Penguin Fondant Topper

How to make a penguin fondant topper:




Supplies:

fondant in black and white (yellow for the feet and nose or just color later w/ luster dust)
pizza cutter
circle cutter
heart cutter
small square cutter
small tulip (small flower) cutter to use for feet




1. Make a black circle and cover your cupcake
2. Make a white heart shape for the body using the heart cutter like demonstrated below:








3. Make the feet and nose (cut the square shape at the end for the nose)

VERY easy peanut butter and chocolate fudge recipe!




*1 12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate depending on what flavor you like)
*1 can of sweetened condensed milk

*Mix together on low heat until all chocolate is melted. Pour onto wax paper (make
sure the wax paper lines the sides of the pan too) in a 9x9 pan. Put in the fridge while you continue.

*1 10 oz bag of Reese's peanut butter chips
*1 can of sweetened condensed milk.
*Repeat the above steps and pour over the slightly chilled chocolate layer.

Add any candy or marshmallows at this time then chill for a few hours!

Cotton Candy Donuts




Makes 6

3/4 cup cake flour
2 tbsp cotton candy sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted


*Beat egg. Sift and mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix together.
*Spray a donut pan with baking spray and bake for about
8-12 minutes at 350F or until tops of donuts spring back when touched. Be careful not to overbake.


Cotton Candy buttercream

2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 stick of butter
1 tbs milk
1 tsp of cotton candy flavoring or 1 tsp of vanilla extract if you do not have this or don't want too much cotton candy flavor!

Mix all together and frost your donuts!

Pumpkin Mini Cheesecakes

To make this the easy way, you will need a cheesecake mini pan like this which can be found on amazon.com:

If not, you can spread the cheesecake in a brownie pan (after you have made a crust bottom with graham crackers) and cut into circles with a circle bun cutter.

If you have the pan, just use Oreos!

Place vanilla Oreos (a single cookie; not the full cookie with the filling) in each cup. The pan is non-stick so you don't necessarily need anything, but if you want to be completely safe, you can add a bit of butter to each cheesecake cavity before filling.


For the cheesecake filling:

*one block of full fat cream cheese (room temp)
*1/2 cup of pumpkin from the baking aisle(I use Libby's pumpkin filling)
*1/2 cup of sugar
*1 tsp of vanilla
*1 egg
*pinch of salt
*pinch of nutmeg (I don't like a lot so I didn't want to use too much)
*1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1. Mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until well blended and fluffy. Then add the remainder of the ingredients.
2. Fill a pastry bag to easily fill in the cheesecake cavities (you can fill just about to the top)
3. Bake for 20 minutes on 350F
4. Cool for about 20 minutes and then place in the fridge covering loosely with saran wrap. They will be ready in about 4 hours.
5. Top with ganache, buttercream, whipped cream, etc!

Coffee No-Bake Cheesecake with Chantilly Cream

Finally posting this recipe! Sorry that it took so long; I've been neglecting the blog.

For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*1 tsp vanilla

For coffee flavor add:
*1 tsp black coffee



1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese, vanilla, and coffee in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Pour the mixture onto the prepared crust.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with whatever you would like! I put buttercream, Reese's Cups, and chocolate sauce on this one

For the Chantilly cream on the outside of the cheesecake itself:

*Place mixing bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Take out and add two cups of heavy whipping cream to the bowl. Then add two TBS of pure granulated sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla.
Mix on medium and then up to high speed until soft peaks form

No-Bake Pastel Rainbow Cheesecake

I love no-bake cheesecake for the summer! Plus, it's so easy to make for a quick cheesecake craving :)





For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*2 tsp vanilla


1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Get three bowls and add the cheesecake mixture to each bowl as evenly distributed as you can. You can then add food coloring to each; whatever color you desire. I added blue (bottom), yellow (middle layer), pink (top layer)
4. Pour the first color on top of the crust and freeze immediately. Also at this time, you will want to refrigerate the other two bowls of cheesecake filling. The reason for freezing the first layer is because you want it to set before you add the second color on top and you want it to be fairly quick so your other two bowls of cheesecake don't start to set! If you add all layers on top of each other right away, it will blend through and be more like a rainbow swirl rather than distinct layers (which would be a great look too)! After freezing for about 30 minutes, you can add the second layer. Freeze again for 30 minutes, and then add the last and third layer on top. You can then place normally in the fridge at that point.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with sprinkles, whipped topping, or whatever you like!

Hi all!

I wanted to walk you through my latest cake because it was experimental, and I also have some tips to share from other great cake artists!



Goal #1. In need of a fluffy vanilla cake/cupcake recipe

I've been searching and experimenting to get the best fluffy cake recipe; like the "box" brand. Yes, I love the fluffiness of that cake and even though I make homemade cakes, I do still love that fluffy mix for myself from time to time. Then I found on Sweetapolita's blog that she mentioned the same thing about fluffy cake and her yearning for the box brand too! :p Anyway, she has a fantastic recipe that I tried out for this cake and I LOVE it. Here is the link to her recipe and here is a photo of what mine looked like.

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/07/fluffy-vanilla-cake-with-whipped-vanilla-bean-frosting/






Goal #2. Sequins on a cake. I've been wanting to try this as well and found out through The Cake Blog that Jenna Rae Cakes has a great step by step tutorial on this. It's way easier than I envisioned! I did run into a problem because instead of using pastel candy confetti, I used regular color and thus needed SO much silver luster dust to cover up that deeper color. I ran out of luster dust so if you can see in my photo below, the sequins aren't as silver as they should be and you can see some color peeping out. Otherwise, it was a success.

http://thecakeblog.com/2014/06/diy-gold-sequin-cake.html




3. Fantasy gumpaste flower and/or sugar peony

I don't have the materials needed to create one with wires and this seems like the best way to do so. I hardly ever make flowers with wires and usually only do roses. I didn't want to buy materials I probably wouldn't use much so I used the wilton peony cutters and I think it worked great. It was really easy to do; you just use a ball tool to roll out the edges much like with sugar roses and put in an egg carton to dry. You can see my Youtube tutorial on roses in other blog post if you want a reference point of what I mean here.





And for those who have asked me to do tutorials on icing a cake cleanly with buttercream as my bottom tier is here (although there are some imperfections)... Instead of me doing a tutorial, I would highly recommend you check out Tessa of SweetBakeShop's tutorial because she does a fantastic job explaining it and I use the same method as her. Below are some of the tools I use and the link to her page.

http://sweetbakeshop.com/video-tutorial-how-to-stack-and-frost-a-cake-with-perfectly-smooth-sides/

Chocolate Cheesecake/Brownie Base - Easy and delicious!




I love cheesecake but not so much a fan of the graham cracker or cookie base. Also, I've never tried a no bake cheesecake using gelatin so I thought I'd give it a go.


For this cheesecake, I just used a brownie mix to create the brownie base (I put it in an 8inch springform pan).


After baking, I put it in the freezer to cool while I made the cheesecake filling. I found the recipe for chocolate no-bake cheesecake here and just made the filling portion of it.

https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/28806/easy-elegant-no-bake-cheesecake/detail.aspx



For the coffee buttercream topping, mix all these together in a mixer with the paddle attachment:

*1 stick of butter
*1 tsp of coffee flavoring (extract or coffee itself)
*2 cups of confectioners sugar
*1 tbs milk

Matcha/Green Tea Cake with Mint Chantilly Cream

*I used the 5 layer Wilton cake pans for this but you could use a 6 inch pan or it would make 12 cupcakes*



Matcha cake
*5 TBS of room temperature unsalted butter
*3/4 cups of sugar
*3 eggs
*1 1/4 cups of cake flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*pinch of salt
*1/2 cup of milk
*1 tsp of vanilla extract
*1-2 TBS matcha powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line the muffin pan with cupcake liners OR grease a 6inch cake pan
2. Beat the butter and sugar until combined, then add the eggs one at a time
3. In a different bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and matcha
4. In a cup, stir milk and vanilla together
5. Add the flour and milk alternately to the butter/sugar mixture until combined
6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean


Mint Chantilly Cream
*1 cup of heavy whipping cream
*1 TBS of sugar
*1 tsp of mint extract

1. Place mixer bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes
2. Remove from the freezer and place all ingredients in the bowl, whisking with the whisk attachment on low first and then moving up to high
3. It is ready when fluffy and peaks form

Almond Joy Cheesecake

For the crust:
-2 cups of ground graham crackers (about 30 squares or to make it easier, buy the crumbs already crushed :)
-1 stick of melted butter

For the filling:
-2 blocks of full fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
-3 eggs
-1 cup of sugar
-1 pint of greek yogurt
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (if desired)

Crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
2. Combine butter and crumbs until evenly distributed
3. Coat an 8 inch springform pan with baking spray and pour the crumb mixture into the pan.
4. Spread it evenly and pat it down with the bottom of a glass.
5. Bake it for about 10 minutes and remove to cool (you may want to just place it in the fridge at this time)

Meanwhile for the filling:
1. Beat cream cheese and sugar on low until smooth and free of clumps
2. Add eggs one at a time on low speed
3. Fold in the yogurt, extract, and if desired, chocolate chips and mix evenly with a spoon or spatula
4. Pour the cheesecake mixture onto the cooled crumb mixture
5. Place aluminum foil around the bottom and slightly up the sides of the springform pan to prevent spilling
6. I got this last tip from Passion For Baking Manuela's Blog! To avoid having to make the water bath used for cheesecake, she has an oreo cheesecake recipe recommending to bake at 212F for three hours. Yes, it takes long, but I preferred not to make the water bath so I went with the slow bake


Topping (for the Almond Joy flavor)!
- top with ganache, sliced almonds, and coconut flakes. Some of this could be included into the mixture, but I did not want to add almonds inside so I just went with the topping. It was delicious!

Dessert Lasagna

I made chocolate dessert lasagna a while ago and decided to try strawberry now as summer is approaching and it's getting hot! It's a great no-bake dessert and SO simple and delicious!



Strawberry Dessert Lasagna

1. Melt a stick of butter with a pack of crushed Oreos (chocolate or vanilla or Nilla cookies) and spread in a brownie pan. Refrigerate.
2. Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup of sugar and a pack of cream cheese, 2 tbs milk and 1 1/4 cups of cook whip. Spread on Oreo layer and refrigerate again.
3. Combine two packs of instant pudding of any flavor with 3 1/4 cups of milk and then layer on the cream cheese. Refrigerate once again for a bit.
4. Finally spread cool whip on top and add some sprinkles!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mini Cakes

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, AND….Cheesecake!

Crust:
• 1 cup of Oreos (about 20 cookies)
• 2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

Filling:
• 1 package of softened cream cheese
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the crust:
• Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12x9 inch (brownie) pan OR line a cupcake pan with 12 baking cups.
• Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
• Press the mixture into the pan or baking cups and bake for about 10 minutes.
• Set aside to cool.

For the filling:
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, and peanut butter first.
• Then add in the egg and vanilla until well blended.
• Top the Oreo crust with the filling and bake for about 20 minutes.
• Serve with nutella , whipped topping, or as you desire!
*if you used a brownie pan rather than cupcake cavities, you can cut into circles with a biscuit cutter for the same look as I have in my photo. Enjoy!

Matcha (Green Tea) Cake with Taro Buttercream

I really love this combo and the cake was so delicious and moist. Definitely my favorite matcha cake recipe so far and I've been experimenting with them a lot in order to find the one I like the most.

Matcha cake (makes about 6-8 inch cake. If you do a 6, you'll probably have some batter left for cupcakes)!


3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbs of matcha powder (or just kind of dump a nice amount in if you're like me and really love it)!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray your cake pan with baking spray or grease with butter.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, matcha, and salt. Stir the milk and vanilla together. Add the flour and the milk alternately to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour and beating on low speed. Put in the cake pan and bake at 350F for about 40 min to an hour. Check with a toothpick and this may vary depending on your oven so I recommend checking after 30 min and then so on.

Taro Buttercream (aka euphoria for the taste buds)

2 sticks of butter
4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 tbs taro powder
2 tbs milk or heavy cream (more or less depending on warmth, your desire for consistency, etc)

Mix all together on low speed until well combined (you may want to mix taro and milk together first though to avoid any possible grainy texture)
Spread onto cake or in layers of the cake and enjoy!!

Ube Cake

UBE CAKE RECIPE - Besides macarons, the most highly requested!


I have a few different ways I made ube cake and I'll give you a couple. The first is the completely homemade way. The second is a super easy way great for those who are new to baking or in a hurry or just lazy and need a quick fix (sometimes that is me too)!

Ube cake (makes 12 cupcakes or a 6 inch cake)

*1/2 cup (one stick) butter
*3/4 cup sugar
*2 eggs
*2 tsp ube extract
*1 1/2 cups flour
*1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/4 tsp salt
*2/3 c cold milk

Preheat oven to 350 F
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time. Stir in ube. Add dry ingredients. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Easier ube cake

*Just get a box of white cake mix and add a teaspoon or two of ube extract. Bake as directed according to the box. *This quick, easy recipe is courtesy of my baker friend, Trish who can be found on IG @sosweetbites. It's really tasty and fluffy!


Coconut Buttercream

*2 cups of confectioner's sugar
*1 stick of butter
*1 tbs milk
*1 tsp coconut extract

*Cream butter and extract, slowly add confectioner's sugar on low speed, and add milk (more or less depending on what consistency you want).

Taro Donuts

I really love taro and decided I wanted to try homemade donuts again...with taro! I found this amazing recipe online and wanted to share it. I simply just changed it to add the taro, so instead of matcha powder, it was taro for me. Everything else remained the same! It was cake like and delicious. Here's a picture of my donut and a link below to where I found the recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe here! ----> http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/green-tea-donuts/

Lavender Honey Cake

Lavender Honey Ombre Cake



*I used four 6-inch wilton cake pans to create the ombre layers of purple. Pictured here:




Lavender Honey Cake Recipe:
*yield 12 cupcakes or a 4 layer, six inch cake

*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp salt
*8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
*1 cup sugar
*3 large eggs
*1 1/2 tsp of lavender extract (optional depending on how much lavender taste you want)
*3/4 cup milk
*1/2 cup honey


1. Mix together salt, flour, and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside
2. Cream together butter and sugar until well combined, then add the honey and lavender extract
3. Add milk and flour mixture, alternating between the two. Make sure it's on low speed as you add these
4. Separate mixture into four bowls and add food coloring to each to create the ombre effect
5. Pour mix into the four pans and bake for about 17-20 minutes at 325F. Check it with a toothpick to make sure it's ready
6. Remove from oven and let cool. Stack the cakes on top of each other placing frosting in between each layer


Lavender Buttercream
*1 tsp culinary dried lavender
*2 tbs milk
*1 stick butter
*2 cups confectioner's sugar

**If you don't want to go through the process of this or don't have culinary lavender, you can use 1 tsp lavender extract

1. Put dried lavender and milk in a small bowl and refrigerate for about two hours
2. Cream together butter and confectioner's sugar
3. Strain the lavender milk mixture and add to the buttercream. Add more milk if needed

OR if you don't do this, just add 1 tsp lav. extract and 1 tbs milk

Baking Measurement Conversions

Handy to have at your disposal! (found online; click to enlarge)

"Lofthouse" style cookies

I LOVE Lofthouse cookies or any cookies like them. You may have had them from Walmart or your local grocery store. They are cake like and have buttercream (usually colorful and with sprinkles) on top. Here is a recipe for them! It's not 100% exactly like them, but it's very close and very delicious ^^

Cookie:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

*In a bowl, combine butter, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
*In a second bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and powder, and salt).
*Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix well.
*With a tablespoon, scoop out cookie dough and form into even balls. Slightly flatten the balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
*Bake at 350F until a light gold brown which will be about ten minutes. It will seem undercooked but it is not.
*Let cool before frosting with buttercream.


Buttercream frosting (standard recipe):

1 stick of butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tbs of milk (may need more or less; just test it out)
Gel food coloring, if desired

*Mix all ingredients well (starting with butter, then vanilla, slowly add sugar and finally, milk and coloring)
*Frost your cookies!

Ube Cheesecake

I love ube and cheesecake so naturally, I thought a combo of the two would be amazing and it was! :)

I used a basic cheesecake recipe for this and simply added ube. It turned out very delicious, but next time, I will use MORE UBE! It was
very subdued so I think maybe 2 tablespoons would work better ;) Ube is also naturally purple so you will get a beautiful color when you make it.

Crust
an 11 oz box of Nilla wafers (crush in a food processor)
1/3 cup of melted butter

Mix wafers and butter and spread onto an 8 inch springform pan


Cheesecake filling

4 packages of full fat and softened cream cheese
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp ube extract (I will increase to 2 tbs next time because 2 tsp wasn't enough for my ube obsession)!
4 eggs

Beat cream cheese, sugar on low speed. Add eggs one at a time, still on low speed. Finally, add ube extract.

Pour the mixture onto the crust. Bake for 55 minutes at 300F if using a nonstick or dark pan; 325F for all others. Refrigerate and it will be ready to serve in about 3 hours.


Ube buttercream frosting

1/2 stick of butter
1 cup of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp ube extract
1 tbs milk

Sugar Roses

I love making gumpaste/sugarpaste roses! I have a few tutorials up, but my most recent one is the best to view. You can do so here..
After making the video, I came to realize the spoon method to curling back the petals works best for me. If you type in McGreevy's roses in YouTube, you can find her tutorial on it. Basically, instead of using a toothpick to curl the petals, you curl it over a spoon and let it dry a bit. Works well! :) Between the two methods, it should help you along the way to creating your own flower. Here are some additional pictures of materials I use including the brand of gumpaste and type of roses cutters for one single rose.

Cookie Butter Cupcakes

I am obsessed with cookie butter! So naturally, I decided that I should make cookie butter cupcakes!  I went with chocolate cupcakes, chocolate ganache filling, and cookie butter buttercream.

 

 

Cookie Butter Buttercream

 

• 1/2 cup cookie butter (I got mine from Whole Foods)
• 1 stick of room temperature butter
• 2 cups of confectioners sugar (add a bit more if consistency is not thick enough)
• 1 tbs milk
• Mix butter and cookie butter first and then mix the remaining ingredients in a mixer on low and then on medium speed until well combined.

So simple and so delicious!!!  I think next time I will try cookie butter as the filling and ganache as the frosting.  Happy Baking! :)

 

 

Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

~strawberry cake with banana buttercream~

The famous Sprinkles Cupcakes recipe from:  http://www.marthastewart.com/258957/sprinkles-strawberry-cupcakes

• 2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
4. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended.
6. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
7. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

My Banana Buttercream Frosting (for 12)

 

• 2 cups of confectioners sugar
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tsp banana flavoring (extract or banana milk)
• 1 tbs milk depending on the consistency of the frosting

 

Beat butter first then slowly add the c. sugar and other ingredients.  You may give or take some c. sugar and milk depending on how stiff you want the icing to be.

 

Macarons

Recipe for French Macarons (adapted from Martha Stewart)

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 cup of confectioners sugar
• 2 large egg whites (make sure they are room temperature)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or whatever flavor you choose)
• Pinch of cream of tartar

1. Place confectioners sugar and almond flour in a food processor (best results) or just sift it really well so it's very fine.
2. Meanwhile, place egg whites in a bowl and mix adding a pinch of cream of tartar at this time. The mixture should look foamy.
3. Then add regular sugar. Wait until it forms soft stuff peaks (may take 5 -8 minutes) and add in extract when it is nearly stiff.
4. Fold almond mixture into meringue mixture until it forms a consistency that is shiny, thick and ribbonlike but also falls off spoon slowly but not runny.  If you want to add food coloring, do so now as you are folding.
5. Pour the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip and pipe 26 small circles onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat .
6. Tap the sheets onto a hard surface to remove air bubbles. This is extremely important!  Let it stand for 30 minutes at least (this will form the top shell surface and ensure the shells do not break or crack as they bake).
7. Then place in the oven at 300 F (use an over thermometer if you can because this is the part that caused my macs to fail a lot. Some say 325F but mine must be at 300F after much trial and error. You will find what works best for you.  You may have to test this too because ovens can be calibrated differently).
8. Bake for about ten to twelve minutes. Take out and take the macs off the cookie tray (but keep them on the parchment paper and place onto a wire rack) Cool and add filling!