Sugar Cookies

When I was young, maybe around 12-13yrs old, I remember making sugar cookies with my 3rd elder sister for Hari Raya.. We followed this Pillsbury recipe book.. I remember vaguely she said to me that Sugar Cookies actually must be rolled and cut using cutters but she lazy and we shall take the easy way out. So we end up making Drop Sugar Cookies and sprinkle some rainbow sprinkles.. It was one of my favourite Raya cookies that we made.. Those were the years when she was still free to bake and I would be helping her around... I love and miss those times actually..

I never knew sugar cookie dough was so hard to handle till now.. I tried different recipes and all the receipe, the dough became soft and sticky and I just had no idea how to solve it.. My incessant trips thru and fro the fridge was useless.. and I still ended up with ugly cookies that I was not satisfied with. But I never gave up trying new recipe and reading up and watching videos on sugar cookies.. Asking fellow bakers around for a good recipe and method.. And whether they face the same problem.. I can never understand why the recipe I made is so hard to handle, it's just sticky and I can't even cut it nicely.. And I will end up getting frustrated and just blame the weather in Singapore.. Hmmm..

But.... I was fortunate enough to found this sugar cookie recipe.. And it was so much easier to handle.. It wasn't sticky and it's a faster way and definitely less hassle. All thanks to being a member of the Daring Bakers. :) It was the Sep challenge where they had to make decorated sugar cookies..

Sugar Cookie are naturally sweet if you can't tell by their name.. haha.. However, I realize that I have no patience to decorate with Royal Icing flooding method.. The top reasons being I have to let it out to dry, I worry that the cookies become soft after exposing it in the air so long. Secondly, I realize the flood makes the cookies soft and lose the crunchy texture of the cookies.. Hmmm.. Or isit just me?? hahaha.. Last reason why I dislike flooding is, it adds more to the sweetness and the cookie become excessively sweet.. Just too bad I no longer have a sweet tooth but I'm pretty sure kids will like it.. I stick to Royal Icing in medium consistency as it dries faster and you can always use fondant too.. :) Fondant is good because if you're not a fan of fondant, you can always peel it off.. Hehe..

This recipe has a whole different method and it works really great and much faster and I totally dig it.. You roll the dough before putting in the fridge.. That's the secret to efficient-ness.. But it's really sweet.. Maybe I should lessen the sugar.. Oh, Make sure you prepare alot of parchment paper..

Basic Sugar Cookies (taken from Sep challenge of the Daring Bakers by Mandy of "What the Fruitcake?!")
(my notes in red)

200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

1. Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming creamy in texture. (Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during baking, losing their shape).

2. Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms. (Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid flour flying everywhere).

4. Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces. ( I divided into 4. Smaller sizes makes it easier to keep in the fridge; takes up lesser space).

5. Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)

6. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins. (Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker).

7. Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface. (I didn't have to flour at all cos it is not sticky at all to me. Adding no flour is good news to me as adding more flour will makes dough tougher and will end up will tougher cookies, I think.. haha).

8. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

9. Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour. (Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking).

10. Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

11. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

12. Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies. (Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in some cookies being baked before others are done).

13. Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.

14. Leave to cool on cooling racks.

15. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired. (Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated cookies can last up to a month).

~You know I'm such a fool for you
You got me wrap around your finger...~

1st Wedding Cake

I read a wall post on Facebook once.. I can't really remember it.. But it goes something like this.. "Do something for yourself, nobody will know.. But do something for others, people will remember it forever.." It's very general but its very inspiring for me.. :) I use that believe to motivate me why I like baking and making cakes for people..

I am so relieved as of yesterday night, after delivering my very first wedding cake order... I spent more than 2 weeks on that cake.. Sacrificing my social life and nights on it.. But I think it was all worthwhile.. It makes me happy and I enjoyed the ups and downs throughout the process... For more picture, you may search Simply Baked in Facebook..

The bride was my secondary school friend.. And she's marrying my secondary school friend too.. :) Anyway, Congraulations Hatta and Liyana!! You both look really good together..

The first step of the whole process was making the flowers.. Bride requested dark red or something close to maroon Roses and Golden Yellow Calla Lilies.. In cascading style... The flowers took one whole week from start to finish including the dusting and wiring and all.. I was barely satisfied with the colour I got for the roses.. I had to use 2 different lustre dust to get the colour which I was still not really satisfied with... But I think that's it.. I can't do anything with it anymore.. haha..

Next step was to prepare all the different fillings and buttercreams for the cake.. Then, making the marshmallow fondant.. Yes, I make my own fondant because I find the store bought fondant hard to handle(sticky) and expensive.. I rather work with something easy to handle although it's hard work to make your own... But I think it's quite easy and cheaper.. As for the taste, I think it taste like marshmallow.. I don't really like fondant but I think this is acceptable and taste like marshmallow itself.. sweeeet~ I shall share with you the recipe below.. Try it!!

3rd step is to prepare all the cakes.. 3 different flavours of cake: Strawberry, Lemon and Chocolate.. I took the last 2 days to bake and level the cakes so as to keep my cakes fresh.. And also to bake the cupcakes..

Last step, is filling/layering the cake, covering and decorating... The cakes I do is usually a 3 layer cake.. I always try my best to make a nice tasting cake which is not so dry.. I know usually fondant cakes are dry and not much filling.. As cake decorator.. dry and firm cakes are easier to handle and looks nicer overall... But I always want my cakes to taste good.. Cos I want people to enjoy eating it.. But I got to stike a balance somewhere between nice tasting and nice looking although it's kinda tough sometimes..

I covered the cake in pale peach colour because I remembered the bride saying she wanted to stray away from the traditional wedding colour: white.. I couldn't really find a nice maroon ribbon to put on the cake.. But I got a close pinkish-maroon colour which I think is the best that I can get.. I made an egg yellow dots above the ribbon to spice up the design a bit.. But it's quite insignificant from far.. Maybe it's the colour.. Hmm.. But I like the touch the dots added.. It was a tiresome work though and my eyes got crossed after that.. haha..

 

The cupcakes were a gift from me to the couple.. I made a pink-maroon-ish heart shape fondant topper for the cupcakes and gave it my signature swirl cream buttercream... In peach... I thought the colour was so romantic and pretty.. I fell in love with it.. 2 butterflies to signify the bride and groom flying towards the heart... Simple and pretty.. I love~

I wanted to achieve a clean, simple, modern look to it.. But I guess I'm still an amateur in wedding cakes or cakes.. :) I'm slowly getting there, I hope.. I hope the bride and groom likes the cake.. especially the taste.. 

The cake stand and decor was done by the bride's friend.. It was matching wit the whole event decor at the venue although I wish it was not feathers... to be honest.. I don't really like feathers.. haha.. But overall it was really nice and pretty although I wished it had more height.. But nice and simple..

The bride also surprise her husband and his twin a birthday cake at the dinner event.. I made something new.. Chocolate cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Filling and Chocolate Glaze.. :)

It was a truly good exposure and definitely a learning experience.. Thank you Liyana for ordering! and Thank you to Mr Wafi for helping me throughout.. And my handsome and trusty friends for helping me transporting the cakes..

Marshmallow Fondant (taken from Design Me a Cake)
(I always half the recipe becuase it's easier to handle)

15 oz. mini marshmallows 2 Tblsp water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled) (I omit)
2 tsp light corn syrup (helps w/ pliability)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon extract (I omit)
2 lbs (approx 7 C) confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 C Crisco or vegetable shortening (For greasing appliances and tools and covering the fondant)

1. Grease microwave proof bowl w/ Crisco (I was lazy and use a spray oil, doesnt affect anything). Also grease wooden or heat proof spoon.

2. Pour marshmallows and water into bowl. Microwave for approximately 2 minutes stopping and stirring at 40 second intervals (mine took shorter than this). Mixture should be soupy.

3. Take out of microwave and immediately add corn syrup, lemon juice, salt and extracts. Stir well. Sift confectioner's sugar into mixture, one cup at a time. After approximately 5 cups (3 cups if you're halving the recipe), grease your hands well with Crisco and knead the mixture in the bowl. Add the sixth cup and continue to knead. Now grease your work surface well and turn mixture out of bowl onto counter. Sift remaining sugar, regrease hands, and knead well. If mixture seems soft, add one additional cup of powdered sugar.

4. Shape into a mound and put a coating of crisco on outside. Double wrap in cling wrap and insert into ziplock bag. Press air out of bag and seal. Allow to rest overnight, but, can be used after sitting for a few hours.

Daring Bakers - Crostata

I feel guilty..  Guilty for having the Daring Bakers logo on my blog but I haven't done one challenge since I don't know when.. Time have caught up with me and I shall make it a point to be a loyal member again.. ;) And now, I am a happy baker once more!!

I've made tarts before this. This recipe was so much easier to handle than my previous experience, which was good. As the weather at my place can be quite humid, tart dough tends to be sticky. However, this recipe was easy to handle which made me really happy.

The made the pasta without using any machines. It was the first time I did that and I am so happy and proud of the results. :) Of course you can do the pasta frolla using a food processer which is much easier. But unfortunately, I have not got any food processor and decided to use my hands instead of my KitchenAid. I think it was easy to do it without any machines and there's lesser things to wash! haha.. It's more satisfying, trust me..

In terms of taste, the pasta frolla had a mild sweet taste but it was buttery. But it's okay to me cos I filled mine with pastry cream which was sweet and the glazed fruits made it sweet too. So the tart did not add much more sweetness. So it's just lovely for me. Definitely, my go-to pie crust recipe next time.

I made mini tarts using some leftover strawberries, some baked with pastry cream and some with Lingonberry Jam. The strawberry tarts were delightful. I feel that lingonberry jam in itself is an acquired taste. It has a sharp tang (tartiness) taste. But luckily the pastry cream kinda neutralize it. I can take a few bites of it but not more than that. I think lingonberry taste better with savoury food like steak. The pastry cream didn't look that successful but taste quite good. It kinda bloated up in the oven, then sank a lot when it was cooling down outside. 

But overall, this was a good challenge. I love the recipe and loved all of it. :) For more information on the recipe alternative method, you can click here.   

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Crostata di Frutta Fresca
Pasta Frolla
1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp (100 g) superfine sugar (caster) OR a scant 3/4 cup (90g) of powdered sugar
1 3/4 cup [420 ml, 235 g, 8 1/4 oz.] unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 stick [8 tablespoons / 4 oz. / 115 g] cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Zest of half a lemon
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

1. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.

2. Rub or cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. You can do this in the bowl or on your work surface, using your fingertips or an implement of choice.

3. Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten eggs into it (reserve about a teaspoon of the egg mixture for glazing purposes later on – place in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use).

4. Add the lemon zest to your flour/butter/egg mixture.

5. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients, and then use your fingertips.

6. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

7. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Pastry Cream (taken from Baking from my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 (50.2g) unsalted butter, cut into b its at room temperature

1. Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan

2. Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended.

3. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk - this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't  curdle.

4. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk.

5. Put the pan over medium heat and whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get into the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil.

6. Keep at a boil, still whisking for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

7. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky.

8. Scrape the cream into a bowl. Put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and stir in the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes. OR

8a. Press a plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold. 

Building the  Crostata di Frutta Fresca
You will need:
A layer of pasta frolla base
A layer of pastry cream
A layer of fresf fruits

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF [180ºC/gas mark 4].

2. Roll out a batch of the pasta frolla and cover the base of the tart pan. (I took out the pasta frolla from the fridge and left it to warm up a little bit for easier rolling. Put the pasta frolla in between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll).

3. Cut a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil large enough to cover the bottom of the crust and extend out a bit over the edges of the pan.

4. You can use pie weights or dry beans to blind bake. Place whatever weight you’re using directly on the parchment paper or aluminum foil in an even layer. (I used uncooked rice grains as that was all I have at home). 

5. Place the crostata shell in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. (The mini tarts took around 15min in my oven. Do not overbake as it results in very hard and crispy shells like mine. *grins* It's still edible though). 

6. Remove the weights and parchment paper and continue baking the crostata shell until the border is light golden, about 5 minutes (watch carefully to avoid over-baking, which results in a hard shell). In the absence of weight, the crust may rise in the middle: if that occurs, gently push it back down with the back of a spoon.

7. Remove from the oven and let the crostata shell cool completely before proceeding.

8. If you use a tart pan with removable bottom, release the base from the fluted tart ring, then slide the cooled crostata shell on a serving plate for filling. (Note: If you’ve used a cake pan or pie plate, use a bit of care in taking the shell out of the baking vessel.)

9. Spread the prepared pastry cream over the cooled shell.

10. Decorate the surface with fresh fruit. The crostata must be cool, but not cold, so if you refrigerate it, take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving. This crostata is best eaten the same day it is prepared.

11. I warm a bit of glazing gel with some water to put as glaze on top of the fruits to make it last longer and look nicer. :)

~I'm counting  UFOs
I signal them with my lighter
And in this moment I am happy, Happy~