Orange Drop Cookies

For Christmas this year, I received a copy of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. I was thrilled to unwrap it because it is a cookie bible of sorts. To be sure, it's obvious when you flip through it that it dates from the 1960s (1963 to be exact), but for that reason it contains a number of classic recipes for squares and drop cookies that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s (aka, my childhood).

The Cooky Book contains a wide variety of recipes, including those for the most popular cookies through the decades, beginning in 1890. It's interesting to see how tastes and circumstances have changed. It also includes large batch recipes for a church luncheon or similar event and helpful hints for how to package cookies for shipping. There are a few recipes that rely on Betty Crocker mixes that are no longer available, but that's a small segment of the book. 

I flipped through the book a few times and kept coming back to one of the first recipes -- orange drop cookies. A citrus lover, they sounded appealing particularly because they use orange zest and juice for flavour. I decided to try them. 

The recipe was relatively straightforward. But one element was confusing -- just how big were these cookies meant to be? The recipe said to drop the dough by teaspoons. Taken literally, that would be a very small cookie. I flipped through the cookbook again and found an illustration where teaspoons -- the kind you use to stir your tea -- were used. That suggested a cookie closer to a tablespoon or so. I decided to try portioning it with a small ice cream scoop (equivalent to two tablespoons). This resulted in the exact number of cookies outlined in the recipe. I had my answer.

The resulting cookies were cake-like. In fact, their texture reminded me of madeleines. Initially, I thought I would skip the orange icing, thinking it would be gilding the lily, but then decided to try it anyway. After all, who am I to question Betty Crocker? (Yes, I know she wasn't a real person.) For some I drizzled a zigzag over the top, for others I covered the entire surface. I quickly discovered that the icing took them over the top. A truly delicious bite!

Having made these, I can understand why drop cookies were recommended for shipping. They are sturdy cookies, for sure. But they also stay fresh for a surprisingly long time. After six days in an airtight container at room temperature, they were still just as good as the day they were made. The cake still moist, the icing still perfectly set. 

A solid start to my Cooky Book exploration. I can't wait to try the next one. 

A Patron Saint of Confectioners?

Fun fact: Tuesday (May 16th) is the feast day of Saint Honoratus of Amiens. Who's that, you ask? Why, he is the patron saint of confectioners and bakers!

If you grew up Catholic like I did, then you're familiar with the concept of patron saints. Among the famous are Saint Christopher (patron saint of travellers), Saint Anthony (lost articles), Saint Jude (hopeless causes), and Saint Francis of Assisi (environment and animals). And if you sang in the church choir like I did, then you've probably intoned the Litany of the Saints and have heard of the more obscure ones, like Saints Cosmas and Damien (pharmacists), Saint Bartholomew (bookbinders, butchers, and leatherworkers), Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (ecology), and Saint Jerome (archaeologists and librarians). 

Saint Honoratus, I'm afraid, slipped from my memory -- if he was ever there. I've gone back and looked at a few versions of the Litany of the Saints, and he doesn't appear to have made the cut. I (re)discovered he existed during my professional chocolatier program. It was probably in advance of one of the assignments involving cooked sugar, which I find to be terrifying. I vaguely remember wondering if there was a patron saint of chocolatiers to whom I could pray. My quick search on Google revealed there was one for confectioners and I decided that was close enough (perhaps even better given the assignment). 

Saint Honoratus of Amiens (Honoré, sometimes Honorius) died circa 600 CE. He became associated with bakers and confectioners as a result of a baking peel miraculously transforming into a mulberry tree after he was proclaimed a bishop (visit Catholic Online or read the NPR version of the story). Often depicted with loaves of bread and a peel, by the 15th century, he was associated with a guild of bakers in Paris. It is after him that the famous Gateau St. Honoré is named -- a dessert often said to be the ultimate test of a pastry students, with puff pastry, pâte á choux, pastry cream, and caramelized sugar. It was developed in the 19th century at a bakery located on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. 

And so, how better to celebrate Saint Honoratus than to make a Gateau St. Honoré‽ 

Just kidding. While I would LOVE to try making this dessert, I would have to do it for a party. It isn't something that will keep more than 24 hours, so it should be eaten shortly after it is made, in one sitting if possible. And as much as I'd like to make a decadent dessert and eat it myself (maybe offering a profiterole or two to Chris), I don't think my Fitbit would be happy with me. Alas, there is no badge for setting a record for fat intake in a day...

So instead I decided to make part of a Gateau St. Honoré -- the profiteroles -- in honour of his feast day. Choux pastry is notoriously finicky, so I prayed to Saint Honoratus before beginning. And then made and baked the pâte á choux. It was easier than expected! I filled a few with some leftover vanilla bean whipped cream that wasn't quite as stiff as it should have been, but was delicious nonetheless. I topped them with some chocolate ganache. 

The result? Delicious!

These are very moreish. I may try filling a few of the choux shells with ice cream on the weekend. Or with pastry cream. Or with chocolate whipped cream. The possibilities are endless!

As for the full Gateau St. Honoré, it will have to wait. But I'm ready for it whenever the opportunity presents itself! In the process of researching recipes I learned that there is a piping tip called St. Honoré, named after Saint Honoratus and used for the famed dessert. Having nothing like it in my piping tip collection, I ordered the tips from Amazon. 

And maybe, on Tuesday, we should all enjoy some good bread from a local bakery.    

I Only Need One Good One to Photograph

For a while now, I've been wanting to try making macarons. They seem to have become trendy, based on all of the YouTube videos that have been posted in the last two years. They also seem to be commonly sold at chocolate shops, so during my Professional Chocolatier program, I kept seeing pictures of them in display cases at chocolateries and even stumbled upon packaging for them while conducting research for one of my assignments. While always in the back of my mind, though, they seemed like too much work whenever I was in the mood to make something. There's something about whipping egg whites that just puts a recipe in another category for me.

Then a few weeks ago, I was at Stokes and saw silicone macaron baking sheets. Impulsively, I bought them. And then they sat on my dining room table taunting me until finally I decided I must use them.

Now, everything I've read says that even professionals have trouble periodically with macarons, so you shouldn't be disappointed if they don't work the first few tries. Persistence is key. Fair enough, I thought. I only need one good one to photograph.

And so I separated eggs and sifted almond flour, I whipped and I folded. (As I wrote that, lyrics flashed through my head: "Now watch me whip. Now watch me nae nae...") And I piped.

And I waited.

And eventually, the skin formed and I was able to pop them into the oven to bake. Everything was going beautifully until I took them out. Some were cracked. Some were lopsided. Some seemed to be hollow. They didn't lift from the mat. I put them back in for a few more minutes. And then for a few more minutes. Finally, I gave up hope and took them out to cool, and then put the second tray in.

The second tray seemed to work a bit better, but it certainly wasn't a home run by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I only needed one good one to photograph, right?

I pulled the meringue cookies from the mat, trying not to break them, which proved more challenging than you might expect (considering the mat was silicone). And I whipped some blueberry buttercream to use as the filling, thinking it would pair nicely with the lemon flavoured meringue. And I piped and sandwiched my cookies, trying not to crack them or put a finger through them, before putting them in the fridge for 24 hours (which many say is the mandatory final step). There were more than a few casualties.

And when it was all done, I had one good one to photograph.

Okay, that's not quite true. I had more than one. But not many more. After all of that effort for so little output, there wouldn't be any sharing. (Sorry, peeps!)

I collected the cracked cookies and put them in tupperware for snacking (they still tasted great) and I rationed the remaining lemon macarons filled with blueberry cream cheese filling.

The following day, I did some research to see what might have gone wrong. As it turns out, silicone baking mats, though popular with their circular piping guides, are not recommended for macarons -- and they increase the baking time. I had overfilled them. I also found that I probably had underwhipped the egg whites (despite carefully following a recipe by Anna Olson). Finally, it's likely that I didn't fold my mixture enough.

Determined to master this, just a week ago, I tried making them again and was much more successful. I whipped to stiff peaks instead of soft, I folded the mixture until I could draw figure eights with the batter, and I adjusted the bake time (though I did still use the silicone baking mats). I used a lighter touch piping. And, I'm happy to say that, though it once again wasn't a home run, my yield was much higher the second time around.

I'm thinking third time's a charm...

Have you ever made macarons? How did your first attempt go?

Unbearably Delicious?

When I was home for Christmas, my mother pulled an old recipe book out of the cupboard and suggested I take it back to Cape Breton with me. Now that I had my own place and was amassing my own library of cook books, she reasoned, that's where it should be. I hadn't seen it in decades. Literally. It was The Best Cookie Book Ever! -- self-proclaimed, of course -- that she had bought me at a Scholastic book fair when I was nine years old. I'm guessing it was my first cook book ever.

As I flipped through it, I remembered how much I loved it. The illustrations of the bears and a little grey cat were appealing to me back then -- and the truth is, they still are. They are incredibly cute. As I flipped through the book, I saw my signature from back then. (Not quite as smooth or flowing as it is now.) It seems I enjoyed the puzzles and did them all. At the back of the book, there was a certificate of achievement. I had awarded it to myself and seemingly forged a friend's signature as the person who presented it to me. As the memories of the book came back, I quickly flipped to the only recipe from it that I actually remembered making -- Chocolate Bars. I don't recall how they turned out or if we liked them. I just know that I really wanted to make them. And my mother, as always, indulged me (after a little convincing, as I recall).

What I remember about making these Chocolate Bars was how confused we were by the measurement for the butter. A stick of butter. Sure, that seems silly now -- hundreds, if not thousands, of episodes of Martha Stewart, Anna Olson, Ina Garten, and Nigella Lawson later -- but back then we really didn't know that meant a half cup or a quarter pound. Butter didn't come in sticks and, actually, we didn't even have butter. Back then, margarine was all the rage. And, of course, those were the days when you couldn't just jump onto the internet and google the conversion. How times have changed. I don't remember how much we decided was the right amount of butter/margarine. And I don't remember if we liked the final result. I just remember the great butter debate. Funny how memory works, no?

Since Christmas, I've looked at the recipe book a few times and thought that I should make some of the recipes from it again. And so this week I decided it was the right time to visit the past.

Of course, thirty years later, I now realize how misleading the name of the Chocolate Bars recipe actually is. A kid would read that and expect a chocolate bar. Well, okay, most kids would. The ones who compete on Kid's Baking Championship probably are way more savvy. Anyhoo... The reality is, this is a brownie recipe, which is sort of strange because there is already a brownie recipe in the book. Whatever you call it, it's a chocolate square recipe that claims to be "unbearably delicious" -- so I decided to put it to the test.

Yes, indeed. I opened up the recipe book and followed the kid-oriented instructions (with helpful tips, like turn off the stove/oven as the last step). One of the things that immediately struck me as strange was the suggestion to melt the butter and chocolate on the stove top in a pot. Why wouldn't you just melt it in the microwave, I wondered. Much safer, no? More kid-friendly? Oh yeah. Because thirty years ago, microwaves weren't standard issue the way they are now. So, okay, I deviated from the recipe a little bit and melted my butter and chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Otherwise, though, I followed along, step by step. And after baking them for 20 minutes, as directed, I pulled them out without testing whether they were done (because the recipe didn't suggest a toothpick test).

I sprinkled the chocolate chips on top, let them sit for five minutes as instructed, and then smoothed the chocolate over the top. Then, sadly, I had to set them aside for an hour or so to cool.

So, the verdict? Are they unbearably delicious?

To my surprise, they are really, really delicious brownies. They have a great dark chocolate flavour and they aren't overly sweet. And the nuts give them a great texture. Best of all, the bake time seems to be spot on. I'm impressed!

Did you have a recipe book as a kid? What do you remember making back in the day?

Beauty and the Beast

This month I was thrilled when a colleague shared a baking opportunity with me on Facebook. I hadn't heard of the All Fool's Night fundraiser held by the Cape Breton Regional Library. As part of it, there would be a silent auction featuring altered book art and books to eat. I immediately contacted the organizer to get the details.

Then I needed to choose a book to inspire my cake. I covered a lot of ground in my deliberations -- from Dexter to Ramona Quimby and Murder on the Orient Express to Shopaholic and The Telling Room to In Too Deep (those last two were a nod to my book club). In the end, I choose something popular now as a result of a new movie -- Beauty and the Beast. After reviewing several videos on YouTube and pins on Pinterest to inspire me, I determined that I would make a 9" contour vanilla cake filled with strawberry buttercream and covered in yellow rosettes to suggest Belle's dress. A few white pearls would be added for interest. The centerpiece would be an edible red rose under an acrylic dome if I could find one. I had less than two weeks to plan, prepare, and execute my design.

Naturally, I started with the red rose. I had read online that it was possible to make a rose out of fondant -- the instructions were on the Wilton site. I was skeptical, though. From my experience, the rose would need to be made out of gum paste. I tried making one with some fondant I had on had and my suspicions were confirmed -- fondant simply wouldn't do. I made a special trip to Michaels to purchase new gum paste, some pearls, and new red colouring. I was much happier with the results and made three gum paste roses, along with about eight leaves. I wanted to have back-ups in case something went wrong on the day of the assembly.

I then searched Dollarama for something that would work as a dome over the rose. Nothing seemed appropriate in terms of shape and size. I was getting ready to scrap that design and find a workaround. Luckily, while strolling through Walmart a few days later, I found an acrylic stemless wine glass in the seasonal section. It would be the perfect dome over the rose.

Then the worst part was ahead of me: I had to wait another six days before I could do anything else related to the cake.

On the afternoon before the fundraiser, thanks to a snow day, I baked my cake and levelled it. Since I expected to have some buttercream left over and I was having a few friends over for dinner on Saturday, I also baked four cupcakes. The next morning, I made a double batch of buttercream. I took out about 1 cup and mixed it with pureed strawberries -- and used that to fill the cake, which I'd cut into two layers. Then I dyed the remaining buttercream the yellow of Belle's dress and covered the cake with rosettes. I had seen online that the best way to add candy pearls is to throw them at the buttercream so that the pattern is random. This was hilarious and resulted in pearls all over the floor of my apartment -- but it did work. Finally, I added the rose and a few petals, and covered the rose with the acrylic dome, held in place by the buttercream.

I was very pleased with how the cake turned out. Hopefully it did well at the auction. I would have liked to go, but I was busy at home eating cupcakes with friends. :)

Getting Back Into Cake Decorating

In October, I had the opportunity to make a birthday cake for a friend's daughter. She was interested in a Descendants cake. When she first asked me about it, I had no idea what that meant, but after some googling and research on Pinterest, I figured it out.

A few weeks in advance, I made a fondant apple and crown. The night before, I baked two French vanilla cakes, one 6" contour and one 9" contour. Then on the day of the party I made buttercream icing and covered the cakes in rosettes before applying the apple and crown. It is my first Disney-inspired cake. And I'm very proud of it! It also helped me realize just how much I enjoy the creative process of cake decorating.

An Anniversary Cake for my Parents

I decided in August that instead of going home for the end of summer, I would go home in October over the long weekend. My parents assumed it was so that I'd be home for Thanksgiving weekend, but in fact it was because I wanted to be home for their 45th wedding anniversary.

Early in September, I began preparing for a special cake. In their retirement, my parents have enjoyed growing veggies in their garden at our cottage. My mother in particular is obsessed with her pumpkins and I receive regular updates on their progress throughout summer. Much of her flower garden is bordered with flat rocks that my father has collected and relocated for her. And one of the ongoing jokes regarding our cottage is that my father seems to always be building sheds (last count there were 3). So, it seemed like a Peter Rabbit cake with a small shed would be the perfect way to celebrate them.

Over several nights in mid-September, I made fondant pumpkins, carrots, beets, and rabbits. I also made a trip to Bulk Barn to purchase chocolate rocks. I got a cake box at Michaels so that I could easily transport the finished product. I assembled everything I'd need to make the cake once I arrived in Newfoundland. I also gave my sister a list of ingredients that she would have to pick up for me (like icing sugar and graham crackers). She made sure everything was ready for my arrival.

I traveled on the ferry on a Wednesday night, arriving on the Thursday morning before the long weekend. On Friday, my parents left for the cottage and did just about everything in their power to get me to go with them (or to get me to let them stay home with me) because my sister had gone to St. John's for the day. I insisted they go without me because I had plans with my sister that night. Little did they know the plan was for their anniversary cake.

As soon as their vehicle disappeared up the road, I leaped into action. I took over my sister's kitchen, baked a cake, and made icing. I also assembled the graham crackers into a shed. About 7 hours later, the cake was finished.

My sister arrived home around 7pm. She was disappointed that she hadn't been able to contribute to the decorating of the cake, but she did pick up a LEGO quad that she assembled. We would place it alongside the cake -- after all, the most recent shed was being built to house a quad.

The next day, when my sister and I arrived at the cottage for an anniversary BBQ that we had planned, my parents were shocked to see the cake. I'm not sure why they didn't put things together and figure out that I, a baker, would make them a special dessert for their anniversary, but it just didn't cross their minds. The loved all of the details and there was no explanation necessary for the rocks or the shed.

The best part of all was when my father looked at me and told me that I could sell cakes for living if I wanted to one day. I felt very proud.

Creativity Lost and Regained

It's been several months since I wrote an entry for this blog and there are many reasons for that. I was recovering from an illness that left me with hardly any energy for a long time. Then I had to pack up my crafting area while a new door and windows were installed in my apartment. Next, my evenings were filled with course prep and teaching. Before I knew it, it was August and I was busy attending Action Week events, singing in the Jazz Festival, and traveling home for a vacation. In short, there's been little time for crafting, baking, or any other hands on creativity in my life (though, there has been some writing and singing).

This past weekend, however, was an opportunity to get back into the kitchen. My friends were involved in the Rotary fundraiser in North Sydney and I decided to bake cupcakes for the auction. Admittedly, I wasn't sure about this idea. For a moment, I wondered if I should paint some chalkboard wine glasses instead, but I did recall that cupcakes had been in the auction before, so I figured why not. And even if they didn't make a lot of money, every dollar would count.

After quite a long hiatus from Pinterest, I found myself browsing the site during my vacation. I was intrigued by and had pinned a recipe for Neapolitan cupcakes. They looked delicious and I was happy to have a reason to experiment with the idea. The cake was chocolate and vanilla, and the frosting was strawberry. Naturally, I had to make it my own, so I decided that strawberry cream cheese icing made with real strawberry puree would put them over the top. I also thought they needed a little something special on top. I considered several options: strawberry jelly beans, dark chocolate pieces, the little strawberry candies from a box of Runts, whoppers. In the end, I decided a cherry sour would be the "cherry on top," so to speak.

And so I set about baking cupcakes and then making frosting. While conditions were fine for baking, they were quite challenging for frosting. The humidity was incredibly high on Saturday. My strawberry cream cheese icing made with Madagascar bourbon required significantly more sugar than normal to be of an appropriate consistency (I've since Googled and discovered that the addition of cornstarch would have helped the situation -- good to know for next time). Eventually, the battle with humidity won, I topped each cupcake with a pink swirl and a cherry sour. I then chilled them until it was time to drive to North Sydney.

Now, naturally, I had to cut open one of the cupcakes to try. Quality control is an important part of baking, especially if you intend to auction off your goods! I was very pleased with the results. The inside of the cupcake was a sight to behold! The chocolate cake surrounded the vanilla. These were some of the most unique cupcakes I'd ever seen. I'm honestly still not sure how exactly that effect was accomplished! And the icing, of course, was as heavenly as ever. You really can't go wrong with strawberries and cream cheese.

About an hour before I was due to be in North Sydney, I removed the cupcakes from the fridge and packaged them for the event. I had picked up brown cardboard cupcake boxes from Michaels for this purpose (yay 50% coupon!) and placed four in each. They looked pretty and professional, which made me very happy. (I am only sad now because I didn't take a photograph of them in the boxes!) I figured the auction organizers could decide whether to split them up or not.

Dressed and ready to go, I was very concerned about the humidity melting my cupcakes and even more so about the cherry sours melting and running all over the icing. (Then they'd be Dexter-inspired...) I rushed to the car and turned the air conditioning on bust for the drive over. Trying to avoid them toppling over, I held the handles of the reusable grocery bag they were in as I made a few sharp right-hand turns. I briefly paused at my friend's house and gave her a cupcake to try before we continued on to the event, which was held at the Yacht Club. Cupcakes delivered, I strolled around to see the other auction items. I was surprised to see just how many homemade items were available: jam, pickles, beets, fudge, bread... I felt less self-conscious about my contribution as a result. My friend and I grabbed wings and fries, and sat down at the best table in the joint (right next to the door) to wait for the auction to begin.

I eventually learned that the organizers had decided to break up the cupcakes and auction them four at a time. I wasn't sure this was a great strategy, since I couldn't imagine anyone paying much for just four of them, but I noticed that this had been done with several of the other homemade items. At this particular auction, that approach seemed to work quite well. Jams, beets, and fudge were all going for $25-30 each. And when the time came for my three boxes of cupcakes, they did equally as well. Who would have imagined that my cupcakes were worth more than a Joe Carter (Blue Jays) autographed picture? Not me. (And probably not Joe Carter either...)

So, it was good to get back into the kitchen after many months away from baking and I had a lot of fun at the auction. And now I must put on my thinking cap to decide what I'll make for a cake sale later this month! Stay tuned!