September Daring Bakers: Fancy sugar cookies!

Mandatory blog-checking lines:

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

 

Wow, this month's Daring Baker's Challenge was a total blast!

Yeah, I say that almost every month, but this month I really mean it! I reeally do!

It's quite uncanny how each month a new challenge is put forth to us, and so many times the challenge involves something I've seen somewhere that I thought to myself I'd never be able to do at home in my own kitchen, or just never actually tried to do but kind of thought in the back of my head that it would be fun to try---someday.  

 Have you ever been in a bakery and seen the really cute seasonally decorated cookies and thought to yourself that "Wow, somebody's really got an artistic eye--and a lot of time!"?  Well, this month we had to make those cookies.

It turns out that even with only the tiniest dab of creativity, and really not all that much time, anyone can make really cool little cookies.  I had fun, and I definitely want to try again. The flooding technique we used was easy to accomplish.  I actually used little baggies with the tiniest snippet cut away from a bottom corner. By first drawing a line with icing around the perimeter of the cookie and letting that dry, you can then "glop" a bundh of icing in the center of the shape, smoothe it out, and end up with a remarakably professional looking end product. 

Mine aren't quite there yet, but with a bit of practice I think I could be there on my second attempt at these little suckers!


I'm thinking I could get really carried away if I had another baby shower to cater... 

For this challenge, however, we were required to bake cookies our cookies and decorate them in a manner conveying our ideas of autumn.  I therefore humbly submit to you, oh gentle reader:

Turkey hunting...



and 

pumpkin harvesting...



The secret to these cookies lies in creating a tasty but sturdy cookie dough, then cooking the cutouts just until firm (definitely not to the golden state), and then topping with nice basic royal icing.

The recipe with which we were provided proved perfect on both these accounts. 

Here it is, straight from the challenge to you.  I'd love to see what you guys make, should any of you choose to try this out!

Basic Sugar Cookies:

Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies
200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
400g / 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

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.

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

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.

Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.

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

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.

Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Leave to cool on cooling racks.

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.


Royal Icing:

315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
2 Large Egg Whites
10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.

Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and

grease free.

Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.

Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.

Beat on low until combined and smooth.

Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.

Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.
 

Embracing autumn

Okay, I can handle it now.

A big storm came through right after that last post. The world was dreary and dark. It seemed like we'd never see sunlight again.

But, as they always do, the storm passed and we're now in the magical time of autumn. The sun's rays are hitting the yard in a new angle, illuminating the grass and garden and trees in a new way. The dew sits on the grass longer each morning, and the lawn is thicker and greener in the new cool weather than it was during the hot dry summer.

This morning, while mowing the lawn, I noticed the first fall crocus poking their heads up through the mulch. I love these little guys, and have trouble finding them for sale anywhere. That's an understatement, actually. I've NEVER seen them for sale anywhere!

Woolly-bear caterpillars are making their way across the roadways everywhere. I need a bumper sticker that says "Caution: brakes for caterpillars." Because I do. I admit it!

Grapes are ripening, tomatoes everywhere, pumpkins turning orange. It really does look like the season has changed in my yard. I'm glad, really.

Does anyone have a great recipe for zucchini bread? I have a decent recipe, but not a great one. I look forward to your contributions!

Chickens in Winter (by Kat)

"Chicken" and "winter" are not mandatorily mutually exclusive, but keep in mind that eggs are not necessarily a part of the equation.

Last winter was our hens' first winter, and they layed eggs throughout the long, weary, dreary, cold season. All winter long, we could count on three fresh eggs every day. During the coldest spells, it could dwindle to two a day, but I don't remember the egg count ever going below that number.

This summer, the hens were a little older, and a little less participatory in the egg-laying adventure. Cumulus, or Cumy as we call her, was our most consistent layer. She'd give us one a day, every day, no questions asked. Marble (the black hen) and Seraphina (the darker of the two red hens), would lay an egg about every other day this summer, giving us a total of two eggs most days, one egg on some days, and very rarely we'd be met by three eggs in the nest.

After the horrible dog attack in September, Cumy stopped laying eggs due to her severe injuries. Marble and Seraphina were reluctant to take the job on fully themselves, so neither one has laid a single egg since that day, either. It isn't uncommon for chickens, especially older chickens, to stop producing in the winter, but I think ours would still be laying if it weren't for the attack.

So, if they're not laying eggs, how are they spending their time? The snow has melted a bit around the fence, and they're having a fun time playing in the bit of mud. These gals really hate to walk in the snow, so they use the edges of the garden beds as little chicken highways. I can almost here them yelling out, as we did when we were kids, "floor is lava! floor is lava!"

"oh no, I'm falling into the hot lava!"

"I'm not touching, I'm not touching!"

Here's the feeder we built out of scrap wood this summer. People are always willing to come feed cats and goldfish, but the minute you ask someone to feed the chickens while you take a vacation, they look at you real funny-like. So, we built this feeder instead. The lid opens on top, we fill it with feed, and the bottom tray self-fills with feed. It doesn't keep moisture out very well, so in the winter we sometimes have to break up the frozen feed inside.

My husband also scatters a bit of scratch for the hens. They love to dig in the straw in search of the cracked wheat and corn bits. Scratch is kinda like chicken candy, or chicken crack. They like it, but it doesn't promote good egg-laying. My husband continues to feed it to them anyway. Most of it ends up in the guts of all the little birds that hang out in the pen. The sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches, etc. all really like the chickens' scratch.

The snow-covered entrance to the chicken pen has become the iced-over entrance to the chicken pen. Hauling buckets of fresh (not frozen) water to the pen every day was getting really exciting there for a bit. The door to our pen stays open way more than it stays shut. This is illegal. Don't do it.

Around Christmastime this year, because people look at you funny when you ask them to haul buckets of water twice a day for your chickens, and we had to leave town to go be with family, I picked up the blue heated chicken water bowl at the local feed store. I love this gadget with all my heart. I really do.

The hens have a coop that sits inside the garage. The coop is actually a very large cupboard that came out of someone's shop and was sitting in another someone's field. We cut a small hole in the side to make a chicken door from the outside. On the inside, we made a door to cover the open back. This door opens up completely to give us access to the eggs, the heat lamp, and to change out the straw bedding. Two bars run across the inside for them to perch on at night. Under the heat lamp. But they won't!

Instead, they perch here at night. Since they insisted on perching outside, we built a roof to keep the rain off their heads and a second bar out away from the lattice. They roost here all year long, which is why they all got frostbite last year. I tried, on a couple of occasions, to convince them to use the nice warm heated coop, but no, they would fly right back out to their favored perch. Supposedly, if you move chickens in the dark, they'll stay where you put them, but that is a crock of chicken poo...

So, the hardest part of having chickens in winter is feeling bad when they are too stupid to stay under the heat lamp. The second hardest part is paying for chicken feed and paying for eggs at the same time. The third hardest part is dealing with the frozen food scraps that begin to emerge from the snow when a thaw comes around.

Hello pumpkin, don't you smell nice....

Pumpkin Processing (by Kat)

Today I tried something new. I processed my own pumpkins. We raised a few pumpkins this year in the garden, just as we have in the past, but unlike the past, I'm determined to eat them this year.

I've heard it's easy to do, but I've kinda freaked out in the past over the details. Skin up or skin down? What temperature? How long? To strain or not to strain the cooked pulp?

Today I said to myself "Self, knock it off. Just try it."

My self said "OK."

See, aren't I easy to get along with?

I brought in the smallest pumpkin, washed it off, quartered it, and lined the pieces up on a greased cookie sheet. If you cut the pumpkin in quarters, you don't have to get hung up on what side goes up.

Is that cheating?

The hens were offered the innards.

They prefer worms.

Anyway, I baked them (the pumpkin quarters, not the hens, for about an hour, until they were a bit shriveled and fork tender. I think I could have let them cook for a little longer, as they were still a bit tough and stringy right in the center. But I don't think I caused any problems by removing them for the oven too soon.

After they were cooled down a bit, I scraped off the flesh and threw it into my food processor. Whiz, whiz, whiz and it was done.

I put the pulp into a cheesecloth lined strainer, and let some of the liquid drain off. When the remaining pumpkin had the consistency of the stuff in can I decided it was done.

From one pumpkin, I was able to freeze three 16 ounce bags of pumpkin (the equivalent of a small can) and had enough left over to make a loaf of pumpkin bread for dessert tonight.

Yummy. Fun. Frugal.

I win!

A Treatise on Nutrition (by Kat)

We're all a bunch of sickos around here these days.

Not that kind of sicko, you sicko, the flu kind of sicko.

Say that five times fast, I dare ya'!

When my family is sick, I'm especially concerned about our nutrition. I think it's more important than ever for our bodies to receive high quality proteins, like those found in eggs.

The best vegetables, nutrition density wise, are darker colored and more intensely flavored. Spinach, squash, kale, and beets are all very good for bodies on the mend.

Concentrated dairy products provide calories and fats needed to provide energy.

And, since we're sick, I don't feel like cooking a bunch of different foods to suit the varying tastes my family has. In that vein, then, I decided to combine the best of all these foods into one dish and serve it for dinner tonight. Oh sure, they moaned and groaned when I explained my rational, but they acquiesced in the end, and both my husband and daughter requested seconds. I admit to taking thirds.

The recipe is an old family favorite, taken from a can of pureed vegetables many years ago. The recipe is still available on the side of the can to this day, so I won't copy it here. If your family is ailing, may I suggest this dinner menu?

I give you......

(keep scrolling)

PUMPKIN PIE!!!
(aka squash quiche)