Dreamy...

Dark Chocolate Glaze...

I posted this with the donut cookies, but really, it needs its own post.

You NEED this in your life.  Use it to decorate a cookie, slather it on graham crackers, dip some pretzels, eat it straight from the spoon.  JUST MAKE IT.  {Don't make me beg.}

The glaze dries shiny, hard (but not crunchy), and stackable.  I can't wait to show you what I did with it yesterday.  How's that for a teaser?!? 

Dark Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa (such as Hershey's Special Dark)
1 & 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP light corn syrup
3 TBSP (or more) milk

Whisk together the cocoa and powdered sugar.  Add in the corn syrup and milk; whisk until smooth and the consistency of glue.  Add more milk a little at a time, if needed.  Use immediately.

You don't have to be so fussy with the thinning like royal icing. Make the glaze so that it is the consistency of thick glue.  Pipe and outline (or not), then fill with the same consistency glaze.  It should all smooth out.  Some may run down the inside of the cookie.

The glaze will harden and be stackable in 12-24 hours.

*sigh*

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Donut (cookie) Party!!!

Whether you call them donuts or doughnuts or the extra inch on your waistline...donuts can't help but make you smile.  Or, make ME smile, and I think we're kindred spirits here.

Let's talk donuts for a minute.  When I was a kid, I could never understand when my mom said she "didn't like donuts."  More precisely, she only ate cake donuts.  She also fell asleep during Star Wars.  Neither one of these things made any sense to me as a kid; now, I TOTALLY GET IT.

I would never, ever grab a glazed donut out of a box.  Eww.  They get slimy and squishy....but a CAKE donut?  Oh baby.  Sign me up.  I don't care if it's plain, chocolate, blueberry, pumpkin, topped with coconut, sprinkled with nuts, frosted, or rolled in cinnamon sugar.  I love me some cake donuts.  My exception to this rule is the Shipley Do-Nuts Chocolate Frosting Filled.  Yes, it's glazed, but it's filled with FROSTING!!!  It's pretty much heaven on Earth.

Is this weird to be so particular about donuts?  Well, here's something I think we all can agree on:
DONUT COOKIES.

My uber-creative, beautiful friend Kami from over at No Biggie  & I teamed up to bring you some cookies and some adorable little bag/box tags and flags to go with them for parties or for gift giving.  How cute are they?!?  (I love having creative & crafty friends!)

Here's an example of the little flags...you could used them on cookie donut holes or real donut holes:

Um, and how cute does that printable look on a pink bakery box?!? Can you imagine delivering this cuteness to your kid's school, or work, or to your neighbor?

The free printables are over on Kami's blog, No Biggie.  
(While you're there, click around a bit...if you don't already know Kami, you're going to love her!  Check out these printables she made to go with some little pie cookies at Thanksgiving!  Squee!)

For the donut cookies, I used royal icing for the pink, but really wanted to make a chocolate icing for the chocolate donuts.  If you've ever had chocolate royal icing, you'll know that it doesn't really taste, well, chocolatey.  So, I made a dark chocolate glaze that sets up shiny and fairly hard, so it's great for packaging.

To make the donut cookies, you'll need:

• circle sugar cookies with the center cut out using a smaller cutter or the back of an icing tip
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Deep Pink (or chocolate glaze, recipe follows)
• disposable icing bag
• coupler and #2 tip
• squeeze bottle
• toothpicks
• sprinkles

Use a #2 tip to outline a donut icing shape.

Thin the pink icing with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  (Reserve some of the white icing for piping details later.) You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into a squeeze bottle.

Fill in the outlines with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and to pop large air bubbles.

Scatter on the sprinkles.

Let the cookies dry, uncovered, 6-8 hours or overnight.

{If using the chocolate glaze, you don't have to be so fussy with the thinning.  Make the glaze so that it is the consistency of glue.  Pipe the outline, then fill with the same consistency glaze.  It should all smooth out.  Some may run down the inside of the cookie.  That's ok.}


Dark Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa (such as Hershey's Special Dark)
1 & 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP light corn syrup
3 TBSP (or more) milk

Whisk together the cocoa and powdered sugar.  Add in the corn syrup and milk; whisk until smooth and the consistency of glue.  Add more milk a little at a time, if needed.  Use immediately.

The glaze will harden and be stackable in 12-24 hours.

Next up: Blueberry "Cake" Donut Hole Cookies.  {This is more of an homage to blueberry cake donuts...they don't taste like the donut, but instead, a blueberry cookie. Look for the very tiny dried blueberries.}

Blueberry "Cake" Donut Hole Cookies

cookies:
2 sticks cold salted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 TBSP milk
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried small blueberries
zest of 1 lemon

glaze:
2 & 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3 TBSP (or more) milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment.

Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.  Beat in the vanilla and milk.

Add in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until incorporated.  Beat in the blueberries and zest.  The mixture will be crumbly, but will hold together if rolled in a ball.  Add more milk, bit by bit, it needed.

Use a teaspoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough and roll into balls.  Freeze for 5-10 minutes before baking.

Bake for 12 minutes or so...the cookies will look soft, but be lightly browned on the bottom.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cookies are cool, make the glaze.  Whisk all of the ingredients together until you have a thick, pourable glaze.  Spoon over the cookies.

Be sure to hop on over to No Biggie!  I know Kami has some great ideas for using the printables!

Let's hear it...what's your favorite (and least favorite) donut?

{And...do you fall asleep while watching Star Wars?}

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Give your cake...and eat it, too!

Sometime last year, I was on Instagram lamenting the fact that I was baking a cake for an event or a bake sale, and I wouldn't be able to taste-test it.  Oh, about eleventy-billion people chimed in suggesting that next time, I make a cupcake with a portion of the batter.

I am not the sharpest tool in the shed...that thought had never occurred to me.

{This is one well-used, well-loved muffin tin.}

It's my new rule now.  If I'm dropping a cake off someplace, I make a cupcake, too.  It serves two purposes: 1. to make sure it tastes ok.  2. I get to eat cake.

We'll be using instant espresso powder to make this Mississippi Mud Cake into a MOCHA Mississippi Mud Cake.  Look for it near the Sanka in your coffee aisle...or on Amazon.  It looks like this:

This Mocha Mississippi Mud Cake was actually heading to a funeral reception.  If you like to bake or cook, check into the funeral food ministry at your local church.  Food equals comfort, and it's such an easy way to give.  I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in trying to "give big" that we forget that the little acts of giving count for something, too.

Mocha Mississippi Mud Cake

for the cake:
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon espresso powder
2 sticks salted butter, melted
1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa powder
4 eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour


for the topping:
1 (10 oz.) bag mini marshmallows
1/2 stick salted butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa powder
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 x 13" pan. (If making a cupcake, line one muffin tin with a cupcake liner.)  Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla and espresso powder until combined.  Pour the vanilla/espresso mixture into a large bowl and add the melted butter, cocoa, and eggs.  Stir until well combined.

Stir in the sugar.  Add in the salt and flour and stir until no lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan (and cupcake liner, if using).  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  (Start checking the cupcake at about 18-20 minutes.)

Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack.  Immediately scatter the marshmallows over the warm cake.  Set aside.

{Sing it with me: "I always feel like somebody's watching meeee...."}

Make the topping: in a medium saucepan, combine the butter, milk and espresso powder over medium heat until the mixture comes to a simmer.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa powder.  Return the pan to medium heat and whisk constantly until smooth.

Whisk in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.  Continue whisking and cooking until the mixture has come to a simmer.  Pour the hot topping evenly over the marshmallows.  Cool completely before serving.

The cake may be kept in the refrigerator for 1 week.

{Recipe adapted from Cake Ladies Mississippi Mud Cake}

Have (or give) your cake and eat it, too?  You bet!

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Smitten: Mr. Bates + Anna

Valentine's Day has come and gone, but we can still talk about love, right?!?

As of yesterday, I'm caught up on Downton Abbey.
{Now, *what* will I do with my free time?!?}

Side note: Let me say that watching Downton Abbey has made me long for a return to chivalry, manners, dressing for dinner, and politeness.  Yesterday, at the Godiva store, I approached the cashier to buy a truffle from the case.  Instead of asking "how may I help you," or even "hello," the cashier said, "what's up?"  Only when I got in the car did I think that I should have answered, "yo." 

Anyhoo...no spoilers here, since I know many of you are just jumping on the Downton bandwagon, but ever since there was that little spark between Anna & Mr. Bates in the first episode, I've been completely smitten with these two.  ♥

And, I thought their cookies deserved a little lace.

Lace is about the easiest way to decorate a cookie with piping.  You really can't do it wrong...and you get major bang for your buck...or pipe...or whatever.  It looks classy and elegant and all you did was pipe on random designs.  (I'll link at the bottom of the post to some lace inspiration from other blogs.)

To make the cookies, you'll need:

• heart-shaped sugar cookies
• royal icing, divided and tinted with AmeriColor Super Black, Ivory & Regal Purple (I added a touch of ivory to my purple to tone it down a bit.)
• disposable icing bags
• couplers and tips, #3 & #1
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks

Use a #3 tip to outline the cookies in black icing.  (I chose a #3 tip here since I really wanted the outline to show.)

Thin the purple and ivory icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  (Reserve some of the white icing for piping details later.) You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into squeeze bottles.

Fill in the outlines with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and to pop large air bubbles. 

Let the cookies dry for at least one hour.

Use a #1 tip to pipe a lace pattern and/or personalization onto the cookies.  For inspiration, try an google image search for "simple lace" or "lace patterns."

Let the cookies dry, uncovered, 6-8 hours or overnight.

For more lace cookie inspiration, check out these beauties:

• Rosey Sugar (major inspiration for these cookies)
• Sugarbelle
• Haniela's
• Sweetopia (using Sugar Veil)

Now, without any spoilers...let's not ruin it for the Downton newbies out there...are you as in love with Mr. Bates & Anna as I am? ♥

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I'm Batty for You!

You're a Homerun!

Please don't let me Strike Out!

I hope our love goes Extra Innings!

 Swing, Batter Batter Batter, SWING, Batter!

{ok...that has nothing to do with Valentine's Day. I just like a Ferris Bueller reference where I can get it.} Click the link to watch...it's in the upper left corner of the linked page.

You're a Hit!

Don't throw me a Curve Ball!

I love you at Home or Away!  
You've Stolen my heart! 

We make a great Team!

{Let's skip the whole "getting to second base" theme.}

As the mom of a boy, I know they usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to Valentine's Day.  Not everything has to be pink, and ribbons, and lace (and I love those things)!
Valentines for boys can be cute, too!!!

 {image: Decorating Cookies}

In Decorating Cookies, I created some Heart Robot cookies...which is one of my favorite designs in the whole book.  Yay for boy valentines!  Today...Baseball Valentines.

{These cookies were inspired by this Valentine from Minted....how cute is that card?!?}

To make baseball valentine cookies, you'll need:

• baseball themed and heart cut-out sugar cookies
• royal icing, divided and tinted with AmeriColor Bright White, Warm Brown, and Super Red
• disposable icing bags
• couplers and tips: #2, #1
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• fan (paint) brush
• paper towel
• AmeriColor Chocolate Brown

Using #2 tips, outline all of the cookies.  Outline the caps and hearts in white and the bats in brown.

Thin the brown and white icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  (Reserve some of the white icing for piping details later.) You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into squeeze bottles.

Fill in the outlines with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and to pop large air bubbles. 

Let the cookies dry for 30 minutes to one hour.

Use #1 tips to add detail piping to the caps and the heart "baseballs." I like to make the stitching into little hearts.

Let the cookies dry 6-8 hours or overnight.

Once they are completely dry, mix water with the chocolate brown food coloring....a 1 to 1 ratio or so.  Trim the fan brush, so that it is uneven.  Dip the brush into the food coloring mixture, dab the excess on a paper towel and brush onto the cookies.

The food coloring will dry fairly quickly and be ready for packaging and giving.

What baseball phrase would you use on a Valentine? 

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