Glacé Icing

I am a firm believe that all baked goods should look and taste great (hint: they do not need to be mutually exclusive). 

Nobody really cares how pretty your cupcakes look if they have a flat (but pretty!) piece of fondant on top with no icing or, you know, flavor.  The same goes for cookies with icing that dries pretty but will break your teeth or ruins the flavor of the cookie itself.  Royal icing is notorious for looking gorgeous but tasting like.... nothing.  Hard, crusty, nothing.  I used to prefer icing my sugar cookies with buttercream to avoid this, but it's not as precise and much harder to stack if you need to transport them.  One day, I discovered glacé icing - a sweet glaze-like frosting that dries hard, can be used for detailed designs and actually tastes amazing! 

Our friends have a little guy named Kieran who had his first birthday a few weeks ago, so I took the opportunity to create some star-shaped and sports themed cookies that matched the tablecloth his mom picked out. The great thing about this icing is that one batch can make an unlimited amount of colors.  You just have to separate into smaller bowls and use gel food coloring and mix with a spoon - it's as easy as that!  If you are piping a border or plan to pipe on top of your background icing (like the football/baseball laces or the "K"'s and "1"'s) it's best to let them dry overnight in between steps so the icing doesn't run or smudge.  This recipe is pretty forgiving once you get the hang of it.  If you need more help or want some step-by-step pictures, Our Best Bites has the best tutorial ever for this technique!

Glacé Icing

1 pound bag of powdered sugar
6 tablespoons whole milk
6 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla, if you prefer)

Combine the milk and sugar with a whisk attachment in the bowl of your stand mixer until no lumps remain.  Stir in corn syrup and almond extract.  Use this to glaze (for your background colors).  This is most easily done spreading the icing onto the cookie using the back of a spoon.  For piping letters or accents, I generally add another 1/2 cup to 1 cup of powdered sugar and stir until combined.  This increases the thickness of the icing and makes it easier to pipe. Remember to let the glaze dry before piping on top of it!  Use a pastry bag with a small circle tip to make this even easier.

*Remember to let them dry completely overnight before stacking!*

Monthly Mix-Ins

August's Monthly Mix-Ins are a few days late.  No excuses, it was just a holiday weekend and I was feeling a bit lazy.  Do I get points for honesty?

1.  Since Greg and I are in our mid/late twenties and everyone around us is having babies, we will be surrounded by great advice when the time comes for us.  However, this article tops any advice we've heard so far: 24 People Who Are Really Nailing This Parenting Thing.  Number 7 and number 24 just about made me pee my pants.  Does BuzzFeed ever get tiring? No. No, it doesn't.

2.  This Strawberry and Whipped Cream Cake.  I made it for my Mom's birthday earlier this month and YUM.  Plus, it's purrrrty.

3.  Not even going to touch Miley's VMA performance because 1) too easy and 2) I don't like to acknowledge it was actually a thing.  What happened to Hannah Montana?

4.  How amazing do these Milky Way Double Fudge Brownies from Aimee at Shugary Sweets look?  Somebody make these for me soon so that I can die happy.

5.  Hubs and my Dad installed my new farmhouse sink in our kitchen last month.  I had a super shallow sink that would allow me to wash, oh I don't know, exactly one cereal bowl at a time and now I have this glorious masterpiece.  Heaven!  You know you're getting old when you're this excited about a sink.  Sorry I'm not sorry.

6.  Football is here!! Which makes me happy for two reasons:  1) I genuinely love watching football and 2) FOOD. Hello!? Food! Game day food is the best. And Jessica put some of the best football recipes ever all in one place for you. She's the bestest.

7.  It's supposed to drop to 49 degrees overnight this week.  I need a smoother transition from summer, please.

8.  I know I'm about 2 years late to this party, but how amazing is the beauty blog MaskCara?! I need her to come renovate my beauty "routine", considering I am a total hair and make-up tragedy. Unless boring straight hair and chapstick are involved.  Cara: fix me, pleaseeee.

9.  Last food item I've been craving lately:  Pizza Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken.  Not even fair.

Fluffernutter Sandwich Cookies

It's no secret I'm a fluffernutter fiend. <-- Make those cupcakes and you'll see why.

I lived in Spain for four months during my junior year of college.  For those who may be unfamiliar, they don't really eat peanut butter in Spain (or anywhere in Europe that I visited for that matter).  I didn't really consider this before moving or I probably would have packed about 26 jars in my luggage.  No friends, this was a lesson learned the hard way.  The funny part is, I brought my host family a gift that included Reese's Peanut Butter Cups when I arrived and my 19-year old host brother literally ate the entire bag in two days.  So I guess he didn't hate them.

After about my first month there, I discovered a little tiny store run by an expat that sold international foods, teas, and trinkets.  Lo and behold.... peanut butter.  I think it was like 8 or 9 euros a jar but obviously it was a no-brainer.  I would have asked the shop owner to procure me some marshmallow fluff, but I didn't want to push my luck.

Fluffernutter Sandwich Cookies
Makes about 10 sandwiches (20 cookies)
Cookie recipe from Bakers Royale; frosting adapted from How Sweet Eats

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

For the cookies: place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low until combined.  Using a cookie dough scoop or a rounded tablespoon, place about a tablespoon and a half of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet.  Use a fork to flatten the dough using a criss-cross design.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until they begin to turn golden brown around the edges.  Let the cookies rest on the sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.

For the frosting: beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy.  Add the fluff and beat again until combined.  Scrape the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.  Stir in the vanilla. Finally, stir in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time and then beat until creamy.

To assemble: spread the marshmallow buttercream between two (completely cooled!) cookies to make a sandwich.  Enjoy!



Pumpkin Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

Before you say it, I am not wishing these last few weeks of summer away.  I'm eating tons of fresh summer produce while it's still available, wearing the heck out of my white pants and soaking up all the sun I can.

I'm not ready to start up on the fall recipes quite yet... I just love putting pumpkin in stuff.  Soups, desserts, main dishes, everything.  And I've never been one of those people that eats pumpkin dishes only in the fall.  Especially dishes that taste restaurant quality like this one.  I mean, something magical happens when you swirl sage in brown butter until it's crispy.  It's transcendent.

Most of the ingredients are pantry items so I find myself making this quite a bit throughout the year.  It can be a quick weeknight meal for the hubs and me, but it's also fancy enough to impress company.  Do yourself a favor and go get some pumpkin just a bit early if you haven't yet.  Fall will be here soon whether we like it or not!

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage
Serves 2
Recipe from Foodess.com

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups flour (or a little more)
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sage leaves, roughly chopped
sea salt
Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving

Boil a large pot of water.  In a medium bowl, mix pumpkin, egg, salt and nutmeg to combine.  Stir the flour into the pumpkin mixture in several additions.  If the dough is still sticky, add a bit more flour.  On a floured work surface and with floured hands, separate the dough into quarters.  Roll one of the quarters into a long rope about one inch thick on the work surface.  Using a pastry cutter or bench scraper, cut the rope into small pieces.  Repeat with the remaining dough. 

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling pot and cook until they rise to the surface, about 4-5 minutes.  While the gnocchi cooks, melt the butter in a large pan.  Add the sage leaves and swirl frequently until the butter turns golden in color.  Remove from heat.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked gnocchi onto paper towels to drain, then add to the brown butter and sage mixture and toss.  Transfer to serving dishes and sprinkle with sea salt and Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.