Political Cookies: Democratic Cookery, 1971

If you've ever been plagued with the pressing question of what democrats ate in 1971, there is a book for you: Democratic Cookery, published in 1971 by the King County Democratic Central Committee.

While many delectable dinner ideas await you in this book (Elva's Veal Roast from Mr.s Lawrence O'brien, wife of chairman, Democratic National Committee; Sweet and Sour Spaghetti from Mrs. David Ceccarelli, wife of Washington State Representative), I skipped right to the desserts.

But what to make first?

The goof-proof fudge? The Sea Foam Candy? TheCapirodata (a white-bread pudding bake from Della Montoya, wife of Joseph M. Montoya, Senator from New Mexico)?

Or perhaps, being a modern woman, I should go for the straightforward "Dessert", which includes detailed instructions on properly defrosting and displaying a Sara Lee Poundcake?

After much debate, I decided to go with the Century 21 Cookies, which sounded like a taste for a brave new (democratic) world. This recipe came from Betty Merril, wife of John Merrill, Washington State Representative. And I think that regardless of political affiliation, most will agree: these cookies are simple to make, pleasing to the palate, and delightful with milk.

Of course, if you want to get political with your cookies, there's this...

Century 21 Cookies

• 1/2 cup margarine or shortening (or, if you're feeling very 2012, butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, unbeaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Procedure

Cream well shortening, sugar and egg. Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla. Roll pieces the size of a walnut into balls and place on greased tin. Flatten each ball with the bottom of a drinking glass which has been buttered and dipped frequently in granulated sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.

Donut Hole Blondies Recipe

Photo: Domestic Rebel

Donut-Hole Blondies are purely experimental. It was kind of those moments where you walk by the donut holes and think to yourself thinking to them, you’re going into a blondie today. 

Oh, you don’t talk to food? Nevermind.

They're a popular recipe on my blog for a reason: they're sweet yet salty and are completely delicious.  Blondies are my absolute fave for their rich brown sugar-y flavor, but adding donut holes to them elevates that flavor to crazy levels of awesomeness.  Also, donuts are known as being the best food ever.  Just a fact for you. 

Donut Hole Blondies

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown sugar (light preferred)
• 2/3 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 pkg glazed donut holes (like the pop’ems kind or from your local market/bakery), cut in half

Procedure

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar and butter together over medium heat until butter melts, the sugar dissolves, and the mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Stir in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Stir in the flour one cup at a time, then the baking soda and baking powder. Stir in 3/4 of the chopped donut holes and pour into the prepared pan. Top with a couple more donut hole halves and sprinkle with sea salt (you may not use all the donut hole halves but uh, think of something else to use them for?)
4. Bake for approx. 25-30 minutes or until center is set and blondies are lightly golden. Cool for about 1 hr before cutting into squares. Store airtight for 2-3 days.

About the author: Hayley is The Domestic Rebel. She believes in cake mix, overdosing on sparkles & eating that extra cookie. And she really, really loves cupcakes.

Circus Animal Cookie Truffles Recipe

Image: Domestic Rebel

As a kid, I grew up eating Circus Animal Cookies. My grandma never paid attention to the food I had during the day, so I could shovel handfuls of these cookies into my mouth-hole while watching marathons of Scooby Doo on Cartoon Network. I am partial to the white ones as I believe they taste slightly better than the pink, but science has yet to back me up on this one.

I decided to make them into truffles since truffles are cute and portable and are yet another vessel for more chocolate and sprinkles (sprinkles are practically mandatory in life). The result is a super sweet, adorable truffle that is reminiscent of my favorite childhood cookie.

Circus Animal Cookie Truffles

• About 3 cups Circus Animal cookies
• 1/2 can cream cheese frosting
• 1 pkg white chocolate almond bark
• Rainbow nonpareils
• Pink food coloring

Procedure

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set aside. Meanwhile, in a food processor, grind the cookies (about a cup at a time–work in batches) until finely ground, coarse crumbs. Pour all the ground cookies into a large bowl.
2. Once cookies are ground, spoon in the half can of cream cheese icing. Using your clean hands or a spoon, mix together the crumbs and frosting until thoroughly combined.
3. Begin portioning the crumb mixture into inch-sized balls (I used a small cookie dough scoop) and place the balls onto the foil-lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
4. Freeze the truffles for about 3 hours or until completely frozen and solid. While they’re freezing, prepare your white chocolate according to package directions until smooth and melted. Pour half that mixture into a separate bowl, and using your pink coloring, tint one of the bowls a pretty pink shade.
5. Dip half the batch of truffles into the white chocolate, and the other half into the pink chocolate. I used a fork to coat all sides of the truffles, then allowed the excess to drip off the bottom before gently placing each dipped truffle back onto the foil-lined sheet. While still wet, sprinkle the truffle tops with the rainbow nonpareils.
6. Allow all the truffles to harden and set, about 20 minutes in the fridge. Store leftover truffles airtight for about 2-3 days at room temperature, or a week in the freezer–just allow them to come to room temperature before eating them that way.

About the author: Hayley is The Domestic Rebel. She believes in cake mix, overdosing on sparkles & eating that extra cookie. And she really, really loves cupcakes.

Olive Oil Lemon Poppyseed Cake With Lemon Almond Glaze

Not so very long ago, the California Olive Ranch sent me some olive oil with which to try out some baking.

YES!

So, I looked up recipes, because I have been really wanting to try out an Olive Oil Cake. But I specifically wanted a loaf cake type. I don't know why. Well, OK, yes I do. I have an adorable loaf pan. It's by Emile Henry and it's green. I think it's very cute. Plus, when you bake cakes in loaf form, they sort of resemble bread, and in my mind, that kind of makes them health food.

So I found a recipe which looked good, but I decided that instead of blood oranges, I wanted to use lemon. And I like lemon poppyseed, so I added some seeds. And, well, just to be a bit zany, I decided to add a dash of almond extract to the glaze. 

And so, with all of these little additions and amendments, I ended up with Olive Oil Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Lemon Almond Glaze.

DEAR GOD was this thing good. While it may look like a pound cake, the olive oil sets it apart, taste-wise. While a pound cake is delightfully dense, this had a more tender, layer cake-like crumb, but a rich flavor that while not buttery, was very delicious--luxuriant and lightly fruity-nutty. It is hard to describe, so rather than fetch my thesaurus I am going to suggest that you break out some olive oil and give it a try. I'll give you one more reason why you should try it:

Aw yeah. Here's the recipe.

Olive Oil Lemon Poppyseed Cake With Lemon-Almond Glaze

For the cake

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• zest of 1 large lemon [about 1 tablespoon]
• juice of 1 large lemon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon poppyseeds

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 5-by-9 inch loaf pan. 

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. 

Combine sugar and zest together in a bowl; using your fingers, rub together well. Add juice and milk, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and oil, and whisk to combine. 

Add flour mixture to the milk mixture, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the seeds last, stirring until evenly distributed.

Transfer batter to the pan, and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Turn cake out on rack, and using the tines of a fork, gently poke small holes on the top surface of the cake. Apply half of the glaze while cake is still warm.  When cake has cooled, apply second half of glaze. 

For the Glaze

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• dash of almond extract 
• squeeze of lemon juice

Mix all this stuff together. If it's too thin, add a little more sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice or milk or cream. 

The Story of Carrot Cake

Although it would be a stretch to call this homespun favorite a fashion plate of a dessert, carrot cake--a lumpy and slightly frumpy but incredibly moist and flavorful carrot-flecked light brown-hued spice cake, frequently studded with either pineapple or plump raisins, nuts and finished with a thick coat of tangy cream cheese frosting--has enjoyed several moments of vogue over the years.

Believe it or not, the idea of using carrots in desserts actually dates back to Medieval times, when carrot pudding was enjoyed as a sweet at banquets. This was probably borne out of necessity, making use of the carrots’ natural sweetness; while a pudding would have been a steamed and vaguely cakelike affair, there was still much adaptation which would occur, because as much as you search for it, you're not going to find any mention of medieval cream cheese frosting.

Carrots were imported to America by European settlers, and so was, apparently, the pudding; there are bushels of recipes for the stuff from this era on show at the Carrot Museum. The reason again is the carrot's natural sweetness: they contain more sugar than any other vegetable besides the sugar beet, and were much easier to come by during this time.

A big development in the world of carrot cake came in the early 1900s, when the pudding began to be baked in loaf pans, more like a quick bread. Carrots were used as an agent of moisture and sweetness in cakes, when luxury foods were rationed during the first and second world wars. It's possible, too, that the government became carrot-pushers: in England, recipes were distributed to promote the carrot as a nutrient-dense ingredient.

By mid-century, the carrot cake had hopped over to America, where it would make dessert history. Most likely, the recipe was imported to the states following the second world war, where it caught on in cafeterias and restaurants. However, there is a delightful story which indicates that following WWII there was a glut of canned carrots in the U.S; an enterprising businessman named George C. Page hired bakers to find uses for the cans of carrots to create a demand for the product, and the solution was carrot cake, which he then sold through the company Mission Pak, a large purveyor gourmet foods.

At first a novelty, carrot cake nonetheless proved popular enough to stick around on menus. But it really caught on in a big way in the health-conscious 1970s, when carrot cake was perceived as being “healthy." And really, the idea isn't too far-flung: after all, carrots are vegetables, and raisins and nuts are pretty much health food, right?

Of course, the thing that really separates carrot cake from being equivalent to eating a salad is the thick slather of cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar and cream that became the frosting of choice in the 1960s, a time during which Philadelphia Cream Cheese released many recipe pamphlets; possibly it is during this time that the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting really became a bonded pair.

And if we're truthful, what's ultimately kept the cake going isn't necessarily carrots, it's the full spectrum of flavors in the package. Those pretty little flecks of orange are not the dominant flavor of the cake: carrot cakes often taste like spice cake, with the sweetness of raisins or pineapple or even apples, paired with cream cheese frosting, is generally what we look for in a carrot cake. 

Speaking of which, the additions can be the subject of some argument. While raisins are undoubtedly the oldest complement to carrots, many modern palates prefer pineapple, apples or applesauce; sometimes walnuts, sometimes pecans, sometimes no nuts at all. These add-ins are the choice of the baker and the preference of the eater. The cake's mild but distinct flavor have made the cake an enduring favorite: while few would think of it as fashionable, it's considered a timeless classic that never goes out of style.

Here's a carrot cake that would please palates from yesterday and today. Go ahead and think of it as health food as you like; I won't stop you.

Carrot Cake

 Makes 1 cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans, plus 1/2 cup unchopped pecans, for garnish
• 1 batch cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)

 Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch pans, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, oil, two sugars, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, and then turn up the speed to medium for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until combined and lightly frothy.
4. Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture in 2 to 3 increments, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula with each addition.
5. Stir in carrots, mixing until combined. Fold in the pecans.
6. Pour an even amount of batter into each of the prepared pans.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper, and cool completely.
8. Once cooled, place one cake layer, flat side up, on a serving platter, and spread [f]1/2 to [f]3/4 cup of frosting on top. Leave a half-inch margin all around, as the weight of the second cake layer will spread the frosting to the edges. Place the second cake layer, flat side up, on top of the frosted layer. Frost the top and sides. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Beat at medium-high speed until the mixture has a very smooth consistency; pause to scrape the bowl as needed. Add the confectioners' sugar cup by cup, mixing after each addition, until it is smooth and spreadable.

Jam On: Late Summer Raspberry Jam Recipe

"A jam with raspberries and Lambrusco, perfect for keeping the dog days of summer—particularly the heat and bounty of August—with you all year". A tasty guest recipe from Jam On: The Craft of Canning Fruit

What’s better than a glass of cold, bubbly, deep-red Lambrusco and some raspberries on a hot summer day? This jam mimics the tart and bubbly flavors.

Many sugarfree dieters prefer green stevia since it’s less processed than other stevia. You can find green stevia in a well-stocked bulk section of many health food stores. Using the common white stevia is fine, however, and you can find it in many health food stores and gourmet bodegas. Lambrusco is one of my favorite wines to drink in the summer, and I love drinking a glass with salads, hors d’oeuvres, and antipasti. If you’re serving antipasti, use this jam on thin flatbread with hard sharp cheeses, such as Pecorino, accompanied by salty olives and wild boar salami. Stevia has a strong flavor, unlike other alternative sweeteners like agave. If you don’t enjoy the taste of stevia, you may substitute a milder sweetener, such as honey or agave.

Makes About Four 8-ounce Jars or 2 Pint Jars

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh raspberries (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup Lambrusco wine
• 1½ tablespoons stevia powder
• ½ cup water
• 6 teaspoons calcium water
• 5 teaspoons pectin

Prep

For the raspberries: Measure the berries, lemon juice, and Lambrusco into a 6- to 8-quart nonreactive pot and add the proper amount of calcium water into the pan; stir well.

For the jars and lids: Wash and rinse the jars; put them into a big stockpot; cover the jars with water and bring to a boil; turn off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to fill. Bring the lids and rings to a boil; turn off the heat; let stand in hot water until ready to screw them onto the jars. Place a few metal spoons in the freezer for testing the consistency and gel of your jam later. You can also place them in a cup of ice water, if you prefer. Bring the fruit to a boil over medium-high heat. If it starts to foam, skim the foam off the top and discard the foam. Return to a boil again. Bring the water to a boil. Put half the boiled water in a blender or food processor and carefully add the proper amount of pectin powder. Add the remaining boiled water. Vent the lid and blend 1 to 2 minutes, until all the powder is dissolved. Be careful: the pectin tends to clump on blades and in the container. Try to dissolve all of it. Pour the pectin-water mixture into the boiling jam slowly and carefully, stirring as you add. Stir vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin. Add the stevia and return to a boil. Remove from the heat. Skim off any and all foam that has formed on the top. Pectin gels completely when thoroughly cool, so don’t worry if your jam looks loose when still hot. To test, place a teaspoon of the hot jam onto one of the prepped frozen spoons; let it cool to room temperature (about 30 seconds) on the spoon. If it thickens up to the consistency desired, then the jam is ready. If not, mix in a little more pectin (½ teaspoon into ¼ cup sugar) and bring it to a boil again for 1 minute.

Pairs well with sweet and creamy Bonne Bouche and Bucheron; great served with almonds on maple crackers alongside Pâte de Campagne; delicious on top of ice cream or yogurt.

Laena McCarthy is the founder and owner of Anarchy in a Jar, an artisanal jam and preserves store. Her jams are sold at Williams-Sonoma, Dean & DeLuca, Whole Foods in New York, and other specialty stores. Jam On: The Craft of Canning Fruit Viking Studio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) | August 2012

Sweet Cake Alabama: Lane Cake Recipe

Lane Cake: now there's a tall southern belle of a layer cake. It's filled with coconut, chopped fruit and nuts, and a generous serving of whiskey or brandy, and topped off with a snowy range of fluffy frosting. Cutting into this cake is particularly enjoyable: the white frosting gives way to a creamy-colored cake, with a slightly more yellow-toned custard that's flecked with a confetti of nuts and fruits.

Credit for the cake goes to Emma Rylander Lane of Clayton, Alabama, who published the original recipe under the name "Prize Cake" in a self-published cookbook around the turn of the century. It had been titled "Prize Cake" because she had entered it, and won, in a baking contest in Georgia. As time went on and the cake's popularity was spread, Lane's name was attached to the cake.

Modern cookbooks will point out that the original recipe is "imprecise," but over the years (and with the advent of the standardization of ingredient measurements), it has evolved into one of Alabama's famous culinary feats. The cake has been reinvented time and time again, with different types of fruit and nuts in the filling, some with grape juice for teetotaler or child-friendly affairs. This version is fairly classic, with a light cake, dense filling, and a fluffy boiled frosting.

And you, too, can take pride in making this cake. While not necessarily difficult, it is a somewhat laborious cake. However, the end result is a lovely cake that is well-suited for celebrating: delicious, sophisticated and ladylike, but with a little kick from the alcohol that lets you know it means business.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Macaroon Experiment

Recently, I thought I would make a nice batch of macaroons. After all, macaroons are pleasant. They're nice. They're really easy to make. I had plenty of dough (or is it batter?). And while baking the first tray, I thought to myself, what if I experimented a little bit with various macaroon mix-ins? I happened to have chocolate chips and nuts, so really, that's what I went with.

I tried several different combinations, including macaroons with pecans, with almonds, with walnuts, and with chocolate chips (respectively); then, I tried a version of each with each of the nuts paired with chocolate (pecan-chocolate; almond-chocolate; walnut-chocolate). And finally, I did one which had all of the nuts and chocolate chips. I labeled them on my baking sheet, as you can see:

after baking them up, it was time to taste what I had created. Here are some tasting notes:

Pecan Macaroons: the toasty pecans added a nice crunch to the macaroons, and made the flavor sort of buttery-rich. A very nice addition indeed, but I suspected that they'd taste even better with chocolate.

Almond Macaroons: The almond was subtle, working in tandem with the coconut for a slightly creamy flavor. Subtle. Nice, but no "wow" factor.

Walnut Macaroons: This was a nice flavor complement, giving the macaroons a decidedly "nutty" taste and crunch. But once again, no "wow" factor.

Chocolate Chip Macaroons: Now we're getting somewhere. The mellow sweetness of coconut against the rich chocolate chips--a very nice combo.

Choco-Pecan Macaroons: Wow, it gets even better! Sort of like a magic cookie bar of a macaroon, this was a very nice combo. I'd eat a whole tray of these.

Choco-Almond Macaroons: We're going into Almond Joy flavor territory here, and if you like them, you'll like this cookie combo. If not, this isn't your nut combo. Can you tell I'm not hugely into Almond Joy? 

Choco-Walnut Macaroons: Once again, nice. You've got that magic cookie bar thing going on again, and it's a very pleasant association, in my opinion. 

All mixed together Macaroons: Actually, pretty good. The flavors of the nuts were not distinct, they just kind of merged into "nutty" as a flavor profile. But combined with the chocolate, nutty was not such a bad thing. I'd do it again. I have no regrets.

Overall? My favorite combo was the chocolate chip pecan macaroon. They had contrast, texture, and a great flavor. I want to eat my weight in them, and I think you will, too. Here's a recipe.

Coconut Macaroons

Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies

• 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• a healthy handful of whatever nuts you'd like, or chocolate chips, or both

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine the toasted coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and salt on high speed until firm, but not stiff, peaks have formed. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. If you want, add any mix-ins at this point
4. Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop or rounded tablespoonfuls.
5. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on the sheet for several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sarabeth Levine's Chocolate Chubbies Cookies Recipe

BroDawgs and Dawgettes, I am totally serious. I am going to give you the recipe for the sweet morsels of heaven pictured above. It was a gift given to me from Sarabeth Levine, the Sarabeth behind the New York City chain Sarabeth's, which she had received from Soho Charcuterie, which I am in turn giving to you. You are so very welcome.

But before I do that, I think you might be interested in a little history about Sarabeth and her marvelous company. You can click here for a post specifically detailing some interesting facts about Sarabeth--I find her history fascinating, and think you will too.

Here's what Sarabeth has to say about 'em:

In my opinion, these are the moistest, most intensely chocolate chocolate chip cookies in the world. These are based on a recipe given to me many years ago from the SoHo Charcuterie, a restaurant that helped establish that Manhattan neighborhood as the place to go for anything chic and trendy, from art to food. For the best-looking cookies, a 2-inch ice-cream scoop is a must.

Chocolate Chubbies

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½ -inch cubes
• 9 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (no more than 62 percent cacao), finely chopped
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups superfine sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups (5 ½ ounces) coarsely chopped pecans
• 1 ¼ cups (4 ½ ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts

Procedure

1. Position racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two-half sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat. Put the butter in a wide heatproof bowl, and melt the butter over the hot water in the saucepan. Add the semisweet and unsweetened chocolate, stirring often, until melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cooled slightly but still warm, about 5 minutes.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Whip the eggs in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until the eggs are foamy and lightly thickened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar, then the vanilla. Whip until the eggs are very thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat in the tepid chocolate, making sure it is completely incorporated. Change to the paddle attachment and reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts, making sure the chunky ingredients are evenly distributed at the bottom of the bowl. (Do not turn the dough out onto the work surface because the chocolate dough makes a mess.) The dough will be somewhat soft.
4. Using a 2-inch ice-cream scoop, portion the batter onto the prepared pans, placing the cookies about 1 ¼ inches apart. Bake the cookies immediately-if you wait, they won’t be shiny after baking. Bake, switching the position of the pans from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking, until the cookies are set around the edges (if you lift a cookie from the pan, the edges should release easily, even if the center of the cookie seems underdone), 17 to 20 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool completely on the baking pans. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, with the layers separated by parchment paper, for up to 3 days.)

Magical Unicorn Cupcake Tutorial

Topping the list of life skills you never knew you needed? How to make a magical unicorn to put on top of your cupcake.

But the days of blithely living your life unaware of how to complete this magical task are over, thanks to my friends at the Paul Bradford Sugarcraft School, who kindly offered up an exclusive tutorial to put on CakeSpy. Not only that, but they were willing do do a tutorial involving a magical unicorn! And don't freak out too much, but in a few days I am going to keep the good times going with a giveaway for some Paul Bradford Sugarcraft School DVDs - so you can get some educaketion at home.

Here, in all its glory, is the video. It's broken up into four parts to keep things manageable for you!

To give you a little bit of a 411 on the Paul Bradford Sugarcraft School (don't you want to go there?), here's their mission statement: 

Our aim is to provide you with all the information and skills you need to be a successful cake decorator.

We have hundreds of hours of step-by-step video courses on our website, with new cake designs added weekly. The courses will teach you a wide range of cake decorating skills, with basic designs to suit beginners to more challenging designs for the experienced. Whilst the cake designs featured in our courses may inspire you, the skills and confidence you will gain are invaluable, allowing you to create cake designs as wild as your imagination.

With a wealth of experience including making cakes for royalty in the UK and Prince Albert of Monaco, to running one of the UK's  biggest designer cake businesses, Paul Bradford and his team have a lot of expertise which they are happy to share.

For more information, and to join our lively cake decorating community come to:

www.designer-cakes.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Also, if after watching the video you decide that you must make this magical unicorn all by yourself, here's a list of the ingredients and tools needed:

Ingredients
Cupcake (muffin size)
Sugarpastes (fondant):
75g Pink
30g Lincoln green
20g Fuschia pink
15g Jade
15g Blue
15g White

White magic sparkle flakes
Pearl white paint
Black paint

Tools
Small rolling pin
Smiley tool (PME)
Stitchy tool (PME)
Ball tool (PME)
Pasta

No1 Paint brush 

...and, fine, one more unicorn picture for the road:

Magically Delicious: Rainbow Ice Cream Pops Recipe

It's a simple fact: food is more fun when it provides a pretty visual. And what could be a more fun way to enjoy the official treat of summer—ice cream—than in the form of rainbow ice cream pops?

How you attain your rainbow of ice cream hues is up to you. You can either use ice cream flavors which are naturally tinted in the colors of the rainbow (for example, strawberry for red; orange flavored for orange; French vanilla or banana for yellow; green tea or mint chocolate chip for green; any kid-friendly blue ice cream for blue; and blueberry for violet), or, if you don't want to invest in five ice cream flavors or feel that the flavors might not be harmonious, you can also attain this look by tinting vanilla ice cream with food coloring.

Assembly is easy: simply stack your colors in popsicle molds (I used the Orka mold) or even paper cups, insert a stick, and let them freeze. This recipe couldn't be easier, and the finished product is a pleasurable frozen treat with a visual twist that makes it that much more delightful to eat.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Chock Full O Nuts: Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate, Coconut, and Pecans

You already know that Peanut Butter Cookies are delicious. They're a classic. They're a practically perfect food. Don't try to argue. 

And yet.

Sometimes a classic can be improved by adding more awesome ingredients. Case in point: on a recent day, I was testing the recipe for peanut butter cookies to appear in my upcoming second book (it is going to be rad. In the meantime, buy my first book here). 

For the book, I needed a fairly classic peanut butter cookie recipe. But to heighten the enjoyment of some of the cookies from the batch, I threw in a mighty handful each of chocolate chunks, coconut flakes, and coarsely chopped pecans. They looked all nubbly and bumpy and cobblestone-y. In a good way. Here, you can see a tricked-out one next to plain ones.

e quite melding together perfectly. I didn't taste the coconut too much at all.

But then, the next morning, something magical had happened. Overnight, the flavors had magically melded, and where once peanut butter cookies with stuff added were, now was a new treasure entirely. Peanut butter! Coconut! Chocolate! Pecans! It was almost like a peanut butter cookie had a PG-rated makeout session with a Magic Cookie bar. Not like they had a baby, but like some of the flavor had rubbed off. In a good way. 

And for your approval, I submit the recipe. My apologies for not being exact with the quantities, but follow your heart. I'm sure it won't lead you astray. 

Peanut butter cookies

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (mixed—not the kind with oil separated)
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• a mighty handful each: flaked/shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened); chocolate chunks or chips; coarsely chopped pecans

 Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set to the side.
3. Mix the butter and peanut butter. Add the sugars.
4. Beat well, until smooth and creamy. Add in the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir the dry mixture into the wet in 2-3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure all of the ingredients are combined. Fold in your extras (coconut, chocolate, nuts).
6. Form the dough into small balls; put on a baking pan. Flatten with a fork, aligning the tines first in one direction and then the other to form a cross-hatch pattern.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden on the edges. Let cool on the pans before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Refreshingly Sweet: Watermelon Cake Recipe

I love the look of a slice of watermelon: a prettily preppy green-and-pink color combination which is rather pleasing to the eye. But as pleasing as watermelon is as a palate cleanser or side dish, when it comes to dessert, I want something a little more substantial. So to get a pretty look but more of a sugary dessert wallop, I've created my own idealized version of watermelon, in cake form.

Made with sour cream and boasting an achingly delicate crumb, the cake is tinted pink and then studded with mini chocolate chips for "seeds". The finished cake is frosted with pink and green icing to bring home the watermelon effect. It's a decorating idea I've adapted from the Betty Crocker website.

Easy to make and extremely pleasurable to eat, this whimsical cake is bound to make people smile.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Totally Sweet American Flag Cake Recipe

When it comes to festive food for Independence Day, here's a sweet treat that really takes the cake: a layer cake decorated to resemble the American Flag!

Surprisingly easy to assemble (I used this tutorial as a starting point), this cake can really be made with any white cake recipe you'd like; just make three layers, one tinted red, one blue, and one left untinted for the white sections. But I found that the following cake recipe, which is fairly dense and egg-rich, yielded nice sturdy layers which, in addition to being pleasingly poundcake-y on the palate, were easy to cut and shape.

To get the desired height on each of the three layers, I suggest baking this as a 6-inch cake. But it's true that the resulting cake is fairly small. If you are using larger pans or prefer thicker layers, I suggest making two batches of the cake batter and dividing it among your three cake pans.

Happy Fourth of July!

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Raspberry Sorbet Recipe from Grace's Sweet Life

When I go through a new cookbook, I have a highly technical method of deciding which recipe to try first. It goes something like this.

1. Leaf through the pages of the cookbook.

2. Seek out the cutest photo.

3. Read the accompanying recipe to make sure I have all the ingredients or that I could easily obtain them.

And that's pretty much how I settled on the Raspberry Sorbet from the new cookbook by Grace's Sweet Life, entitled...well, Grace's Sweet Life.

Although sorbetto (a water-based fancy fruit slushie-type slurry) is vaguely healthy and definitely low in fat, it's still highly delicious, and after viewing the photo above, how could I resist that pretty pink color? It's a tasty recipe, and easy to boot. You're welcome. Here you go. 

Want more? Buy the book: Grace's Sweet Life.

Raspberry sorbet

Makes 1 quart

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 4 cups raspberries
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 ounces vodka
• 1 large egg white

Procedure

1. To make the sugar syrup, in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool
2. In a blender or food processor, process the raspberries and lemon juice to a smooth puree. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds (discard the solids).
3. Stir the puree into the cooled sugar syrup, and then stir in the vodka.
4. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate until cold, 2 hours or preferably overnight.
5. Immediately before churning the sorbet, use a handlheld mixer to beat the egg white at high speed to stiff peaks. Fold the whipped egg white into the cooled raspberry mixture.
6. To ensure a seed-free sorbet, strain the mixture again through a fine-mesh sieve into a pourable container.
7. Pour the raspberry mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. The sorbet will be fairly soft but will become more firm as it freezes.
8. Transder the sorbet to an airtight container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. 
9. To serve the sorbet in its optimal form, remove from the freezer and transfer to the fridge 15 minutes before serving. It should be slightly soft, with a creamy consistency not unlike that of soft serve ice cream.

Grill It: Grilled Pound Cake Recipe for Serious Eats

Riddle me this: why should burgers and hot dogs have all the fun on your grill this summer?

They shouldn't, and here's the dessert to prove it: Grilled Pound Cake.

Simply butter slices of pound cake before putting them on either an outdoor or indoor stovetop grill, and let them get a little char. The nice part about this dessert is that it uses already-baked pound cake, so you can't under-bake it. The grilled toastiness of the cake makes it the perfect canvas for any number of toppings: I really enjoy ice cream and a seasonal fruit compote. Just be sure to prepare this before grilling meats, because you don't want to impart a burger flavor to your dessert!

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Bananarama: Banana Split Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake is a wonderful way to enjoy all of the classic flavors of a banana split, but in ice cream cake form. Assembling the Neapolitan flavors of ice cream with dividing levels of crumbled chocolate cake or cookies and a layer of banana slices makes for a pretty presentation. The dessert is assembled and then frozen, which allows the flavors to meld and lends a nice banana tone to the whole dessert once you're ready to eat it.

Note: You have some freedom in terms of the ice cream flavors used in this recipe. While I went for the classic vanilla-chocolate-strawberry combo, feel free to tailor the flavors to suit your tastes.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Sweet Fancy: Salted Chocolate Caramel Tarts Recipe

CakeSpy Note: this is a guest post from Adventure Food Love.

A long time ago before I was born, there was a lady down the the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand who had some of the best recipes around the country. But because she was a caterer she wouldn’t share them with any one. Until one day a pretty blonde american came to visit.

The pretty blond managed to charm her way into the ‘inner circle’ and because she lived across the other side of the world, the recipes she wanted were hers! YES! The other ladies were not happy, but the pretty yank would not give up the secrets she was in trusted with.

That pretty blond yank is my mother and the New Zealand caterer’s name is Paula. I'm not sure if she is still around today, but if she is I tip my hat…this recipe is good. Tweaked a little but really dang good.

Salted Chocolate Caramel Tarts Recipe

Shortbread base-bake then cool

Oven 300 F pan:9x13in buttered or 4 mini muffin tins, buttered
Sift together
10 ounces flour
4 ounces caster sugar (super fine sugar. but regular granulated will work in a pinch)
pinch X 2 salt
rub in 8 ounces butter

dough should resemble fine bread crumbs.

knead into a ball and press into evenly into the pan
bake about 25 minutes (for 9x 13) or 15-20 (for mini muffin tin) until very lightly brown
cool in the pan before adding the caramel

Part 2- Filling
slowly heat in a pan to disolve the sugar
8 ounces butter
4 level Tablespoons golden syrup (honey will work in a pinch)
8 ounces brown sugar
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
stir to disolve the sugar on a low heat, then bring to a boil and stir constantly while on a low boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat, add 1/2 teasoon of vanilla and beat mixture well. Pour over the cooled base…leave to set before coating with melted chocolate. This takes some time.

Top
8-12 ounces of good quality chocolate melted. Spread on top, and leave to set. While still somewhat wet sprinkle lightly with some fancy salt for that lovely salted caramel chocolate perfectness. If you put the salt on too soon it will disolve… it will still taste good, but there will be no visual. Cut through chocolate before it is set to avoid cracking. Cut into small squares.  To remove from the muffin tins, run a knife around the edges and pop out.

Try not to eat 8 at once! PS - Thanks to Paula and Katie for sharing!

Unicorn-Shaped Cookies

Cutout sugar cookies are pretty fantastic.

But they're even better when cut out into unicorn shapes. While technically, none of the ingredients are altered from a cutout cookie that could be used to cut out circles, hearts, or stars, it is pretty much scientific fact that shaping your cookies like unicorns adds enough magic to heighten your eating experience.

Believe it or not, this recipe is adapted from an early Girl Scout Cookie recipe. It seems that in the early days of the cookie-fundraiser, the scouts actually made the cookies themselves, with their moms, for a merit badge. Well, certainly they found that their time was better spent selling than baking, judging by the flocks of the scouts who sell cookies by grocery stores each spring. Nonetheless, it's fun to taste these not-overly sweet, good basic cutout cookies and imagine them being sold at one of the first Girl Scout Cookie sales in the earlier part of the 1900s. 

Just be sure to let the dough chill before rolling, and roll in small batches and keep the remaining dough in the fridge, otherwise they will spread too much and will not keep their shape! Oh, and you can buy a unicorn cookie cutter here.

Unicorn Butter Cutout Cookies

Makes 4-5 dozen cookies
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Unicorn cookie cutter

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on high speed.

Add the eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add in the milk, alternately with the flour mixture, in 2-3 additions.

Form the dough into 2 balls. Cover tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On an extremely well-floured work surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out the cookies. Use your unicorn cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Transfer to your prepared sheets using a spatula.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.

Omg Alert: Ice Cream and Frosting Pie

Sometimes, a dessert comes along that just makes you want to eat your weight in it. Sometimes, it's something classy, like an exquisitely made opera cake. 

But more often, it's something really trashy, like Vanilla Kreme Donuts or cinnamon rolls stuffed with chocolate chip cookie dough.

Or--wait for it--ice cream and frosting pie. Seriously...I don't know what to say, other than to humbly admit that it's excessive and maybe even bordering on a little bit awful...but dear lord, it's also genius, and could I ever do some damage to this thing.

Best of all, it's beyond simple to make. You really just put ice cream in the pie crust, and let it freeze. Nothing, too crazy, right? But then...oh, then. Once set, you create something truly amazing with one additional step: you smear buttercream all over it (sprinkles too, if you'd like. I like). Don't thank me, because you'll be cursing me after you finish the entire thing in one sitting.

Ice Cream and Frosting Pie

• 1 9-inch baked pie crust (I used a graham cracker crust)
• The better part of a half gallon of vanilla ice cream (or, do half vanilla, half chocolate)
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla buttercream (use the recipe featured here)

1. Let the ice cream soften, or force nature's hand by putting it in the microwave for about 15 seconds.

2. Fill the pie crust with ice cream until it's about 90 percent full. Pack it in so that it's nice and dense. Spread it so that it's fairly even on top. 
3. Let this freeze in the freezer for a few hours. Go watch a few episodes of Mad Men or something. 
4. Once the ice cream is pretty firm, mix up your buttercream. Spread it all over the top. Don't fuss with it too much because the ice cream will start to spread around the longer you take. 

5. Finish it off with sprinkles. Serve immediately, or return to the freezer before serving.