Recipe: Ruth’s Sugar Cookies

Holiday baking is in full swing! One of my favorite Christmas memories is sinking my teeth into one of my Grandma Ruth’s sugar cookies. I finally decided to take a stab at the treats, and was pleasantly surprised to discover how simple they were to make, outside of the seven-minute frosting. I have a feeling they will become a part of my annual holiday rotation in her honor, though this recipe can be used for any time of year with the appropriate cookie cutter!

Ingredients
–  1/2 c. shortening  – 1 c. sugar  – 1 egg  – 1/2 c. sour cream  – 3 1/4 c. flour  – 1 tsp vanilla  – 1/2 tsp nutmeg  – 1 tsp baking soda  – 1/4 tsp salt

Directions
Beat together the shortening, sugar, egg, vanilla and nutmeg in a stand-up mixer or large bowl. Add in the sour cream and mix thoroughly. Slowly add in the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt – scraping the bowl as you go to ensure the dough is well-blended.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off 1/4 of the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to roughly 1/4″ thickness. Use any cookie cutter you wish, placing on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes until slightly golden brown, watching closely in the last few minutes. Cool and frost as desired. Because my grandmother always used seven-minute frosting, I continued the tradition here. That being said, I was happy to discover a shortcut to the traditional double-boiler + hand mixer approach, as I do not own a hand mixer. Stay tuned for that feature in a few days.

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Until next time,
SugarSource

 

Recipe: Traditional King Cake

In honor of Mardi Gras, I attempted to bake a traditional King Cake. I modified a recipe from Nola.com, which seemed to be an appropriate source for such an endeavor.

Ingredients
– 5 c. flour  – 1/2 c. sugar  – 1 1/2 tsp salt  – 2 packets instant yeast  – 3/4 c. whole milk  – 1/2 c. water  – 1 c. butter  – 3 eggs  – 1 tsp lemon zest  – 1 Tbsp cinnamon  – dash of nutmeg  – 1 tsp vanilla  – powdered sugar

Recipe
Combine the milk, water and butter in a small saucepan on the stove. Slowly bring up the heat, stirring occasionally. You are looking to reach 120-130 degrees (for reference, milk boils at over 200 degrees Fahrenheit). I used a small candy thermometer to pace properly.

In a mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer), combine 1 1/2 cups of flour with the sugar, salt and instant/rapid yeast. Once the liquid on the stovetop has reached 120 degrees, combine with the flour mixture and mix on medium speed for two minutes. You will start to smell the yeast activating – it will not resemble a traditional cake batter (and it’s not supposed to!).

Add 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 cup flour, lemon zest, cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg (1/8 teaspoon would be fine) and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed for two minutes, stopping to scrape the sides occasionally, then slowly add in the remaining 3 cups of flour.

Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated with cooking spray. You want to ensure the dough has room to expand. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.

Once the dough has chilled for two hours, punch the surface down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. First shape the dough directly with your hands – you are looking to achieve a rough rectangle. Then, using a floured rolling pin, slowly roll the dough to a rough 24″ by 12″ size. Continue to run your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough to ensure it isn’t sticking to the surface.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, and brush onto the surface of the dough using a pastry brush. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon and sugar (I combined 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon into a shaker) across the entire surface, aiming for even and complete distribution. Beginning on one of the long sides, roll the dough tightly. You are aiming for a long thin log, not a short thick log. In my first attempt I almost started rolling from a short end but quickly caught my mistake!

Transfer the roll onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, shaping into an oval and pinching the ends together to complete the ring. I sliced off the uneven end pieces, baking them separately to give me a sense of the cake’s composition (you see them in the photograph above). You want to leave as much space in the middle of the oval as possible, as the dough expands quite a bit.

Cover the dough ring with a clean dish towel and place in a warm area of the house for about an hour. You are proofing the dough, a key step with yeast-based dough.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Carefully check the center of the round to ensure it has properly cooked through. Let it cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. For the transfer, use two spatulas. Do not attempt to solely pick up the parchment paper – this is a sure way to lose the cake you just baked!

Decorating
After the cake has had the chance to cool completely – I left for a few hours with the clean dish towel draped over the top – mix 2 cups of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk (again, I used the KitchenAid stand mixer for expediency). Slowly and cautiously add additional liquid as needed – you do not want it to be too liquidy. Drizzle the icing over the cake. My first icing unfortunately had too much milk, so I used it more as a glaze with my pastry brush. You can either dye the icing in the traditional yellow, green and purple of Mardi Gras, or coat the icing in colored sugars. I chose the sugars, which I like both aesthetically as well as texturally, and made them myself because I couldn’t locate them in local stores!

The cake absolutely needs the icing and additional sugar, as it is not a particularly sweet batter. It is at this stage where you can add the traditional “good luck” baby as well. You do not want to ever actually bake plastic into the cake, but instead insert after the cake has cooled through the bottom. We used a small plastic dinosaur from the 99 cent store, putting our own personal twist on it.

This easily serves 14-16 people, depending on the voracity of appetite. Once the cake has been cut, this starts to dry out almost immediately. If somehow you manage to have a section left, I would allow it to dry out completely to use the remaining bread in a simple bread pudding. Enjoy, and Happy Mardi Gras!

Until next time,
SugarSource

Recipe: Holiday Gingerbread Cookies

The holidays would not be complete without some sweet, traditional treats! One of my absolute favorites as a child were anise seed cookies. They not only smelled heavenly coming out of the oven with a blend of anise, cinnamon, cloves and molasses, but provided the perfect decorating surface for creative frosting and sprinkle interpretations. It makes over four dozen cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutters, of course) and is a great cookie exchange go-to. Perhaps this will become a Christmas classic for you as well!

Ingredients
– white sugar  – shortening  – egg  – molasses (preferably dark)  – sour milk (to make, combine milk and vinegar)  – anise seed  – flour  – baking soda  – salt  – cinnamon  – cloves

Directions
Mix 4 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cloves in a large bowl, setting aside. In a separate mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer), cream 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup shortening together. Mix in 1 egg and 2/3 cup molasses. Add 1/2 cup sour milk and anise, mixing until completely combined. To make sour milk, add 1/2 tsp vinegar to a liquid measuring cup, then fill to 1/2 cup line with milk. Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture, stirring throughout. This may start to become difficult – the dough fills up the majority of my KitchenAid mixer bowl. Tightly wrap the dough in wax paper, and refrigerate for several hours (letting it chill for at least 4 hours).

Once the dough has properly chilled, prepare your cookie cutting station: clean a flat counter surface or large pastry board, and place a 1/2 cup of flour in a corner. Spread a light layer of flour along the entire surface – this dough gets sticky! Start to work with the dough – I have found that it is manageable broken into 4-5 portions, warming it in your hands and starting to press it out. Once pliable enough, roll it out to approximately 1/8″. Flip the dough over occasionally as you flatten it out to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the surface. Tip: if you do not have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle as an emergency replacement (taping plastic wrap around the bottle for cleanliness purposes).

After rolling out the dough, start to cut out your cookies and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I would recommend dipping the cookie cutter into flour each time you use it to ensure the cutters cleanly slice through the dough. Another word of advice: cut the cookies as close together as possible without sacrificing the shapes – the fewer times you have to re-roll the dough, the better!

Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheets – you will want 1-2″ around the cookies, but they will not spread significantly so you can fit quite a few on each pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, aiming for shorter overall baking time if you prefer softer cookies. Cool the cookies on waxed paper. Once completely cooled, it’s time for frosting!

For the frosting, you will need powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. In a bowl, combine 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1-3 Tbsps of milk, adding very slowly and mixing completely. You will want a glue-like consistency, but not on the runny side. Remember, you can always add more milk if needed, but you cannot remove it from the mixture once you’ve started (though you can add more powdered sugar to thicken the frosting back up). For decorating purposes, you can add food coloring if you prefer colorful frostings, though keep in mind that sugars and sprinkles also provide the opportunity to make them festive. Sometimes less is more, though this is a chance to get creative!

Set the iced cookies on waxed paper to dry overnight. To store, you can use waxed paper to create layers – I wouldn’t recommend stacking them directly on top of each other. Don’t forget to enjoy, and share with friends, family and coworkers alike.

Happy Holidays!

Until next time,
SugarSource

Dear Sugar Source: Christmas Cookie Party!

Dear SugarSource,

I would like to host a holiday cookie exchange this year (they sound like a lot of fun) but don’t quite know where to start. What do I need to make sure the event is successful? I’m hoping this turns into an annual tradition if all turns out well. Any tips you have would be helpful!

Sincerely,

Holiday Baker

Dear  Holiday Baker,

Tis the season for a Holiday Cookie Party! If you are serving as the potential hostess this year, there are a few simple steps you can take to make sure that this is as fun and stress-free as possible:

– Send invites. Why not send a festive e-vite? Snail mail would be preferable, but if you are on a time-crunch or stressed with holiday errands, an e-vite will certainly do. E-vite.com and other sites will let you select a template that best fits your event.

– Set guest expectations. This really depends on the kind of party you would like to have – if it is just a cookie exchange, then maybe it will be a little more low-key. If you want guests to decorate a few cookies, make that clear in the invite (so no one shows up in apparel that can’t take a little accidental frosting encounter). For my parties, I request that each person bring at least one type of Christmas cookie to share, and recommend that they have a rough count of how many cookies they’ve baked and to either pre-package them in portions or bring plastic bags/gift containers to parcel them out at the party. A crucial part of a cookie exchange is knowing how many attendees you will have – stress this in the invitation so everyone can plan accordingly.

– Serve yummy food! This is particularly important if you are scheduling the party over lunch, brunch or dinner times. Finger foods, snacks and a central meal item like chili/soup can be sufficient to satiate guests while leaving plenty of room for cookie-tasting – no need to make several courses for this casual holiday get-together! Depending on the number of people and the atmosphere you are trying to create, you could ask guests to bring certain items as well – bread, dips, wine, etc.

– Prepare a decorating station (optional). If you would like to give your guests an option to decorate a few cookies, I have a few tips to keep the mess under control. First, you should provide the cookies for decorating (perhaps they will count as your batch to share). Tape wax paper onto the decorating surface. Mix a basic icing on the spot, asking guests for preferred colors (white, blue, yellow, green will be the most popular – red is best saved for sugars, as it will take a lot of food coloring to get close to a true red). I recommend making quite a bit of white icing, putting half into a Ziploc bag, sealing and snipping a corner for an easy piping bag for detailing. I would instruct party attendees to sprinkle to their hearts’ content over a pie plate (to collect any stray sugar crystals), and have sections segmented out onto wax paper/cookie sheets for each guest to keep track of their decorated items. You can give this a try the first year and, if guests aren’t particularly interested in decorating the first go-round, maybe scrap it for the following year.

– Create a festive ambiance! Holiday music seems like a given, but you would be surprised! A holiday movie playing in the background can be a nice touch as well as long as the television isn’t too large or distracting. After all, you don’t want your guests to be crowded around the TV – you want them to be socializing and celebrating the season! Holiday-specific plates and napkins aren’t necessary, as festive colors and touches on serving and dining surfaces will do the trick. That being said, if you want to step it up a notch you could have a fantastic array of colored sugars and decorations, or try one of the Holiday party starters from Revelry House.

– Provide small party favors. This year, for example, I am giving each guests an oven mitt with my cookies inside. It’s a cute way to package your sweets for everyone, and gives them a useful holiday gift for any additional baking/cooking this season. To save yourself and your guests from headaches, have extra plastic bags on hand for guests to use to divide up cookie portions during the exchange. I’ve found peppermint-striped cellophane at party stores to be a festive vehicle for holiday treats.

I hope this is helpful. Best of luck putting together your party!

Until next time,

SugarSource