Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of butter (softened at room temperature)
3 oz of cream cheese (also softened)
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
HOW TO PREPARE
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2.) Using mixer blend together butter and cream cheese until creamy
3.) Add sugar and mix well until light and fluffy
4.) Mix in egg yolk, vanilla and almond extract
5.) Slowly add your flour and salt, mix well
6.) If you want to add food coloring, you can take a small part of the dough or all the dough and add food coloring for desired color.
7.) Shape dough into a small log and add it to your cookie press.
8.) Press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet (sometimes if you freeze your cookie sheets first the cookies will stick better)
9.) I recommend adding sprinkles before you bake – otherwise you’ll need to frost them to get the sprinkles to stick.
10.) Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they start turning a light brown around the edges.

Preparation Method:This recipe used the creaming method because it called for creaming the butter/cream cheese mixture with sugar before adding other ingredients. This process was similar to the spritz cookie lab we did in class. In class I learned that the butter should change color while being creamed with the sugar, this helped me determine when it was done because the recipe didn't specify how long to cream the butter and sugar. This preparation method affected the final product because there was no leavening agent in the recipe so air had to be added to the butter by creaming it with the sugar so that the cookies wouldn't turn out flat. The creaming method also requires the butter to be in a somewhat solid form, if the butter was completely melted the cookies would spread a lot more but since the butter was in solid form the cookies hardly spread.

Critique: The cookies appeared puffy and soft, most of them had subtle browning on the edges but some had more browning than others. While baking the cookies smelled like sugary vanilla which is what most cookies tend to smell like. The cookies were fairly soft but slightly crunchy around the edges however, I'm not sure if the cookies will become more crunchy by tomorrow. Finally, the cookies were very sweet tasting and I could definitely taste the almond extract which is probably because it was brand new so it was still very strong.

Experience: I would make these cookies again because they were easy and didn't take very long to make or bake. What I learned from this experience is to use less of an extract if it is new because its flavor could overpower the rest of the flavors in the final product.

Katie S. Hour 4 

Martha Stewart Snowman Cupcakes

Martha Stewart Snowman Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields about 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcake Ingredients-

• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ sour cream

Icing Ingredients-

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 pound (3 2/3 cups) confectioners' sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk (optional)

Cupcake topping ingredients:

• Cheezits (enough to cut out 12 triangular noses)
• Nestle Mini chocolate chips (2 for the eyes and 4 for the mouth)

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Directions:

Directions for cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture alternating with sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
3. Divide batter among cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Directions for white Icing and decorating:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until smooth.
2. Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth. If too thick to spread, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons milk.
3. Spread a thin layer of icing on top of cupcakes
4. Dip the iced cupcakes into a small bowl of sugar. The sugar should stick to the cupcakes and look similar to snow.
5. Place one small carrot nose (cheezit) and 6 mini chocolate chips  over the icing
6. ENJOY!

 

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Preparation: 

I used the creaming method to prepare the Martha Stewart snowman cupcakes. I beat a fat (unsalted butter) with a sugar (granulated sugar) until it appeared light and fluffy. Then I slowly added one egg in at a time. Finally I gradually folded in the dry ingredients and mixed for about 45-90 seconds. Once the batter looked uniform, I poured the mixture into the cupcake pan lined with greased cupcake liners. I filled each cupcake liner about ¾ full and placed it in the 350℉ oven for about 23 minutes. While the cupcakes baked in the oven, I decided to prepare the icing. I also used the creaming method to make the white icing. I again took a fat (unsalted butter) and combined it with a sugar (confectioner’s/ powdered sugar)  until it looked smooth. I then added in about 2 tablespoons of milk to achieve a frosting texture.

As I was preparing this recipe, I noticed how similar it was to the butter cookies I made in class in the beginning of the year. The butter cookies also required mixing a fat with a sugar and then added in eggs and the flour mixture. From making that recipe, I remember learning that when butter is properly creamed, it significantly increases the volume of fat and sugar acts as an abrasive in the creaming process.  Because I had the opportunity to practice this technique in class, I was able create volume and tiny bubbles in the batter at home with no problems.

If I did not have background knowledge on the creaming method, I do not think the chocolate cupcakes or the white icing would have turned out as well as they did. I was nervous attempting this method at home, but I am glad I did it. The cupcakes were so smooth and the icing was fresh and sweet. It was a perfect treat for the holidays!

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Final Product: 

The Martha Stewart snowman cupcakes exceeded my expectations in terms of taste, texture and appearance. I was not expected them to turn out as cute and delicious as they did. When I took a bite out of one, I could immediately taste the rich chocolate flavor bursting in my mouth. It did not taste grainy or dry; It reminded me of a professional cupcake from a bakery. I wish the cupcakes would have rose a bit higher, but they still were filling! I was happy to see that the cupcakes were not crumbly; they were firm on the outside and  extremely moist on the inside. I could taste a little bit of the white icing, but I felt I should have added more to get a better defined flavor. As for appearance, the cupcakes almost looked too cute to eat! The sugar coating over the icing looked identical to snow,  and the cheezit nose and chocolate chips made the snowman face come to life.

I would definitely make this recipe again. It was super easy and fun for the holidays! My family is always craving chocolate, and this was a good recipe to fulfill those cravings! From making this recipe I learned that I need to fill the cupcake liners with more batter. These cupcakes do not expand that much, so adding more batter would not hurt. Also I learned that I need to add a thicker layer of icing on the cupcakes. Adding more icing will give it a more satisfying taste and it will also help balance out the chocolate cake.

Checkered Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, confectioners' sugar and baking powder.
2. Cut in the butter until the mixture has a mealy texture.
3. Stir in the egg yolks and vanilla until dough forms.
4. Divide dough into halves. Then, Knead the cocoa into one half.
5. Roll out each half of the dough into a rectangle, 8x10 inches. Slice each rectangle lengthwise into 8-1x10 inch strips.
6. Place two more on top of those, placing opposing colors on top of each other. Repeat until the checkerboard is four strips high.
7. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least fifteen minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
9. Unwrap dough and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
10. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Preparation Method:

For my second home study I did it with Jenn, we did  checkered cookies. We used the creaming method. The checkered cookies was similar to the gingerbread cookies we did at school because we needed to mix all the dry and the dough was not really sticky so I needed to used my hand to mix all the ingredients together. It was hard to mix it because there was too many dry ingredients. The plain dough sticked together really well, but the chocolate dough was dry because we still put the cocoa it was hard to mix it because of the dryness. After 15 minutes of putting it in the fridge the moisture for the plain dough spread really good, while the chocolate dough was sort of breaking apart. All in all, we were able to cut it and made it to looked closer to checkered as we can.

Final Product:

Appearance: It was not checkered it turned out to be strips cookies. White dough was not over cooked, it has a light color like an eggshell color. While the chocolate part looked liked a normal chocolate cookies.

Taste: In the chocolate one you can taste the cocoa and both was not that sweet

Texture:It was dry and it was sort of crunchy after we were done baking it, but after 24 hours it was chewy.

Aroma: We were able to smell the flavor of cocoa powder

Experience:

After reading all the steps, procedure, and what you need to have to do this cookies. Make sure to watch a video of how to do it so you know what will the final product looked liked. We didn't watch the video the first time we did it and we shaped the dough wrong. We make it too flat and the original procedure it said put it in the fridge for an hour, but from the video it just said 15 minutes. I would say I would make this again because now I know what we did wrong. And I will make sure it shaped like checkered not strips.



Stephanie Esplana
Hour 5

Grandma's Banana Bread

Sydney Poshusta
Baking & Pastry (November Dessert)

Grandma’s Banana Bread

Yields: about 12  (1inch pieces)

Ingredients:

3 mashed bananas

⅓ cup melted butter

¾ cup granulated white sugar

1 egg beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ cups flour

1 small pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon for the top of the batter (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉
2. Mix butter, sugar and bananas together until creamy
3. Add one egg and vanilla into the mixture
4. Sprinkle baking soda and salt
5. Gradually add flour into the mixture
6. Stir until all combine (about 30 seconds)
7. Pour batter into a 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray
8. Bake at 350℉ for 40 minutes.

For grandma’s banana bread I used the creaming method. I combined a fat (butter) with  two sugary products (banana and granulated sugar) until it was smooth. Then I added an egg and vanilla to give it more flavor. I sprinkled in my baking soda and salt in the liquid batter, and then I finally  added in the flour to thicken up the bread. I mixed all the ingredients together for about 45 seconds and then I transferred the batter into a greased loaf pan. I topped it off with cinnamon and let it bake at 350℉ for about 40 minutes.

As I was making this delicious treat, the steps I used in this recipe reminded me of the cookies my group made in class. I was able to implement the skills I learned in class to successfully make this banana bread. For example, I remembered to melt my butter. By melting the butter, I was able to released moisture from the product. I also recognized I mixed my butter and my sugars together like my group did with the cookies. I was able to create more volume and add additional flavor to the bread. Lastly I did not over or under mix the batter. I stayed within the 45-90 second limit.

Overall, the skills that I learned in class did help my product turnout amazing. The banana bread was so moist and it had a beautiful golden brown color to it. I was scared that the batter would overflow in the oven, but it ended up rising nice and evenly. I do not think this recipe could have turned out any better!

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I thought my final product was incredible! The banana bread was so moist that it melted right into my mouth. The rich butter and overripe banana gave the bread a nice balance of sweetness without making me feel sick. I do wish I could have tasted more banana, but it still was enjoyable. I loved how the inside and outside both had different textures. The firm outside had a crispness to it and the inside was much more delicate. Both textures contrasted each other really well. This is a “light enough” dessert that would be perfect for anytime of the day.

My family ate a whole loaf in one day, so I am definitely going to be making this again! I have a couple things I am going to change for next time though. I am going to get ripe bananas. The bananas I used in this recipe were not as ripe as they should have been. I believe this is why it lacked “banana” flavor. All in all I learned how to incorporate the skills I have learned in class at home. I now know why certain items need to be blended together and why it is important to mix batters for only a particular amount of time. I had a lot of fun making grandma’s banana bread and I can not wait to improve the recipe for next time!

Pumpkin Cake Home Study Assignment

Pumpkin Cake
2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups pumpkin puree or cooked mashed pumpkin

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound confectioners' sugar, about 3 3/4 cups before sifting

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions for pumpkin cake
Combine sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl; mix well. Sift dry ingredients into a separate bowl; stir into oil mixture, beating well. Stir in pumpkin puree.
Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pans. Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn out onto racks to cool. Frost pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting (directions below) and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Sift the confectioners' sugar into a bowl.
Beat the 1/4 cup of butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.  Add the sifted confectioners' sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla; beat until smooth.  Makes enough for 2-layer pumpkin cake.

I made pumpkin cake as part of our Thanksgiving dinner. I did not change the recipe at all and I kept it the way it was. For this desert I used the creaming method. The creaming method is when you mix the batter until smooth and fine. This progress is similar to when we made different types of cookies in class. For example the drop cookies, cookies and cakes are a bit different but they are the same by how they need that really fine texture of batter usually containing a lot of fat and sugars. In class when we made the drop cookies it was similar to when I made the pumpkin cake because we shift the dry ingredients first then we added the wet liquids into there which added moisture to cold the cookie mixture together. For the cake I had more amounts of liquid so the batter was more liquefied so it can be easily be poured into the pan. I used this method because I knew it would give me the best results at the end if I used the biscuit method and used butter for my cake instead of vegetable oil for the fatty ingredient in my cake I would get bad results because it would be lumpy and not a smooth and moist cake to enjoy. The preparation method does matter on the type of pastry that you are making because you would get totally different  results.
 The pumpkin cake  turned out amazing as suspected from the aroma in the batter of the cake. The inside of the cake was really moist and soft. The aroma was breath taking it smelled of different varies of cookies and sweet pastry with a mixture of Halloween  pumpkins and the cream cheese and fresh pecans. The appearance was a 2 layered cake spread with cream cheese sprinkled with chopped pecans. Taste was very moist and soft that melted into your mouth with every bite. The warm cream cheese melted along your tongue with slight crunch from the pecans. I would do this again because it turned out amazing and everyone in my family enjoyed it.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups (300ml) warm water (lukewarm, no need to take temperature)
• 1 packet Red Star Platinum instant yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon (8g) light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon (15g) unsalted butter, previously melted and not scorching hot
• 3.75 - 4.25 cups (470- 530g) all-purpose flour + more for the counter surface to knead
• 1 large egg, beaten
• coarse sea salt for sprinkling
• Kicked-Up Cheddar Cheese Sauce for serving

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir with a spoon until fairly mixed, about 1 minute. Some clusters of yeast may remain. Add salt, sugar, and melted butter; stir until fairly combined. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon (or dough hook attached to stand mixer) until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add up to 1/4 cup more. Poke the dough with your finger - if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes and shape into a ball. Place in a large mixing bowl that has been lightly coated with nonstick spray. Cover and let the dough rest in a warm area for about 10 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
4. With a sharp knife, cut ball of dough into 6 sections. Roll the dough into six 20-inch long ropes. Cut the rope into 1.5 inch pieces to make bites.
5. Boil 9 cups of water with 1/2 cup of baking soda. Drop 8-10 pretzel bites into water and let sit for 20 seconds. Remove with a spatula and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure the bites aren't touching.
6. Brush beaten egg over each pretzel bite. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake batches for 15 minutes each, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and serve with cheese sauce or honey mustard. Pretzel bites remain fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container, though they will lose some softness. Pretzel bites freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw and reheat in the oven at 300F degrees until warm.

I did my home study on pretzel bites. We made then in class one time and I really loved them. So I went home and made some for my own. I found this online and its not to different from what we did in class. It took a little longer then I thought I would. I made the dough like we did in class. It was hard to get the dough not to stick to everything that it touched. The dough was very sticky. I new from class that to make not stick so much that you have to put flour on it. I put flour on the counter and start to work the dough with my hands. 
It started to get less stinky and more dry in my hands. it say to knead the dough for 3 mins. That 3 mins felt really long. My hand stared to crap up from kneading that dough. So a little tip for next time is to have someone to help you when you do this. after all the kneading was done I got to rest my hands for 10 mins tell the dough sat. This way hard doing by yourself because you don't have your teacher or classmates helping you. Also I really had to apply what I learned in class and remembered that for this recipe. 

 taste- soft, warm, creamy, salty 
color- brown
texture- hard, smooth

Cinnabon Imitation Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

1 box (3.4 ounces) instant (no-cook) vanilla pudding mix

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant active dry yeast

Filling:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1/4 cup raisins, optional

Frosting:

 4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

~1-2 teaspoons milk

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the hot water with the cup of (cold) milk to make a warm milk-water mixture. Add the butter, sugar, salt, egg, and a cup of the flour. Stir to mix.

2. Without stirring between, add 2 more cups of flour, the vanilla pudding mix, and the dry yeast. Then stir to make a sticky dough.

Add more flour as needed (about a cup more, or as much as it takes to make a smooth dough) and stir until too thick to stir.

3. Use clean hands to knead dough for 10-15 minutes, until smooth and elastic. I switch to a dough hook (speed 2 or 3) on my

mixer for this step – while I keep my eye on it, the dough takes about 5-8 minutes to become smooth.

4. With buttery hands, grease the top of the dough and cover the bowl of dough with a clean towel. Place in a warm location* and let

rise until double, about an hour. (to speed this process, place covered dough in oven that is turned off then pour 3 cups of boiling

water in a broiling pan. Shut down quickly to trap steam)

5. Gently punch down dough and knead for a minute or two, to remove excess air bubbles. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough

into a rectangle about 12 inches by 17 inches.

6. Combine the first three filling ingredients and mix well. Heat in microwave 10 seconds to make spreadable. (It's okay if it's fairly

thick.) Spread over rolled dough, covering as much of the surface as possible. Sprinkle nuts and raisins over dough if using.

7. Starting with the widest end, roll dough into a tight log. Pinch edges to seal. With a thin sharp knife (I use thread so it doesn’t

squish the dough), cut log into 12 equal slices. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13-inch glass baking dish. Cover with a clean

towel and place in a warm location to rise until nearly double in size, about 30-45 minutes.

8. Bake rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 25-35 minutes. After about 20 minutes of baking, check on rolls and cover loosely with

foil if they are getting too dark. Rolls can stay in the dish after baking; set the dish on a wire rack and cover with a clean towel to

let it cool.

9. To make the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and maple syrup and beat. Add enough

milk to make a spreadable consistency, about 1-2 teaspoons.

10. Frost rolls while they are still warm for a drizzly melty look!

Analysis: For this recipe, I used the yeast bread (straight dough) method. This essentially involved dumping all the ingredients for the pastry itself into one bowl and mixing them together. I used bread flour in this recipe since it was what I had the most of on hand and was in the recipe, and the high protein content in this type of flour led to a denser, tougher pastry as the great amount of gluten developed. This gluten development was also aided by my over mixing and adding a bit too much flour to the dough as I didn’t realize the dough was supposed to be sticky.

The final product looked lightly browned, with the icing creating small pools in the recesses and the filling brown and melted. The aroma was of pudding, cream cheese and brown sugar, a warm scent that was very insidious. The aroma was sweet and relaxing. The texture was dense and thick, but chewy and very soft and yielding. The taste was sweet and sweeter. The sugar and icing fought to be the sweetest, which the dough and pudding mix were more undertone.

Overall, this recipe was very tasty once made, and provided something to do on a lazy Saturday, and produced enough, just barely, to share with a few friends. I would make this recipe again.

Phillip Hoffarth

Hour 4

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Jenny Kaing, Hour 4

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon table salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, small dice

1/4 cup shortening

7 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

1 disk pie dough

All-purpose flour, for dusting

1 15 -ounce can pure pumpkin

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

Crust:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and sugar until well combined. Using clean hands, add butter and toss until just coated. Rub butter between thumb and forefingers to incorporate into flour mixture until butter is in lima bean-sized pieces and comes together in quarter-sized clumps when squeezed in palm, about 2 minutes. Add shortening, toss until just coated in flour, then rub into flour mixture until mixture forms pea-size pieces (some big chunks should remain) and comes together in fist-sized clumps when squeezed, about 1 minute. Drizzle in half ice water and rake through mixture with fingers until just moistened. Drizzle in remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and comb through mixture with fingers to moisten. It will go from being a shaggy mess to coming together. Dough is moist enough when it is moistened through but is not wet when pressed. (Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough.)
While rotating the bowl with 1 hand, push dough between other palm and side of bowl to gather into a ball. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, then close in wrap. Place in coldest part of refrigerator (usually back bottom shelf) at least 30 minutes before rolling out and forming into a crust.

Filling:

Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhanging dough under itself and crimp the edges with your fingers. Pierce the bottom and sides all over with a fork. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the chilled dough with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Transfer to the oven and bake until the edges are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the crust is golden all over, 10 to 15 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
Make the filling: Gently whisk the pumpkin, cream, granulated sugar, 2 eggs, the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and salt (do not over mix). Beat the remaining egg and brush on the crust edge; sprinkle with coarse sugar. Pour the filling into the crust and bake until set around the edges, 50 minutes to 1 hour (the middle will still jiggle slightly). Transfer to a rack; let cool completely.

Analysis:

           For this recipe, I didn't change much. The only things I changed was that I used a pastry cutter and didn't use the freshly grated nutmeg. I used a pastry cutter, because I remembered that if you use your hands to cut in the butter, it can cause the butter too melt and make the crust less flaky. I didn't use the freshly ground nutmeg, because I couldn't find any, so I just used regular ground nutmeg. For the crust, I used the biscuit method. I know it was the biscuit method, because I had to cut in really cold fat to make sure my crust was flaky at the end. The fat needed to be really cold, so it wouldn't melt before it baked, and when it was baked, the fat would then make it flaky by separating it into layers. This recipe was similar to the mini pies, shortcakes and scones that we made in class, because they all required ice cold fat to be cut into the dry ingredients, then adding ice  cold water in increments, so you wouldn't add too much. Adding too much would've made the end products tougher. I think my technique gave me a pretty pumpkin pie at the end, with a really flaky crust. I don't think there's anything about the recipe that I'd change or do differently, since I think the end product turned out pretty well and everyone liked it on Thanksgiving
         I think my pumpkin pie turned out pretty well. I took the pie out of the oven when the middle was still slightly jiggly and when a knife came out clean. When I cut into the pie the next day on Thanksgiving, the pie had set nicely, and the texture was really smooth and creamy. It seemed custard-like, which is probably what it should've ben like. The color seemed a bit lighter than usual, but there wasn't a picture with the recipe, so it could've been the way it should've looked. If it was lighter, it might've been because I added a bit too much cream. The crust was very flaky and had a nice buttery, salty taste, which I like in my pie crusts. The texture was most likely due to me cutting the cold fat into the dry ingredients, keeping the fat cold, so it would separate the crust into the flaky layers.
        In my free time, I think I'll definitely make this pie again. It had a great texture, both the crust and filling.  It was really easy to make, although it was time consuming. By making this pie, I learned  to plan my time more effectively, since it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. Everyone who tried the pie said it tasted really good, so I probably will make it again. Plus, I still have another can of pumpkin laying around, so I do have an excuse to make another one.

Lemon Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Sift flour and sugar into bowl. Blend in butter with clean fingertips until well mixed. Pat evenly into the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Meanwhile, beat together:

2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
dash of salt

Pour over baked crust and return to oven for 20-25 minutes at same temperature. Cool on rack. Cut in squares. Sprinkle with sifted, powdered sugar.

Preparation Method: 

For my second home study cooking assignment, I chose to bake lemon bars. I was flipping through recipes in my mom's recipe book, and I saw these and decided it would be something fun to make. I love the taste of lemon, and making these was the perfect thing as we head towards December. I stuck very close to the original recipe, and didn't change anything. For this recipe, I used the biscuit method that we learned in classl.

In this method, I made the crust by using the biscuit method. I had to blend in the butter, or cut it in, with my fingertips until the dough was sticky. For the filling, I combined the wet ingredients, and after the crust was finished baking, I added the filling to that and baked it again. This method really helps to create the flaky texture of the crust. Since I was blending in the butter, it helped to coat some of the flour granules with fat, just as we learned in class. It essentially made the flour granules that were coated with the fat nonpolar, because it couldn't bond with water.

We have used this method in class a couple of times, and it was especially prominent when we created our pies. I remember blending in the chunks of the butter into the dry ingredients. It was a long, hard process, that resulted in a decent crust.

This method resulted in very flaky-textured lemon bars. The only error I encountered while mixing everything together was when I was blending the butter into the flour mixture. I didn't blend it as well as I could have, and it didn't bake as well as a result. The crust turned out very dark around the edges, despite the cooking time. It bubbled up in different spots and little pockets of air were present within it. This contributed to how the overall product of the lemon bars turned out.

Critique:

These lemon bars did not turn out as I had expected them to. The crust was a bit darker than expected, and the air pockets contributed to the taste of it all. The filling on top was very runny, even after it cooled.  I didn't sift the powdered sugar to put on top, which made it look less than desirable. They smelled very zesty and sweet, and once I cut into them, I noticed the many layers within. They were very thin. I took a bite and noticed how light it tasted. The flaky, but dark, crust tasted decent, and the filling added a lot of pop to it. My parents each had one as well, and my mom stated to me that eating them brought back memories to her eating them as a child. My dad eats everything, so he liked it, of course. My sister refused to try it, but I enjoyed them nevertheless.

Assessment:

In my free time, I would not make these lemon bars again. I may make them for a special occasion, but for just a recreational baking project, I wouldn't. The crust was very difficult to get right, and blending the butter in with your fingers is a very tedious process. The baking time of this recipe was very off. 20 minutes to bake the crust was way too much, as I noticed how brown it was getting after only 8 minutes. After I added the filling, it just bubbled up in weird places and made air pockets that were not aesthetically pleasing.

I learned from this experiment how difficult it is to get a recipe exactly perfect, especially when the instructions are very vague. These lemon bars could have gone either way, and I'm just thankful I didn't burn them (too badly).

November Blog

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Then beat in the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food coloring. Once combined, add the dry ingredients to wet. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Onto a parchment lined sheet tray, drop batter using an ice cream scoop, forming 2-inch round circles.

Bake for 10 minutes, until baked through. Cookies should be cake-like and light. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

For this month, I decided to make Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches with cream cheese frosting. I chose to do this recipe because my favorite kind of frosting is cream cheese and I like cookies more soft and almost cake like. For this recipe, I used the creaming method. The goal of this method is to increase the volume of the fat and this is done by sugar acting as an abrasive which creates tiny bubbles. The overall product of the cookies is supposed to have a more fine texture when properly creamed. We have used the creaming method for making a variety of things such as butter cookies and cake batter cookies in class. This recipe did not tell me how long to cream each item, which can affect the overall product in many ways as we learned through our second butter cookie experiment in class. Under creamed cookies turn out crunchy, really buttery, and had a dome like shape to them. On the flip side, over creamed cookies were often bland and super thin. I think that my cookies were creamed "just right" because they were soft, sweet, and had a nice volume to them. When I was preparing, I noticed that I did not have any Apple Cider Vinegar at home and did not have the time or patience to run to the store, so I just left it out. I am not very familiar with this ingredient, but my cookies turned out very sweet and maybe having the vinegar in it would have helped  to balance it. Another thing that might have affected my overall product was I did not have a cookie scoop so my cookies were various sizes. This is a problem because some baked together, and the bigger ones were barely cooked and the smaller ones were very thin and crispy. Next time, I would defiantly make sure my dough scoops were the same size, and maybe even try test baking a few so I can see how much each one spreads. I thought the appearance of my final product looked soft and pale around the edges for most of the cookies. Also, the cream cheese frosting was just oozing out of the sides which made it extra inviting. I thought the taste of the overall product was very sweet and rich, but I wish there was something to balance out the overall sweetness. As for the texture and aroma, the product was very soft and chewy and smelled very tangy and warm. I think I would make this again because it is very different from a traditional cookie and it was very soft and cake like without being too heavy. Through this experiment I learned to really pay attention to detail and make sure I am being consistent with each individual cookie. 

-Emma Anderson

Hour 5 

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Total Time:

40 min

Prep:

30 min

Cook:

10 min

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Yield:

12 to 15 sandwiches

Level:

Easy

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Next Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• For the Cream CheeseFrosting:
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar