Daring Bakers challenge: sugar cookies with icing

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I used this recipe making 2 other versions as well, dividing the dough and replacing:

chocolate cookies: replace 2 heaped tablespoons of flour for cocoa powder and add a shot of espresso

lemon and poppy seed cookies: adding 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds, and the zest of one lemon and juice of half.

We had a theme, which was November. This month I am going on vacation so my theme was me (sugar cookie) before, me (lemon and poppy seeds) after a few days and me again (choc cookie) after 2 weeks under the sun :)

Basic Sugar Cookies:
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 (I only used 150grams and was still too sweet for my taste)
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Directions
• 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.
• Tip: I don’t have a stand mixer so I find it easier to switch to dough hooks at this stage to avoid
flour flying everywhere.
• 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.
• Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.
• 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.
• Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.
• Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.
• 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:

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

Directions

• Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined.
• Tip: It’s important that the bowls/spoons/spatulas and beaters you use are thoroughly cleaned and
grease free.
• Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites.
• Tip: I’ve listed 2 amounts of icing sugar, the lesser amount is good for a flooding consistency, and the larger amount is for outlining, but you can add even more for a much thicker consistency good for writing. If you add too much icing sugar or would like to make a thinner consistency, add very small amounts of water, a few drops at a time, until you reach the consistency you need.
• 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.

A quick word about baked chicken

All the big cheeses in cooking have at least one book with a baked chicken recipe. They also all have some kind of twist: fry the chicken before putting in the oven, cut small slices into the thighs, pre-boil the potatoes, etc.. I have tried them all and have realised that these are just to give you some extra value for your money. You would probably feel cheated if the recipe just said season chicken and put in oven, right?
Well, I have done the research and all the fuss makes no real difference. I use a very simple and foolproof recipe, so don't waste time with all the fancy extra steps :)

simple baked chicken with potatoes:

ingredients: (for 4 people)
- a 2kg organic chicken (the big secret is the quality of your chicken)
- a small handful of garlic cloves unpeeled
- 1 lemon, preferably unwaxed
- a bunch of rosemary, and a bunch of thyme plus extra sprigs of rosemary for the potatoes
- salt, pepper and very good quality olive oil
- 500-700gr potatoes depending of what other sides you make washed and quartered or halved depending on size
- optional: add quartered carrots and red onions if you like 

preparation:

Heat your oven to 180C.
Wash the chicken and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Microwave the lemon for about 10sec and pierce a few times with a sharp knife
Fill the chicken with the herbs, the garlic cloves and the lemon and close the cavity.
Rub olive oil all over the chicken and season generously with black pepper and salt.
Put in the oven for 30mins.
When the 30mins are over, add the potatoes (and other veg if you are using), covering them with the extra rosemary and lots of salt and shake the pan so they are covered with the juices of the chicken.
Put back in the oven for another 60mins and ready!

Lunch in a box: Salmon with veggies

Have I talked about my abnormal passion for plastic containers? Well..I have one, so this weekend in Munich I bough a few new ones, one being a lunchbox (I love them and I have a crazy amount of them considering I hardly take lunch with me to the office) from ex-Danish, now Dutch brand Rosti Mepal.
So I decided to make myself some lunch that was healthy, nice when eaten cold and filling enough to get me through the afternoon. I made a baked salmon with sundried tomato paste and some grilled veggies. Used 1 pan, was ready in 40mins and after testing it, I can say that I am already looking forward to tomorrow:

Baked salmon with grilled veggies and joghurt dressing (for 1 person)

ingredients for salmon and veggies:

- 1 small aubergine, cut in squares
- 1 handful of cherry tomatoes
- 1 handful of broccoli florets, stalk trimmed
- 1 slice of salmon
-1 tablespoon of sundried tomato paste
- olive oil, salt,  pepper and chili flakes to taste

for the joghurt dressing:

- 2 tablespoons of joghurt
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 4 large basil leaves finely chopped
- red peppercorns and salt squashed in a mortar

preparation:

Heat the oven to 200C.
When oven is ready, add the aubegine, mixing it with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Bake for 15mins, then add the tomatoes and the broccoli florets and mix well. Move to one side of the pan and place the salmon next to it, spreading the tomato paste on it evenly. Season the whole contents again and put back into the oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile mix the ingredients of the dressing.
When the salmon is cooked, leave to cool down. Then place in your plate or lunchbox the veggies, top with the salmon (you can take the skin off before you add it in. Pour the dressing over and refrigerate.

Choc chip cheesecake cupcakes

Yay! Cheesecake. I just have this thing for cheesecakes..have I mentioned it before? I've been thinking about how to make them as quick as possible and transportable as well, so I can have them everywhere easily, without having to pack a plastic box with a slice and a fork, and all the fuss that comes with it.
So the solution was easy, lets make cupcakes, meaning small muffins here. I found a recipe in allrecipes.com that I have tweaked, by adding choc chips, first of all (as all good things have a bit of chocolate inside), changing the base and making them taste a bit more cheesecakey, if that word exists.
They came out great :)

Choc chip cheesecake cupcakes:

ingredients:
-150grams digestive cookies crushed
- 50gr ground almond
- 4 tablespoons of light butter, melted
- 300gr light or regular cream cheese at room temperature, I used Philadelphia
- 100gr sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 100 gr good quality 70% chocolate, chopped to small bits

preparation:
Heat the oven to 175C.
Mix the cookies, ground almond and the butter and line about 10 muffin/cupcake tins with paper.
Add 1 tablespoon of the mixture to each paper and push down and level out. Put in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
In a bowl, first mix just the cheese to smooth a bit, then add the sugar and the eggs one at a time, mixing well.
Add the vanilla, the zest and the lemon juice and mix.
At the end, add the chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon.
It will look very liquid but don't worry.
Pour the cheese mixture on top of the cookie base, making sure every cupcake has some chocolate bits in it.
Put in the oven for 15-25 minutes. Check after 15 mins first than keep an eye on it.
Cool and refrigerate for a few hours.
Eat them out of the fridge or take them to work in a small plastic bag.

Summer chicken salad with strawberry dressing

This is a classic salad that I make winter and summer, just varying the dressing. Holding tightly on to the last weeks of summer, London has not been too kind, and last week all we saw was a demo of what to expect in the next few months. 3 days of almost non-stop rain, sometimes torrential. Grey skies, cold evenings. So instead of starting to make comfort food, soups and chicken in the oven, I bought a big box of strawberries, closed the windows and made a summer salad :)

Summer chicken salad with strawberry dressing:

ingredients for the salad:

- 2 smallish chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 1 large garlic clove, smashed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 big handful of green leaves, like rocket, baby spinach, watercress
- a handful of plum tomatoes quartered
- a handful of feta cheese cut in cubes
- a yellow or red pepper chopped as you like
- baby broccoli steamed in a bit of water for a few minutes in the microwave
- a few green olives, sunblushed tomatoes
- toasted pinenuts or pumpkin seeds
- fresh chives, chopped

ingredients for the dressing:

- 4-5 ripe strawberries
- 2-3 tablespoons of good quality olive oil
- 1-1,5 tablespoons of a mild vinegar, I used chianti vinegar
- red whole pepper and salt crushed, to taste

preparation:

Mix the chicken with the garlic, salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil and marinade while uyou assemble the salad.
Mix together all the veggies, the feta and the olives on two large plates.
Put in a small blender the ingredients for the dressing and blend. Taste and adjust. If too puree-ish, add some more oil.
Fry the chicken without adding more oil, and place on top of the greens together with the nuts.
Pour the dressing over, add the chives and serve right away.