Pretzel m&m Vanilla Ice Cream

Got the Kitchenaid ice cream maker for Mothers day this year (love you hubby) and I could not wait to use it! The instructions say that you have to have the freeze the bowl for atleast 15 hours so this gave me plenty of time to come up with a flavor. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, i was craving something sweet/salty! i googled so see if anyone has come up with this ice cream yet, and i'm the first! And let me tell you, this is going on the list of favorites!

Here is what you'll need:

1-2 Bags of Pretzel m&m's (depending on how many m&ms you want in there), Frozen.
1 batch of salted caramel (store bought or homemade...ill get to that recipe soon!)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you can use 2 tablespoons if you omit the vanilla bean)
seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Instructions:

1. Whip the eggs and the sugar together until they are very light and fluffy.
2. Add the whipping cream, milk and both vanillas, mix well.
3. Add the mixture to the ice cream maker, and prepare according to manufacturers instructions. for the kitchenaid, turn ice cream maker on 'stir' BEFORE adding mixture. its ready when you hear a clicking noise.
4. Add the m&ms for the last minute of mixing. (probably around minute 30)

i got a little too excited about my ice cream and decided not to wait until i heard a clicking noise. I added the m&m's to early which made the colors bleed. Then i proceeded to add the caramel too early and it mixed in with the ice cream, instead of making the 'swirl' i wanted. Well, lesson learned. DO NOT put in fixings a minute before! Luckily, it still came out delicious!

 i still got my 'swirl' by drizzling the caramel on top ;)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

There comes a time every week when the daughter is sleeping, Game of Thrones is about to come on and Hubby and I are looking for something sweet to munch on.
Well, this week I needed to whip up something fast with simple ingredients i already had. I used Joanne Chang's Peanut Butter cookie recipe but tweaked it here and there.

These cookies are soft, but crumbly, and just the right amount of peanut butter without being overpowering to the milk chocolate.


Here is what you'll need:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (i used smooth)
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 bag milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until combined. Scrape down the bowl and mix again to ensure completely mixed.
4. On medium low speed, beat in the peanut butter for another 2 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt until well mixed. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, mix until just combined. Add bag of chocolate chip cookies, mix.  
6. Using a cookie dough scoop drop the dough in 1-2 tablespoon sized balls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a rubber spatula flatten each cookie. 
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges, but still pale in the center. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I only baked  a small batch for the show, and put the rest of the dough in an airtight container in the fridge. it will keep for about a week!  

Mother's Day Petal Cake

I decided to do a really fruity cake because its getting warmer outside and I thought a fresh fruits should do the trick.

so here it is:

Vanilla Cake with Passionfruit Buttercream & Mango Strawberry Filling

impressed yet? 

For the vanilla cake you can use any of your own recipes. Just make sure its a really light one. 

For the Passionfruit Buttercream:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

3 - 4 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon heavy cream

5-6 tablespoons passionfruit juice concentrate

Beat the butter until smooth. Slowly add confectioners sugar and beat until smooth. Add Salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Add passionfruit juice concentrate until you are comfortable with the flavor. 

For the Mango & Strawberry Filling:

1 box strawberries

1 mango (ripened)

1 1/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dice strawberries and mango, set aside. Whip heavy cream and vanilla extract with a handheld mixer on high for about 5 minutes. Set aside.


Once your vanilla cake has cooled, slice them in half. This is where you start to build your masterpiece.

- cake,
- layer of whip cream not quite to the edge (it will get pushed to the edge with the weight of the rest of the cake)
-layer of strawberry/mango mixture
-cake.

Once the cake is assembled you can start "dirty icing". This is a very thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake. It is best to use a wide set spatula for a smooth finish.

Leave in the fridge for about 20 minutes to set.

For the petal buttercream:

Pipe a row of dots (i used an ateco #808, but you can use any large round tip) vertically on the cake.

Use your wide-set spatula to press and then drag the buttercream. Do this all the way around the cake. Be sure to wipe your spatula with a damp cloth each time.  

and remember: KEEP THIS CAKE REFRIGERATED as long as possible. it has cream, and fresh fruit remember? =)

enjoy these shots of the finished product!

Chocolate-Vanilla Rosette Cake

This was a pretty simple project. I wanted a cake that reminded me of an oreo (bad craving).

For the CAKE:
The basic Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake (my favorite go-to chocolate cake).

For the buttercream i used this recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
• 3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

1. Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.

Once the cake had cooled, i used a wilton 1M star tip to pipe rosettes all along the top of the first layer. It does not have to be perfect though, as the next layer will sit on top of these rosettes.
For the top layer i started piping from the outside and worked my way in.

might use these recipes for my daughters next birthday cake, it was THAT good! 

Corsette Cookies

I was approached by someone recently asking me to help them make cookies for a bachelorette party---classy cookies. Meaning nothing "inappropriate", it wasn't that kind if bachelorette party. Anyway she sent me a few pictures off a Pinterest and i absolutely loved the idea of corset cookies. In my mind: corsets that have to be perfectly symmetrical? No problem.

Two days before i made the cookies i made my royal icing using the Wilton recipe.
I made 3 colors, gray, pink, and white.
To make the gray i used 2 drops of Americolor "Super Black". Then for the pink color i used Americolor "mauve". It's important to make your icing colors at least a day before to let the colors develop. This is especially true for colors such a black, reds, browns, blues etc.

I didn't have enough time to order a cookie cutter online so i simply drew the design on a piece of paper and cut it out. When it came time to cut out the cookies i used a paring knife and carefully removed the cut out piece from the dough.

I baked the cookies until the edges were golden and waited until they were completely cool to begin the decorating process.

To make the base of the corset cookies I piped and flooded with the gray, and pink icing. i added white polka dots to some of the cookies using the "wet on wet" technique i talked about on my Spring Cookies post.

I let the base dry overnight to proceed with what i like to call "detail piping".
These cookies are fun because they are all different and the details can be done really anyway you want. I didn't get many pictures but here is how they turned out =)

Blue Elephant Cookies

My Best Friend approached me last month and asked me if I could make her cookies for a baby shower. Of course, I immediately start thinking of what could be done. At first, i was going to make onesies that said "It's a Boy!" but then i thought thats been overdone.
So I continued to brainstorm until I saw some elephants done by Sweetopia. They were pretty adorable but I thought I would put my own spin on it.

so first THE SKETCH! Its important that you know what your design is going to be BEFORE you start piping away. Otherwise you'll be making A LOT of cookies (for mess-ups). Start with the outline of the shape and work from there. These sketches can later be used to cut the dough (WITHOUT A COOKIE CUTTER!!) Keep in mind that cookies are much more sturdy if they don't have any appendages (for example a skinny elephant trunk).

The next step would be to PLAN your cookie making process. You don't want to end up making 3 dozen cookies the night before, and staying up until 4 in the morning piping hearts. It is much better to plan it all out over a few days.

Here is what i did:
DAY 1: Prepare Royal Icing, let sit over night.
DAY 2: Bake 36 Cookies. Pipe Royal Icing Transfers, let sit overnight.
DAY 3: Pipe Blue Elephant, Drop in "heart" ear, pipe eye, little heart. let sit over night
DAY 4: Package.

As you can see, its quite a process and can take a few days. But my iPhone calendar helps me keep that on track so i don't forget anything. =)


Now onto the actual cookie making =)
Here is the shape of the cookie. As you can see no skinny appendage! Can't really tell they are elephants yet, I even had one person tell me they look like buffalo!

Then the piping of the royal icing transfers. 

i used a piece of paper and traced a heart shape 36 times (for 36 cookies), and some extras just in case. Lay this paper on the counter. Place parchment paper over it, and tape it to the counter so it can not slide around. 

Using your Royal Icing (piping, and flood icing) to make the hearts. its VERY important that you let these dry AT LEAST 24 HOURS otherwise, you may have some broken hearts! Once they are dry they will pop right off the parchment paper. 

The next day its time to pipe the elephant! Using the teal blue royal icing (15 second icing...thinned out to honey consistency) I piped the entire elephant, outline AND filled all at once. While still wet, drop the "heart ears" into place. Using a very small tip, and black (flood) icing, pipe in eye. When the blue icing is somewhat dry, at the little heart detail using 15 sec. icing to the trunk. 

And your done! Now just wait for them to dry, and bag up...gently of course =)

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and i think my BFF was too =) 

Got the basket from the decor section at Michael's! 

Spring Decorated Cookies

Decorated Cookies! SO fun, but definitely not easy work.

I felt the urge to decorate some sugar cookies because it had been awhile. Probably since i did the blue christmas cookies with the buttercream frosting. i wanted to try royal icing again (after my mess up with the minnie mouse cookies). THIS time i was going to do it right!

Instead of using wilton food coloring, I discovered Americolor Soft Gel paste. No bitter taste in the frosting, you don't have to use so much, and it comes in a squeeze-bottle! i like to get the variety packs off ebay.

Anyway back to the cookies, i went with tulips, daisies, plain circles and umbrellas. For colors I chose Red, Yellow, and green royal icing. I should have done pink, but I really wanted to try out the Americolor "Red Red" I had just bought!

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the tulip leaves by slicing the heart in half and baking them with the tulip shape. 

I use the basic Wilton recipe for Royal Icing:

3 tablespoons meringue powder

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

5 -6 tablespoons lukewarm water

Directions:

1. Place sugar and Meringue powder in a bowl and stir at low speed.

2. Add water and mix on low to medium for 7-10 minutes, until icing loses its sheen.

3. To prevent drying out, keep the bowl and icing tips covered with a damp towel.

I personally don't sift my powdered sugar.  I just mix it around with the whisk attachment on the standmixer.  It always turns out fine. 

For dimension I thin the icing out with a spray water bottle to the consistency I call "15 second". When you run a spoon through it it should take approximately 15 seconds for the icing to lose its shape. This kind of icing is great for adding dimension to cookies. For these cookies I used mostly 15 second icing. I used them for the flower petals, the umbrellas, and the strawberries. 

You must pipe the outline first, and fill just like normal "piping" and "flood" icing. but you must alternate sections and give those sections time to dry before you move on to the next ones. This is how you get that 3-D look. 

For the polka-dots, i used a technique i learned from SweetSugarBelle's blog called "wet on wet". 
While the 15 second icing is still wet, you use a very small piping tip (#2) to pipe small dots. Just make sure you do it as soon as your done piping the base color. You don't want it to try out or the dots will lay on TOP of the base. 

They didn't turn out too bad. (except for the umbrella handles ;P)

Homemade Oreos

Homemade Oreos. Is there anything more that even needs to be said?

I got the recipe from Joanne Chang's cookbook Flour. But found it online here. So many yummy recipes to try in her book! This is just the first one, believe me. I felt inspired to do try this one first because I've had the ones Joanne Chang sells in her bakery and they're amazing. Not fudgy, and not fluffy like a whoopie pie. It's more of a dense chocolate, crumbly cookie. Perfectly paired with a light, airy oreo filling.

The only thing i changed about her recipe was rolling the dough into a slightly thinner log to make smaller cookies. They were about 2 bites each. Just enough.

Now Joanne doesn't mention this in her recipe, but I used a piping bag with an Ateco #808 tip to pipe in the oreo cream.  

Picture perfect.