Recipes

Perfect Gingersnap Cookies

1 · Nov 12, 2013 · 2 Comments

Hi all! It’s exciting to be back here from One Sweet Appetite! Today we are talking cookies. Around this time of the year it seems that all I can think about are trays full of the little treats. Every year we like to have a baking day to put together fun plates of goodies for our neighbors and this cookie always seems to take the show! These gingersnap cookies are full of holiday flavor. Lots of ginger, cinnamon, molasses… All rolled into a cinnamon and sugar mixture then baked to perfection. Chances are good you’ll end up snacking on one (or ten) before packaging them up for neighbors and friends!

Perfect Ginger Snap Cookies

2 C. sifted all-purpose flour
1 T. ground ginger
2 t. baking soda
t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
3/4 C. shortening
1 C. white sugar
1 egg
1/4 C. dark molasses
1/3 C. cinnamon sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, ginger, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. Combine the shortening and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Pinch of small amounts of dough and form into a circle. Roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture, and place on your prepared tray. Bake for ten minutes and cool on a wire rack.

These are full of flavor and one of our favorite cookies. I know they should be crisp, but I’m a soft and chewy kind of gal. If you want to each cookie to be equal in size I suggest buying a small cookie scoop. I found one on amazon for fairly inexpensive.

I hope these cookies will inspire you to create some treats of your own! Check out a few other cookies that you might enjoy:

Gingerbread cookies & Eggnog Dip // Oatmeal cookies three ways // Homemade Thin Mints

Autumn Inspired Red Bird Buttercream Cake

0 · Nov 5, 2013 · 6 Comments

This buttercream cake post brought to you by Craftsy // Have you ever had that experience of learning a new skill, and then the excitement of wanting to practice, practice, practice? That is totally how I felt after taking the FREE Modern Buttercream Class on Craftsy. I have always wanted to create beautiful cakes and I have learned some skills over the years, but this class really helped to take me to the next level. I learned how to shape the cake so that it looks more professional, not all rounded and wonky. That amazing trick of adding simple syrup to the cake to keep it moist. So many fun fabulous tricks. Not to mention the step-by-step instructions on how to make Swiss buttercream. That helped me with my first practice my simple buttercream cake. You can check it out here. You can tell in that picture I still had some stuff to work on. With all of that, I had to try my hand at another cake. This time I was going to conquer a challenge of mine… FONDANT. In the class Joshua John Russell teaches how to make gum paste embellishments, but I decided I wanted my decor to be made out of fondant. I didn't want my fun graphic elements to be hard I wanted them to be soft but, the steps are pretty close.

For this cake, I was inspired by the beautiful time of year we are in. When we first moved here to Lincoln last year, we arrived at this time of year. It was so fun to actually have a real fall for the first time in 8 years. I had a very special morning one day early on here. I was feeling a little blue with the move and looking out the window at the new scenery. The trees and the leaves were beautiful, but I was feeling weighted down. Then all of a sudden a beautiful Cardinal flew right up next to my window and just sat there for a moment. My spirits soared! I hadn't ever seen such a beautiful red bird. From that time forward, Cardinals have been a special fall friend for me. I decided to make a modern little red bird cake to celebrate the season…

Now remember, I have a little bit of a fear of fondant. For some reason, it has always been one of those elements that only really cool cake decorators could use. I just didn't feel like I was at that level yet. I lacked confidence. After taking Modern Buttercream I felt like it was time to tackle this skill!

I found these fondant cutters from Wilton that are normally leaves, but I thought they could easily turn into cute modern looking birds. I used a fondant roller with rolling pin guides to make sure I had a uniform thickness just like Joshua did while working with the gum paste. He made little butterflies and affixed them to his amazing cake…

I cut out my little birds in just the same way…

Then I pinched the front of the shape to make it look a little more bird like…

I used a little gold Gragée for the eye and then affixed it to the side of the cake.

Because the cake is buttercream, it's super easy to affix the fondant birds right to the side of the cake. I kept things simple with the cake to keep the modern feel. I didn't want a completely smooth cake so I kept a little bit of movement in the buttercream, but not a ton.

It turned out so cute… It also helped that I had the cutest little red bird cake plate that I found while I was at the Smucker's Company Store in Ohio. I just adore it!

Now, as Joshua teaches in the Modern Buttercream class on Craftsy… You can have the most beautiful cake, but if I doesn't taste good, you've missed the mark. Here's one of my little secrets… If you don't have time to bake a cake, but you want to decorate your own cake, go to your favorite bakery! You may want to call a day or two ahead, but you can purchase pre-made cake rounds that are generally frozen and ready to decorate. For sure a time saver, but if you have a good bakery, you know you will always have a scrumptious cake to serve.

I CAN'T WAIT to practice some more. I also can't believe how just a little bit of education can help boost my confidence. I now love cake decorating and can't wait to learn even more though Craftsy. Have you guys checked it out yet? What classes would you like to take?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Craftsy. The opinions and text are all mine.

Roasted Potatoes and My Visit to Smucker’s

0 · Nov 4, 2013 · 1 Comment

// Roasted Potatoes Recipe //

A few weeks ago I had the fabulous opportunity to visit Orrville, Ohio the home of the Smucker's Family.

You know… Like Smucker's jam and jelly. Little did I know how diverse the Smucker's family really is. It's not all jam & jelly, they have a large family with all kinds of wonderful and iconic brands like Folgers, Jiff, Hungry Jack, Pillsbury Baking and Crisco to name a few. We had the chance to meet Tim & Richard Smucker the Grandsons of J.M. Smucker the founder of the family owned Smucker Brand.

Leigh Anne (Your Homebased Mom) // Me (WhipperBerry ) // Tim Smucker // Sarah (A Thrifty Mom) // Kristen (Six Sisters Stuff)

Richard Smucker & Myself

We had a couple of amazing days learning all about this truly remarkable company. Still family owned, still infused with the values instilled by J.M. Smucker himself. A company that refuses to let go of the family touch in a world where products and brands are becoming more and more sterile.

Here is the whole crew out in front of J.M. Smucker's house that he built right on the grounds of his company headquarters back at the turn of the century. The house is still there along with some of the old buildings he used back in the day. Today it is a beautiful campus with a good mixture of old and new. A fabulous way to help their employees remember their roots and core values.

I just fell in love with the whole Smucker Family and I can't wait to share more of what I learned while I was there. But… instead of boring you with one long wrap-up post. I thought I would develop some fun recipes using some of the Smucker's products to tell the story.

Since we are getting close to Thanksgiving, I thought I would share one of my family's favorite side dishes. Roasted Tri-Color Potatoes. I know, you thought you were going to get a jam or jelly recipe coming from Smucker's… Don't you worry, I thought I would start with the savory.

Roasted Tri-Color Potatoes

What makes these roasted potatoes special, is that I use three different types of potatoes. Sweet, Russet & Fingerling potatoes are the key to this dish. The secret ingredient that takes it over the top… Crisco Culinary Fusions Garlic & Herb Oils.

Roasted Tri-Color Potato Ingredients

2 – 3 sweet potatoes

3 russet or baking potatoes

1 lb. of fingerling potatoes

1 1/2 tablespoon of Crisco Culinary Fusions Roasted Garlic oil

1 1/2 tablespoons of Crisco Culinary Fusions Italian Herb oil

4 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425˚

Cut potatoes into bite sized cubes uniform in size. Place in a large bowl with generous amounts of salt & pepper, your chopped parsley and the oil.

Mix to coat all of the potatoes in the oil and seasoning.

Pour mixture onto a baking sheet and place into the 425˚ oven.

Bake for 20 minutes and then remove the sheet from the oven. Carefully toss the potatoes and the return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and test your potatoes to make sure they are done. If they are still a little hard, return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes or so.

Once they are finished remove from oven, sprinkle with salt and let cool for a few minutes. Serve as a side dish for all kinds of meals. You could even serve this as a fun mashed potato alternative at Thanksgiving. The flavored oils make these potatoes taste so good. You have all the flavor from the garlic and the herbs without having to spend the money and go through the hassle of preparing those ingredients each time. I LOVE It!!

These oils are also really good for marinating meats and veggies before you grill or even use as a dipping oil for bread. They are so versatile. What is your favorite way to use flavor infused oil?

Modern Buttercream with Craftsy

2 · Oct 31, 2013 · 1 Comment

This post brought to you by Craftsty // I LOVE learning new skills and one of my go to places for that is… Craftsy. Have you discovered Craftsy yet? Craftsy is your premiere online learning resource for anything creative. They have sewing, knitting, jewelry making, cooking and cake decorating to name just a few. They have gathered top experts in their field to create high quality classes for you to enjoy and learn from right in your home and on your own time schedule. The other day I took one of their free classes that they have available, Modern Buttercream…

Now, I'm no stranger to cake making, but… I am no expert. I am self taught, I have been dying to learn how to make my cakes look a little more professional. I knew it was time to take a class, but who has time to take a class? I sure don't. That's why Craftsy is perfect! I logged onto my class while sitting on my couch in my PJ's with Gage (my three year old tag along) hanging out with me. It was perfect, I didn't have to find a babysitter or even get dressed. I was able to learn the finer points of creating a buttercream cake from Joshua John Russell. He is an amazing cake artist who I've been watching for several years on the Food Network. He is super talented and a fabulous teacher…

I am blown away every time a take a class through Craftsy. They are indepth and create a class that you can really learn from. I learned a ton from Joshua. Like how to carve a cake so that it not only looks good, but tastes even better too.

I have always used a "buttercream" that is simple to make, but it's not a real buttercream. In this class Joshua teaches how to make a traditional Swiss Buttercream and then how to frost your cake so that it looks like a professional decorated it. Another tip I learned, drizzle a simple syrup on your cake before you assemble. this way your cake stays nice and moist…

I was able to watch right along with Joshua on my iPad while I worked right along with him…

Craftsy even has their very own app so it's even easier to watch your classes on your mobile device.

I was able to practice my carving skills (which I still need more practice.)

Then I practiced my crumb coating skills. Do you know why you use a crumb coat? You'll have to come take the class to find out.

Then I did my final coat and a simple decoration and a rustic finish for my first buttercream cake…

It turned out pretty good, but I'm ready for some more practice so I can make a cake just like Joshua. The nice thing… it tasted amazing! I did add a little more sugar to his buttercream recipe because I like my buttercream a little sweeter, but overall this class was excellent. I am going to work on another autumn themed cake this weekend to practice my skills. I'll let you know how it turns out next week. In the mean time… You should head over to Craftsy and take one of their free classes to see how amazing the platform is. They have this Modern Buttercream class and Fondant and Hand Painted Cake classes… You'll be amazed!!

Come back next week for my second cake, I have a few more secret tips that I will be sharing!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Craftsy. The opinions and text are all mine.

Recipes

Roasted Tri-Color Potatoes

Roasted Tri-Color Potato Ingredients

Directions

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