In this post I share chocolate cookies and brownie cupcakes, all dressed up for the occasion. Recipe for cookies can be found here, and brownie cupcakes with a click here.
Four types of decorations, depending on how much icing and how much work you’d like to put into the cookies. The simplest is the chocolate star with the sprinkle border. All you have to do is pipe a little line of icing all around and then dip the cookie gently in sprinkles. The hexagons were featured recently on my baby blog.
These stars were inspired by Haniela. They started with a flooded white cookie, and then some were air-brushed with a combination of stencils (stripes and stars), and some were outlined with a three-color icing using a flat icing tip.
The 4th of July Hearts were inspired by something I saw on Instagram last year and saved for the future. And the future is now!
Cupcakes were made using 1/8 tsp of orange oil to flavor the cake batter. The icing was flavored with chai extract, as described in my post from a couple of months ago. Patriotic sprinkles complete the look…
I hope you are having a wonderful 4th, and please if you are into fireworks, think a little bit about all those pets getting terrified out there. If you can minimize your fun, or do it away from residential neighborhoods, please consider doing so.
In My Kitchen posts are hosted by Sherry, from Sherry’s Pickings. At the end of this article you will find a link to jump to her site and see what everybody else is sharing this month. I join four times each year, on the first day of January, April, July and October. If you are a food blogger, considering taking part of this fun event. It is chance to share those little things you bought or received as gifts and that make your life in the kitchen easier. Or that simply bring you joy…
In our kitchen…
We’ve been enjoying strawberries on a regular basis, just straight as fruit with yogurt, or in sorbets made by the resident Sorbet Maker Extraordinaire, aka The Husband.
In our kitchen…
This is my current favorite brand of espresso powder, strong, powerful, intense. Great in cookies, brownies, anything joining coffee with chocolate, that match made in heaven.
In our kitchen…
Pomegranate molasses. I’ve tried many brands and settled on this one. It has the viscosity I like, some are so thick you need supernatural powers to remove it from the bottle.
In our kitchen…
Let the baking gadgets roll!
A special set of brushes, including some super thin. They come in handy to paint details in cookies with gel dye or luster powder diluted in alcohol.
In our kitchen…
Dinosaur cookie cutters with an optional insert to make a design. These got a little dusting with cocoa powder right before baking, no icing, super simple. But I like the effect. Cannot take credit for the idea, it was shared by Marlyn in her IG page.
In our kitchen…
A set of food-safe pens, they have two sides, one very thin, one thicker. I love their colors and the way they handle. They were used to make the cookies below:
In our kitchen…
A wooden stamp and my first set of cookies made with it… Etsy is a great spot to find this type of stamps, and they work well with many kinds of cookie dough. Strawberry Glazed Brown Sugar Cookie recipe found here.
In our kitchen…
A heat gun and special shrink-wrap plastic bags. I am not happy with the heat gun, so I won’t include a link to it. It shuts down after sealing just 4 or 5 bags, which is annoying. I need to get a better one. But I am totally in love with this method to pack cookies, they stay perfect for days, and look quite nice in their little shinny nest.
In our kitchen…
A new springerle type mold. I have not used it yet, but I am not done with my obsessive bee-phase. I cannot wait to try it. Stay tuned!
In our kitchen…
A few new silicone molds, all from etsy.com. They can be used for fondant or modeling chocolate, and some are easier to handle than others. Here is my first set of cookies with two of them.
In our kitchen…
A new tea cup… how could I resist it? Dots and bling! Here it is with some of my favorite tea of all times, Rose Mint from Bigelow….
Not exactly in our kitchen….
Our raised bed made by Phil, and the two guardians of the plants. Amazing the progress in 6 weeks! We’ve enjoyed the most delicious lettuce ever coming from our garden… All credit goes to the husband, I don’t get close to the plants so they have a chance to thrive.
Speaking of credit to the husband…
Last Summer he built this outside patio (featured exactly one year ago in IMK) and we now enjoy dining outside when the weather is just right for it. The dogs are not able to visit the upper part of our backyard, so when we are dining, they can be in the lower part, but usually will climb the steps, for a stare and whine game.
Playing favorites again, aren’t we? Why are the two lesser dogs showing up whereas you ignore me?
Not ignoring you, and to prove it, let’s start the canine grievances with the Resident Mutt. Oscar has been through some trying times lately. For starters, he was offered strawberries, a capital offense in his book.
To add insult to injury, he had to face that dreadful Summer Shave…
But the real killer was a trip to the vet for a small intervention that was not pleasant and put our trooper in bad shape for a few days. We are happy to inform that he is fully recovered now. However, his humans got a bit of a lecture from the vet because apparently His Highness is overweight. He’s been on a diet and we can see positive effects already.
His older brother is getting the same treatment, also with clear improvement…
Hi! My name is Buck and I disapprove of this message.
I say NO to diet! YES to bread!
And if I cannot have bread, I will find stuff around and complement my diet on my own…
And now, let’s check on our Black-Dotted Capeless Hero, aka Bogey Quit That…
I am waiting for my Human to play with me…
But he seems to be gone, and I am here waiting… and waiting…
I guess I’ll have to settle for his shoes for now… (This picture makes me melt. There, I confessed it)
Because they are such good boys (cough, cough), I decided to cookie them…
Buck was pleased, as he believes he is the most elegant cookie model!
I would have to dispute the statement. The photo below was taken exactly 20 minutes after his bath, explaining part of the abundant gray hair on my head.
BogeyQT also sees things differently. He realizes he is the only one who gets not just one cookie, but two. And a tea cup to boot!
So what does Oscar think about that?
Cookies? Who cares about cookies or tea cups? The fool still pees like a girl!
Fool? Who, me? You are obviously jealous of my black-spotted nature…
I float way above it all, and march to the beat of my own drum…
That’s all for now, friends! We are tired of being in the spotlight, and wish you all a nice Summer!
My little forever-puppy-Bucky-Boy turns 14 today! He is dreaming of yet another year of bliss around the Bewitching Kitchen, and I just want his dream to come true…
SEE YOU IN OCTOBER!
To see what is happening in other food bloggers’ kitchens, click here.
This is a little change on my default recipe for hamburger buns using the tangzhong method. I make a batch of these babies regularly, but recently I’ve changed a small detail that improved things quite a bit. If allowed to proof freely and bake as you normally would, the buns tend to balloon quite a bit. Visually they are quite nice, but it gets pretty awkward to make a burger out of them. So, if you want to have buns that are a little more flat but have the same overall taste and texture, and absolutely perfect to enjoy with your beef, turkey or veggie burger, check the details after the picture.
When you shape them and place to proof, add a parchment paper on top and a light baking sheet. Let them proof like that for the full final 1 hour, depending on the yeast you used, it might be ok to bake after 45 minutes.
Place them in the oven WITH the parchment paper and the baking sheet on top for 5 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet and parchment paper, quickly brush with egg white, add seeds if desired, and bake for the remaining time.
I’ve seen a similar method in which the person baked with the baking sheet on top for the whole time, but that has two majordisadvantages: it compresses the bread a little too much, making it too dense. And the overall look is dull, since you cannot brush with egg wash. It also ends a bit too flat. I’ve tweaked that three times before hitting this final method, and highly recommend you give it a try.
This goes to the OMG FILES. Everything worked great together, and the husband went crazy for it too. He kept saying this is restaurant-quality meal. Top-notch restaurant. I must say that for something so simple to put together, it is amazing how tasty it was. The parsley oil stole the show. Think pesto, but lighter. You can use regular pasta, but there’s something about the texture of a rice noodle that worked even better with the shrimp.
GRILLED SHRIMP WITH PARSLEY OIL OVER BLACK RICE NOODLES (from the Bewitching Kitchen)
for the shrimp: 1 cup tightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil salt and pepper 2 pounds Jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/2 to 1 tsp Tajin Mexican seasoning 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Make the parsley oil: coarsely chop the parsley and place in a food processor. Add the lime juice, olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Process to a paste. Reserve.
Make the shrimp: whisk the grapeseed oil with Tajin seasoning. Add the shrimp and toss to coat well. Season lightly with salt. Grill the shrimp until cooked through, around 3 minutes per side, depending on how hot is your grill.
Serve the shrimp with the parsley sauce spooned all over it.
for the noodles: (adapted from Joanne’s blog) 12 oz cherry tomatoes 3 Tablespoons olive oil 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp brown sugar zest of 1/2 lemon salt and pepper to taste black rice noodles (I used this brand)
Heat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes with the olive oil, cumin, sugar, lemon zest, salt, and a grind of black pepper. Toss to combine, then transfer to a baking dish. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, or until it starts to get brown at spots.
Cook black rice noodles according to the instructions in the package. Toss with the roasted tomatoes, making sure to incorporate all the juices that accumulate in the baking dish. Serve alongside the shrimp.
Comments: I am not too fond of grilling shrimp. If using a skewer, it is best to use two so that they don’t move around, but assembling that leaves me exhausted just thinking about it. So this time I went with a grilling basket, which is something usually maneuvered by the husband. He always does sea bass or red snapper using that gadget. I am quite impressed. Both by the husband and the gadget.
I sprayed the grid with a little olive oil, added the marinated shrimp, closed it, and placed on the grill. The shrimp cooked like a dream, perfectly juicy. Flipping them over midway into the grilling time was a breeze. Grab the basket by the handle, flip, and you are done. Granted, washing the basket is a bit of a hassle, but overall a small price to pay.
I hope you try this meal, either the whole thing or at least the shrimp component with that amazing parsley oil. We are still talking about it…
For the first post of a new year in my blogging life, I will once again feature macarons, as they are so special to me. Our grocery store had gorgeous blood oranges a couple of weeks ago, and the moment I saw them I knew resistance was futile.
BLOOD ORANGE MACARONS (from the Bewitching Kitchen)
For the shells: 200g powdered sugar 115 g almond flour 115 g egg whites at room temperature (approx. 4 eggs) 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar (optional) 100 g granulated sugar ¼ tsp vanilla paste or extract Tulip Red and Orange gel color luster powder, pearl and brown (optional) Everclear (optional)
For filling: 60 g unsalted butter softened 160 g powdered sugar zest of 1/2 blood orange 2 tsp blood orange juice 1/8 tsp blood orange oil pinch of salt heavy cream if needed to adjust consistency
Line 3 heavy baking sheets with parchment/baking paper or Silpat mats. Layer the powdered sugar and ground almonds/almond meal in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like fine meal, about 12 pulses. Pass through a sieve and transfer to a small bowl or to a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Make sure that the bowl and the whisk are impeccably clean. Starting on medium speed, whip the whites with the cream of tartar until they look like light foam. Add all the sugar at once and keep whisking until the meringue is soft and shiny. Add vanilla and food colors.
Whip the egg whites until the mixture begins to dull and the lines of the whisk are visible on the surface of the meringue. Check the peak. It should be firm. Transfer the whites to a medium bowl.
Fold in the ground almond/almond meal mixture in two increments. Paint the mixture halfway up the side of the bowl, using the flat side of a spatula. Scrape the mixture down to the center of the bowl. Repeat two or three times, then check to see if the mixture slides slowly down the side of the bowl. Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with your choice of piping tip (round, ¼ or ½ inch in diameter or 6 – 12 mm). Pipe shells, I like to count numbers in my head and use the same count for each shell so they end up similar in size. If making snowmen, make a template with two circles joined together to form head and body, and pipe each section.
Slam each sheet hard four to six times on the counter/worktop. Let the unbaked macarons dry until they look dull but not overly dry. Drying time depends on humidity. In a dry climate, the macarons can dry in 15 to 20 minutes; in a humid climate, it can take 35 to 40 minutes.
While the macarons are drying, heat the oven to 300 F. Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Check in 11 minutes. If the tops slide or move (independently of the ‘feet’ when you gently twist the top), then bake for 2 to 3 more minutes. Check one or two. If they move when gently touched, put them back in the oven for 1 to 2 more minutes until they don’t move when touched. Let the macaroons cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. The macarons should release without sticking. Mix the luster dust with everclear and paint flowers in a loose design. Later add an outline with fine tip black pen.
For the filling, use a hand-held electric mixer and whisk the butter until creamy. Add the other ingredients except the heavy cream, and whisk until creamy and smooth. If needed, add a bit of heavy cream to loosen the mixture.
Assemble the macarons: find two macarons similar in size and add a good amount of filling to the bottom of one of them. Place the other on top and squeeze gently to take the filling all the way to the edge. Store in the fridge for 24 hours for perfect texture.
Comments: I did two different designs for the decoration, painting some flowers with pearl or brown luster powder. Very loose, no need for precision. The outline with the black pen brings the design together. The pictures don’t show very well, I am afraid, but I really like the dark flowers better, even if they have nothing to do with orange blossoms…
Extracts, emultions, and oils can have a bit of an artificial taste, but this product from LorAnn is very nice. A small amount added to the buttercream intensified the blood orange component without any aftertaste. It works great in ganache also.
I finally figured out a way to get the nice ridges in the filling. I was always using the wrong tip, 1M, because it is my favorite for so many piping jobs. However, I know realize that the best tip to use in macaron fillings to get the effect I like, is a French star type. Pick a size compatible with your shells.
Bewitching Kitchen 