Fish Cookies for Jack!

 

This has been a busy week with work, school, and family and I am simply exhausted. So I will try to keep this post short and sweet. Just like these cookies. My co worker’s adorable son Jack turned two a few weeks ago. The party was held at a local water park and Heidi went all out with an Under the Sea theme. Including the most amazing Fish Cake! Heidi has some talented friends! I made these cookies for the little ones goodie bags. They were well received by the grown ups too.

 

I took a couple of Wilton decorating classes this summer. And I did learn some great things there, but most things cookie related I have picked up from Bridget at http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/. She is so creative and talented. I only wish I could be as dedicated to cookie making as she is. It takes patience, this cookie thing. But once you get in a groove it can be really fun! Just do me a favor and don't look at Bridget's cookies immediately after viewing mine, it might make me look bad. Thanks.

The recipes I used were both Wilton, as they were the ones given out in the classes I took . However, I found the cookie dough to be a little too soft/ sticky for rolling and cutting. It could also have been that it was very warm in my apartment when I was making them. Rolling them out onto parchment paper (rather than straight onto the counter top) and using lots of flour makes a world of difference though. I dip each cookie cutter into flour before cutting which seems to help get a clean edge. And they are addictive-ly yummy. Still, I might try a different cookie recipe next time. 

Since I do work during the day, I spread my cookie making out over a few evenings. Making the icing one day, the cookies the next, and then decorating over the next couple of days. The Royal Icing will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week. Next time I make cut-out cookies I will try to get some shots of the process for you.

Here are the Recipes!

Basic Sugar Cookies

Recipe from Wilton

I did these in my stand mixer, but they can easily be done by hand. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. clear vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Make sure your oven is accurate or these lil guys will burn. I highly recommend you have an oven thermometer (mine runs at least 50 degrees hot). If using a dark cookie sheet reduce heat by 25 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

2. Cream butter and sugar.Add egg, vanilla and milk. Mix until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix to combine. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour (or overnight). The colder the dough, the better.

4. Spread a piece of parchment or wax paper on your counter top. Get yourself a measuring cup or bowl of flour to keep at hand. Sprinkle some flour liberally over the papered surface, your rolling pin, and your hands. 

5. Take between 1/4 and 1/2 half of the dough out to work with. Leave the rest in the fridge to keep it as cold as possible. Roll out this ball of dough to about 1/4 inch thick, adding more flour as necessary. Wilton recommended 1/8 inch but I found the thinner cookies to be far too fragile to work with. 

6. Dip cutters into flour before each use. The colder the dough, the cleaner your edge will be. Very carefully transfer each cookie to the lined cookie sheet. I use a small offset spatula to do this- coated with flour of course. Try not to crowd the pan, I fit about 8 cookies per sheet. Scraps can be rolled back into the cold dough to be used again. 

7. Bake 12-15 minutes or until the cookies start to brown just slightly around the edges, turning half way through the cooking time. Place pans on a cooling rack for 5 minutes then remove from sheet to cool fully. Makes 25-50 cookies, depending on size. 

 Royal Icing (Meringue Powder)

 Recipe from Wilton

Ingredients

3 level tbsp. Meringue powder

4 cups (1 lb/ 454 g.) sifted icing sugar

8 tbsp. water 

1. Mix meringue powder with sugar. 

2. Add water 1 tbsp. at a time while mixing on low.

3. Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, 10-12 minutes. 

Transfer Icing to a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice and get decorating!

This thicker icing is what I use to outline the cookies. To fill in the cookies, take a small bowl of the icing and add water 1/2 tsp. at a time. You've got the consistency right when a drop of the icing disappears into the dish before you've counted to ten. I use little squeeze bottles like these to fill in my cookies. Accents can be added with more thinned out icing while the cookie is wet, or more full strength icing once the cookie has dried, depending on the look you want. Does this all make sense? As I mentioned above, check out Bake @ 350  for some great cookie decorating tips, or ask me a question in the comments. Martha Stewart and the Wilton website are also good references.

Let the cookies dry uncovered overnight, and then transfer to individual bags or a large airtight container. 

Sharks and Starfish should be stored separately.

So much for short and sweet. Goodnight all. Happy cookie making!

XO,

Maia

Black Tie Caprese Pasta Salad

This Spring I took a weekend trip to Seattle and met up with some girlfriends. Three of whom are professional chefs. Not bad company to keep. It was a fun little trip where we ate pretty much everything we could get our hands on without shame. 

 

We went Here (and ordered the entire menu).

And Here.

Took a tour of Here (and brought lots of goodies home).

And dined Here (the Tart Tatine.OMG).

We watched them throw fish at the market and waited in line for approximately two years for some mini donuts. Or 20 minutes, whatever. I picked up these beautiful little bow ties at a shop outside of Pike Place Market. I can't remember the name, but Google says it might be here.

The store was full of fancy schmancy things like saffron infused oil and truffle salt (never liked truffle much). I taste tested the gourmet offerings but I wasn’t compelled to bring anything home until I saw these little guys. So dapper! I still have a bag of rainbow striped ones in my cupboard waiting for the perfect recipe. Any suggestions?

I wanted to use the pretty pasta in a dish that would let it shine, something without a thick sauce to mar its beauty. I think this simple caprese pasta salad does a fine job of that. And this dish will be perfectly delicious with whatever pasta you use. It’s all in the balsamic reduction. That’s where the magic is. It is delightful drizzled over thin slices of steak as well.

Caprese Pasta Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients

250 gr. dry pasta of your choice
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 tub (500 gr.) fresh mozzarella/ boconcini (I used Tre Stelle pearls, I like the slightly larger ones as opposed to the mini mini ones)
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of your favorite balsamic vinegar - I used fig balsamic!


1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until just al dente. When the pasta is cooked, drain in a colander and drizzle with a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking to iteself. Refrigerate to cool.

2. To make balsamic reduction add 1 cup of the vinegar to a small saucepan set on med-high. Bring to a boil while whisking constantly and quickly. Don't leave the room while this is going on, it can burn up on you very quickly! It is done when the vinegar is thick and syrupy and has reduced by about half. Set aside.

3. Make a Chiffonade of the basil by rolling the leaves tightly lengthwise and then slicing thinly perpendicularly. You should end up with fine, thin strips of basil.

4. When the pasta has cooled add the tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. If you want you can drizzle with a little more olive oil to loosen the pasta up, but don't over do it. Add salt and pepper to your liking and mix it all up.

Drizzle the balsamic reduction over each plate. I added lots more to mine than you see in the picture. You can even make extra to use on salads, grilled steak, chicken, or fish. Yum. This makes quite a lot of pasta and the leftovers will keep for a few days. However, I do recommend bringing it to room temperature before eating, as the flavors are so much more pronounced this way. I also hate cold tomatoes. Ew.

Enjoy!

XO,

Maia

Blueberry Bars

August blueberries are my absolute favourite. I buy an extra pint at the market because I know I am going to devour the better part of one as soon as I get home. And I need the second one to put in oatmeal, pancakes and yummy desserts like these. The last batch I brought home, I picked the biggest one of the bunch and squealed with excitement, “This one’s as big as my thumb!”  It’s the little things, right?

This recipe is so good and SO easy. The sweet, juicy berry filling is sandwiched between the most perfectly buttery, crumbly, ever-so-slightly crunchy crust. And it really does come together in a flash. It’s a cookie version of blueberry pie, minus all the effort of making and rolling out dough. These are great for summer barbecues and potlucks, but I think they would make a wonderful back-to-school snack as well. Now, get yourself to the store and take advantage of all those 2/$4 baskets of delicious-end-of-summer-goodness. And then make these. Just do it.

Blueberry Bars

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

The only change I made to Deb’s recipe was one of necessity. It turned out I was out of lemon, so I swapped it for limes which I had on hand. I actually liked the extra tang they brought, but you can stick to the lemon if you’d like. They will be absolutely delicious either way. As Deb mentions, these are easier to cut and eat once they have chilled completely. And we all agreed that they taste best eaten straight from the fridge - possibly at midnight, in your robe, Nigella Lawson style - or maybe that’s just me?

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of two limes (or one lemon)

For the filling:

4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Juice of two small limes (or one lemon)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.