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King Cake

Mardi Gras is ONE WEEK from today! I have never been to New Orleans to celebrate, but it’s something that I hope to do next year! In the meantime, I will eat my weight in delicious king cake. This dessert is more like a giant cinnamon roll than it is a cake. For all of you history nerds, here’s the story behind this wonderful treat:

“As part of our Christian faith, the coming of the wise men bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. We refer to this as the Feast of the Epiphany or Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night. This is a time of celebration, exchanging gifts and feasting. Today, the tradition continues as people all over the world gather for festive Twelfth Night celebrations. A popular custom was and still is the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings called “A King’s Cake. Inside every cake is a tiny baby (generally plastic now, but sometimes this baby might be made of porcelain or even gold). The tradition of having King Cake Parties has evolved through time, and the person who receives the slice of cake with the baby is asked to continue the festivities by hosting the next King Cake party. Originally, King Cakes were a simple ring of dough with a small amount of decoration. Today’s King Cakes are much more festive. After the rich Danish dough is braided and baked, the “baby” is inserted. The top of the ring or oval cake is then covered with delicious sugar toppings in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.” — mardigrasneworleans.com

But now, onto the recipe! I will be the first to admit that I am not an experienced bread maker. I tried my best on this and it worked out really, really well! I included my notes, in italics, that helped me through the process. :) Hopefully my notes will encourage those of you who have never made bread to give it a shot!

Traditional New Orleans King Cake
Recipe Source: Taste of Home
Print Recipe

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)*
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)*
2 egg yolks
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3-1/4 to 3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
*I didn’t have a thermometer that would read in the 110-115 range, so I touched the water to my wrist – when it was hot enough, but not painful, it was okay to use. Water that is too hot will kill the yeast, so err on the side of caution! I’m going to buy a kitchen thermometer for future use!

GLAZE:
1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons water
Green, purple and yellow sugars

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 1/2 cup sugar, butter, milk, egg yolks, salt, lemon peel, nutmeg and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
You want to add just enough flour so that the dough holds together and isn’t soupy or too much like a batter. The dough will be very “sticky” when you’ve added enough flour.

2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Kneading is done to add strength to the bread. It will stretch the gluten in the flour, which gives the bread its texture. Put the dough on a floured surface. Stretch the dough with the heel of your hand and then fold it back on itself. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat. Knead the dough for about 6-8 minutes, or until the dough appears smooth and elastic. You will definitely notice a change in texture from when you started. Do not over-knead the dough, otherwise it will become too tough. If you want some visual instructions, this is a great video to watch.

I wasn’t quite sure where to place the bowl of dough to let it rise. I wanted to find a warm place (otherwise it could take forever for it to double). I turned my oven on and set the bowl of dough near the oven. The heat from the oven made that area of my kitchen pretty warm and it only took about 1.5 hours for my dough to double!

3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 16-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet; pinch ends together to form a ring. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Brush with egg.
To punch down the dough you literally give it a few punches. The purpose for punching the dough down is to remove any big air pockets that have formed in the dough. It also helps to create an even texture in the bread and redistribute the nutrients for the yeast.

4. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. For glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and enough water to achieve desired consistency. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with colored sugars.

Ranger Cookies

So does anyone know why cookies made with *everything* are called “ranger cookies”? Seems like a slightly random name for some very delicious cookies! The nice thing about this recipe is that you can switch it up – substitute the “fun” ingredients, depending on what you like! I used M&Ms for half of the batch, and dried fruit for the other half. Yummy!

Ranger Cookies
Recipe Source: Ultimate Cookies Magazine
Print Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup raisins, dried cherries, dried cranberries, M&Ms, or whatever you’d like

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in oats, coconut, and dried fruit/candy.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are golden and centers are set. Let stand for 1 minute on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

*Makes about 48 cookies.
**If you want BIG cookies, place 1/3-cup mounds of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press into 3-inch circles. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown and centers are set. Makes about 10 cookies.

Pear-Raspberry Heart Pies

Holy cute! Need a special dessert for your Valentine’s Day dinner? I’d highly recommend these. The flavor combination of the pears and raspberries is delicious – and who doesn’t like pie?

Yield: About 10 mini pies

Pear Raspberry Heart Mini Pies

Pear Raspberry Heart Mini Pies

These mini pies are perfect for Valentine's Day and will be sure to impress!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the pastry:

  • 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp ice water

For the filling:

  • 2 firm, ripe pears (1 pound) such as Anjou or Bartlett, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1-1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup fresh raspberries, coarsely chopped
  • 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 Tablespoon heavy cream, for egg wash
  • *sanding sugar for sprinkling

You will also need:

  • Heart-shaped cookie cutter (about 4-inches in diameter)

Instructions

    Make the pastry:

    1. Pulse flour, salt, and granulated sugar in a food processor until combined.

    2. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining (about 5 seconds).

    3. Evenly drizzle ice water over mixture. Pulse until mixture just begins to hold together (about 10 seconds).

    4. Turn out dough onto plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Shape into a disk. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.

    Make the filling:

    1. Toss pears with lemon juice. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears, and toss to coat. Cook, adding granulated sugar a little at a time, until pears begin to soften (about 5 minutes). Stir in nutmeg.

    2. Transfer to a bowl and mix in raspberries.

    3. Divide dough in half and roll out each piece to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

    4. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

    5. Preheat oven to 350F.

    6. Drain pear-raspberry filling in a sieve.

    7. Cut out 20 hearts from dough using a 4-inch cutter, transferring them to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

    8. Lightly brush rims of half the hearts with egg wash, and top each with about 4 teaspoons filling. Top with remaining hearts and gently press around sides to seal.

    9. Brush pie tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Notes

The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw before using. Pies can be stored at room temperature overnight.

Recipe credit: Martha Stewart Living

Homemade Shortbread Cookies

How many of you out in Internet-land like Walkers shortbread? Raise your hands. Oh, a lot of you. It’s no wonder, cause Walkers is THE BEST. This recipe, I kid you not, is *the* Walkers recipe! It tastes just like those oh-so delicious cookies wrapped in the cute red plaid packaging.

Now, just a bit of warning. If you’ve never made shortbread before, it can be tricky. There are only four ingredients, but it’s a finicky process to make it. So if your first or second batch don’t turn out, don’t get discouraged! It took me about 4 tries to get this recipe RIGHT. I don’t say this to scare anyone away from trying this, but I’m being honest. Baking should always be about learning and making mistakes every now and then, so don’t give up if your first foray into shortbread-making isn’t a raving success. :)

OK, on with the recipe!!

“Walkers” Shortbread
Recipe credit: Amber Bracegirdle from Bluebonnets & Brownies
Print Recipe

3 c flour
1/2 c + 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter (at room temperature) — I used salted.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients. (I used a whisk to ensure good mixing)
3. Using a food processor, mix the dry ingredients with the butter – pulsing until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

4. Gently, and with as little handling as possible, transfer the dough into a bowl and refrigerate this for about 30 minutes to re-chill the butter. The “dough” will look more like crumbs than a unified mixture. This is okay.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Pat or roll gently onto a baking sheet until you have a flat round or rectangular “cookie,” about 1/4 inch thick. Score this into pieces about 1×2 inches.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until edges of shortbread are browning, but not too dark. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheet. Cut along scored lines into individual cookies.

*Note: A shortbread mold is INCREDIBLY helpful for this. Molds can be found on Amazon.com. I like to use a mold because I think it helps the shortbread to bake more evenly. This is the one that I currently use: Nordic Ware Cast-Iron Aluminum 9×9 English Shortbread Pan.

**Regardless of what method you use to bake the shortbread, make sure to poke the dough with a fork before you bake to allow ventilation.

I'm a bad blogger. I know.

I was talking to my dad on the phone this morning and he said to me, with great gusto, “you need to update Sprinkles! I go on there every day and there is never anything new!”

I know, I know. I hang my head in shame – and if I had a tail, it would be between my legs. I haven’t baked in a long time. This is not for lack of desire or inspiration to do so, but I currently have two major road blocks:
1. School (believe me, I’d rather be baking than doing work on environmental public health!)
2. I have no one to bake for. I don’t like wasting food, so currently I only bake when I have an outlet for the end result.

I hope you’ll all bear with me and keep this blog in your bookmarks or RSS readers. There are ebbs and flows to everything in life and I’m stuck in a little baking ebb at the moment. I am working on perfecting an oh-so-divine shortbread recipe, so hopefully that will pop up on the blog in the coming weeks.

Much love, sugar, and sprinkles to you all. :)