Cookie disaster prevention

This is a special post for LeeAnn who had some trouble making my googly eyed cookies. So sorry about the disaster LeeAnn. I hope you had a nice glass of wine afterwards.

Here is my cookie disaster prevention plan for you:

First the sugar cookie dough
This is the recipe I have been using for years and yes it's in metrics. After 8 years in the US I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around using other units.
- 500g butter
- 500g sugar
- 5g salt
- 4 eggs
- 10 g of baking powder
Soften the butter and add the sugar, salt, and eggs - make sure all ingredients are thoroughly mixed
At this stage I usually add some vanilla extract and lemon extract but almond, orange, cinnamon.. or a combination of them work great too.
Sift the flour and mix in the baking powder
Add the flour rapidly avoid mixing the dough too long
Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling it
I usually prepare the dough the night before baking it: I measure the ingredients, little bug pours them in the mixing bowl  and we taste together and she knows we are baking the next day.

Using white chocolate/candy drops for baking
The trick is to bake at a lower temperature than you usually would (210C rather than 240C) and setting the baking sheets about 1/3 from the bottom of the oven. In my convection oven, baking takes about 7-8 minutes per sheet. Very important detail : ALWAYS PUT THE TIMER ON there is only a minute between perfect and caramelized and about another minute to carbonized.

About chocolate piping
Only melt half the chocolate you are going to be using, then add slowly the rest of the chocolate in small chunks. The chocolate should be cool not warm when piping.

If all else fails, back to a glass of wine!!  XOXOX

Googly eyes pumpkin cookies

Use pre-made sugar cookie dough or make your own.

Put in your mixer bowl and add to taste cinnamon and orange extract and a few drops of food coloring (red and yellow) to make the dough orange. I tend to go easy on the color but you can add more for a more intense color.

Chilling the dough will make rolling easier

Roll the dough about 1/4" thick

Time to enroll your favorite little helper

Use a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter

Use while candy melts or white chocolate melts for the eyes

She loved placing the candies for the eyes

You have to push them in the dough a little

Bake

We're almost there...

Time to pipe some chocolate to finish the faces

And her favorite part ...

They also make cute party favors

Update : 

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French toast with a twist

When the weather gets cooler, I like to make a good warm breakfast on Sunday mornings for the whole family. Sometimes I make crepes, sometimes eggs with sausages and hash brown and sometimes french toast. I have been experimenting various recipes and variations and this is the family's favorite. So let's head to my kitchen for the recipe of my... 

Apple perfect french toast

You will need
- 4 slices of bread
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- a dash of vanilla extract
- optional : ground  cinnamon

In a long and shallow dish mix the eggs and sugar thoroughly 

then add the milk and a dash of vanilla extract

Soak the bread slices in the mixture

With a slotted spatula transfer to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper

You really need the spatula otherwise the bread will break

Once all you slice are nicely soaked peel your apple 

and shred it with the largest grater possible

Spread the shredded apples on your bread

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F on the middle rack in your oven

The apple topping should be golden brown

Voila!

The apples add enough sweetness that you won't really need to add sirup

and just a bit of tanginess to make it more interesting

Hope you will try it - Even my picky eater loves it!

A summer treat : Peach upside down cake

I love sewing, painting and crafting. I love creating. And I love good foods. So of course I looove baking. So I figured for a change I would share a great summer recipe. We love going to a local farm on Sundays  where you can pick fresh fruit and veggies yourself. If you are in Maryland, check it out, it's called Larriland Farm. It's open from May to October and it's a great family outing. Last time we picked peaches. A LOT of peaches. 28 pounds of peaches.

I looked and looked for recipes with peaches and couldn't find something I really liked so I did some experimental baking. The first 2 didn't come out too great but now I have this down pat. And it's so easy!!

You will need:
- 2 pounds of fresh ripe peaches
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 1 dash of vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons of milk (I used 2%)
- a microwaveable bowl
- a 9" round baking pan - (I'm partial to my pink silicone Calphalon pan. They support the research for breast cancer cure)

Pre-heat your oven to 430F
In the microwaveable bowl, put the butter, then put it in the microwave just long enough so the butter is VERY soft but not melted

Add your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder) and mix
It should look like this

Add the eggs and stirr

Add the milk and vanilla
The batter should be about the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Don't worry about lumps.

While the batter is resting, peal and slice your peaches. Our peaches were pretty small so I did halves.
Important tip:
If the peaches are VERY juicy, add a tablespoon of cornstarch and mix with the fruit before putting them in the pan.
If the peaches are VERY firm, microwave them at high setting for about 6 minutes with 3 extra tablespoons of sugar.

Put the peaches at the bottom of the pan and pour the batter over. Tap the pan to even the batter and make it fill all the gaps between the fruit bits.

One trick with silicone pans: I put it on a tart pan so it's easer to maneuver

Time for baking:
In my convection oven it takes exactly 30 minutes. In a conventional oven you can add at least 5 minutes.

Isn't this pretty ??

And now comes the HARD part of all this.
YOU MUST WAIT. Yes with that yummy smell in you kitchen (and the whole house) you have to wait until the cake is almost completely cooled down (1 hour) to turn it over on a serving plate.

When the cake cools down it "shrinks" a little. If you do not wait you will have a sticky mess glued to your pan and the cake will be good but ugly.

If you wait it will looks like this:

Even yummier with some blueberries but I ran out. You can serve it like this or with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy !!