Cakes of Seasons Past

During the long blog silence between the posts we made last winter and the new posts written last week, Jenny and I were involved in many projects that we never wrote about here. I thought it might be nice to do a quick catch-up on a couple of my personal highlights.

Two for Two Cake and Cupcakes
My Godson's birthday is in April – which means somewhat unpredictable weather in San Diego. Ya, go ahead and mock me, "Oh, boo hoo! Is it not perfectly sunny and 75 degrees every day of the year?" Here's the thing though: the weather in April might be beautiful and perfect for a birthday party in the park…or it might be rainy with winds that will blow your streamers to smithereens! So what do you do? Plan for the park and hope for the best? Plan to have a bunch of kids running around your house with that extra excited energy that a rainy day incites? I think I know what I would choose. So, as you may have ascertained, my Godson's party was planned for a small group in the park, but ended up being rerouted into a dinner party of five adults and one birthday boy. In other words, I made way too much cake. Better too much than too little!

Chocolate cake and vanilla cupcakes - everybody wins!

The Dog Cake
My niece requested a dog cake for her 9th birthday and sent me some examples of cakes she liked. I was immediately intimidated because as much as I am game for trying, I'm not a cake sculptor. I didn't want to disappoint my niece,  so I set about trying to create an achievable dog cake design. I ended up basing my cake off a black and white Pokey Little Puppy cake design and I used the blue and white color scheme from one of the cake photos my niece sent to me. I made a test cake the weekend before, to make sure that I could pull it off and that I wouldn't have to place a emergency cake order. When I made the final cake the next weekend, it looked even better.

Fondant Galore

The kids seemed to like it, even if they found out the hard way that fondant is best enjoyed in small quantities.

Dog butt!

- Jenn

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I've been hearing a lot of talk about the U.S. birthrate being down, but you would never know it based on my friends and family. Lots of new babies have been born around here lately - to friends and family alike.

To celebrate the latest baby girl, I made some playful sugar and spice cookies. I wanted to do something fun that I could manage on a weeknight.

The "golden-brown" edges on the lollipops are just my oven's way of saying, "Gotcha!"

The spice component consisted of chai tea cookies with buttercream icing. I omitted the crystallized ginger and instead used sanding sugar as a decorative center for my cut-out flowers. These cookies are very crispy and with the buttercream icing they become truly addictive. You have been warned.

For the sugar, I made a basic sugar cookie recipe and then divided it up into three equal parts, coloring each with white, pink, and purple food coloring. I couldn't begin to detail the process anywhere near as well as SweetSugarBelle does, so please check out her post for more details on how to twist the dough into these cookie lollipops.

The results were tasty, fun and not as much work as you might think. What a rare treat!

 - Jenn

Welcome, Baby Jack!

If anyone is actually still checking this blog, I will be very impressed by their dedication. As it turns out, Jenny and I are not as active at blogging as we would like to think we might be. She has a pretty good excuse though, what with having a newborn and all. I have no such excuse.

The good news is: we haven't stopped baking. It's the bakiest (I just made up a word!) time of year again, so maybe we will find the time to share some of our creations over the next few weeks.

To follow-up on my nonchalant mention above that Jenny had a baby, I should mention that she's doing great. Jack is a quite the cute little man and both Jenny and her husband are enjoying the newest member of the family. Rumor has it that Grendel is thrilled to finally have a brother!

To welcome Jack home from the hospital, I baked these sugar cookies using the Fred Letterpress cookie cutters. They took a little figuring out, but it was pretty simple once I got the hang of it. Although, there's nothing like baking sugar cookies during a 90 degree October heatwave to make you wonder whether you have lost your mind. Totally worth it though.

We are so glad you are here, Jack! Congrats to Jenny and John!

- Jenn

Oatmeal Cookies Are Practically Health Food

Since we are all doing our best to try to be a little less decadent in these first few weeks of the New Year, I thought I would share a recipe that is at least pretending to be a little bit healthy. Bonus points if you use some sort of wheat flour. Adding chocolate chips will trick kids into liking them, as well.

Those aren't raisins!

Recipe Adapted from Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe at joyofbaking.com.
 
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:

• 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (210 grams) light or dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups (260 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup (140 grams) chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until creamy and smooth (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until incorporated. Stir in the rolled oats and chocolate chips.

For large cookies, use a generous 1/4 cup of batter (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and place six cookies on each baking sheet. Flatten the cookies slightly so they are about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick. Bake the cookies for about 14 - 18 minutes rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when golden brown around the edges but still a little soft in the centers. (The longer the cookies bake the more crispy they will be.) Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. These cookies will keep several days at room temperature.

Makes about 18 large cookies.

Smashed cookies ready for baking

 Enjoy!


- Jenn

Good bye 2011, hello Candied Jalapeños!

Well another year has passed us by, I have had the last 8 days off and have failed to blog.  Please note, I have ONLY failed to blog, not failed to cook.  My pantry has been cleaned and rearranged, I have been obsesses with Indian cooking all week. Side note: anyone need a bag of leftover Curry leaves?  Not sure I can use the all up in addition to the 2 bags I already have in the freezer.

Anyway, I have also been obsessed with finding new jalapeño recipes and I have found it:

Candied Jalapeños- makes about 8-9 half pints

4 pounds fresh, firm, jalapeño peppers
3 cups apple cider vinegar
8 cups white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
12 cloves of garlic minced very fine
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper or Hot paprika

Step 1: For the love of god, put on gloves

Step 2: Slice the jalapeños, I used a mandolin to get really thin slices

Step 3:  Make the syrup

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, minced garlic and cayenne pepper or paprika to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices and once the mixture starts boiling again simmer for about 4 minutes.

Step 4: Remove the peppers with a slotted spoon and add to sterilized half pint jars

Step 5: Bring the syrup to a rolling boil and boil for 6 minutes.  After 6 minutes, fill the jars up within a 1/4" to the top.  Seal with lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.  After the 10 minute process, remove and let cool for 24 hours.

Now you may be asking yourself, " Wherre is the finished product?"  Well, Jenn and I like to refer to that as the money shot, and well, they aren't ready yet.  They need to sit for about 2 weeks before you crack open the first jar and taste the magic.  Here's hoping I can wait the 2 weeks.

-Jenny