Where I’ve Been

This blog has been inactive for an embarassingly long time. Partly, this is due to the nature of the theme — after 30 days, what else was I gonna do? Also, I’ve been working on other writing projects, and would like to share my most recent one with my 30 Cakes readers (if any of you are still around, that is!).

I am priviledged to be a part of the dinnercraft.com team, and I think it’s a great site with lots of varied, interesting articles. It’s growing all the time, so keep it bookmarked!

I’m sorry to say that I haven’t done much baking in recent months, but this blog is always at the back of my mind and I hope to try new recipes soon. Don’t give up hope! In the meantime, there are some awesome recipes at dinnercraft, so enjoy!

Cookie-cutter Cookies: some Christmas baking!

I got this recipe from a friend; thanks, Cab!

The Recipe

1 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

3 cups flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400F/200C.

2. Cream butter and sugar.

3. Beat in egg and vanilla.

4. Add baking powder and flour, one cup at a time. Mix well.

5. Do not chill. Roll out to 1/8″ thick and cut out.

6. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until brown around the edges.

My Alterations

This was a new recipe for me, and since it was so simple anyway, I followed it pretty much exactly. The fact that I didn’t have to chill the dough made me very excited to try it!

Oh, one alteration I did make was to add some food colouring to the dough for my kids. I broke the dough into fourths, and coloured one part red and one part green. That changed the consistency of the dough a bit, but the kids enjoyed themselves. My daughter still has red food colouring on her hands, though, which looks a bit gruesome!

The Result

I love this recipe so much. It’s easy to throw together, and the dough rolls out beautifully. It isn’t sticky, which is a problem I have with other sugar cookie recipes, and I didn’t have to add any extra flour at all. I rolled the dough out on large chopping boards without having to add any extra flour to the board, either.

The cookies kept their shape when baking and weren’t brittle. My kids didn’t break any of them when decorating; a definite point in their favour! They have a great taste, as well.

The Verdict

I love this recipe! I don’t normally like baking cookies, because even though the end product is delicious, it takes a really long time to bake all the dough. This was so much fun, though! The dough was so easy to work with, and I think that made all the difference.

I baked and decorated several cookies to give as gifts to our family friends, and I’ve already received feedback about how good they taste. The cookies are soft, but not too chewy, and don’t just taste sugary. I can’t recommend this recipe enough!

The Rating

Definitely, definitely 5/5. I’m baking some more cookies right now, actually!

The Tools.

I am not a professional chef. I never took any home economics classes at school, I was never trained to do anything in the kitchen. I learned to bake through trial and error, as a kid with my mom’s help, and as an adult in my own kitchen with new and old equipment. I’ve gone through many cookbooks, trying to make sense of their terminology and fancy ingredients, and I have tossed those books aside more than once.

I’m a ‘make do’ sort of cook. If I really want to make a certain cake and I am missing one of the ingredients, I will find a substitute and carry on. For instance, did you know that you can reduce the sugar in most cakes by up to half, and not even notice the difference? This knowledge comes from the time that I ran out of sugar and carried on baking, with my fingers crossed behind my back.

I don’t have a lot of fancy equipment. I don’t have the space for it in my small kitchen, and besides, my small children would probably ruin it in the end anyway. I have sturdy bowls and spoons, battered old tins and cake pans that have stood the test of time and still work just fine. Let me introduce you.

These measuring cups and spoons are my real luxury. They are amazing! I love ‘em. They have all the measurements I would need, so I don’t have to do any counting. Just scoop and dump. The largest measuring cup is a 2 Cup size, and the smallest measuring spoon goes down to “smidgen.” They are fun to use, and very practical, because they also show measurements in mls.

These are my lovely wooden spoons and my best ever mixing bowl. They make me feel like an old-fashioned, domestically-inclined housewife, rather than the “mix it up and bung it in the oven” type of baker I really am.

My pots and pans and other stuff. None of them are new, and it shows. Everything is clean, it’s just a tad worn and some of the non-stick coating has come off. I should probably buy new pans, but I never get around to it. The plastic jug in the back is perfect for beating eggs in, or melting butter in the microwave. It also has all the liquid measurements on the side so it’s useful for many things.

Last but not least, a couple of spatulas. Perfect for spreading icing and scraping the last of the batter out of the bowl.

In general, these are the items I use for baking, and not much else. If I use anything extra, or end up buying something new, I’ll be sure to add it to the list.

I’d like to think that most kitchens are stocked with the basics for baking and not much by way of fancy gadgets or specialty cake tins. You can still bake lovely cakes and have them look pretty, too, even with basic ingredients and simple square or round pans.