NIgella's Chocolate Christmas Cookies

 Nigella Lawson is a worldwide respected cook and cookbook author. You'd think her recipes were perfect. Unfortunately that was not the case with her chocolate Christmas cookies.

I had high hopes for this recipe. It came to me in her daily newsletter. It looked simple and yummy. 

These are some of the ingredients along with my new super big cookie spatula from Wilton. It was an easy enough recipe.I followed it to the letter.They're a chocolate shortbread, made with two and a quarter sticks of butter, two cups of flour , 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa and1/2 teaspoon baking soda and one teaspoon baking powder.  I made them vegan and I wonder if this could have been the factor in them not turning out the way they recipe had them?

I used my beloved Melt plant butter , not thinking that it would make a difference but maybe the cookies needed animal fat to get that finished cracked look.

                                                       The dough looked OK, when I was making it.

The texture was how she described it , slightly sticky. I took off walnut sized pieces of dough , roilled them and then flattened them.

To me they baked , well- OK  Maybe I made them too big -  my fault , maybe they needed more time in the oven .

The tasted pretty perfect - sort of like Nabisco's once famed chocollate snap cookies. It was time to make the e icing for them.

 This was a mix of confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla  cooked with already boiled water.

It was supposed to be a thick glaze with two tablespoons of the cocoa, 1 and a half cups of the confectioner's sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract mixed with 1/4 boiling water. It turned out to be a chocolate syrup.

It was a runny mess on the cookies. however I now have the recipe for a great homemade chocolate syrup(which was mixed with Bubly strawberry seltzer and almond milk for an over the top strawberry egg cream. YUM!!!!)

This is the end result.A syrupy mess that slid off the cookies and puddled underneath them.The Wilton decorations just rolled off. Some hardier ones stayed , fortunately.

And a day later 

It's funny I followed everything to the letter and they came out wrong. Tasty but wrong. 

Is it worth following  a Nigella Lawson recipe again? It's an iffy answer. 

I think I'll stick with American recipes now instead of going with the British - sorry to say.


 

The Essential Oil Diet

Can the addition of essential oils help in losing weight? According to one couple they can.Infusions of peppermint and grapefruit along with a balanced diet, clean lifestyle and prayer can aid in not only shedding pounds but in creating a better life? Is it true ? Or just hokum?

Chiropractor and aromatherapist Dr. Eric Zielinski  and his wife Sabrina Ann Zielinski , who's a health coach and group fitness instructor have written The Essential Oils Diet (Harmony Books 2019) , a follow up to their The Healing Power Of Essential Oils. What are essential oils? The best definition is a natural oil typically obtained by distillation and have the characteristic fragrance of the plant or source of the extraction. They're easy to make. Simply use olive oil or avocado oil and spiking it peppermint or grapefruit extract. The book is more than just making essential oils and creating diet dishes. The Zielinskis feel that everyone should follow their lifestyle - which to be  honest - can be obnoxious at times.I like their advice on the eight essential healthy habits and how they delve into the use of everyday pesticides and chemicals. However I do have an issue with some of their suggestions.They suggest bringing your own food to a restaurant and having the chef cook it for you. I'm sorry but I can't see the chain restaurants doing that. It may work with smaller family owned eateries. Another bone of contention is their advice on staying humble while Mrs. Zielinski writes about prepping for the Mrs Georgia pageant. There's also a part about dropping friends who don't follow a healthy lifestyle. That was also grating.

First and foremost this is a cookbook.That part has some excellent advice and ideas.Mrs. Zielinski or Mama Z as she wants to be called has an extensive list of healthy family must haves. There is everything from gluten free flour to green tea powder.Another plus is the fridge and freezer makeover with helpful suggestions.Butter can be replaced by coconut oil while nitrate free turkey bacon can replace the regular kind.The recipes are not really grouped. Instead there are headings with the appropriate recipes underneath. There are not only lunch and dinner recipes such as avocado (!) egg salad and Mama 's spaghetti with meat sauce. The book doesn't really feature long lists of recipes which would be a tad more beneficial. The lunches are either salads or soup with a pasta or falafel thrown in while dinners are lasagna or spaghetti. Kale salad is there too, for a summertime dinner along with a bok choy super stir fry. I would have liked to have seen more roasts or some kind of ancient grain mail course. The breakfasts are mostly shakes and smoothies with a waffle recipe thrown in. There are a surprisingly large number of dessert recipes from homemade ice creams and brownies to whipped cream and even confectioner's sugar.

Should you buy The Essential Oils Diet? I would say yes for some of the advice. Take from it what you find necessary to your lifestyle. It can help in creating a better diet  - which is what we all need.

The Vegan Lamb Part Two Iced

After baking the vegan lamb and letting it sit  for a day, it was time to ice it. I used the same  Wilton recipe as before however I used Stop & Shop's confectioner's sugar instead of Domino's

It' starts out with vegetable shortening and a stick of Country Crock spread. This was whipped for a few minutes with an electric beater. Vanilla, sea salt and almond milk were added along with five cups of sugar.

                     There was a heart shape in the middle of the bowl.

                      More of a heart shape in the beater blades.Maybe my Mom is looking out for me and this is her way of letting me know she's around , watching.

                I used the bags of confectioners sugar which weighs  two pounds. I recommend  buying this amount  for any big baking project, especially if  there's a lot of icing to do. Also the bag is easier to handle than the box.

 I don't know if it was that or adding a little too much almonds milk (half a cup instead of a quarter) but the icing was runny, looser than what it was the last time around.

   I also mixed  cocoa powder into a small blob of icing  for the mouth, nose and eyes,
 There were also candy eyes from Betty Crocker that I picked up in Stop &Shop's bake aisle.They
 kind of gives the lamb a Raggedy Ann kind of look. I think I'll stick with the blue icing for the eyes
 instead.

 

Unfortunately a vegan scratch cake is not as strong as a Dream Whip/cake mix  cake  The

head fell off thanks to the frosting's heaviness. The next time the vegan lamb will just have a dusting of powdered sugar with buttercream features. I realize it's just too fragile for

 a butter and shortening rich icing. The cake was good on it's own, very delicate tasting

 thanks to the almond extract. 

Now I know what to do when Easter comes around and I have to bake a flock of lambs. It's a lot of trial and error but worth the work. It's always good to bake and ice a tester cake. There won't be any bad surprises or tears.

Sweet,Scary Treats

This is the weekend for Halloween parties. One of the highlights of any party is the dessert table, full of fun treats.They're easy to make and home bakers and candy makers can get as creative as they want. The result is buffet of spooky sweets, the perfect end to any holiday party.

Caramel and candy apples reign supreme right now. For a fun twist, set up your version of an Apple Bar. Have apples already dipped in the gooey stuff surrounded by bowls of mini chocolate chips, toasted coconut flakes , and festive black and orange sprinkles.For a total gross out have bowls of crushed Oreos and gummy worms so kids can create their own "ewwww" versions.If there are adults , think pepper flakes for something different along with sea salt and Szechuan peppers.You could also set out bowls of crushed peanuts or walnuts but keep in mind about guests' nut allergies.If whole apples are too much, then cut the fruit into slices and insert sticks in them. This makes for easy eating and multiple dippings. You can do the same for pears too to vary the flavors. Grapes, another fall favorite, can be turned into "monster" eyes. Just take any green or purple seedless and putting already made candy eyes on them. These can be bought at any party or baking store or can be made at home. It's taking two cups of confectioners sugar and seven teaspoons  of water and mixing them until they form a thick glaze. Pour this into a plastic bag and cut one end off. It's then piping circles on wax paper and inserting the mini chocolate chip, point side down into them. Let dry overnight. They can also be used on cupcakes and cookies too. Affix to the grapes using gel icing.

What's Halloween without cupcakes or cookies? You can have a pumpkin spice cake or stick with chocolate and vanilla. Make a vanilla or chocolate butter cream icing. Vanilla can be dyed orange to have the cupcakes resemble pumpkins. Reserve some icing to be dyed green for stems and leaves. You can also dye the icing bright purple or neon green and top with those eyes for monster cakes.. Black cats are one of the most popular symbols of the holiday. Start with icing the cupcake with chocolate frosting. Add Oreo triangles for ears and licorice strings for whiskers. You can use the confectioner's sugar and water mix to create eyes and the nose. Tint the eyes yellow and green, and make a pink triangle for the nose, using the mix and red food coloring. An easier decoration is  the bat. Half chocolate wafers for the wings and a peanut butter cup for the body. Use red gel icing for the eyes. Butter cookies are another fun party treat. Ice in white for ghosts , with chocolate eyes. Bake the cookies in a tear drop shape and ice them in white,yellow and orange for  candy corn. Spiders are always fun and creepy.Try peanut butter spider cookies. This is baking the classic cookie and then pressing an upside down peanut butter cup in the cookie's center. Add the googly eyes and pipe melted milk chocolate around the cup to represent the legs.

Halloween is a time for fun and sweets. End your party with classic goodies everyone likes. A candy cork cookie or homemade candy apple are the best treats of all.

Carrots, Cream Cheese, and Cupcakes

I did it. I baked twenty-four  perfect cupcakes thanks to Duncan Hines and All Recipes. It started with making the carrot cake mix.

The cake batter is super easy to make. It even had carrots and raisithe ns that had to be reconstituted in hot tap water. From there it was blending in three eggs and a  1/4 cup of vegetable oil.It produced twenty-four  perfect cupcakes. I used the three tablespoon method to fill the cups, both metal and the

silicone.

Now here's the whole gang waiting to be iced

The icing recipe was the classic cream cheese which I got from All Recipes. I like their recipes which are simple and easy to make, yet packed with flavor. It's taking eight ounces or a brick of cream cheese with a stick of butter. 

i used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter..The two blended together perfectly,, although it was sticky at first. The recipe called for four cups of confectioners sugar, I used three and a half. I felt that using less would bring out the cream cheese flavor more. 

 I used my Madagascar vanilla, from Neilsen Massey (I reviewed them back in August of 2015). The two teaspoons of pure essence. This has no alcohol and no aftertaste.
 Here are the guys frosted and dusted with sprinkles and frosting puffs.
I love this frosting. It is definitely going to be my go to frosting for every flavor, including vanilla and chocolate cake.It doesn;t have that cloying sweetness that regular buttercream has. It has a much needed tang that definitely will go great with chocolate cupcakes.I can't wait to make it and dye it  to decorate more baked treats.It also is great for decorating, holding it's shape well as it comes out of a icing nozzle.

Winter Storm Basics

January usually brings a whole host of weather problems. There's either blizzards, Nor'easters or just bone-numbing frigid cold. That means stocking up and staying in. What to get? basics? Fun stuff? Or a mix of both? A balanced mix is the answer.

Many home chefs freak out when they hear blizzard. They rush to the store and get the necessary, bread milk and eggs. This is great , These are the staples that you'll need, whether on their own or used as ingredients. Yet, you'll need more protein than just eggs/What you can do is buy a roast a day or two before a predicted monster snowstorm. Make it along with hearty sides such as mashed potatoes and broccoli au gratin. These leftovers will keep the family happy and fed until you can dig out. Also, a cold roast can be sliced into sandwiches for a couple of days afterward. Also, have cold cuts ready if there's a blackout  - which does happen during a heavy windstorm. Canned goods are a must. There's a lot you can do with canned veggies turning them into main dishes or sides. Try not to get fresh breads which either get moldy quick .  If the bread gets stale, don;t fret.They can be repurposed into breadcrumbs, stuffing or bread pudding A snow day in is also a good time to bake homemade loaves and rolls. You can also get those canisters of biscuits,  and breadsticks too. They're a nice side with a bowl of homemade soup. Save the cinnamon buns for a breakfast or brunch with the family.

Fun stuff can also be bought too. A snowy or blustery day inside can mean a fun baking or even candy making day. A day off can be spent making homemade pizzas. Be sure to have a can or two  of pizza sauce and mozzarella,,whether balls or shredded for topping. The kids will get a kick out of  baking cupcakes or cookies. Have confectioners sugar, butter,and food coloring handy to make colorful icings, along with sprinkles and  icing gels for writing., Buy a few tubes of slice and bake cookies  for   a nice, fresh from the oven batch. Candy making is a great way to keep tweens occupied during a day in. . Keep the pantry stocked with a bag of unshelled peanuts, granulated sugar and corn syrup to make peanut brittle and condensed milk and chocolate chips for making microwave fudge Flavored honeys are great in hot teas and for sore throats.  They can also be used to make tasty lollipops.Another must is having hot cocoa,the perfect warm up for after shoveling. Stock up on the premade mixes or tins of Drostes. Cut back on sodas but definitely have a pantry full of juices, especially orange. It's not only refreshing but gives the  family an extra boost of Vitamin C.

The pantry and fridge should be well stocked during a winter storm. Keep it balanced with nutritious and fun foods. It's a nice blend for a few days inside.

The ideal Icing

The icing or more appropriately the frosting makes the cake. It's the selling point that can either give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down moment. The question is what is the best one? Buttercream? whipped cream? Or just a simple dusting of confectioners sugar.

I've been obsessed with this since I started serious baking again.To me, one of the best frostings came from the famed Magnolia Bakery along with Jane's Off Seventh The second , sadly, isn' t

t there anymore, due to high rents and the owner passing. The owner made the best cupcakes, a tender moist crumb with a deliciously creamy buttercream Magnolia Bakery, has so-so cupcakes but ones with a really good, homemade tasting icing.This is the icing I long to make. I found a website Two Sisters Crafting, a craftsy site that features everything from knitting projects to baking. It was created by two sisters, Laurie and Nancy who have recipes and ideas for almost every holiday and football teams. Their buttercream icing recipes are varied with flavors I would have never associated with this sort of frosting. There's butter rum (!) and peanut butter (!) and even cookie dough (!). I just wanted a simple buttercream one one that I can dye and make a pretty icingand   with  even prettier decorations.It also seems to be really creamy too. Another plus is that it has chocolate buttercream icing ,a perfect go to with yellow cake - the ideal combo according to one friend,

Many (such as my Mom) prefer a whipped cream icing.It's lighter and less sweeter tasting  than buttercream that sometimes can taste like divinity fudge. Two Sisters has this which is a combo of two cups heavy whipping cream, white chocolate pudding mix and confectioner's sugar. There is also a sturdy (?) whipped cream icing recipe .It is a mix of heavy whipped cream and cream cheese. It

doesn't have the usual confectioner's sugar but granular white. It's non-meltable which means it will hold it's shaped if it's piped on a cake or cupcake's surface.Is there a pure cream icing, similar to what bakeries put on their cakes? It probably has some kind of gelatin to make it solid. instead of running down the sides. Th best example of this is  Charlotte Russe , a disc of vanilla, angel or sponge cake topped with a puff of whipped cream. It's served in a push pop kind of cylinder  where you have to push the bottom up to get a mouthful of cream and cake, Another idea is just getting a can of Reddi Whip and spritzing the cake or cupcakes with it. A simpler idea is just dusting the cake and cupcakes tops with a fine dusting of sifted confectioner's sugar. This is an elegant way of serving both and does appeal to many people, including myself.

What makes the best icing? The creamy sweet buttercream?  The light and airy whipped cream? Or the plain yet classy dusting of confectioner's sugar? It depends on taste - not simply on look. The most memorable treats are the ones that taste delicious.That's what makes the ideal and best icing.