St Patrick's Day Cookies

What do you do on St. Patrick's Day?

Do you drink green beer? 

How about eat green cookies?

These shamrock cookies are simple to make and are super cute for any St. Patty's Day get together.

 

To make these cookies, follow my favourite sugar cookie recipe. Use the cookie cutter seen below which can be purchased at Crate and Barrel.

This cookie cutter is quite large so make sure you make enough dough for the number of cookies you wish to have.  I made about 25 cookies by doubling the recipe.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the royal icing.

I used Kelly Green and Rose to add color to the cookies.

Pipe...

...then flood.

Letting the cookies dry overnight is typically what I do before adding a message on top.

Since these cookies were ordered for a bridal shower, the name of the couple was written on top of each cookie.

I used Clear Drop Flat bags that I purchased at Creative Bag to package each cookie.

Congrats Jaimie and Adrian.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Upside Down Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

This may be the easiest dessert that I have ever made! But it wasn't my idea.  My aunt made it for dessert years ago and when I passed by the swiss rolls at the grocery store it reminded me of this recipe. Since she didn't remember how she made it, I made up my own steps.

Warning: ANYONE can make this ice cream cake! YES, EVEN YOU!

This recipe only calls for 2 ingredients:

-1 box of Swiss Rolls 

-1 litre of melted ice cream  (I chose Chocolate Ripple.)

The other items  you will need are:

-a large bowl

-plastic wrap

-a bread knife

-a spatula

-non stick spray

Line up 3-4 swiss rolls on a cutting board.

Using a bread knife, cut into half inch slices, about 5 per roll. Continue to cut each roll until all rolls are cut.

Line a bowl with plastic wrap so that it hangs over the edges of the bowl. Spray with non stick spray like Pam.

Line the sliced swiss rolls beginning in the center of the bowl until all slices are used, about half way up the sides of the bowl.

Pour the melted ice cream into the bowl.

Use a spatula to even out the melted ice cream.

Wait!  Don't waste all of the crumbs from the swiss rolls.  Sprinkle them onto the bottom of the cake!

Cover cake with plastic wrap and freeze for 24-48 hours.

Remove from freezer. Place a plate or cake plate over the top of the bowl. Flip plate and bowl of ice cream with frozen cake over. Remove the bowl and the plastic wrap and serve!

Hint: ensure that the plate you are using has a lip around the edges to catch any melted ice cream!

What a simple and delicious treat. 

Enjoy!

Chanukah Desserts Part 1-Homemade Souvganiot

Happy Chanukah! The first night of Chanukah was on Tuesday night.  On Monday night, I received a personal lesson by a former student's mom who is from Israel. She taught me how to make homemade souvganiot!  Souvganiot is the hebrew work for jelly doughnuts. Jelly doughnuts are a traditional treat for the Chanukah dessert table, since on Chanukah, it is a tradition to fry all foods in oil to remember the oil that burned in the temple for 8 days.

 

If you want to make your own souvganiot for Chanukah, here are the ingredients you will need:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups plain yogurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon juice

3/4 tbsp baking powder

vegetable oil for cooking

strawberry jam

icing sugar

Below are the utensils/items you will need:

-a large mixing bowl

-towel

-stand mixer

-two spoons

-tall pot

-candy thermometer

-squeeze bottle

-sifter/metal strainer

-paper towel

-cookie sheet

 

Combine all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixed attached with the paddle attachment. Mix all ingredients until just combined and dough has formed. Cover with a towel and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Fill a pot about one and a half inches high with vegetable oil. Turn on the burner just past medium, until the heat reaches between 350-360 degrees. This temperature will  create the perfect golden brown coloured doughnuts.

Using two spoons, spoon out the dough from the mixing bowl, forming a round ball.  Drop the dough into the hot oil and watch it sizzle!

Once the first side reaches the perfect golden brown color, flip the doughnuts over to cook the opposite side. (About 4 minutes per side.)

Test a few doughnuts initially by cutting them in half to see if the insides are completely cooked through.  This doughnut was not ready.  As you can see, it was still raw inside.

Once removed from the hot oil, set on a cookie sheet lined with layers of paper towel. This will absorb some of the oil. Use a knife to poke holes in each doughnut.  This will make it easier to fill the doughnuts with strawberry jam.

Stick the nose of the squeeze bottle directly inside the hole of the doughnut. Squeeze a fair amount of strawberry jam into each doughnut allowing a dollop to show on the outside of the doughnuts.

Garnish with icing sugar.

Arrange on a plate and enjoy!

Cake Pop Bouquets for my Sister's Engagement Party

My sister, my mom and I had a blast creating the "edible centerpieces" for my sister's engagement party a few weeks ago.  They were original, creative and delicious! 

To make these centerpieces here are the items you will need:

-all of the ingredients to make basic cake pops

-a mix of longer and shorter lollipop sticks

-Fiskars X-Large Easy Squeeze Punch (The link is similar to the one I bought but not exactly the same.)

-tear drop hole punch (pictured below)

-"Save the Date tags" (that I created myself and so can you!)

-vases of some sort or planter (My sister bought these adorable, purple planters at IKEA)

-styrofoam balls (which I found at Dollarama)

-rocks (also bought at Ikea)

To begin, I created two different "save the date" tags on the computer and printed them at Staples on cardstock. The firmer paper allowed them to slide through the lollipop sticks without ripping. I used my newly purchased scalloped squeeze punch to cut out all of the tags.  This was a lot easier than cutting circles by hand!

I had to make sure that I left enough space above and below the design to punch teardrop holes in order to slide the stick through the tags.

Aren't the tags cute?

My sister just loved them!

I didn't manage to take pictures of the 8 cakes that my mom and sister baked or the huge mess that we made in my mom's kitchen the day after she had a cleaning lady at her house! Nonetheless, the centerpieces turned out very well.  See below for some pictures.

My sister was thrilled that she bought crystal sprinkles to add a little character to the top of the pops. If you choose to do the same, be sure to sprinkle them onto the pops immediately after they are dipped in the candy melts, as the candy melts dry very quickly.

Adrienne very neatly arranged each pop into its place in the planter.  The styrofoam allowed the sticks to set right into place without moving.

Mazel tov Adrienne and David!

Ryan's in the Kitchen-Caramel Apples Kiddie Style

I love caramel apples and this was a perfect project for Ryan to help me with.

Here are all of the ingredients we used to make this treat.

Ryan loved his job of unwrapping all of the caramels. He did a little, "criss cross applesauce" as he put the wrappers in one bowl and the unwrapped caramels in the other.

Mmmm...Caramels are so delicious even when they are not melted!  To melt them, add 2 tablespoons of cream to a pot on a low heat and mix continuously for about 25 minutes. Eventually, the caramels will be runny like syrup.

In the meanwhile, Ryan prepared the apples by placing the sticks into each apple. We used popsicle sticks that came with the caramels but you could also use rounder, thicker sticks purchased at Michael's or any craft store. Dip the apples one at a time into the pot of melted caramel. Allow excess caramel drip back into the pot. Place directly onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and decorate immediately.

The fun had begun. Ryan chose all of the decorations for his caramel apple: mini m&m's, Oreo cookie crumbs, and some mini chocolate chips.

And carefully decorated his apple. After he was done, I decorated the rest.

Sometimes, simple is best...

But for you chocolate lovers...this apple may be preferred.

Chill apples in the fridge for a minimum of an hour before serving.

Enjoy.