Tis the season to bake. With the weather getting colder I find my hobbies needing a shift. I do not want to spend hours in the garden when its covered over with a blanket of snow and ice. Well, actually thats not true, its gorgeous but too cold! So, in the interest of building up my skills and warming my house I'm going to be introducing a series of baking posts over the winter months in place of my regular gardening posts.
I used to LOVE baking. Some of my fondest memories from my childhood are of baking with my Great Grandmother. Though she's been gone for many years now she still remains a huge inspiration to me. Grandma Great could make a meal out of anything and her cookies were out of this world! Don't get me wrong I have been known to make award winning chocolate chip cookies too, but really that's as far as I've ever gone with baking and that was years ago.
My goal for this series is to start building my baking skills back up again. Try new recipes, share one or two you with you, dear reader, and report back on my progress. The last week of November and the first week of December are really busy weeks for us. Since I can't yet be trusted to actually fully cook a turkey I tend to make a dessert item to share at our many thanksgiving gatherings and both boys have their birthdays in the first week of December. So far I have made a few new recipes, some were successful and some have gone hilariously wrong.
Lets start with the failures, shall we? Bad news always goes first in my book, gotta end on a good note. So my husband's first request was blondies, something I hadn't even heard of. Basically they are the reverse of brownies using vanilla and white chocolate chips. The first attempt at making these were mush in the middle, I didn't leave them in long enough. The second attempt I added cook time but apparently didn't measure the flour correctly because they were rocks, and I found out later that I was using the half cup thinking it was the full cup. Much like Goldilocks, the third time was the charm. Everything measured correctly, cook time adjusted and less chips per hubby request. Instant family favorite was added to my recipe book. I do still enjoy brownies more that blondies but if you aren't big on chocolate (like my husband) this is a wonderful alternative.
For my youngest's birthday I made a simple sponge cake recipe and poured them into mini bundt pans. I really wish I had taken photos of the first attempt at this and I promise to be more camera happy in the future but I was never told not to fill the bundt pan. As you can imagine each mini bundt mushroomed into a grotesque monstrosity that sort of fused together with one another. The taste and recipe though was perfect! So on my second attempt I refrained from filling the reservoirs more than half way and ended up with alot more batter resulting in a pan sheet cake as well. Each mini bundt was topped with blue store bought (one thing at at time) icing. And as tradition dictates I melted white chocolate and colored it yellow to form into a rubber duck for the birthday boy's topper. He decapitated that chocolate duck so fast and the joy on his face made all the efforts worth it. I do actually think I have a photo of the duck at least for this one.
Finally, I had pretty ambitious plans for my oldest son's birthday, but amazon had other ideas and sabotaged me so we'll leave those plans for a later day. Due to the delay in shipping, I asked him what he would like for his birthday and he asked for a mound of cookies, crack cookies specifically. This recipe is honestly so much easier than I thought it would be and easily be one of my go to's for get togethers and gifts. Rich chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar that "crack" apart once baked in the oven. These were a crowd favorite (for everyone who loves chocolate) but were definitely rich enough to prevent binge eating. The recipe will be linked below and I ended up with 21 cookies out of the recipe, so keep that in mind if, like me, you are trying to make a full blown birthday mountain of cookies, you might want to double up.
Stick around for another update on this journey! I have a full list of cookies I want to prepare for Santa Claus and I hope to get the boys involved in the decorating at least. Sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies are just the beginning. In todays fast paced world baking is a fantastic way to slow down, ground yourself and create warmth in the cold winter months. I can't wait to hone my skills and become a master baker that Grandma Great would be proud of. Until next time dear reader.
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