Tis The Season For Decoration

I love everything about the holiday season. I'm sure most of you do as well. When Christmas time rolls around I love to take part in as many Christmas related activities as possible, it only comes once a year after all. I love decorating the tree, putting up lights, listening to Christmas music, and of course, holiday baking. I am always the one in charge of the holiday themed treats in my household. Each year I have some traditional treats that I make every year, but I also like to make something new each year. After doing this for 13 years, it can be a bit of a challenge to find new holiday oriented desserts. I find that my best plan of attack to find a new treat is to look at the inspiration around me.

One such inspiration came from looking at my Christmas tree. I decided to make a treat that resembled it. I cam across a recipe for how to make Rice Krispies Treat Christmas trees. It was a huge hit at my holiday parties, so I wanted to share that recipe with you.

You begin your Christmas tree process with the original Rice Krispies Treat recipe found on their website here. In addition to this recipe you will want to add drops of green food coloring into the pot until the Rice Krispies turn the color green you want. Then instead of putting them in the conventional glass pan, shape them into tree-like figures. Take the tree figures and place each one on a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Then decorate them with little sprinkles to look like ornaments.

This is what the finished trees should look like:

Another great holiday treat is gingerbread cookies. I love decorating gingerbread cookies and you can find a great article about them on my website at  http://bakeeasyco2.webs.com/christmas-spirit-2

When decorating gingerbread men and houses, I love to turn to the internet to find interesting ways to use candy in decorations. Here are a few of my favorite gingerbread houses that I have gotten inspiration from.

1. http://onwardstate.com/2008/12/16/nittany-lion-inn-gingerbread-house/
2. http://www.toptenz.net/10-gingerbread-houses.php
3. http://weburbanist.com/2009/12/16/32-astounding-architectural-designs-of-gingerbread-houses/
4. http://crazyhorsesghost.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Build-A-Simple-But-Beautiful-Gingerbread-House
5. http://judyscakes.blogspot.com/2012/12/vote-for-my-gingerbread-house.html
6. http://www.selfishgiving.com/capplause/5-holiday-cause-promotions-top-christmas-list
7. http://sweetteasunshine.blogspot.com/2011/12/thursday-13-gingerbread-houses-galore.html
8. http://www.examiner.com/article/amazing-gingerbread-houses-you-have-to-see-to-believe
9. http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/over-the-top-gingerbread-houses
10. http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/crossculturaldesserts/ig/Gingerbread-House-Gallery/gingerbreadMOW.htm
11. http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/new/gb-picts/gbhouse-picts.htm
12. http://rollingout.com/photos/gingerbread-houses-castles-and-mansion-designs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gingerbread-houses-castles-and-mansion-designs
13. http://www.gingerbread-house-heaven.com/pictures-of-gingerbread-houses.html
14. http://www.grinningcheektocheek.com/awesome-gingerbread-houses

For more Christmas recipes, check out my website at http://bakeeasyco2.webs.com

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies For The Family

When it comes to Christmas there are many things I love. I love the music, putting up the tree, and exchanging presents; but the thing I love the most is having the family come together to decorate Christmas cookies. Every year my siblings and I bake way too many sugar cookies and spend hours with red and green frosting all over our hands trying to decorate them all. We always have such a blast when we do this and that is why it has become tradition in our household. It’s just a really great way to spend time together, especially since my brother got married last year and we don’t see him as often. So now he brings his wife with and we have even more fun.

So if you want to help bring your family together this Christmas, why not try decorating cookies?

Here’s the recipe we use for the cookies and frosting:

 

Cookies:

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

2 eggs

11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high spend until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs and vanilla mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating just until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

Generously flour a clean work surface. Gently roll chilled dough about ¼-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters, working quickly enough so the dough remains chilled. If the dough gets too soft, refrigerate on a lined baking sheet until firm again, about 30 minutes. Transfer cut cookies to un-greased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325° F. Bake the cookies until the bottoms are golden, about 12-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool.

Now it’s time to decorate!

Frosting:

Ingredients:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Food coloring

Directions:

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Separate your frosting in equal amounts into the same number of bowls for the same amount of colors you intend to have. For example, if you are planning to do 5 colors separate your frosting into 5 bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring into each bowl and mix until you get your desired colors.

 

Then use that frosting to decorate your cookies however you want and enjoy the time you spend with your family!

Non-traditional Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we all know that food is a major part of Thanksgiving. There’s the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, casserole, cranberries, and if your family is Italian like mine, pasta. But at the end of every good meal comes dessert. The go to dessert on Thanksgiving is, of course, pumpkin pie. Now you could go the traditional route for your pumpkin pie and follow the recipe on the back of the can of pumpkin, and there’s nothing wrong with that; but if you’re looking to spice up your Thanksgiving this year consider a pumpkin pie recipe that is a little different from the traditional.

This recipe is a twist on a classic pumpkin pie:

 Ingredients:

• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)

     Filling:

• 1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

     Topping:

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

In a bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla; mix well. Add egg; beat until smooth. Spread over bottom of pie shell. Chill 30 minutes. In a bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth. Carefully pour over the cream cheese layer. Cover edge of pie with foil. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 25 minutes longer. Meanwhile, mix flour, brown sugar and butter until crumbly; stir in pecans. Sprinkle over pie. Bake 10-15 minutes more or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.
 

Top 10 Cookbooks I Live By

As I have mentioned many times throughout my blog, baking is a science that requires precise measurements and really doesn't leave too much room for improvisation. It is because of this reason that recipes were invented. When it comes to recipes I almost always refer to the stack of cookbooks I have sitting on a self in my kitchen. There are 10 cookbooks in particular that I visit quite frequently. I strongly believe these books are essential to every household's kitchen. Here is a list of my top ten all time favorite cookbooks and if you click on the titles it will take you to where you can get them too.

1) The Can't Cook Book: Recipes for the Absolutely Terrified

This book is great for people who don't know how to cook or bake very well. I like this book because although I am pretty good at baking, I need a little help with cooking. But I think this will be very useful for you because it has great baking and great cooking recipes.

2) Baking with the Cake Boss

With this book you can learn to bake and decorate from the great Buddy Valastro, star of the TLC hit series Cake Boss.

3) Perfect Pies: The Best Sweet and Savory Recipes from America's Pie-Baking Champion

This book is great when trying to bake a pie. The recipes are absolutely delicious and there are some interesting pie recipes that you might not have ever heard of.

4) KitchenAid Recipe Collection

This book features more than 400 recipes from one of the most trusted names in cooking. It also includes great baking tips and takes you through how to create delicious food.

5) Baking with Julia 

This book includes recipes written by the beloved Julia Child. It allows her true spirit to live on with remarkable baking recipes. But what this book really does is continue to show Julia's love of teaching. 

6) Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

No kitchen is complete with out at least one cookbook by the famous Martha Stewart. This book has delicious recipes as well as baking tips that are sure to help you become the baker you want to be.

7) Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets

This book is full of fun and creative cookie ideas. Every cookie you could ever imagine you will find in this book.

8) The Bread Bible

The Bread Bible is full of great bread recipes and it also shows you the science behind bread baking. So if you love bread as much as I do, I highly recommend this book.  

9) Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

This cookbook is great if you are interested in the latest baking fades. It also features shortcuts that can make difficult baking tasks easier.

10) Betty Crocker's Big Red Cookbook

This is my all time favorite cookbook of all time. Whenever I'm looking for something to make this is the first place I look. I have not come across a recipe in this book that I thought was not delicious. If after reading this list you decide you can only buy one of these books, this is the book you should buy. It has over 1500 recipes for baking and cooking. The Big Red Cookbook is the one that my mom used and that I grew up with. They have come out with new editions and every one just gets better and better.

 

 

Eggs Don't Have To Be A Toss Up

You decide you want to make a delectable chocolate cake. You go to the pantry and get your flour, sugar, coco powder, baking powder, and vanilla. Then you head to your fridge to get eggs. But then you ask yourself "When was it exactly that I bought these eggs?". You know it wouldn't be a good idea to use old eggs in your cake. Old eggs would turn your cake from a delectable treat into a disgusting and perhaps food poison-inducing mess. To avoid all that, you should test if your eggs have gone bad or if they are still good to use.

There are three ways to test your eggs.

1. Floating Test:

  
Place the egg into a bowl of cold water. The water level should be about 2 times higher than the egg.

Observe what the egg does.

• Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom of the bowl and probably lie on their sides.
• Slightly older eggs (about one week) will lie on the bottom but bob slightly.
• If the egg balances on its smallest tip, with the large tip reaching for the top, it's probably close to three weeks old.
• Eggs that float at the surface are bad and should not be consumed.

      2. Sloshing Test

Hold the egg up to your ear. Shake the egg gently.

Listen for sloshing. 

• If you can hear a distinct sloshing sound, it's best not to consume the egg. If you can't hear anything, the egg is likely fine. 

      3. Cracking Test
   

Crack the egg on a flat surface, like a plate.

Observe the yolk and egg white.

• If the yolk is slightly globe-shaped and sitting high, and the egg white is gathered closely around it, then the egg is fresh.
• If the yolk is sitting a bit lower and the egg white is transparent, but still gathered close, then the egg is a bit older, but still safe to eat.
• If the yolk is flat and the egg white is runny (almost like water), then the egg is bad.

 

The Basics of Cake Decorating

When it comes to appetite, how something looks is very important. We are more likely to eat something that looks appealing rather than something that, well in simple terms, is ugly. It is because of this reason that cake decorating is such a big deal.

Cake decorating can be a ton of fun! So here are some easy tips and tricks for decorating your next cake.

The first thing to do before starting any cake is to make sure you have the proper tools needed.

Here are the 6 basic tools needed when doing any cake decorating project.

1. Sturdy serrated knife (far left) to cut cakes and ensure a clean cut.

2. Large and small offset spatulas (left). Their angled blades make precise frosting easy.
3. Basic teaspoon and table knife (top) can stand in for more specialized tools.
4. Canvas or disposable plastic pastry bag with couplers and tips in assorted sizes (middle) is a must-have for piping dots, lines, and swirls.
5. Rubber spatula (right) to stir batter.
6. Long, thin bamboo skewers (bottom) can be used to stabilize cake layers, if necessary.

If you do not have a pastry bag try using a freezer-weight ziplock plastic bag in place of a traditional pastry bag. Cut a small hole in one of the bag's bottom corners, then fit with a coupler and tip, fill halfway with icing, and seal.

 

Teaspoon Finish on Cake Frosting

Move a teaspoon through the icing to create S-shape swirls.
If you make a mistake, simply smooth the frosting out and start over again.

Colored Sugar Cakes

To create the shimmering flower design, sprinkle colored sanding sugar evenly over a ready-made stencil with a small spoon. Refrigerate the cake beforehand so the stencil pulls cleanly away from the frosting.

Polka Dot Cake

For neatly piped dots, hold the pastry bag in both hands; keep the tip just above the cake's surface, at a slight angle. Gently squeeze out icing, release, and pull back. Frosting dots will also help to hide smudged edges or spotty icing; start with the large ones.

Pre-colored Fondant Shapes

Make cupcake toppers in minutes with pre-colored fondant. Roll into thin sheets on parchment paper; create shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Seal leftovers tightly in plastic wrap, as fondant dries out quickly when exposed to air. 

These are just a limited few of the thousands of decorating ideas out there. To explore more easy ideas I invite you to check this out. Click Here!

If you have previous experience with cake decorating you should check out this book. It has all the latest cake design ideas. Click Here!

Don't get me wrong, cake is delicious on its own but adding that extra decoration is what makes it really appealing to the people going to eat it. So try out these tips, I guarantee you will not be disappointed with the outcome.

Sneeze Page

Today we're going to take a step back and look at the past. I have been posting for a little while now and this post is meant to help all the new readers get an idea of what my posts are about.

My very first post was an About Me post. I give some information in there about how I originally began baking and a little bit about my background in the area. So if you want to get to know me a little better visit this blog post.

My second post was called Cooking vs Baking: Estimation Doesn't Work. In this post I talked about the importance of exact measurements. I also discuss how baking is a science and you must follow precise steps to get the outcome you want. To read this post go here.

In another post called The Dos and Dough-nts of Mixing I talked about the importance of proper mixing. I discus why following the time on the recipe for mixing is important and why certain baked goods won't come out right if they're not mixed properly. Read this here.

One of my favorite posts is called 5 Easy (No) Baking Recipes. In this post I give the recipes for my 5 favorite deserts that require absolutely no baking. Get those here.

Another post of mine was called Frightening Dessert Ideas for Halloween. I love Halloween and since it is October I highly recommend you check out this post.

 The last post I want to talk a little about is called 3 More (No) Baking Recipes. This post was a followup post to the first 5 no bake recipes I gave. This post, however, talks about using the microwave to bake things. It's really neat concept and if you want to read about it go here.

And remember, you can always check out my website at http://bakeeasyco2.webs.com/

The BakeEasy Company Website

Today I will be talking about my own website and sharing some inside information about it with all of you.

The name of my company is The BakeEasy Company. It was designed to help amateur bakers reach their full potential when it comes to baking, much like this blog does.

Content wise I talk all about baking. Many of the subjects I cover on my website are things I have talked about briefly on here, but on the website they are more in depth. An example of this is my article about measurement. I used part of that article in my blog post and I expanded on it on the website. I only have three articles currently on my website so there are still a lot of baking topics to be covered. I write my articles in a half formal/ half informal way. By this I mean that I refer to different examples from my personal life, but I don't really write in a conversational fashion, like what I do on here. My posts are geared toward amateur bakers, just like my blog is.

As far as reader engagement goes, I try to post articles that the reader will find interesting and learn something from. I haven't received any feedback yet, but if/when I do I will be sure to cover more of the types of topics they want to learn about.

The design of my website is meant to be fun. I used bright colors, again like my blog, because baking should be a fun and light-hearted topic. I think I have expressed the fun aspect well, but I could add some more color to the pages.

Check out my website at http://bakeeasyco2.webs.com/

3 More (No) Baking Recipes: A Followup To My Bakers

After writing my blog about 5 no bake recipes, I became re-inspired to attempt some more no bake recipes. (Part of this inspiration could also have come from the fact that my oven was broken.) But through my journey of no bake recipes, I discovered the magic of the microwave. No longer is the microwave strictly for reheating pizza from the night before, it can actually be used for baking believe it or not.

So here are my top 3 microwave recipes:

1. Apple Cinnamon Cake in a Mug

 Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons plain or vanilla greek yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
generous dashes of cinnamon
1 egg
drizzle of vanilla
roughly 2 tablespoons diced apple

Instructions:

1.  Grease the inside of the mug and then chop half of an apple into very small pieces.
2. Put all the dry ingredients in your mug and mix them up.
3. Add the egg and stir until egg is completely mixed.
4. Add the Greek yogurt and vanilla and stir well.
5. Add the apple pieces and stir extremely well, making sure they are completely distributed throughout the batter.
6.  Put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Check it; if it seems like it needs a bit more time, then try it in intervals of 15 seconds. Mine needed about 2 minutes and 30 seconds total, but your microwave may vary.

When it's done it will look like this.

 

2. Chocolate Mug Brownie

  Ingredients: 

2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Instructions:

         1. In a 12 oz coffee mug, add water, butter, vanilla and dash of salt. Whisk well.

         2. Add cocoa powder, whisk well. Add sugar, whisk well. Add flour, whisk well.
         3. Microwave for 60-90 seconds. Center should be slightly molten. Careful not to overcook.

This is what your brownie will look like.

3.Chocolate Chip Mug Cookie

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt
1 egg yolk
3 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

          1. Melt butter in microwave. 

          2. Add sugars, vanilla, salt, egg yolk and stir. 

          3. Add flour, mix well until fully combined. 

          4. Stir in chocolate chips. 

          5. Microwave for 30-50 seconds.

Here is what your cookie will look like.

Here is the link to my post of 5 no bake recipes:  http://bakeeasyco.blogspot.com/2013/10/5-easy-no-baking-recipes.html

Enjoy!!

Frightening Dessert Ideas For Halloween

Well all know Halloween is approaching, and with that comes the mass of Halloween parties. I'll share a few of my favorite Halloween desserts and decorating tips to make your desserts boo-tiful and the talk of the party.

A great Halloween cookie that I love to make are Cobweb cookies. I actually found them on the Betty Crocker website and made them last year at a Halloween party I hosted. The were a big hit among the guests.

I followed the recipe, but I added my own little decoration to them. I used some black decorating gel and made little spiders on the cookies to add an extra Halloween effect.

For the recipe visit http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/cobweb-cookies/6bfa619a-4763-4c47-b04f-f5aeee476319

Another dessert I like to make are skeleton cupcakes. These cupcakes are very easy to make and look pretty ghoulish.

All you need:

• Batch of chocolate cupcakes
• White frosting
• 2 toothpicks
• Tube of black decorator's icing

How to make them:

1. Frost the cupcakes.
2. For each cupcake, use the tip of a toothpick to lightly etch the outline of two large eyes in the frosting.
3. Slowly pipe black decorator's icing onto the etched lines and then fill in the inner circles. Use another toothpick to spread and smooth the icing.
4. Pipe on two short lines for a nose. Next, pipe a long line across the bottom of the cupcake for the mouth. For the finishing spooky touch, randomly top the mouth with a bunch of short icing barbs.

A great recipe for chocolate cupcakes can be found on this blog. 
For white frosting use the recipe found on this blog.

Pumpkin is my favorite flavor of the fall and of course, no Halloween party is complete without something pumpkin! My all-time favorite Halloween recipe is Pumpkin Ice-Cream Pie.

For this recipe visit the Spoonful blog at http://spoonful.com/recipes/pumpkin-ice-cream-pie

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!