With These Cookies, Who Needs a Valentine?

As you may know, we’re not really big fans of Valentine’s Day around here.  This year, that happens to be a good thing, because Hubby will be out of town for work.  In some marriages, leaving town on your wife’s birthday and missing Valentine’s Day would be grounds for divorce, so it’s lucky he’s married to me.  Not saying he doesn’t owe me.  I have a feeling there might soon be a lovely piece of Le Creuset with my name on it.  But I digress.  I decided Valentine’s Day was a perfect excuse for my first attempt at making those soft sugar cookies I listed as something I want to try in our year end post.  It did not disappoint. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

As always, make sure your ingredients are all at room temperature before starting.  In a mixing bowl, beat your butter so it’s nice and soft, then add the sugar. 

Cream those together until it becomes light in color.  It’ll probably take two or three minutes. 

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly in between. 

When those are incorporated, go ahead and add the vanilla. 

Next comes the sour cream.  If you forgot to pull it out ahead of time like I did, just put it in a plastic bag (with a little extra to make up for the bit that will stick to the bag) and place it in warm water for a  few minutes.

Then simply snip off the corner of the bag, and squeeze it into the bowl.

At this point, it won’t be a very appealing batter, but don’t worry. 

In a separate bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.  I actually sifted mine because sometimes cornstarch can be a bit lumpy.  And speaking of cornstarch, you’re probably wondering why on earth I’m putting it in sugar cookies in the first place.  Well, believe it or not, there is a purpose.  The cornstarch lowers the protein level, making the cookies more tender. 

Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix just until al all comes together. 

At this point, the dough is way too soft for rolling and cutting, so lay out a piece of plastic and glop on about half of the dough. 

Then roll it into a nice log shape.  Repeat with the other half and place them both into the fridge overnight. 

Before baking the cookies, you’ll want to start on the frosting.  The first batch I made using the fabulous frosting I made for my raspberry cupcakes.  Fabulous cookies + fabulous frosting = uber fabulousness, right?  Wrong!  I call that fabulous frosting for a reason.  It is… on cake. With these cookies (which are also fabulous) it was horrible.  Did I mention this was my first attempt?  Ok, so after much pondering, I finally decided what these need is something that is more closely related to fudge than frosting.  I know, it sounds like I’ve gone off the deep end, but stick with me, and you’ll see what I mean. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• ¼ cup cream
• ¾ cup water
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons brown rice syrup (or corn syrup if that’s all you have)
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla

Now, because these cookies usually have pink frosting, and because it’s Valentine’s Day, I also decided to make my frosting pink.  As you know, we don’t use artificial dyes, so I made my own coloring.  I happened to have blood orange juice on hand, but really any red juice will do.  If you have pomegranate or cranberry or something, it’ll work just as well.  Bring 1 cup of juice to a rolling boil. 

Allow it to cook down until you have somewhere about 2 Tablespoons.  It took mine about 6 or 7 minutes.  The color will become very deep.  Mine is a bit reminiscent of a saucepan of blood, no? 

Anyway, pour the red stuff into a small heatproof dish and set it aside to cool. 

Next up, butter a pyrex pan, set it atop hot pads or a kitchen towel, and place 3 tablespoons of butter inside it. 

Place the cream, water, sugar, and syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat. 

Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a full boil. 

Place on the lid and leave it for 2 minutes. 

During that time, wash your spoon or get a clean one (it needs to be absolutely crystal free) and grab a small dish of ice cold water.  When you remove the lid, it’s time to start testing for temperature. 

Dip in the clean spoon, and drop a little bit into the cold water. 

When it’s ready, you should just be able to scrape it together into a blob and pick it up.  It won’t really hold any kind of shape. 

When you get to that point, carefully pour the very hot liquid into your prepared pan. 

As it sits, the butter will melt, so just walk away and allow it to cool for a while. 

This is probably a good time to start on the cookies, so preheat your oven to 350°.  Go ahead and pull out one of your logs of dough.  Place half of it onto a generously floured surface.  (I find it easier to work with half at a time.)

Sprinkle the dough with flour and roll it to about ½ inch thick. 

A 2 – 2.5 inch cutter works best for these. 

Pat off any excess flour from the top and bottom, then place them onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  They will spread slightly, so leave an inch or so between them. 

Bake the cookies for 10 – 11 minutes.  They will be nicely domed and dry on top, but no signs of browning. 

Immediately move them, parchment and all, to a cooling rack. 

Now back to the frosting.  If you’ve made fudge, this process will be very familiar to you.  First, just do a quick check to make sure it hasn’t crystallized.  Sticky/syrupy is what we’re shooting for.  Perfect. 

For what will end up a nice pastel pink, add 1 Tablespoon of your homemade food coloring.  Also, add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla.

You’ll need a sturdy utensil for this part.  I like a wooden spatula.  Basically just start stirring.  Scrape the edges toward the center and just kind of gently move it around until the butter, color, and vanilla are incorporated. 

I know exactly what you’re thinking right now.  “Taneasha, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but that is NOT pastel pink.”  And you’re right, but trust me, it will be.  Just keep stirring.  Slowly, it will start to become slightly opaque.  But still very syrupy, so keep stirring. 

A bit more opaque.

Even more opaque, but still quite runny. 

And finally, a mixture that is opaque, no longer shiny, and still soft, but will hold its shape.  Now, there are a lot of factors that come into play in determining how long this process will take, so I can’t really tell you that.  It might take 15 minutes, or it might be closer to an hour.  Just know that once you see it becoming opaque, it will eventually happen. 

Spread it as thick or thin as you like.  The ones  you see in the store have just about as much frosting as cookie, so that’s what I did. 

And speaking of the ones in the store, they are loaded with all kinds of preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, and who knows what else, and they’ve got nothin’ on these.  Not to pat myself on the back too much, but as first attempts go, this one was a homerun.  Just look at the amazing soft interior of these cookies. 

How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?  Do you just use it as an excuse for sweets like I do?  Or do you go all out with chocolates, roses, and dinner at a fancy restaurant?   

It's Our Birthday Today, and We're This Many!

That’s right, we’re turning 2 today!  Can you believe it?  And of course with birthdays, come cakes!  As you know, here at Author’s Kitchen, we rarely follow tradition, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I decided to steer clear of the usual layer cake covered in frosting.  Instead, I opted for pineapple upside down cake, and even better, for little individual cakes.  Well, you know, two year olds aren’t very good at sharing. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 Tablespoons butter
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon molasses
• 6 pineapple slices
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple)
• ⅔ cup buttermilk

The first thing you want to do is butter the sides of your baking dishes.  For this I used 14 ounce ramekins.  That’s what I have, and it was a good size for the pineapple slices.  Use whatever size you have, or even put it all into one 9x13 pan.  Just keep in mind that you might need to adjust the baking time slightly. 

In a pan over medium-low heat, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter. When it’s about melted go ahead and add the sugar and molasses.  (If you don’t have molasses, but do have brown sugar, go ahead and substitute brown sugar for the sugar and molasses.  I just don’t keep brown sugar on hand because I always end up with a useless brown brick.)

Stir until everything comes together, then remove it from the heat. 

Scoop out a level tablespoon. 

And drop two of those into each dish. 

Tap it down, spreading it to the edges of the dish.  Place a slice a pineapple right on top and repeat until you’ve done all 6 ramekins. 

Now onto the cake part.  First, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350°.  (After 2 years, we’re finally starting to get the hang of the preheating thing.)  Place your softened butter into your mixing bowl.  (If you forgot to get all of your ingredients to room temperature, see how to do it quickly here.)  Give it a quick stir just to make sure it’s nice and soft. 

Add the sugar and beat those together for about 2 minutes. 

Scrape everything down and add the vanilla. 

Once that’s mixed in, add the first egg. 

Wait until that one is completely incorporated before adding the next one. 

Once all three of them are in, it should look something like this. 

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, soda, powder, and salt. 

Add about ⅓ of the dry mixture to the bowl. 

Stir that in and add half of the wet mixture.  I did tell you to mix the buttermilk and pineapple juice together in a measuring cup, right?  No?  Well, go ahead and do it now, then pour half of it into the mixing bowl. 

Continue alternating with the remaining dry, then wet, then dry, until you have a gorgeous cake batter. 

Scoop ⅔ cup of the batter into each ramekin, and place them all onto a sheet pan.   

Level them out on top, then into the oven for 35 – 40 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean, and they should be a beautiful golden brown on top.

Allow the cakes to cool for 7 minutes.  Yes, I know 7 minutes sounds picky, but trust me.  Invert each cake onto a plate and behold the fabulousness it’s been hiding below.  Look at that sumptuous, caramel, pineapple, sticky, cakey goodness.  (Pardon me while I wipe the drool away.)  

Eat just as it is, or garnish with whipped cream or a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream.  Who says birthday cakes need frosting? 

These are a bit big to really be called individual servings, but whatever, it’s our birthday and we don’t want to share.