Obsessed with cookies

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Exciting news!

I got so much into making cookies, that I started thinking I might have to sell them, as we really cannot eat as many as I am making, and would love to share them with others! So, Askanam opened an Etsy store (click here for link) , where you can order your custom cookies! I feel so much more motivated when I have a precise goal and theme for my cookie baking, so I am very excited about this. Already have a few orders! 

Here are some of the cookies I made lately, grey and pink, girl themed cookies for baby Brielle

 The man in the moon and star are my favorite cookies from this set. 

My first cookies

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I was always curious about making this type of "American" decorated cookie, and with Halloween around the corner it seemed like the time for it. Bought so many cookie cutters since we moved here, but so far only used them for anything else but cookies. This is why you will see so many different types of cookies, I wanted to try as many as I could :)
I admit I do not really like cookies, but I adore decorating them, so for sure will keep making those, until maybe I find a recipe I like to eat as well, rather than just play with :) and in the meantime I will stick to eating cake.

So happy to be able to play with my big collection of food coloring too. Felt like a kid in kindergarten today. So much fun! I even forgot to eat today, as I was so much into making and decorating these cookies.

The recipe I used is adapted from Martha Stewart's website. These are simple sugar cookies, frosted with royal icing tinted in various colors. 

Cookie recipe

Ingredients  for 24 medium sized cookies:

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoon Grand Marnier ( Martha said brandy but I had Grand Marnier, so I used that; you can also skip this if you are making the cookies for kids)

1 pinch baking powder

1 pinch salt

2 cups all purpose flour

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar for about 30 seconds, just until well combined.

Add the egg, vanilla and liqueur and mix.

Sift over the flour, salt and baking powder, and mix everything just until combined. Don't over work the dough, as the cookies will turn out hard.

Form dough into a disc, wrap well in plastic and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C)

When the dough is chilled, take it out, and with a rolling pin roll it to about 1/8 of an inch thickness.

Use you desired cookie cutters and place the cut cookies on a baking sheet lined with un-greased parchment paper. Chill the cut cookies for 10 minutes in the fridge on the baking sheet. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies turn light golden on edges. 

Cool cookies on a cooling rack. Handle with care for the cookies not to break. Use an offset spatula to move them from the baking sheet on the cooling rack.

You can start decorating them with royal icing once they reach room temperature. 

Royal icing

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)

Gel food coloring if desired

Method:

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, but  not until it looks grainy. They should look glossy and smooth.

Add lemon juice and sift over the sugar. Add only 3 1/2 cups, and keep 1/2 cups to adjust the consistency later. Beat everything well until smooth. 

This icing can be kept in a covered non reactive container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

 The right consistency:

the most important part when decorating cookies, is to have a perfect consistency of the icing. Easiest way to check is to have your icing in a bowl, trace a line with a knife/toothpick on the surface, but quite deep, and the icing should return flat, covering the trace, in 10 seconds. If it is too thick you can put some lemon juice and thin it out. If it is too runny add more sugar and beat, then test again. 

Divide the icing in separate bowls, one for each color you want to decorate with. 

Add 2-3 drops of food coloring, mix, and adjust until you get the desired shade.

I used plastic piping bags, and a number 2 piping tip. 

Unleash your creativity and have fun! 

If you want more details about how I decorated my cookies, please ask in the comments bellow, I will be happy to explain.

Happy Halloween!

Photos taken with Instagram; sorry for the bad quality, it is 2:35 AM, so this is all I could do :)

Ema's brownie ... or blondie?

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This cake I was introduced to earlier in the summer, while visiting my hubby's cousin, Ema. I like to think of her as my cousin too now. I love her, she is an awesome person. Everybody in the family was excited for her barbecue party, but not as much for the barbecue itself but more about this scrumptious cake she makes. And you can imagine I got very excited about this, all our cousins were raving about it, and as soon as we got there we dug in, before having any actual food, even some of us breaking all strict diets and all, and ate half of the cake in a heartbeat. Then we ate an array or various grilled meats, sides and salads, all delicious, and yes, we finished everything with the other half of the cake. It was an awesome evening! 

And of course I asked her for the recipe and the permission to share it here on Askanam. She is a total sweetheart, and agreed. 
Back home we call this type of cake a brownie, although it has nothing much in common with the American brownie. My Mom also makes this type of cake, but Ema had changed and improved the recipe over the years, as she has been making this since her school years, and the results are great to say the least. Well I must say I added my own touch to it, errrr, just by doubling the quantity of chocolate sauce, haha. Because well, you can never have to much chocolate, right?

Ingredients for a 9x13 inch pan, around 40 servings (yes, portion size is very small, as the cake is very rich, but of course, you eat as many as you want or can... that means a lot more than 1 for us): 

For the cake:
7 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
7 tablespoons vegetable oil (sunflower, canola or corn)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional, works just as fine without)
1 small pinch of salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla bean paste or extract

For the frosting:
6 egg whites
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar (optional)
2 tablespoon corn starch  (optional)

For the sauce:
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 stick of butter, softened preferably 
1 cup of milk
2/3 cup good quality cocoa powder 
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

First, make the cake.
Prepare a 9x13 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).
Separate the egg whites from yolks, putting the whites in the clean bowl of your mixer, fitted with the whip attachment, and the yolks in the bowl of a small food processor, blender or just a medium bowl.
Start beating the egg whites on lowest speed for 20-30 seconds. Increase the speed to high, and beat for 1-2 minutes until soft peaks. Add a pinch of salt. With the mixer still on high speed add the sugar gradually, and beat until stiff glossy peaks form, another 2 minutes or so. This times are for a KitchenAid stand mixer, it might take a little longer time if you use a hand held mixer, that is not as powerful. 
Blend/process or beat with a fork or whisk the egg yolks and vegetable oil very well, until thick and lighter in color. Mix in the vanilla.
Add the egg yolk mixture over the egg whites (meringue) and mix/fold in gently with a wooden spoon.
Sift on top of it the flour and baking powder, and fold in gently just until incorporated. Do not over mix. 

Pour the batter in the pan, level with an offset spatula, and bake for 23 minutes, on the middle rack. Check after 20 minutes, by gently pressing with the finger on top. If the cake springs back it is done, so you can take it out of the oven. Don't over bake the cake, as it will dry out, and you will place it again in the oven later. It is better to be under baked actually. But not as much as it to deflate when you take it out. Keep a close watch on it, and take it out as soon as it sets. 
After the cake is done,take it out on a heat proof surface, and let the oven on, increasing the temperature to 380 degrees F. 

While the cake bakes, make the topping.
Wash and dry the mixer bowl and whip. Repeat the same process with the egg whites as you did for the cake. When the meringue is stiff and glossy sift over the corn starch, add the vinegar and gently mix.
Pour the meringue over the cake, level it well with an offset spatula, return pan to oven and bake at 380 F for 15 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp. You can put the meringue on the hot, just out of the oven cake. 

Let the cake cool down completely on a rack, in the pan. When cool using a sharp knife cut it in small, 1 inch squares. 

Make the chocolate sauce.
In a sauce pan mix well together the cocoa powder and sugar, so there are no cocoa lumps. Add the milk and butter, mix, and place on medium heat, mixing constantly. Get to a boil, and let it cook for 1 minute.
In a medium bowl beat the egg yolks with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. When the cocoa has boiled, take it off heat. Add one tablespoon of the hot mixture and add it to the yolks, mixing very well. Do this for several times, increasing to 2,3, 4 tablespoons of hot mixture you add every time, mixing well after each addition. This is in order to temper the eggs, so you don't get scrambled eggs.  When the bowl is almost fool, return it's contents to the rest of cocoa mixture in the sauce pan, and mix well everything. The sauce should be glossy, thicker and delicious. Add the vanilla and  mix. 

With a spoon, pour hot chocolate sauce on each cold cake square. Or just pour it over, but slowly. The cake should be "swimming" in chocolate sauce. It is best to make the cake few hours in advance, so it has time to soak up the sauce. It keeps well for 2-3 days, in a cool dry place. I keep it in the oven after it cools. 

Now stop thinking about calories, and eat!

Thank you, Ema!