April 2015 Wrap Up

This month I had several sets of sugar cookies for decorating, but only one big cake! I took the opportunity to use up my flour and butter in lots of homestyle baked goods instead, and I think Roy and the kids were pretty excited about all the new things they got to taste!

Breads & Muffins

I was hosting a couple of friends for a morning Mommy get together and decided to bake something with the delicious grapefruits that Lindsey so generously shares with us from her tree. I had time to make a recipe for grapefruit buttermilk muffins and a recipe for grapefruit poppyseed scones. I added a grapefruit glaze (a little grapefruit juice and pulp and powdered sugar) to the scones and am so glad I did because it really elevated the grapefruit flavor. The texture of the muffins was incredible, and I will definitely try the method of beating the egg whites before folding them into the muffin batter again. I did find the muffins a bit sweet, even after cutting the sugar to 3/4 of a cup, but the crunchy sugar layer on top is not something I’d omit, so I might reduce the sugar in the batter to 1/2 cup next time. Leighton even commented that they were more like a ‘naked cupcake’ than a muffin.

After shopping for all the ingredients for dinner, I realized I had forgotten to get a loaf of French bread or a baguette. Instead of making another trip to the store, I decided to try to make my own. I had made some in my baguette pan a few years ago but hadn’t tried again in a long time. I found this recipe for the 4 hour baguette on Pinterest and decided to try it out. I was very impressed with the taste and texture, and I can’t wait to make it again. I will cut the salt to 1.5 or 2 tsp next time though, as 3 tsp of the Kosher salt I have was a bit too much.

Brownies & Bars

Roy was hosting a potential new employee in his lab and asked if I could make some baked goodies for everyone to snack on during her lab meeting. It was an afternoon meeting, so I decided on brownies and blondies instead of muffins and scones. I made two new recipes and two that are tried and true in case the experimental ones weren’t very good! The two new ones were this recipe for German Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars and this recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies from Sally’s Baking Addiction (but I left out the white chocolate chips). And for the old favorites, I made the delicious Thin Mint Blondies again (I love the way these smell!) and my always favorite recipe for brownies. Roy and I both thought the snickerdoodle blondies were delicious and really liked the texture. We both thought the chocolate chip layer of the German Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars wasn’t quite right, but everyone in his lab raved about them, so what do we know?!?!

Cakes & Cupcakes

It was fun working on Charlie’s LEGO Chima cake, and I created this collection with more detailed photos and inspiration links. We were invited to friends for a BBQ on Easter weekend, and I wanted to take a new spring dessert. I decided on this recipe for carrot cake cheesecake after getting a great review from a friend. It was easy to put together and tasted amazing. The pecans on the top were a perfect addition for taste and not just presentation, so I was very glad I didn’t omit them. Unfortunately our friends had to cancel the BBQ when their daughter spiked a fever, but I did drop off some of the cake for them and also for other friends, as well. We didn’t need the whole cake just for us!

Cookies

I worked on several different sets of sugar cookies this month. First were some Easter cookies. I wanted to try some different cookies than I did last year, so I came up with this pastel collection. Next was a collection of sugar cookies I did for my friend Erin that I highlighted here. It included bright ribbon roses on a background of black and white circles, squares, hearts, crosses, dresses, and handbags & heels. Next I worked on some dog cookies for Melissa and Lucy. I got the inspiration for slightly changing the shape of the dog when piping from Karen’s Cookies Blog. I was so glad I stumbled across her photos because I didn’t love the shape when working straight from the suggested decorating idea from Wilton. I had wanted to bake something for Lindsey for her birthday, so I decided on some beautiful zinnia cookies (thanks to Erin for finding the inspiration photo and tutorial for me last month!). I tried both the looped and solid petals and still haven’t decided which I prefer, but I am leaning toward the looped the more I look at the pictures! It took a few tries to get the consistency right, and I found I needed it much stiffer than the 15-20 second icing recommended. I know that Lindsey loves coral, so I mixed some soft pink and egg yellow and orange together to create the dark shade of coral. For the light pink, I used a tiny bit of super red, and for the middle shade, I mixed my other two together. I used some petal dust on them as well, but I can’t tell you the exact shade since I bought it a while ago and the Wilton containers aren’t labeled, so once you take them out of the package, you need to label with a marker yourself and I forgot! I am pretty sure it was deep pink color dust though. It worked well with the light pink and the medium coral, but it was the wrong shade for the darker coral. To go with the flowers, I made a few mini green leaf cookies, as well.

Decorations & Toppers

I made my first ever ribbon roses this month. I am hoping to try them in different colors for another project soon!

Scones & Biscuits

I had been wishing for to make a recipe for cheddar biscuits for a while, and took the opportunity when we needed a carb to accompany our dinner the other night. Leighton was disappointed I wasn’t making his favorite sweet potato biscuits, so I decided to cut these as squares for something new and exciting. I read the note that some people found these too salty, and knowing we often find our kosher salt too salty as well, I cut it down to 1 tsp. But I also used my salted butter. I think 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or none at all, would be what I use next time. And I will definitely make these again because they made the perfect little sandwich and Panini buns the following day!