Baking Part Deux

Today at the Shostak household more baking, mess-making, taste-testing, and cleaning took place. Wonder what we made? I will tell you along with a few hints I have learned...

SOUR CREAM SUGAR COOKIES

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1) In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt until blended.

2) In a separate bowl mix butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Next add sour cream and beat until blended.

3) Gradually add flour mixture to sour cream mixture until well combined

4) Divide dough in half and then shape dough into 4 balls, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, until dough is firm enough to roll

5) On floured surface, roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters, saving trimmings to roll out again until all dough is used.

6) Bake at 325 for about 8 minutes. Cool completely and frost/decorate as desired.

*NOTE* 

I made a half batch of these, and I don't know if I measured something wrong (but I am pretty certain I did it right) but the dough ended up VERY sticky and hard to work with. I couldn't roll it out or use the cookie cutters at all, so I ended up shaping them into balls and made round cookies. They tasted good and were very moist, but I was a little disappointed I couldn't make the cute cookie cutter shapes.

FROSTING

16oz powdered sugar

1/3 cup warm water

3 tablespoons meringue powder

Food coloring as needed

1) Blend ingredients together until it is stiff enough to draw a knife through it and leave a clean-cut path

2) May need to add a little water to make it the right consistency for piping or spreading

*NOTE*
I LOVE THIS FROSTING! Not only does it taste good, but the meringue powder makes it stiffer and easy to use. I piped an outline and let it dry then added a little water, and frosted the middle to make it smoother.

*TIP*

Red is a hard color to make if you have liquid food coloring. (I got a darker pink) Try using gel or powder food coloring to get a deeper red.

ROSETTES

Let me say right off the bat, these take some time and are very delicate. You need a little patience and a few practice ones before you get the hang of it. You also need a deep fryer and a Rosette iron. Mine is a double headed iron, but I was only talented enough to use one at a time. This made 60 Rosettes, not including the ones I broke, burnt, or otherwise discarded.

2 eggs

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon lemon extract (can also use vanilla, almond, rum, or other favoring)

1) Add sugar to eggs, then add milk. 

2) Sift in flour with salt. Stir into egg mixture and beat until smooth and about the consistency of heavy cream.

3) Heat oil to 375

4) Dip iron into hot oil to heat the iron, shake off excess oil and dip iron into batter just to depth of the iron (not over top) 

5) Place back in oil and fry until bubbling stops or Rosette is a golden brown.

6) Carefully remove cooked Rosette from iron using fork.

7) Reheat iron as needed (must be hot!)

8) Repeat with remaining batter, cool, and dust with powdered sugar to finish

dip iron into batter, careful not to cover the top

frying...

finished product

Brandon also helped me with a few almond bark creations, dipping pretzels, nut clusters, and various other things. I didn't take a picture, but they are yummy! He also helped frost some cookies.