Wedding Cookies ... at last.

Sometimes it takes a while to find your true love. We've been waiting for a friend of ours (actually, one of Mr. E's oldest and dearest friends) to get married for, oh, twenty years now? We're so happy that he (finally) did.

It's funny to think that next year, when our newlywed friends are celebrating their first anniversary, Mr. E and I will be celebrating our 20th! How in the world did this happen?


Here's a quick little tutorial on making these wedding cookies. You'll need:

• cut-out cookies, cake on pedestal, plaque, small square
• royal icing, divided and tinted with AmeriColor  SuperBlack, Bright White, Gold, Electric Pink, Leaf Green
• couplers and tips: #2, #1, leaf, and star (small and medium)
• disposable icing bags
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• gold luster dust
• small (clean) paintbrush
• vodka

Use a #2 tip to outline the cake pedestal in black icing. 

Thin the icing with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. 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.

Pour into a squeeze bottle and fill in the black outline.


With another #2 tip, outline the cake area with white icing. Reserve some of this piping consistency icing.

Thin the remainder of the white icing as above. Fill in the white outline.


Let the cookies set for about an hour them add white details to the cakes.


Use a small star tip to pipe a rose on top of the cake, just using a swirl motion. Use a leaf tip to add the leaf.

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

For the Mr. & Mrs. cookies, outline and fill as above. Use a #1 tip to pipe the letter in gold-tinted icing.

After the icing has dried completely (6-8 hours), mix a little gold luster dust with vodka. Using a small detail paintbrush, add the "paint" on top of the piped letters.


For the flowers on the squares, outline and flood as directed above. Let the icing set for at least 1 hour. Use a swirl motion to pipe a rose onto the cookie using a medium-size star tip. Add a leaf in green with a leaf tip. Add a few yellow dots with a #1 tip, if desired.

Cheers to the new Mr. & Mrs.! We're so happy for you both! 

I just love a wedding, don't you? I only wish I'd eaten a second piece of cake.

Brown Butter Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are pretty much the perfect mash-up for two of my favorite men.

Both my dad and Mr. E are big fans of the oatmeal cookie. To this day, I still shake my head when I see one of them choose oatmeal over chocolate chip. It just seems wrong.


Shortbread cookies are another of Mr. E's favorites, and these don't disappoint. The brown butter takes an extra 5 minutes or so and adds a MAJOR wallop of intense butter flavor.

Brown Butter Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons water
1 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cook oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder


To brown the butter: Place the butter in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Melt the butter. Once the butter is completely melted, it will bubble and sizzle. Keep swirling the pan occasionally, and listen and watch carefully–when the foam begins to subside and the sizzling suddenly, the butter will quickly turn brown and smell nutty, about 5 minutes total. Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool. It doesn't have to be cold, just let it come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 300. Grease two 8x8" baking pans.

With an electric mixer, beat together the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, salt, and water. On low speed, add in the flour, oats, and baking powder. Mix until incorporated.


Divide the dough evenly into the prepared pans. Press the dough using your fingers or the back of a measuring cup. Bake for 35 minutes.

Remove the pans from the oven and run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan. After 5 minutes, place a cutting board on top of the pan. Flip the pan so that it is now on top. Lift the pan to remove the square of shortbread.


At this point, use a giant spatula (like this cake lifter/spatula) to flip the cookie right-side-up, OR leave as is. Don't try to flip it with a regular spatula...it's warm and will break apart. Use a pizza cutter to cut into squares or sticks. Place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.


This continues my dad's "year of oatmeal cookies." This is May's edition...yeah, yeah, I know it's June 2nd. May kind of got away from me there.  Here are the rest so far:

January: Oatmeal Bourbon Raisin Cookies

February: Crunchy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

March: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

April: Gluten-free Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

Steamed Tofu with Egg 嫩豆腐蒸蛋

I have recently started on the road to a healthier lifestyle, being more mindful of what I put in my mouth and exercise more regularly. I am watching my diet, making sure I increase my protein and fibre intake, but lower carb and reduce fat and sugar intake. Since young, my diet is mainly high in carb, low protein, low fibre. I am a rice, noodles, bread person, so it is quite challenging to plan my meals to cater to my diet and the rest of the family.

I came across this Steamed Tofu with Egg recipe from a book on eating well and weight loss programme. It is such a simple dish and rather similar to the usual steamed tofu and egg I have prepared. The only difference is, this recipe uses only egg whites and I have never tried steaming tofu with mushrooms. This dish is high in protein with the tofu and egg whites and yet low in calories. There is no oil and salt is the only seasoning used.

Since I cook this dish for my family, I replaced the egg whites with whole egg (and I do not want to have any leftover egg yolks). I have also used more tofu since the blocks of tofu available here usually come in 300g packs.

The original recipe is meant for a weight loss programme and the dish can be served along with some brown rice. I served it for my family of four as a side dish instead. This is a simple and healthy dish that is enjoyed by everyone in my family, especially my elder son. I am rather surprised that he likes this as he has quite a well developed palate. This dish has now become our new regular on our dining table :)



Steamed Tofu with Egg 嫩豆腐蒸蛋

Ingredients:
(serves 4 as a side dish)

200g silken tofu (I used 300g which is 1 block of tofu)
2 egg whites (I used 1 whole egg)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (according to taste)
1 shiitake mushroom (fresh or dried)
1 red chili, sliced
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds (I used white)


Method:

• Wash and cut fresh shiitake mushroom into slices (presoak dried shiitake mushroom if using).
• Mash silken tofu with a folk. Add in lightly beaten egg/egg whites.
• Add salt, mushroom slices, chili slices and sesame seeds. Mix to combine.
• Place mixture in serving dish and steam at high heat for 10mins. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, ground black pepper (optional), before serving.

Recipe source: adapted from 吃三天瘦一圈 by 李承桓

Six Degrees of ... Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies. Oh. My. Word. 

Not only are they delectable, but they're SO PRETTY. I had to refrain from taking a picture of every. single. one.



You might know these cookies as the New York Times chocolate chip cookie. Or maybe the Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie. I came across them years ago via my cousin via Orangette via the New York Times via David Leite via Jacques Torres. I'm pretty sure Jacques got the recipe from Kevin Bacon.

I've made them before and they needed to be made again.

What you need to know is this: 

1. if you are a lover of chocolate chip cookies, you need to make these. 
2. the dough requires a 36 hour resting period.
3. there are 2.5 pounds of chocolate in here!
4. the resulting cookies are chewy, salty, majorly chocolatey, cookie heaven.

The recipe here is for a BIG batch of BIG cookies...around 48 or so depending on how large you make them (you'll see in a minute) and how much cookie dough you consume during the 36 hour resting period. I'm guessing I ate at least 4 cookies worth of dough. 

For my rendition, I added a bit of cinnamon. Not so much that these taste like Snickerdoodles, but just enough to enhance the chocolate flavor. If you didn't know it was in there, you probably wouldn't guess cinnamon, just that the cookies are really special. (I like to add a bit of cinnamon in my pancake batter as well.)

For the chocolate...I used three kinds, all on the dark side of the spectrum, but three high-quality brands to make things more interesting. 

Once the dough has chilled and rested, you'll measure out the dough for baking. The NYT recipe reads "3.5 ounces or the size of a generous golf ball." Hmm. A generous golf ball seems like one that would roll closer to the hole, but I digress. 3.5 ounces is closer to a baseball in my book and makes for a HUGE cookie. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I tried 2.5 ounces, and ended up settling on 3 ounces. Not that big of a difference, but I'd probably stick with 3 next time. 

I can't recommend a kitchen scale strongly enough here. I resisted buying one for years and I'm surprised by how much I use mine now. You'll want it for scooping out the dough and for measuring ingredients. 

This one is thin, light, easy to store, and inexpensive. I love the tare feature which allows you to set a bowl on the scale, then zero out the weight. 

The Six Degrees of Separation/New York Times/Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe...Bake at 350 version

{makes about 40-48 cookies}

17 ounces cake flour

17 ounces bread flour

2 & 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 teaspoons kosher salt

1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 & 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

20 ounces light brown sugar

16 ounces granulated sugar

4 eggs

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 & 1/2 pounds (at least 60%) chocolate chips/discs (Guittard, Scharffen Berger, Ghirardelli) 

fleur de sel for sprinkling

Sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. 

In a LARGE bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one a a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. 

In low speed, add in half of the flour, mixing just until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate chips. 

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 36 hours. (Alternately, scoop the dough into 3-ounce portions, then chill.) 

After 36 hours, preheat oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment. Scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 ounces, but stick to one size per sheet for even baking. (I found it easier to loosen the dough with a spoon, then scoop it with a cookie scoop.)

Sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Bake for 16-19 minutes, depending on size. Bake until the edges are golden brown and the center are set. Remove from oven and let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Are they worth the 36 hour wait time?  YES!!!!!!!!!!! Am I a little sorry that we packed them all up and sent them to school for Jack's teachers during finals week, and I'm writing about them with no cookies in sight? YES!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Luo Han Guo with Lotus Roots dessert 罗汉果莲藕甜汤

It has been a few months since I last updated my blog...it feels good to be able to sit down and post something today.

I bookmarked this luo han guo with lotus root dessert ever since my blogging pal Sherlyn gave me a cookbook filled with delicious dessert recipes. As usual, I procrastinated and eventually forgot about it. It is only when the weather is getting so hot and warm that this recipe came to my mind.

This dessert soup is very simple to prepare as there are only 3 ingredients...lotus root, lou han guo and some red dates. These three ingredients are packed with nutritional values and are known for their wide range of health benefits. There is no sugar added to this soup as the lou han guo is naturally very sweet. I bought the lotus root from the wet market, those which are sold covered in mud. I think this type of lotus root is better as it is more fresh and crunchy.

This healthy dessert soup helps to remove heatiness and moisten the lungs. Besides the health benefits, it is a delightful, fragrant and sweet dessert that can be enjoyed warm, hot or chilled.



Luo Han Guo with Lotus Roots dessert 罗汉果莲藕甜汤

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

2 luo han guo fruits (I used only 1 fruit)
1 large section of lotus roots
6 cups (1.5 litres) of water
10 red dates

Method:

• Rinse and soak the red dates in some water for about 15 mins.
• Rinse and crack the luo han guo.
• Wash and peel the lotus roots. Cut into slices (about 5mm thick).
• Fill pot with 6 cups of water, add in the luo han guo and red dates, bring to boil. Cover, turn to Low heat and leave to simmer for about 20 mins.
• Add in the lotus roots, bring to boil and leave to simmer on Low heat for about 15 mins. 
• Serve hot, warm or chilled (let cool and leave to chill in the fridge before serving).

Recipe source: 甜蜜食堂, 贝太厨房

Sweet on Trader Joe's Saturday: Key Lime Pie

Once again, we're heading to the freezer section for our review.


Trader Joe's Key Lime Pie: I think this could be a seasonal item. I've never seen it before, and it was in the middle section of the freezer case where seasonal items often are.

The pie comes frozen, but only takes an hour or two of defrosting in the fridge before it's ready. That's a good thing because as soon as I picked it up in the store, I could think of nothing else. An overnight defrost would just have been torture.

{human tested; kitty approved.}

Described on the box as "punchy, zingy, sweet & addictive," TJ's Key Lime Pie costs $5.49.


A mom's (my) take: I applaud Trader Joe's for choosing a graham cracker crust here instead of a pastry crust. Joe's mama raised him right. ;) The crust is thick, but not overly so, holds its shape when cut, and has just the right crunch. The filling is as is should be sweet and tangy...creamy and cold. It's not the prettiest pie in the world, but could easily be dressed up with a dollop or two of whipped cream.
Overall rating: 5 of 5 stars

A teenager's (Jack's) review: I really love this pie. The pie itself has a very strong flavor, but not overwhelmingly so. The crust is rich and buttery, providing a nice contrast to the pie itself. I could eat several of these. Not pieces; whole ones! These simply taste wonderful.
Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Trader Joe's Key Lime Pie: Eat up while it's in store! 

In case you missed it, here's what else was on the blog this week:

• carnation cookies
• Twix brownies (maybe the best brownies ever)

Read all of our Trader Joe's sweet treats and dessert reviews!

Twix Brownies

Here are your weekend plans: MAKE. THESE. BROWNIES.

Inspired by Twix candy bars, these rich, fudgy brownies are topped with buttery shortbread cookies, gooey caramel, and a who-cares-if-it's-bathing-suit-season chocolate ganache. 

I say these are "inspired by" Twix because there are no actual Twix in the brownies. The shortbread cookies, caramel and chocolate will remind you of a Twix bar...the most decadent Twix bar ever.

A lot of desserts pass through this kitchen (have you noticed???) and I don't like to play favorites, but ohmygoshyoumustmaketheseimmediately.



After you make them, but might need to get them out of the house...especially if you have a family of three and 24 brownies are staring at you every time you're in the kitchen. I've been sending these with Jack 4 at a time in his lunchbox this week. The texts he's getting after school look something like this, "DUDE. BRING MORE BROWNIES TOMORROW." And, those are just the texts from his teachers.


The caramel layer is made with these caramel bits. Look for them near the chocolate chips. You can always use the wrapped caramels (look for those in the candy aisle), but these bits are SO much easier. You'll need two bags, but you won't use all of them.



Um, yeah.

Twix Brownies. You need them. Yes, my pants are fitting a little bit tighter this week, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

I'm sharing the recipe over on Imperial Sugar today. 
Go get it. 


If you're a brownies lover like I am, check out these other brownie recipes (AFTER you make the Twix brownies):

• Whoppers Brownies
• Caramel Brownies
• Double Chocolate Caramel Brownies