Gingerbread Cookies

 
The Art.
    This holiday season, I wanted to make beautiful rolled gingerbread cookies with amazing royal icing lacework.  In the end it was nothing more than a disappointing case of unrealistic expectations set by Pinterest. However, I did manage to pull through with some cute royal icing designs, and the flavor of the cookies turned out wonderfully. To give these cookies a powerful gingerbread flavor, I used full-flavored dark molasses instead of light. I also introduced more ginger by adding some bubbly ginger ale to the royal icing before piping it onto the cookies. Edible pearls, a sprinkle of pearl dust, and some beautiful tins from the dollar store made for a great way to present these cookies to all my friends!

The Science.
    So, what is the difference between dark molasses and light molasses? Molasses is a byproduct of sugar production, made from the liquid produced when sugar cane juices are boiled to crystallize the sugar. The cane juice is boiled down several times during this process. The liquid from the first boil is light molasses, and contains the most sugar and has the lightest flavor. The second boil produces dark molasses, which is more full-flavored and has less sugar. Blackstrap molasses comes from the third boil...and is absolutely terrible and nobody should ever eat it.  Molasses gets its dark color by the Maillard reaction, the process that causes sugars to brown [1]. This is the same reaction that causes caramelization and browning in baked goods. The distinctive flavor of molasses is made up of a variety of compounds (there have been many publications on this topic), but is mostly due to dimethylsulfide that is produced by enzymes when the sugar cane leaves are crushed [2]. By using dark molasses in these cookies, we maximize the robust gingerbread flavor.

The Recipe.

Gingerbread Cookies: (Makes ~36 cookies)
2 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 egg

    Combine flour, spices, and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat together shortening, butter, and sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients until combined, then form the dough into two 8 inch disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.
    Preheat oven to 350°F. Once chilled, roll one of the disks out between two pieces of waxed paper to approximately 1/8th inch thick. Cut out cookies with your favorite cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake on center rack for 11-13 minutes. Cool cookies on wire racks before decorating. Gather together dough scraps and re-chill while you work with the other disk. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.

Ginger Royal Icing:

1 egg white

3 tablespoons ginger ale

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

 

    Beat together egg white and ginger ale. Gradually add powdered sugar until the icing is slightly thicker than toothpaste. For flooding icing, you can add slightly more ginger ale so it's the consistency of ketchup (I know, gross thought). Divide and dye whatever colors you wish. For these colors, I used Wilton Icing Colors Sky Blue and No-Taste Red. If you're making red icing, keep in mind that dyes with Red 40 can impart a bitter flavor.

 

Decorating:
    The great thing about these cookies is you can decorate them any way you wish! Here, I used Wilton #1 and #2 tips. For directions on how to flood cookies, you can reference my Gluten-free Corset Cookies post. Place edible pearls on the cookies before the icing dries, and dust with the Wilton pearl dust using a small brush after they are completely dry. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
 

References:
1.  Steely, J.S. and Zeller, K.R. "Molasses Flavor Investigations with Sulfur Chemiluminescence Detection." Thermally Generated Flavors, ACS Symposium Series, 1993. Vol. 543.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-1994-0543.ch008
2.  Clarke, M.A. and Godshall, M.A. Chemistry and Processing of Sugarbeet and Sugarcane. Elsevier, 1987.

Braeburn Apple Pie

 
The Art.

    One of the perks of living in New York is that the apple picking is phenomenal. The first time we went to a Hudson Valley orchard I was astounded by the variety of apples. This is thanks to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell, where they have developed countless strains of fruits. I had the choice of picking hybrid pommes I had never heard of like Macoun and Mutsu. My family has always maintained that Granny Smiths the only apple suited for apple pies, but I found some beautiful Braeburns that were just tart enough. In my opinion, pies should be baked with apples with firm texture (not mealy like Delicious varieties) and with a tart flavor. For this pie, I use only half of the sugar and cinnamon that most recipes use, and add in some ground cardamom so that it has a bright, true apple flavor. The combination of cardamom and the fresh-picked apples gives this pie a light, aromatic taste.

The Science.

    While the perfect filling is important, we all know it's the crust that makes or breaks a pie. I always use my aunt's pie crust because it is the best I've ever had and it never fails. The secret is two ingredients: enough shortening to give an elephant cardiac arrest, and vinegar. Many pie crust recipes use butter, but I think it makes the crust too heavy and oily with all the saturated milkfat. Shortening, on the other hand, is made up of hydgrogenated vegetable fats that easily incorporate into the flour.

    The reason pie crust is flaky is because the shortening is worked into the flour, creating small beads of fat that are coated with flour. As the fat melts into the flour in the heat of the oven, it leaves behind small air pockets and creates "flakes." How tender these flakes are depends on how developed the gluten in the flour is. This is where the vinegar comes in. By making the crust acidic, the vinegar prevents the gluten protein from aggregating, or binding itself tightly. Less gluten aggregation means a more tender, flaky, delicious crust.

The Recipe.

Pie crust:

4 cups flour

1 3/4 cups shortening

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 egg
2/3 cup water (as needed)

Combine flour, shortening, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Work the shortening into the flour with fingertips or a pastry cutter until crumbly. Fold in egg and vinegar, and just enough water until dough has a soft, elastic consistency. Refrigerate for one hour.

Apple filling:

6 cups fresh Braeburn apples (about 4 apples), peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons tapioca

2 tablespoons water

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and let stand for at least 15 minutes. 

Assembly:

    Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in center position. Press 1/3 of the dough into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. Pour filling into pan. Roll out the remaining dough into an 1/8th-inch thick round between two pieces of waxed paper (this way you don't have to flour surfaces). You can cover the pie with this round, or you can cut it into strips for a lattice crust. For instructions on how make a lattice I refer you to a thorough post from thekitchn. Keep in mind that you will need to cut some vents in the top for steam to escape if you don't do a lattice. Trim excess dough off the sides and crimp the edges with a fork. (Side note: leftover crust also makes amazing savory empanadas!)

    For an extra touch, you can lightly brush the crust with beaten egg and sprinkle raw sugar on top. This will give you a beautiful shiny, golden sparkly pie. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour. If you notice the edges getting brown too quickly, you can cover them with foil and leave the center exposed to brown up some more.

    Cool pie on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before serving. Pie is best served fresh and warm, but can be stored covered at room temperature for two days and moved to the refrigerator thereafter. To reheat, I like to bake individual slices in the toaster oven at 350°F for 2-5 minutes, as microwaving can make the crust soggy.

Blueberry Scones

The Art.

    As I mentioned in a previous post, I hosted a tea party for all my dearest friends, brewing up six pots of tea and baking all kinds of goodies. Among them were these delicious blueberry scones-- I based the recipe off of the Lemon Scones I posted previously. Of course, if one is a high tea hostess, one must dress the part! I made certain my uniform was starched and pressed, including my vintage yellow tea apron. I loved how it matched my china so much I got someone to take a picture of them together. The only thing that pleases me more than pretty china and tea aprons is sharing delicious scones with friends. 

The Science.

    If some of you have looked at this recipe and turned your nose up at the dried blueberries, you are snobs...that take after my own heart. I usually advocate for using fresh fruit whenever possible, but I made an exception here. Fresh blueberries have a high water content, like most fruit, and they also have a high amount of pigment. If you bake them in cookies or cakes or scones, the water and pigment bleed out into the dough and give everything a greenish-blue tinge that I find unattractive. And we can't have unattractive scones, can we? So, the simple solution is to bake with dried blueberries. They keep your dough the right color and add a nice, concentrated punch of blueberry flavor.

The Recipe.

(Makes 16 scones)

4 cups cake flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into pieces

2 eggs

3/4 cup lowfat milk

4 oz (one bag) dried blueberries

1 cup powdered sugar

Juice from one lemon

    Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, then drop in the pieces of butter. If you have a mixer with a pastry attachment, you can blend the butter in on low speed. Alternatively, you can crumble it in with your fingertips or a pastry blender. Continue blending until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and the milk. Gradually stir the egg mixture into the dry mixture on low speed. Once combined, fold in dried blueberries. 

    Roll dough out onto a floured surface into a square that is 1 inch thick. Cut scones by cutting the dough into 16 trianges. Bake on a cookie sheet on center rack for 17-20 minutes, or until tops are light golden. While the scones cool, make the lemon glaze by stirring together the lemon juice and powdered sugar. Drizzle glaze over scones and serve!

Apricot Upside-down Cake

The Art.
    I am happy to bring you another post from the Birthday Tea Party! This apricot upside-down cake combines sweet apricots with my tried-and-true yellow cake to make a delicious tarte tatin. The apricots caramelize with the butter and brown sugar on the bottom of the pan, making a delectable syrup that had me licking my fingers in a most un-ladylike manner.

The Science.
    It is worth noting that adding fruit to a cake recipe can have a significant effect on texture. Now, since I was in a hurry, I used canned apricots, which have quite a bit of moisture. This made the cake incredibly moist, and also had the effect of making it very dense. This is a desirable quality in an upside-down cake, because it makes it easier to get out of the pan and slice. However, this is something that should be considered whenever you are adding fruit, especially canned fruits, to a cake. Another thing to consider when making a fruity cake is the structure of the fruit you are adding. My sister made a variation of this recipe with fresh mango, which sounded delicious in theory, but unfortunately the delicate texture of the mango didn't do well as a tarte tatin.

The Recipe.
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 15oz. cans apricot halves

1 1/3 cups cake flour
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk

    Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 10-inch round pan. (An 8- or 9-inch round pan can be used, but you might have some extra batter.) Combine melted butter and brown sugar and press into bottom of pan. Lay apricots cut side down in a single layer in the pan. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in large bowl on medium-high until fluffy, then gradually beat in sugar. Beat eggs in, one at a time. Stir vanilla into buttermilk. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter/sugar/egg mixture while beating on low speed. Beat an additional 30 seconds. Pour batter over apricots. Lift and drop on the counter a couple times to eliminate bubbles in the batter. Bake on center rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
    Allow to cool completely, then carefully run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake.  Gently invert onto a cake plate or stand and serve. Cake can be baked ahead one day and left in the pan overnight.

Curried Deviled Eggs

The Art.

    I recently hosted an afternoon tea, and in addition to scones, cake, and cucumber sandwiches, I made some deviled eggs to nosh on. I was trying to keep the flavors of all of the foods light and fresh so that my guests could enjoy the tea and not saturate their palettes. To this end, I decided to exclude mustard and pickle relish from my deviled eggs and instead mixed in a little curry powder and garnished with fresh cilantro. If the rate at which they disappeared is any indication, I'd say they were a big hit!

The Science.

    Although it may sound like an easy task, making a perfect boiled egg can be tricky. The goal is to produce a soft, pale egg yolk without overshooting it and making a green, stinky, sulfurous mess. A while back I became frustrated with my boiled eggs and sought some answers to boil the perfect egg. And, of course, Julia Child was the answer. Ever since I have followed her method from The Way to Cook, I've made perfect boiled eggs every time. Not only does her method make eggs the perfect doneness, it also makes peeling them a breeze. The secret is to fully chill the eggs to make them contract away from the shell, then stick them back in the hot water to expand the shell further away from the egg right before peeling. The only alteration I've made to Mrs. Child's recipe is to let the eggs cool longer before peeling, which I think makes the whites more sturdy so you can produce a smooth, pretty deviled egg.

The Recipe.
12 eggs
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon minced cilantro

    Place eggs in a large kettle and fill with enough water to cover eggs by one inch. Place over high heat just until the water begins to boil, then remove from heat. Allow eggs to sit in the hot water for 17 minutes. No more, no less. While the eggs are cooking, prepare a large bowl of ice water. When the 17 minutes are up, transfer the eggs to the ice water with a slotted spoon and let them cool completely for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the hot water back to a boil. Once the eggs are cool, lower each egg into the hot water for 10 seconds right before peeling it to expand the egg shell. Very gently crack the eggshell all over on the countertop, and begin peeling the shell away in small pieces. I find this works best if you also peel away the thin membrane beneath the eggshell as well, because it pulls the shell long with it in a more cohesive manner.

    Once your eggs are all peeled, cut them in half and gently scoop the yolks into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise and curry powder to the yolks and mash with a fork until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, or if you are feeling fancy, pipe it in with a 1M tip as I did in the photos. Garnish with the cilantro and serve. Deviled eggs can be made a day in advance and refrigerated in a covered dish.

Pink Princess Cupcakes

The Art.

    I made some birthday cupcakes for a friend recently, and I made her princess cupcakes because every girl is a princess on her birthday. (In the spirit of equality, boys can be princesses too, if they want.) The real magic is imparted by lightly spraying the cupcakes with a touch of shimmery silver Wilton Color Mist, as well as adding edible pearl accents. While I usually hate it when people use foil baking cups--I think they look industrial and shoddy--I have to say, this is one of those times where I think the foil offsets the cupcake decorations in an attractive way. These cupcakes feature a rosewater buttercream icing and delicately flavored almond white cake.

The Science.

    As usual, the science portion of this post is was inspired by an unexpected problem I ran into while baking. Since I ran out of cupcake liners, half the cupcakes were baked in paper and the other half in foil. When I pulled them out of the oven I could see a striking difference between the size and doneness of the cupcakes, depending on which liner they were in. The foil cupcakes we smaller and more brown, because they received the reflected heat from the foil and cooked up faster. Thus, it is important to shorten your bake time by a couple of minutes if you are baking with foil liners.

The Recipe.

Almond white cake:

6 egg whites, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup salted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cup buttermilk

  Preheat oven to 350°F and line two cupcake tins with liners. In a medium bowl, beat three egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Set aside. Sift together flour and baking powder in another bowl. In a large bowl, beat together remaining cup sugar, butter, remaining egg whites, and vanilla. Alternately add one third of the flour mixture and buttermilk, beating between each addition just until combined. Fold in beaten egg whites with a spatula. Fill cupcake tins using 1/4 cup measure, and bake on center rack for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Rose buttercream:

1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
5-7 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon rosewater

gel icing colors

    In large bowl, beat together butter and shortening on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add sugar until icing makes stiff, jagged peaks. Beat in rosewater. If icing tastes too sugary or grainy, add a couple tablespoons of milk. Tint 3/4 of the icing pink (I used Wilton Icing Colors "rose").

Decorating:

    Using a 1M tip, pipe a swirl of pink icing onto each cupcake. For a tutorial, visit this post. Then, pipe stars of white icing with a #17 star tip, following the contours of the swirl. Very lightly spray with the silver color mist, and place edible pearls on the tips of the stars.

Better-Than-Hostess Cupcakes

The Art.
    It wasn't until after I had made these cupcakes that I realized they resembled Hostess cakes-- except for the fact that these are actually worth eating. Instead of dense cake that is far too sweet, I used my moist dark chocolate cake recipe. Then, I filled them with rich, custardy Bavarian cream. Finally, I covered the cupcakes with bittersweet ganache, which is really a far cry from the sugary disaster Hostess calls frosting. And of course I topped it off with crispy bacon crumbles. (Yes, I know, I have a bacon problem.) If you don't want bacon, and would rather complete the Hostess knockoff look, you can pipe some royal icing in curliques on top of your cupcakes. I confess, I can't get enough of the leftover Bavarian cream and ganache together. I eventually had to take the leftovers in to work for my labmates to prevent myself from getting gout.

The Science.
    While I'm at it, I might as well make another confession: sometimes I over-science myself in the kitchen. A long time back, I made a Bavarian Cream post where I went a little crazy, using five different conditions for making the custard by the time it was all said and done. I really thought I had developed the perfect custard recipe, but the terrible truth is that I think my thermometer wasn't very accurate. I've repeated that recipe a couple of times since then, and half the time the custard didn't set up. It's very disheartening to wake up in the morning thinking you're going to blend a wonderful silky custard and some freshly whipped cream, and find that your custard didn't set up during the night. So, I have decided to step back and make everything a little more simple. Instead of using temperature to gauge when the custard is done cooking, I looked at the consistency as I was stirring it. Also, I harkened back to the days when my mom and aunt were teaching me how to make custard. Instead of using a double boiler, they placed all the custard ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and stirred constantly - with a spatula. The flat edge of the spatula scrapes the bottom of the pan more efficiently than a spoon, so you don't end up with lumps of overcooked egg yolk in your custard. As far as my previous statements about eggs "breaking" if they're cooked above 175°F, I completely disregard that now. I cooked this particular batch of custard until it began to bubble a little bit and it still had a wonderful texture.

The Recipe.

Make one batch of Bavarian Cream. (Be sure to save the egg whites for the Princess Cupcakes I'll post later.)

Bake one batch of chocolate cupcakes, recipe here.

Chocolate Ganache:

4oz bittersweet bar chocolate

1/4 cup 40% heavy cream

    Place chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Gently heat in the microwave for two 30 second intervals, stirring inbetween. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate, or it will seize and you will have to start over. Once the chocolate beings to melt, stir constantly until the cream is completely combined. 

Assembly:
    Once the cupcakes are cool, fill them with the Bavarian cream using a bismark tip. I like my cupcakes to be filled a lot, so I squeezed the piping bag until the top of the cupcake began to crack.

 Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the warm ganache, spooning extra over the top if needed. Top with crumbled bacon, if desired.

I placed these cupcakes into a second, decorative wrapper after I was done, so that the wrapper would stay pretty and the pattern would still be visible. These cupcakes should be enjoyed within two days. Leftover Bavarian cream and ganache will last up to 4 days...if you don't each them first.