With Sprinkles on Top

Little apple cookies! Aren’t they cute? I am in the camp that hates (hates) pumpkin spice anything, so I choose to make fall all about apples instead. Apple pie. Apple cider. Hard apple ale. It’s all good. What’s your favorite type of apple? It’s a tie between honeycrisp and granny smith for me. Here’s the scoop on how I made these cookies!

If you are a new to decorating with royal icing, here are some helpful tips and links:

• I used my grandma’s sugar cookie recipe, which is listed below.  Another good cut-out cookie recipe can be found at Bridget’s wonderful Bake at 350.
• I used a royal icing recipe from Annie’s Eats, which is listed below.
• If you are new to decorating with royal icing, please visit this post by Annie’s Eats, which will teach you about outlining and flooding.  Bake at 350 is also a great resource for cookie decorating and ideas (I love Bridget’s book, too!).

Here are the specifics on how I made these cookies:

• I used a small apple cookie cutter — mine was only about 2″. I wish more cutters would come in this size!
• You will need red, yellow, and green sanding sugar; as well as red, yellow, and green food coloring. I used AmeriColor gel colorings. I chose more of a lime green so that my  green apples would look like granny smiths.
• I bought a tub of chocolate frosting for the stems. I wasn’t about to waste the time making a whole batch of homemade chocolate buttercream just for those little stems!
• I outlined the cookies with icing first using a small round tip (see below for the recipe I used); once the outlines set, I flooded each apple. Immediately after flooding, I dipped each apple into sanding sugar.
• The last step is to pipe a little chocolate stem onto each apple.

Omi’s Sugar Cookies
Print Recipe
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients gradually. Chill the batter overnight or for at least 4 hours. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350F until golden (in true fashion, my grandma didn’t give a specific baking time. I baked the cookies for about 8 minutes).

White Royal Icing
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons meringue powder
5 Tablespoons water

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance (about 7-10 minutes).  Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container. This will be the stiffest consistency of the icing, and at this point it is still too stiff to use for decorating. Add water a very small amount at a time and stir by hand until fully incorporated. Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping.

Divide the icing into three bowls; dye one red, one yellow, one green. Outline the apples with the icing; wait a few hours then flood — and dip into the sanding sugar. Pipe a little chocolate stem onto each apple.

Note: depending on how big your apples are or how many you are making, you may need to make a few batches of this icing.

I am officially wearing a huge blogging cone of shame. It’s been a whole month since my last post! So much for promising to bake and blog more! I have no excuses. Life has just been a bit much lately. Do you ever go through those types of seasons in life? But hey, nothing lasts forever, so this is all going to calm down eventually. I actually made a list of Halloween baking projects (it’s my favorite holiday for baking!), so check back in October and November. I PROMISE there will be more to see!

I love fudge — but only in small doses. I am not alone in this, which is why it is universally cut into one-inch squares. But this bears repeating (because someone will comment): this fudge is sweet. Because it’s fudge!

Yield: 25-36 squares

Neapolitan Fudge

Print

Chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla combine to make this fantastic fudge!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Layer:

• 1/2 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 8 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled

For the Raspberry* Layer:

• 1/2 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 8ounces white baking chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Raspberry Extract
• 2-3 drops red gel food coloring (optional)
• * Yes, I know, Neapolitan treats traditionally feature strawberry. But this recipe changes it up. Roll with it.

For the Vanilla Layer:

• 1/2 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 8 ounces white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

Instructions

Make the Chocolate Layer

1. Line a 9-in. x 9-in. baking pan with parchment and set aside.

2. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat 4 ounces cream cheese until fluffy.

3. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar and then add in the melted milk chocolate. Spread into prepared pan. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Raspberry Layer Instructions

1. In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy.

2. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar.

3. Beat in melted white chocolate and raspberry extract. Tint with food coloring if desired. Spread over top.

Vanilla Layer Instructions

1. In stand mixer, beat 4 ounces cream cheese until fluffy.

2. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. Beat in melted white chocolate.

3. Carefully spread over chocolate layer, trying to get layer as flat and even as possible. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Using parchment paper, lift fudge out of pan. Cut fudge into 1-in. squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

Your yield will depend on how big or small you cut your fudge squares.

Recipe credit: I Am Baker

Hey guys! Summer is almost over and I have blogged nothing. Nothing. I’m sorry for neglecting my little blog. The reasons why I basically peace’d out are numerous. Adjusting to work has been difficult (as I mentioned in my last post from July). The weather here is still warm, so I’ve been avoiding the use of my hot oven in my hot house. But autumn is coming (my favorite baking season) and I’m hoping to get back into the groove.

I’m sure you may be wondering, “wtf is up with the grape cookies?” Well, I had a birthday last week — and it got me thinking about my childhood (as birthdays tend to do). When I was about five years old, my mom took me to our local bakery and let me pick out any birthday cake I wanted for my party. I could have picked a princess cake or a Disney-themed cake or a cake with balloons piped onto it. But no. What did I pick? A cake with purple grapes piped onto the corners (I guess the bakery wanted to try something besides the traditional icing roses). It’s been a little joke in my family ever since — so much so that I’ve been gifted 4 different glass grape Christmas ornaments over the years.

So I decided to make these little cookies. And I really do hope I can make more time in my schedule to start baking and posting. Thank you for your patience :)

Grape Cookies
Print Recipe

For the sugar cookies:
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream, and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients gradually. Chill the batter overnight or for at least 4 hours. Roll out dough and cut with a grape-shaped cookie cutter. Bake at 350F until golden, about 8-10 minutes.

Note: You can use any sugar cookie recipe you’d like. I used this because it’s my favorite. But use whatever you prefer. The recipe above will make quite a few cookies — at least 3 dozen.

For the icing:
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioner’s sugar
4-6 tablespoons very cold milk
Dark green, lime green, purple, and brown food coloring

1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer.
2. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well.
3. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition.
4. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.
5. Divide into four parts. You’ll need far more purple and lime green icing than you will brown and dark green (for the stems/leaves), so portion accordingly. Dye the icing.
— Recipe from therepressedpastrychef.blogspot.com

Assembly:
Using a medium round tip, pipe purple and green “grapes” onto each bunch. Using a small round tip, pipe the stems and leaves onto each bunch of grapes.

I’m alive!
And hey, did you know that they make patriotic candy corn? I didn’t either.
So I haven’t forgotten about my blog, nor have I lost my desire to bake.
I’ve just been really busy, guys. The entire month of May was me packing, moving, graduating, unpacking, and going to Home Depot about 8,297 times. The month of June has been trying to adjust to, you know, being a lawyer. It’s overwhelming, I won’t lie and I won’t sugarcoat it.
Another complication? My house can only be cooled with two window ACs, so honestly, the last thing I’ve wanted to do is turn on a hot oven.
But I WILL return – likely in July!
I hope you have all been well :)

Hello lovely blog readers! I will be going on a month-long (or maybe a bit more) hiatus because I’m GRADUATING LAW SCHOOL! AND MOVING! AND STARTING A NEW JOB! OMG! This is all very overwhelming. Good overwhelming though. Because of all these MAJOR LIFE CHANGES, I’ll have little to no time for baking or blogging over the next six weeks or so.

Leaving Milwaukee will be so bittersweet. I’ve mostly hated law school, but I’ve mostly loved Milwaukee. My three years here have been filled with ups and downs, but also filled with plenty of fun, good food, and a lot of exploring. Milwaukee is a little rough around the edges and the traffic makes me want to punch a baby, but I will miss it dearly.

Here are some fun facts about MKE. Because who doesn’t love fun facts?!

– The name Milwaukee comes from the Native American word “Milliocki” meaning gathering place by the water.
– Milwaukee is the 22nd largest city in America.
– Milwaukee is home to Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
– The typewriter was invented in Milwaukee in 1867 by Christopher Latham Sholes.
– The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Burke Brise Soleil wingspans spreads 217 feet at its widest point, wider then a Boeing 747.
– The flame-shaped light on top of the Milwaukee Gas Company building changes color to forecast the weather. Yellow is cold, Red is warm, and Blue means no change.
– Milwaukee sometimes referred to as “Cream City” because of the buildings that were built in cream colored brick. It’s unique yellow color disappointed pioneer brick makers. They were astonished when builders from across the country were willing to pay double its price. Although the brick is no longer made, it is still in high demand and often recycled.
– In the late 1800s Milwaukee become known as “Beertown.” Four famous Milwaukee brewers are Frederick Pabst, Frederick Miller, Joseph Schlitz and Valentine Blatz.