My Top 100: Update #3

Time for another My Top 100 list Update. (Update #2) (Update #1) (Initial List)

Since my last updated, I have completed a ton (relatively speaking) of new items! I think I am making good progress. With the Holidays right around the corner, I foresee marking a few holiday specific items off the list. If I do not complete these items now, I will have to wait until the next holiday season or I will be making a beach ginger bread house in June.

I have made some additions to the list, because I discover new treats almost every day. Additionally, there are just some good ol’ down home desserts I would like to bake, or reinvent. I have also made some deletions to the list because some items only seemed like a good idea on impulse, but when cooler heads prevailed, I did not want to make the item as much.

Now, let’s chat about this twice a month quota I mentioned in Update #2. Well the first few months, I did not quite keep up with twice a month, but I kicked major butt and made up for it in August—7 items completed in one month! Plus, I have been pretty consistent since then as well. I guess this “quota,” though not a hard and fast rule, is doable.

Updated List:
Cakes, Cupcakes, and Mini-cakes
Moist Yellow Cake
Red Velvet Cake (New Recipe)
Carrot Cake (New Recipe)
Rum Cake
Petit Fours
Confetti Cake
Crumb Cake
German Chocolate Cake
Jelly Roll
Multi-Tired and Decorated Cake
Boston Cream Pie
Marble Cake
Yule Log
A Birthday cake for Mommy
Cake in a Jar (I still want to send it by mail in the future, when it is cooler outside)
Almond Cake
Fruit Flavored Cake
Zebra Cake
Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes
Honey Spice Cake
Tres Leches Cake
Coconut Cake (from “Good Eats”)

Icing, Frostings, Cake Coverings, and Fillings
Whipped Cream Frosting
Pour Fondant
Italian Style Buttercream
French Style Buttercream
Swiss Meringue Buttercream (New Recipe)
Chocolate Buttercream
Chocolate Icing made with Melted Chocolate
Coconut Pecan Frosting (Icing for German Chocolate Cake)
7 minute or Fluffy Boiled Frosting
Fresh Strawberry Frosting
Fruit Puree Filling
Lemon Curd Filling

Pies, Pastries, and All Things Flaky or Fluffy
Peach Hand/Fry Pies
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Doughnuts (Baked)
Doughnuts (Fried)
Sticky Buns
Cinnamon Rolls
Croquembouche-Cream Puffs
Éclairs
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Danish
Turnovers
Double Crust Pie
Latticed Top Pie
Pecan Pie
Cream Pie (36. Accomplished Sept. 3, 2011, for my mommy’s birthday)
Funnel Cake
Crack Pie
Ol’ Fashion Apple Dumpling

Cookies, Bars, and Brownies
White Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookie (New Recipe)
Traditional French Macrons
Lemon Bars
Graham Crackers
Short Bread
Whoopie Pies
Fudge
Checker Board Cookies
Stained-Glass Cookies
Gingersnaps

Yeast Breads, Quick Breads, and Muffins
Brioche
Croissants
Orange and Cranberry Muffins
Biscotti
Cornbread
Bagels
Rosemary Bread
Hot Cross Buns
Potato Bread
Pumpernickel Bread
Monkey Bread
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Blueberry Muffins (34. Completed July 29, 2011. Sorry, no pictures=no blog post)
Streusel Topped Muffin (35. Ditto)
Lemon Poppy Muffins
Bran Muffins
Cheese Bread

Desserts That Are Creamy and Ate With a Spoon
Banana Pudding (from scratch)
Chocolate Soufflé
Crème Brule
Bread Pudding
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Chocolate Lava Cake
Fried Ice Cream

Savory
Butternut Squash Ravioli with a Browned Butter and Sage Sauce
Vegetarian Pot Pie
Spring Rolls
Corn Dogs

All Other Wonderful Things
Caramel Popcorn
Cereal
Granola
Crepes
Gingerbread House
Fruit Leather
Peanut Brittle

Wedding Cookies

This is another post dedicated to my dear friend, Yae, and her upcoming wedding.  When Yae started planning her wedding and I asked what I could do to help, the only thing she asked me to do was make wedding cookies for her Sudanese bridal dance.  Of course, the list has grown exponential since then (and I am happy to help and would take on even more, if she would give up some things), but I take pride in this first request.

I have never made wedding cookies before, so I was thrilled with the challenge.  I began searching the internet for recipes and discovered weeding cookies are fairly simple- almonds, powder sugar, and butter.  So, where was the challenge in that?

I decided that Yae deserved something more special than just a typical wedding cookie.  So, I decided to craft a recipe because I could not find one that delivered all the qualities I wanted.  I also decided to play around with flavor and nut combinations to create something new, inventive, and exciting.

I will say that I did try all of these recipes in advance because they were new and they all came out great.  I gave Yae a tasters sampling a few weeks in advance and she and her family loved them.  The one not so negative comment that I received was that the cookies were messy (either because of the powdered sugar or butter, her mom did not specify).  I could not have Yae’s mom not loving the cookies, so I decided to place each cookie in a foil liner to catch the powder sugar or keep the butter contained.

The three flavor combinations were:

1) Traditional Almond Wedding Cookies (In the taste testing I did browned butter and whole almonds to give the cookies a speckled look.  Dealing with the browned butter changed the texture of the batter and the taste did not come through enough to justify the hassle.  Plus, this cookie did not remind Yae of the traditional wedding cookie.  For the actual bridal dance, I went traditional with skinless almonds and regular butter.);

2) Chocolate Hazelnut Wedding Cookies (I used skinless hazelnuts to make the cookie batter, then I pressed 2 dark chocolate chips into the center of the cookies batter as I was scoping it onto the cookie sheet.  It is reminiscent of Nutella.); and

3) Southern Style Wedding Cookies (I used pecans in the cookie batter followed by cinnamon in the powdered sugar coating.  I call these southern style due to the pecans.)

At the bridal dance the ladies loved the cookies and were pleasantly surprised by the array of flavors.  Each little wrapped cookie was a bite of nutty and sugary goodness.  Plus Yae’s mom liked the addition of the little foil cups to contain the “messiness.”  Everyone was satisfied and so was I. 

Wedding Cookies

By Baker at Law
Makes approximately 21 cookies per recipe

Ingredients for Traditional Almond Wedding Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 sticks) Butter
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar (3/8 cup [47g] in batter & 3/8 cup [47g] to roll cookies in after)
1 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Almonds (85 grams)
1/4 tsp Almond Extract

Ingredients for Chocolate Hazelnut Wedding Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 sticks) Butter
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar (3/8 cup [47g] in batter & 3/8 cup [47g] to roll cookies in after)
1 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Hazelnuts (85 grams)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
approx. 40 dark chocolate chips

Ingredients for Southern Style Wedding Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 sticks) Butter
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar (3/8 cup [47g] in batter & 3/8 cup [47g] to roll cookies in after)
1 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Pecans (60 grams)
scant 1 tsp Rum Extract
1-2 tsp Cinnamon

Method:
1. Toast nuts in the oven until fragrant (do not burn). Let cool completely.

2. Place nuts, flour, and salt in food processor and grind until a fine mill is achieved.

3. Cream together butter and powder sugar for batter. Then add flavor extract.

4. Blend together butter mixture and nut mixture.

5. Dump batter onto plastic wrap and shape into a disk. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 350F.

7. Using a small cookie scope, scope up batter. If adding in chocolate chip, place two chips bottom to bottom and press into batter while still in the scope. Cover up the bottom of the cookie where you pushed the chocolate in.

8. Release batter on to a parchment lined cookie sheet about one inch apart.

9. Bake for 12-14 minutes until firm and the bottoms are gently brown. Cool until can handle.

10. Shake cookies in powder sugar (and cinnamon, if using cinnamon).

11. Before you are ready to consume them, re-shake cookies in powder sugar before serving.