Part of the challenge for September was to decorate the cookies with a September theme–whatever September means to you. As you can see, September brings to mind football. Mainly because it's the time of year I say goodbye to my husband until about mid February. Not literally, but sometimes Saturday, definitely all Sundays, Monday evenings, and sometimes Thursday evenings he spends glued to the tube watching whatever team is playing. Of course I join him when the Steelers play and cheer them on faithfully as I've been doing since my husband and I started dating. It was a prerequisite that I become a Steeler fan and I must admit I've enjoyed watching the last eight seasons. Many people ask if I just became a fan because of my husband. I usually answer yes but after eight seasons, I think I deserve to considered a fan in my own right :)
This was my first experience decorating with royal icing and while it takes some patience, I found it to be much more forgiving than I expected. It's all about the prep work–at one point my husband told me I looked like a mad scientist as I was mixing little containers of different colors/consistencies of royal icing. The recipe for sugar cookies is a good one–very buttery with a great texture.
Basic Sugar Cookies
adapted from Peggy Porschen
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies - 200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
- 200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
- 5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavourings you’re using. Beat until just becoming
creamy in texture.
Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during
baking, losing their shape.
Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.
Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)
Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.
Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in clingwrap and then refrigerate it for an
hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and
then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.
Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.
Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour. Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.
Leave to cool on cooling racks.
Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.
Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated
cookies can last up to a month.
Royal Icing
adapted from The Joy of Baking
- 315g – 375g / 11oz – 13oz / 2½ - 3 cups Icing / Confectioner’s / Powdered Sugar, unsifted
- 2 Large Egg Whites
- 10ml / 2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 5ml / 1 tsp Almond Extract, optional
Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
Beat on low until combined and smooth.
Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.
Tip: Royal Icing starts to harden as soon as it’s in contact with air so make sure to cover containers with plastic wrap while not in use.
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