these in mind for Sochi '14 and Rio '16!

Olympic Macarons
your favorite macaron recipe
red, blue, yellow, green, black gel food coloring
your macaron filling of choice

Copy and paste the image above into a word processor like MS Word (you should get at least six copies of the image to fit on one page if you stretch the page margins). Print it out and set it aside for now.

Prepare the dry ingredients (powdered sugar and ground almonds) for your favorite macaron recipe. Divide the mixture evenly into five bowls. Whip the egg whites and sugar according to your recipe. Divide the mixture into five, placing a portion into each of the five bowls of dry ingredients. Add a few drops of the gel food coloring into the five bowls, one color per bowl.

Fold the wet and dry ingredients according to your recipe and you should end up with five different colored macaron batters. Place each into a plastic piping bag. Tear a piece of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet and place it on a flat surface, placing the olympic ring print-out underneath as a stencil.

Cut a small hole at the tip of each piping bag and follow the print-out to pipe the different colored rings. Tear out more parchment paper when you run out of space. Once you've used half of the batter, flip over the print-out and continue piping out olympic ring macarons with the ring colors going in the opposite direction for the bottom of the macarons.

(As an alternative, you could pipe out individual ring macarons. Instead of the print-out, place a sheet covered with 1-inch diameter circles underneath your parchment paper and pipe out rings, basically circles with a round empty space in the middle.)

Let the macarons dry for a few hours, until a skin forms on each and they're smooth to the touch. Then bake according to your recipe. Definitely watch the macarons carefully because the rings are thinner than the traditional round macaron so the oven time will need to be cut shorter, possibly by half the time. And also it's also likely that the macaron feet won't form.

Cool the macarons on a wire rack. Make the macaron filling of your choice (I used an almond buttercream). Place in a piping bag, pipe onto your cooled macaron shells, and top with another shell.