OREOS DRESSED FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Posted in Chocolate Bonbons, Cookies, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Yes, the Bewitching Kitchen is in full festive mode! Today the Oreo cookie, brought home from a humble shelf in the grocery store, gets dressed up for major party time… Several ideas for you, but I will start with maybe my favorite, as it gives me a chance to talk about a new product I recently tried.

All my Oreos are made the same way, with compound chocolate (Wilton melting wafers, or other brands available at the grocery store or online). I also have very good luck with Almond Bark, which tends to dry super shiny. If you have issues melting the compound chocolate smoothly, just add a teaspoon or two of oil (refined coconut works great and has no coconut taste). Pour some in the Oreo mold, add the cookie, and cover with melted chocolate. But the possibilities to decorate are endless. For the red ones, I started dividing the white chocolate in two, leaving one portion white and one portion dyed with red fat-soluble color. I poured the two colors in a measuring cup and did not mix them completely, to try to get a marbled effect.

Once the chocolate set, I used this new trick, that turns any gel color into a fat-soluble product, so that all the big collection of gel dyes you own can be used to color chocolate. Isn’t that cool? It is a product by Americolor called FLO-COAT. You can find it here. Just a small amount, maybe 1/4 tsp and a couple of drops of your gel color, mix well and add to the melted chocolate.

That is how I made the green used for the details, then added sprinkles.

A few more ideas for you…

For those I used dark chocolate to make the molds, then drizzled white chocolate with a piping bag, and glued small gold confetti sprinkles on some of the intersecting lines.

The metallic effect was luster power mixed with vodka, applied with a fan brush…

Finally, a few more designs relying on chocolate transfer sheets. You just cut circles, add to the bottom of the mold and pour the melted chocolate. Remember to peel off the plastic once you un-mold them!

There you have it, many ideas to make the Oreo cookie shine! Keep in mind that you can use golden oreos (lemon flavor), or red velvet to make the cookie complement better the surrounding shell. Have fun with it!

ONE YEAR AGO: Peppermint Wreath Macarons

TWO YEARSAGO: Cornish Hens with Yogurt-Mace Marinade

THREE YEARS AGO: Cookies for the Holidays – Gingerbread

FOUR YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple Times Four

FIVE YEARS AGO: White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse Cake

SIX YEAR AGO: Panettone Time!

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Pistachio Creme Brulee

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Fast and Furious Bison Chili

NINE YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, December 2014

TEN YEARS AGO: Braised Fennel with Saffron and Tomato

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Revenge of the Two Derelicts

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Grilling Ribbons

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Peppery Cashew Crunch

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Baked Shrimp and Feta Pasta

12Nov2023

BAKING THROUGH THE BLOGOSPHERE

Posted in Breads, Cake, Cookies by sallybr

Today I share six recipes from blogs I follow and love. You can find the links to each recipe so you can visit the original source and get to know them too…

Here they are, in the chronological order they showed up in our kitchen…

HANIELA’S CHOCOLATE WHIRLS

Haniela is a cookie decorator, but her blog covers all kinds of cooking, including savory stuff. Definitely worth subscribing to her feed. This particular recipe can be found here. The chocolate variation is in the end of the post, I made no changes and used the highest amount of powdered sugar listed. I made them as sandwich cookies, and used a little caramel buttercream that I had leftover from another project. Recipe for the filling is here. I loved the contrast of the chocolate with the caramel buttercream, so keep that combination in mind.

MARTIN’S LEMON VERBENA SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Martin blogged on these cookies right after the Botanical Episode from Great British Bake Off aired in the US. He’s been very diligent about baking along with the show, and of course, he is the best person to do that, having won the last Great American Baking Show, with a totally stellar performance. I was lucky to meet him in person when we were in London taping season 5. The recipe for these super tasty cookies can be found here.

If you’ve never baked with lemon verbena, please do so, it has very unique flavor and works absolutely perfectly in a shortbread format. I made no changes whatsoever to his recipe, and it turned out wonderful!

KAREN’S SIGTEBOLLER

Sigteboller are Salted Rye Rolls, made with a little rye sourdough starter and some commercial yeast. Rye is a very tricky flour to work with, but I had no issues with this recipe. Both hubby and I absolutely LOVED these rolls. The salt on top is a touch of genius, but everything works with them. The taste and texture, spot on. I think Paul Hollywood should send a virtual handshake to Karen for these! Recipe available here.

HELEN’S HASELNUSSMAKRONEN

Also known as German Hazelnut Macaroons, these should go into the OMG files of Baking… Helen does it again, shares a recipe that is super simple to prepare but amazes the tastebuds once you try a bite. My only change was to use Nutella to fill them because I realized too late that I had no seedless raspberry jam in our pantry. You can find her recipe and super detailed tutorial here.

TANYA’S IRRESISTIBLE SPICE CAKE CUPCAKES

In case you don’t know, Tanya was my tent-baking friend in Season 5 of The Great American Baking Show and we have kept in touch ever since. Recently she and her husband visited us and we baked together, but that is a story to be told another time (SOON!). Tanya’s recipes always work, and if she says something is irresistible, I pay attention. I was forced to modify the buttercream icing, because her original post uses cream cheese frosting, but I never know for how long the cupcakes will sit at room temperature once I donate them. I felt it was safer to go the route of American buttercream, so I “spiced it up” to go along with the cake. They smell simply amazing, and although I did not get to try any, the reviews from the volunteers who served them made me super happy, and I am sure Tanya will be glad to hear that also! You can find her recipe here. For the buttercream, I used my default recipe adding 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice.

CARO’S EASY PEASY SMOKIN’ CHEESE CRACKERS

Caro’s blog is one of my go-to sites when I want a recipe that will not disappoint. As I mentioned before, her posts are real tutorials, all the details that matter to make a recipe work. These cheese crackers are addictive – salty, hot to the right level, great texture. I used two types of hard cheese for them, so play with what you have in the fridge and have fun. Recipe can be found here.

I admit that I had a little help while making them, as far as timing exactly when they were perfectly done!

ONE YEAR AGO: Crispy Air-Fried Zucchini

TWO YEARS AGO: Pasta with Cremini Mushroom Ragu

THREE YEARS AGO: A Magical Marinade

FOUR YEARS AGO: Roast Veggies with Black Barley

FIVE YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Sourdough

SIX YEARS AGO: First Monday Favorite

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Secret Recipe Club: Paalak Paneer, a Farewell Post

EIGHT YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, November 2015

NINE YEARS AGO: Helen Fletcher’s Oatmeal Cookies

TEN YEARS AGO: Thai-Style Pesto with Brown Rice Pasta

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

TWELVE YEARS AGO: A Simple Appetizer (Baked Ricotta)

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Sour Cream Sandwich Bread

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Pasta with Zucchini Strands and Shrimp

30Oct2023

REVVING THE ENGINES FOR HALLOWEEN!

Posted in Chocolate Bonbons, Cookies, macarons by sallybr

It is almost time!!!! I share with you three baking ideas to keep you appropriately spooked…

SKULL AND SPIDER MACARONS

The idea for these came from my friend Dorothy, who tagged me on Instagram after seeing this post. I opted for a filling of Caramel Buttercream and Apple Jelly for these scary creatures.

CARAMEL AND APPLE MACARONS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

for the shells, use my default recipe.
I dyed the shells with a very small amount of AMERICOLOR CORK

For the filling:
60g butter
120g powdered sugar
pinch of salt
5 soft caramels (Werther’s)
2 tablespoon milk
apple jelly (store-bought is ok)

Pipe the shells in skull shape or round (if you prefer to simplify). Bake them, let them cool, and pair them.

Draw the design of your choice (skull or spider) on the shells.

Make the buttercream: beat the room temperature butter for a couple of minutes. Add the salt and powdered sugar, beat until almost incorporated (mixture will be dry). Microwave the caramels with the milk until very hot, and whisk the caramels to dissolve. Let them cool slightly and add to the buttermilk. Finish creaming everything together, you should not need to add any more liquid, but if necessary, add a few drops of milk to achieve piping consistency.

Add a circle of buttercream to the bottom shell, a little blob of apple jelly in the center, and close the macaron with the top shell. Keep in the fridge for 24 hours before eating.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The idea for the filling came from this post. That is a great site for macaron ideas, by the way. I did not make a template for the skulls, just improvised them starting from a regular circle, so they are not all the same shape, which I think is even better for a spooky bake.

SPOOKY CHOCOLATE-COVERED OREOS

Use your regular mold for covering Oreos and use a contrasting color of chocolate to drizzle and glue sprinkles. The ghost is made with a smear of white compound chocolate on parchment paper, and orange sprinkles for the eyes. Once that is set (within a few minutes), place on the covered Oreo with a tiny amount of melted chocolate.

NINE BLACK CATS

These are my default Chocolate-Chipotle cutout cookies, iced with orange Royal icing and painted with Sugarprism. I just did a free-hand drawing, following the design of Kathy Barbro (IG page here).

ONE YEAR AGO: Happy Halloween from my Cookie Blog to You!

TWO YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple Carrots

THREE YEARS AGO: Sarah Bernhardt’s Cookies

FOUR YEARS AGO: A Really Big Announcement

FIVE YEARS AGO: Stir-Fried Chicken in Sesame-Orange Sauce

SIX YEARS AGO: Monday Blues

SEVEN YEARS AGO: A New Way to Roast Veggies

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Two Takes on Raspberries

NINE YEARS AGO: Spice Cake with Blackberry Puree

TEN YEARS AGO: Own Your Kitchen with Cappuccino Panna Cotta

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Chicken Parmigiana, the Thriller

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Wild Mushroom Risotto

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Tartine Bread: Basic Country Loaf

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Pugliese Bread

6Oct2023

DRESSING UP THE OREO COOKIE

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

Talk about a classic cookie, loved in more than 100 countries, born as Hydrox in 1908, sold in many flavors, some do not exist anymore (Lemon Meringue, anyone?). More than 40 billion Oreos are made every year, so why not make 20 or so in your own kitchen? Here is how.

OREO COOKIES
(slightly modified from Tasty.com)

FOR THE COOKIES
1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g)white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1 heaping cup (140g) dark cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

CREAM FILLING
½ cup (113g) butter, softened
2 cups (240g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Using a Kitchen Aid type mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs until fully incorporated. In a bow, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix together until combined.

Turn the dough out onto your surface and push together into a flat square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 325˚F. Remove the dough from the fridge, roll out and if desired, use a patterned rolling pin or other embossing gadgets to create a pattern. Cut the cookie rounds and freeze for 10 minutes before baking for about 15 minutes.

To make the filling, combine butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Beat together until light and fluffy. Assemble the cookies by spreading a generous scoop of the icing onto one of the cookies and sandwiching it with another.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These are definitely for intense chocolate lovers, as the black cocoa pushes the chocolate flavor to higher levels. They are of course, totally fine made plain, but I cannot help dressing them up a bit with the pattern on top.

And now, let me take you through a little Chocolate-Covered Oreo Adventure! You need to get the appropriate molds, either plain or with designs and go to work. When using plain molds, I like to add chocolate transfer sheets to make them more visually appealing.

TRANSFER SHEETS
DARK AND GOLD

TRANSFER SHEETS
MISCELLANEOUS

The thing with transfer sheets is that unfortunately you get what you pay for. It is possible to find quite affordable options on amazon, etsy, but if you pay a little more you will be much happier with the results. Less flaking, sharper images. One great brand (the one I used for the ones below) is called LUCKS but apparently they are not in business anymore, it broke my heart. I had those golden dot sheets for years, and wanted to get some more.

SPECIAL MOLDS

All my molds with patterns are from Spinningleaf.com

You can dress up Oreos using molds that generate a pattern. I sometimes dye a small portion of compound chocolate and paint areas of the mold before pouring the contrasting color. You need to let the painted area fully set before pouring the warm chocolate on top.

REACH FOR THE STARS

For the stars, I dyed some chocolate with yellow ad also brushed the inside of the mold with gold. Next time I will go for more contrast.

WORSHIP THE SUNFLOWER

One of my favorites, the sunflower mold, you just need to be careful painting the center so that the edges stay sharp.

BAKE WITH YOUR HEART

Making chocolate-covered Oreos is a weekly event for me, as it turns out they are THE most popular item with the homeless meals. That and a certain banana bread that I shared not too long ago. I hope you enjoyed this post, and consider playing with Oreos also.