Light as Air Sugar Cookies

There's a list hanging on my pantry door. Two, actually. One is a running list of things I need (and I always need something!) and the other is a list of things the girls want me to bake for them. The wish list has about thirty items on the list and of those only about a handful of them have been made in some variation or other. So a couple nights ago, I decided to fulfill one of the girl's request for sugar cookies and cross a recipe off the list, just for the sake of progress. (Who doesn't love to make things just to cross items off?!) Sugar cookies. Simple, homey, and depending on how you make them, the ultimate canvas for your decorating whims. Since it was late and I didnt have time or patience to chill a dough, roll out and chill between rollings, I opted for a drop sugar cookie, which I think are severely underrated and extremely delicious. These are made with a combination of powdered sugar and regular sugar, margarine and oil. A snap to put together, these are ready in minutes. Warm from the oven, they'll disappear in less than that. I used a small cookie scoop to deposit the soft dough into a bowl of sugar and then transferred them to the baking sheet. These disappeared in no time at all, leaving behind just the scent of sugary warmth in their wake. For bigger or smaller cookies, just adjust the size of your cookie scoop. Oh. And you might want to double the recipe, just to be safe.

Light as Air Sugar Cookies

Cookie Companion

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a bowl, place the sugars and fats.
Cream until smooth and light colored.
Add the egg, extracts salt and dry ingredients.
Stir until blended.
Add the flour and stir until a soft dough is formed.
Scoop the dough into a bowl of granulated sugar. Transfer to the baking sheets.
Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes until theyre just golden around the edges.
Cool on a wire rack. Shabbat Shalom!

Honey Orange Spice Squares

Wow am I exhausted. I'm sitting in class, which is rather on the boring side, and all the wiped-outness I've been feeling is overwhelming me. And I only went to sleep at twelve thirty! Yesterday, SFW went on a trip and departure was set for seven. For two madrichot who needed to get things ready, six fifteen was our wakeup. And this was no school day! Our trip started out with a long enough to manage a nap bus ride to Holon where we visited an organization called Save a Child's Heart which brings children in from countries in Africa and Europe in order to provide them with the cardiac care they can't get at home. We then went to visit some of those children who are awaiting their own surgery. It was quite a meaningful experience. We then went back to Jerusalem to see Mt. Olives and do some archaeological related stuff. We got back a bit earlier than expected, which turned out to be perfect for another nap. So what does this have to do with food? Well, the last trip we took had us eating rolls and chocolate milk for breakfast. As breakfast on this morning was looking the same way, I decided to make some cake for breakfast. Oh how I spoil my girls. I ended up making two cakes, but as I only tasted one, and just barely, by the way, I'm only going to post one. These honey spice squares come from Carole Walter's latest. Scented with orange zest, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg, these bars are a perfect breakfast treat. I omitted any sort of glaze but I think a simple powdered sugar glaze would be quite welcome here. This yields one 9x13 inch pan of bars.

Honey Orange Spice Squares

adapted from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup margarine

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest

2 eggs

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk and set aside.
Place the honey, margarine and orange zest in a small bowl. Microwave until thoroughly melted. Set aside.
Place the eggs in a bowl. Beat with a mixer until lightened.
Add the brown sugar a few tablespoons at a time, beating in between.
Here is all the sugar incorporated.Slowly pour in the melted margarine mixture. Add the vanilla. Blend.
Add half of the dry ingredients, then the sour cream and then the remaining dry ingredients.
Mix to yield a uniform batter.
Spread into the prepared pan.
Bake for 22-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Glaze if desired. Cut into squares and serve.

Adventures with Rye Part 6: Rye Bagels

It's been ages since I've posted about my adventures with bread. I've been baking challah almost every week and regular breads here and there but I consistently neglect to tell you about them. My deepest apologies. To make up for it I made rye bagels last night. Bagels has been a project that I've been wanting to undertake for a while, as a devoted New York bagel lover. With an open bag of rye flour, I decided to make these rye bagels. As soon as this batch is done, though, I'm going to make a batch of regular bagels. I used the Rye Bagel recipe from George Greenstein's Secrets from a Jewish Baker. I started rather late in the evening but they came together perfectly smoothly and quickly. I used half rye and half all purpose with two tablespoons of vital wheat gluten. I let the dough sit for about an hour. I suppose youre not supposed to let them rise that much so that they remain characteristically dense and chewy. I have a secret to confess to.... I didnt boil them! It was just too late and I wasnt in the mood to deal with boiling and messes. Next time Ill be a better girl, I promise. As far as shaping, I started punching holes in rounds of dough and expanding them but I didnt like the look. I then rolled them into ropes, overlapped them and then sealed them by placing my hand through the center and rolling back and forth. I baked them for about a half hour at 400 degrees or so and took them out when they had nice color. They looked so professional and the girls were so proud! I couldnt resist tasting one of them so I broke into one. The texture was dense and chewy and tasted of rye. I deliberately left out caraway so that the rye flavor could shine through unadulterated. Rye is a flavor that I'm not used to but is growing on me. Now I have a freezer-ful of bagels to enjoy throughout the coming weeks. Maybe Ill make a batch of white anyway just to switch things up. I'm sending some over to Yeastspotting; check them out!

Rye Bagels

adapted from Secrets of a Jewish Baker

2 cups warm water

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp instant yeast

3 tbsp sugar

3 cups rye flour

3-3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten

1 tbsp salt

Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl,
whisk to combine.
Pour the water and oil over the dry ingredients and mix to make a shaggy dough.
Turn out onto a surface and knead for fifteen minutes until you have a stiff, smooth dough.
Set aside to rise for an hour. A finger pressed into the dough should remain indented. Preheat the oven to 400 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Divide the dough into three pieces.
Roll each third into a rope,
and divide into four pieces.
Form into bagels. And place on the baking sheets. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

Cinnamon Neoclassic Buttercream

As promised, here is the Cinnamon Neoclassic Buttercream that I used to top the Pumpkin Cake. This is simply Rose's neoclassic buttercream with lots of cinnamon added. The instructions at first seem intimidating, but it's really not all the difficult to make. This is my second time making this buttercream. Last time though I made it espresso flavored, to top a chocolate layer cake. I actually have made this frosting parve, using margarine, and its been successful both times. I've also used only 200 grams of it instead of the 227 that Rose uses in hers, with no negative outcome. The frosting yields enough for a two layer cake and is creamy and really just a good all purpose cream that is not too sweet. There's not a package of powdered sugar to be seen! For the cinnamon buttercream, add cinnamon to taste. I really wanted a dominant flavor and it took about four tbsp. I know that seems like a lot. Add about half a tablespoon at a time to make sure you dont overdo it.

Cinnamon Neoclassic Buttercream

adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

56 grams eggs yolks, about 3 large

75 grams sugar

85 grams corn syrup

200 grams margarine or butter

1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon to taste- good quality

Place the egg yolks in a bowl.Beat on high speed with a mixer until light in color.

Place the sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan. Stir well to thoroughly moisten the sugar.

Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugars dissolve. Raise the heat a bit and continue to cook, without stirring until the whole syrup is boiling. Remove from the heat.

With your mixer on, pour the syrup into the eggs and beat until it is all incorporated. Be sure not to hit the beaters with the syrup.

Before adding the fat, you must make sure the egg mixture is completely cool to the touch. Once it is, begin adding it in a tbsp at a time, thoroughly beating after each addition.

Add the vanilla,

and the cinnamon to taste. Frost your cake as desired. If not using right away, wrap tightly and refrigerate. Re-beat to restore it to its original consistency before using.

Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

Here in Israel, I don't usually celebrate Thanksgiving. It's just not an Israeli thing to do. For Americans it is one of only two days a year that they stop everything to get together and feast. But Jews do it every weekend and many times beyond that for the holidays. That's why Thanksgiving isnt really the biggest deal. But my friend S was hosting a dinner party for some friends and I decided that even if I'm not into the ceremonial part of it, it would be nice to just hang out with friends, catch up with the old and meet some new ones over great food. Truth is, I had a great time but was stuffed like a turkey (please excuse the really corny pun), in a good way, at the end, only to go right into Shabbat the next day and have to eat a whole lot more! In any case, I was on duty to make dessert for dinner, which of course I was happy to oblige with. This was the perfect time to finally put my lone, precious can of pumpkin to use. I didnt want to make the typical pie and being on a tremendous cake kick, I decided to make the pumpkin cake from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. I made it a two layer cake instead of making it in a pumpkin mold, something that I dont have and am not sure is even worth purchasing. I frosted it with a cinnamon buttercream. (See upcoming post for the how-to on the frosting.) This cake was so good that I licked up the extra batter like it was actual cake. The baked cake was so super moist and flavorful, the best pumpkin anything I've ever tasted. This is the pumpkin cake to make. I used regular oil instead of the walnut and omitted the nuts themselves as well. The assembled cake looked so pretty. Nice and smooth. I didnt get a picture of how it looked sliced because I didnt bring my camera with. But you can trust me on this one. Thanks to E for shlepping the cake around town so that I wouldnt have to come back from the other side of the city to pick it up. This cake went in seconds. Hard to not go back for seconds. Despite my no repeats rule, I can see myself making this cake over and over for fall. Just as soon as the pumpkin shortage ends.

Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

1 3/4 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1 recipe Cinnamon Buttercream

Preheat the oven to 350. Line two nine inch cake rounds with parchment. Grease and set aside.
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to blend and set aside.
In another bowl, place the sugar, oil and eggs.
Whisk or beat with a mixer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the vanilla and the pumpkin.
Whisk until smooth.
Add the dry ingredients,
and stir to make a uniform batter.
Divide the batter evenly among the two cake pans. Smooth them out as best as you can.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in their pans for ten minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
To frost the cake: dab a bit of frosting on your cake plate to secure the cake. Place one layer on top.
Plop on a healthy dose of frosting,
and spread to the edges of the layer, smoothing all around. Scrape off the unnecessary frosting to even it out.
Place the second layer on top and repeat.
Frost the sides and smooth them out. Voila! Thanksgiving dessert!