Writing On A Cake

My daughter Eleanor loves the band "Green Day" and for her 13th birthday requested a cake that looks like the band's "nimrod." album cover.

Eleanor showed me a picture of what she wanted and I was happy to oblige. All it required was a round cake, yellow icing and the word "nimrod." written across the center in black icing.

Writing on cakes used to stress me out. I often found that after I began, the word wasn't centered or sometimes there wasn't even enough room on the cake to finish a word.

Now it doesn't bother me one bit because of this simple trick — Use a skewer to first write on the cake and then trace it with your icing. If it's not what you want, you can easily smooth out the frosting and start again.

So take your time to get it right before you add your icing. It's a simple trick and makes writing on cakes nothing to stress over.

The inspiration for Eleanor's cake.

Bake a cake.

Add your icing.

Use a skewer to trace what you want to write. If you make a mistake, smooth out the icing and start again.

Trace your lettering with the black icing and breath a sigh of relief. That was easy!

Espresso Macarons

My niece Maya holding the essential ingredient — espresso powder.

These espresso macarons are my nephew Sam's favorite.

He requested them for his birthday this year but politely told me afterwards, "They were great but I think you could add even more coffee flavor."

I appreciate his honesty and tweaked the recipe adding a tablespoon of espresso powder to the macaron cookie. I also added an additional teaspoon of espresso powder to the filling.

Sam, these macarons are just for you. I hope you like them.

Espresso Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon espresso powder.

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and espresso powder and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands or twist ties to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Espresso Filling. Store the macarons in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

Baked espresso macarons ready to be filled.

Espresso Filling
1 package cream cheese (8 oz.), room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch fine sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/3 cup powdered sugar


Dissolve the espresso powder in the vanilla extract and set aside.

Whip the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and whip again.


Add the sea salt and the vanilla coffee mixture. Whip until thoroughly combined.

Fill a pastry bag with the filling.

You may need to chill the filling so that it firms up a bit before piping into the macarons.

After putting the filling in a pastry bag, you might need to chill it so that it firms up a bit before filling the macarons.

Changing The Menu

We are lucky to have longtime volunteer Sarah on our team. She is an artist and every week designs a menu for our guests to see as they enter Kempton Hall. Today she patiently changed the menu many times for us. Thank you Sarah!

 At the Wednesday Community Meal we rely on gleaning to help keep our food costs manageable.

And one of our biggest supporters is Good Samaritan Hospital which lets us glean from their kitchen every week.

We get great food from Good Sam - hotel pans filled with things like shepherd's pie, sweet and sour shrimp, barbecue chicken and all kinds of soup. 

The thing is we just don't know for certain what and how much of it we'll have. One pan of breaded cod can feed 20 but today we served 308.

As a result we often have to change our menu at the Wednesday Community Meal to be able to utilize the food we've gleaned. Our entrees today included Italian chicken, baked chicken, pork roast, breaded cod, salmon, catfish, beef stir fry, sweet and sour shrimp and shepherd's pie.

It can be hectic but that's okay because we are working together and making lots of hungry people happy.

Volunteers Anne, Jeff and Tiffany pause for a quick picture before getting back to plating food. With so many menu changes they worked extra hard today.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pizza

The cherry tomatoes in my garden are finally ripening and it's happening all at once.

So last night I decided to roast them in a hot oven until they were sweet and caramelized and use them to top pizzas. The roasted tomatoes are so good and rich that cheese isn't necessary.

After spreading the topping onto my pizza dough, I added some sliced black olives before baking. My family loved it and said that they didn't miss the cheese one bit.

 Roasted Tomato Topping
(makes enough to top two medium sized pizzas) 
2 lbs. cherry tomatoes
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2  teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss together all the ingredients and place in a 9 x 13 -inch glass baking dish. Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until they are soft and caramelized stirring the tomatoes about every 10 minutes. When they are done let them cool for 15 minutes before spreading over your pizza crust.

Pizza Dough
(makes two medium sized pizzas crusts)

1 1/4 cup water
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 to 4 cups unbleached flour

Pour 1/4 cup of warm water into a small bowl and add the yeast and sugar. Let the mixture set until the yeast is bubbly.

Pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining 1 cup of water. Add the salt and olive oil.

Add the flour 1 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Knead for 5 to 7 minutes, adding additional flour as necessary.

Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.


To assemble:
1 can black olives, sliced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Divide the dough in half. Drizzle a little olive oil on a sheetpan and press the dough into a 12-inch round. A little olive oil on your hands helps keep the dough from sticking. Repeat with the other ball of dough.

Add half of your roasted tomato topping to each round, add some sliced black olives and bake for 12 to 20 minutes or until the pizzas are dark golden brown.

Let the pizzas rest for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing.

Whole Wheat Currant Buns

The inspiration for this recipe is the delicious "Morning Bun" at Baker & Spice bakery (6330 Southwest Capitol Highway  Portland, OR 97239).

The bakery's buns are whole wheat, loaded with currants and have a crisp crust and a soft and springy center.  I love the way they taste and I always feel satisfied and healthy after eating one.

I have to admit that although my attempt at making them was a success,  they're still not quite as good as the Baker & Spice version. 

Because I wanted to have the currant buns ready this morning for my family, I started the process the night before by making a "sponge" - a mixture of flour, water and a touch of yeast.

This morning, I added more ingredients to form a soft dough, shaped the buns and let them rise for another hour. I like the "sponge" method because I didn't have to use as much yeast and I think the end result tastes better and has that springy rustic bread texture that I love.

I also baked the buns in a very hot oven and added a splash of water to create steam which helps create that dense and crispy crust.

Using the "sponge" method gives the buns that desirable springy texture.

Whole Wheat Currant Buns
(Makes 1 dozen)

Sponge Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups water
1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

At least 8 hours before you want to make the buns, combine the flour, water and yeast in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave out at room temperature.

The sponge after resting overnight.

Dough Ingredients:
Sponge mixture
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 to 2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup currants

In a small bowl combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let this set for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine the sponge, yeast mixture and salt. Mix well. Add the all purpose flour and mix again. Add the whole wheat flour 1/2 a cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Add the currants and knead them into the dough. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.

A smooth and elastic dough that's ready to be shaped into buns.

Divide the dough into 12 even sized pieces. Shape the pieces in to a smooth round and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the buns with plastic wrap and let them rise for 1 hour.

Keep the buns covered with plastic wrap while they rise.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and set aside a 1/2 cup of water.

When the buns are ready to bake, place them on the middle rack of the oven and underneath toss in the 1/2 cup of water. Immediately close the door and leave it closed during baking so that the steam doesn't escape.

Reduce the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until the buns are a dark golden brown color.

Warm currant buns in the morning are a treat.

Working Together

We served 324 meals today at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal. The meal service is just two hours long so we were busy busy busy.

By the time we were just 45 minutes into the service, 180 plates had already gone out. The free for anyone meal is obviously meeting a need in our community and we couldn't do it without our dedicated volunteers who work hard and do it with such grace.

Here are just a few of the volunteers who make it happen:

Longtime volunteers Dorrie, Margaret and Carol serve in the dining room. They work hard bringing plates of food from the kitchen to the tables and they do it with a smile.

Jane usually works the dining room but is always happy to help wherever needed. Today she poured glasses of lemonade.

Lydia has been volunteering since the start of the Wednesday meal. Every week she organizes the front table - greeting guests and offering any extra food that we have. Today she handed out loaves of bread donated from Grand Central Bakery.

Green Tea Macarons

I have been wanting to make green tea macarons for a while now but hadn't gotten around to finding and buying the necessary ingredient - green tea powder.

What a beautiful color! I added a tablespoon of matcha green tea powder to my powdered sugar before sifting.

My good friend Rieko knew I had been wanting to make the macarons and presented me with a can of matcha green tea powder last week. She and her family will definitely be getting a few packages of these.

The green tea powder is very fine, aromatic and a beautiful rich green color so you don't need to add any additional coloring. I added the powder to both parts of the macaron - the cookie and the filling.

Here are a few tips for making successful macarons and the recipe:

TIP 1: MEASURE CAREFULLY. Use a scale to precisely measure out all of your ingredients. Have all the ingredients ready before you start making the macarons.

TIP 2: SIFT. After measuring, sift together your ground almonds and the powdered sugar. For the green tea macarons, I also added a tablespoon of matcha green tea powder.

TIP 3: HAVE YOUR PANS AND YOUR PIPING BAGS READY. Before starting, also have four sheetpans ready that are lined with good quality parchment paper.  Also have your piping bags ready. When you are ready to fill the bags, use a glass to help steady them and put a rubber band or twist tie on the back of the bags. You don't want your precious macaron batter escaping out the back while you pipe.

 TIP 4: START SMALL. When you start making macarons you'll have better results if you start out small. When you clip your piping bag, don't make the hole too large because the batter will be hard to control. Just clip a bit off the piping bag and take your time to pipe 1.5- inch rounds.

 Green Tea Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder.

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and matcha green tea powder and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands or twist ties to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Green Tea Buttercream. Store the macarons in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

Filling the macarons.

Green Tea Buttercream
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water and completely cooled
Pinch of fine sea salt

Place the whites in a clean mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar and cream of tartar.

Place bowl over a double boiler on medium heat, stir frequently until the mixture is very hot (120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit).

Move to mixer and whip whites on high for 2 to 3 minutes; turn down to medium low until cool (use the bowl as your guide).

In a separate bowl with a wooden spoon, stir butter to soften.

With mixer on medium/high speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, adding the next tablespoon just as the previous one is blended in. Once all the butter incorporated, add in dissolved and cooled matcha green tea powder mixture and salt.  Whip on high speed until fluffy.

Baby Royal Icing Roses

These tiny roses can be saved in an airtight container and used to decorate sugar cookies and cakes.

After decorating my shortbread cookies yesterday I had some leftover royal icing and couldn't resist trying to make some baby roses that I could dry and save for decorating sugar cookies and cakes.

I'm so glad I gave this a shot because it worked well. I was able to utilize my leftover icing and the flowers are pretty and sturdy.

Here's how I made them:

I beat the royal icing until it was very stiff and then tinted it pink for the roses and green for the leaves.

I used the same pastry tip to make the roses and leaves — I used a Wilton #67 leaf tip.

All I did was lay out a piece of parchment paper and start piping.

I made a pink dollop to start the rose and swirled around it a couple of times.

Then I took the green icing and piped a tiny leaf being sure to start close to the base of the rose so that it would adhere.

Be sure to let the roses dry completely before carefully removing and storing in an airtight container.

Just a tiny bit of icing made dozens of roses and as always, I got better with practice.

Lemon Lime Brown Sugar Shortbread

My lime sugar purchase from Spice Station in Los Angeles (see my August 9, 2012 post) inspired me to create this Lemon Lime Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe.

I knew I wanted a simple cookie that would compliment the intense flavor of the lime sugar. In the end I also decided to add a touch of light lemon royal icing to make the sugar stick and enhance the look and flavor of the cookie.

I really like how they turned out and they are simple to make. The dough is nothing but butter, dark brown sugar and flour. It's also easy to handle — There is no chilling required.

Lemon Lime Brown Sugar Shortbread
(makes 3 dozen)

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
2 1/3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Use a stand mixer and a paddle attachment to combine the butter with the sugar. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms.

Transfer the dough to lightly floured work surface and roll out the dough until it's 1/3 of an inch thick. Use your hands and a rolling pin to shape it into a rectangle that can be cut into 1 1/2 inch squares. Or you can use a cookie cutter to cut the cookies.

The dough ready to be cut into squares.

Be sure to prick the cookies with a fork before baking.

Prick the cookies with a fork and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges.

Let the cookies cool before icing and sprinkling with lime sugar.

To Decorate:

Royal Icing
1 tablespoon meringue powder
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2/3 cup powdered sugar
food coloring (optional)

2 oz. lime sugar (you can find it online at http://spicestationsilverlake.com/ )


With a whisk thoroughly mix together the meringue powder, water and lemon extract.

Lemon extract adds a little zest to the royal icing.

Transfer to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and add the powdered sugar. Beat until thick and smooth. Add food coloring if desired.

Before transferring to a piping bag, make sure the icing is flood consistency. You may need to add a little bit of water to thin it out. When you draw lines through the icing with a spoon it should smooth out in 10 seconds.

Transfer to a piping bag with a #2 tip and outline and fill the top of the cookie. Immediately sprinkle with lime sugar.

Sprinkling the lime sugar onto the cookie over a paper coffee filter is helpful so that you can shake off the excess and simple lift up the filter to pour the sugar back into your bowl.

Outline.

Fill.

Sprinkle.

All done.

Coloring Tips

Choosing and creating colors is a huge part of cookie decorating and it can be frustrating when you have the perfect color in mind but you just can't seem to mix it up.

Here are few tips that I know will help.

One:  Have a visual of the color you want to create. 

It can be anything - an object, a clipping from a magazine or a color chip from the paint store.  When you actually see the color you want, it is so much easier to mix.

My friend Shannon gave me a handy color mixing chart that she clipped from the May 2012 issue of "Food Network Magazine." I use it so much that I think I just need to frame it and hang it on the wall of my kitchen.

The color mixing guide from the May 2012 issue of "Food Network Magazine."

The mixing guide even tells you how much coloring you need to add.

Two:  Use high quality colorings. 

I swear by the AmeriColor brand soft gel paste colors. The colors are vibrant and easy to mix. They also don't bleed or separate on your cookies like liquid colorings tend to do.

Black and red are the most difficult colors to mix and if you are using poor quality colors it could take the whole bottle. You'll hit every shade of gray and pink before you get to black or red.

So if you only buy two AmeriColor colorings get these: Super Black and Super Red.

You can fine AmeriColor at specialty baking shops and online.

Three:  Add a coloring just a touch at a time. 

You can always add color but you can't take it away. I use skewers and toothpicks to add just the smallest touch at a time. Absolutely never ever hold the bottle over your icing and squeeze it right in.

Four:  Be patient. 

Don't expect to get the color you want right away. Take your time and work to get the exact color you want.

I sometimes have to add more than 20 touches of a color before I'm satisfied. It's worth your time and effort because it will show in your final product.

Bee Sugar Cookie

I finished decorating my bee sugar cookies today and I'm pleased with how they turned out. I especially like how the brushed embroidery technique added a lacy look to the wings.

Initially I had planned on using a darker yellow for the body of the bee but decided to use a softer hue to better compliment the wing color.

I also decided to make some simple brushed embroidery flower cookies to go with the bees. I think they look sweet together.

Here's how to make them:

Bake a batch of bee cookies.

Make royal icing and color it for the base of the wings. I used a tiny amount of Lemon Yellow and Chocolate Brown to make it cream colored. Thin the icing with a bit of water to make it "flood consistency" and put it in a piping bag with a #2 tip.

Outline and flood the wings. Let this completely dry before moving onto the next step.

I used a bit of Royal Blue and Super Red coloring to make a soft lavender color for the wing detail. Keep this icing stiffer for your brushed embroidery. Put the icing in a pastry bag with a #2 tip. Also get your square tip brush ready and fill a small cup with water.

Outline the wing and use your square tip brush to gently pull the icing inward. Work around the whole wing.

It will look like this.

Tint some icing yellow and thin it to "flood" consistency. Also get a small amount of black icing ready that is the same consistency. Put the black icing in a bag with a #1 tip. You will need have it ready to use right after this step. Outline the body of the bee and fill it in.

With your black icing make three stripes and two dots for the eyes.

 Looking good!

Here's a close up of the easy brushed embroidery flower cookies I made at the last minute. Be sure that your base coat is completely dry before attempting brushed embroidery.

Keep working until you are done. I like to put on some music and enjoy the process. Please don't stress out — Just have fun.

After the cookies are completely dry they can be packaged for giving.