Category Archives: Baking
Cookie Swap for a Cause
I’ve always wanted to participate in a cookie swap, but my friends always seem a bit overwhelmed and busy during the holiday season, so I never make the move to organize one. This year, I learned about a different sort of cookie swap, so I signed up.
The Boston Food Swap organized a Cookie Swap for a Cause which was held yesterday. Each baker brought at least four dozen cookies. Glad (who also provided the containers) donated $1 per cookie swapped. Over $4000 was raised to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
Five long tables were set up and filled with thousands of homemade cookies. I was amazed at the variety. There was little, if any, duplication. I swear you could see the sugar in the air! People hung around and mingled. There were some activities and vendors to check out. Mostly everyone was waiting for swap time.
When the swapping started, everyone got two Gladware containers to fill with one or two of each cookie that looked appealing, as long as they lasted. I brought home samples of a few dozen different cookies. Howard will probably end up bringing them to work as there are too many for just us to eat, but they all look delicious! It was fun!
Now I want to try out one of the Boston Food Swap’s monthly events.
I brought Cranberry Noëls, an icebox cookie with flecks of red and green. Red from dried cranberries and green from pistachios. I love making icebox cookies for so many reasons. The main ones: the dough is easy to make, and you can store extra logs in the freezer for homemade slice-and-bake cookies anytime.
Cranberry Noëls
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
¾ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped pistachios
¼ tsp finely grated orange zest
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add milk and vanilla, and mix until just combined. In another bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cranberries, pistachios, and orange zest until fruit and nuts are well-distributed. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture (I use a ½ cup measuing cup). Continue mixing until fully incorporated.
Turn dough onto a work surface and divide in half. Shape each half into a log about 2 inches in diameter and 8 inches long. Wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment. Use a sharp knife to cut logs into ¼-inch slices. Place on baking sheets, about 1½ inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, rearranging pans halfway through, about 15-18 minutes totoal.
Remove from oven. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Makes 4 dozen (you can make rolls skinnier and longer for more, smaller, cookies)
These are my cookies. Excuse the blurry photo my iPhone took.
P.S. If you are a local friend of mine and would be up for a traditional cookie swap in 2013, let me know. If there are enough of us, I’ll organize something for next year.
tuesdays with dorie / baking with julia: gingerbread baby cakes
I’m definitely more of a cook than a baker. Exercising and expanding my baking horizons is one of the reasons I’m participating in the latest incarnation of Tuesdays with Dorie. This week’s recipe for Gingerbread Baby Cakes comes from Johanne Killeen. Who can resist a simple everyday cake like this one, especially when it comes in a seemingly personal size as these 4-inch darlings do?
I have admired Johanne Killeen and her husband George Germon for years. My first introduction to them was in the early 1990’s. They had just published their book Cucina Simpatica. They were sitting at a tiny folding table outside an equally tiny cookbook shop in Porter Square, Cambridge, offering samples of food, bruschetta, I think, and signing their book. Years later, I had a wonderful meal at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island. They also ran a restaurant in Boston for a few years where I had lunch. Many years after that initial introduction, I finally bought their book and have enjoyed an assortment of their recipes in the comfort of my own home.
Because I had no occasion to serve dessert to 8 this week, I decided to make a half batch. When I was setting up to bake, I discovered that I owned only 2 4-inch (springform) pans, not the four I thought I had, so I ended up making a very small batch of just two little cakes (one quarter of the recipe).
I like that this recipe uses typical pantry items that I always have on hand. One deterrent to spontaneous cake is that cake recipes often call for milk, not a usual item in my fridge. This is a milkless cake, making it even more perfect to have in my arsenal of quick sweets to whip up on a whim.
I used my stand mixer. With such a small quantity of batter, I had to beat things a bit longer to combine everything thoroughly, but overall it was super easy. Butter and brown sugar are creamed together. Then the egg is added. Freshly grated ginger and molasses smooth out the batter. Finally, the dry ingredients, including a hefty dose of ground ginger and freshly ground pepper are folded in.
My cakes were still visibly wobbly in the middle after 25 minutes, but after thirty, they seemed springy and slightly cracked. I treated myself to a late-night dessert of warm gingerbread sprinkled with powdered sugar. The cake was slightly too moist in the very center, so next time I would let the cakes bake for a just few more minutes.
The baby gingerbreads really hit the spot. The warm temperature combined with the warm and spicy flavors were delicious and perfect for the colder season. The cakes also get high marks for their cuteness factor. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for some more tiny cake pans to add to my inventory so I can make a larger batch to share.
For the recipe, visit this week’s TWD host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. The recipe can also be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book, written with Julia Child, Baking with Julia.
To read about other bakers’ baby cakes, follow their links here.
A Plateful of Happiness 