apple cranberry crisp

In keeping with the theme from my last post (which was in August... oops), I have been focusing on recipes that require very few ingredients and simple techniques- without sacrificing any flavor. Being that we are in the height of apple season, I ran out to the market this morning and picked up the freshest organic fruit I could find to make these easy yet delicious Apple Cranberry Crisps.

Ready in a mere 45 minutes and relatively healthy (until the ice cream gets placed on top, yum), these Apple Cranberry Crisps are a perfect five-spoonful treat for a Sunday evening curled up on the couch.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

adapted from here

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

dash salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch diced pieces

1 cup fresh (or frozen) cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

zest and juice of 1 orange

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 8 inch pan or six 5 ounce ramekins and set aside.

2. For the topping, combine butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Mash ingredients together well with hands until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add in pecans and set aside.

3. Toss apples, cranberries, sugar, zest and juice together in a bowl. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan(s). Sprinkle topping evenly over the fruit. Bake until bubbly and the apples and cranberries are tender (about 30 minutes).

4. Let the crisp cool slightly. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream on top.

Torta di Mele

I was fortunate enough to study in Sesto Fiorentino, Italy (a town right outside of Florence) for a semester during college. I loved absolutely everything about my time there: the history, the fashion, the art and the views. But if I had to pick only one thing that defined my time there, I most definitely have to say it was the food.

We had our own chef in the villa I lived and studied in, an adorable old man named Nino. Day after day, he would go to the market to pick up fresh ingredients in order to prepare us our daily lunch, dinner and dessert. The ingredients came from within miles of where we lived and were purchased every morning; words cannot express the true freshness that was contained in every meal we ate. (Well, there was a lot of butter in there too, which would explain why everyone on the program gained about 10 pounds...)

But the most amazing part about what Nino cooked for us every day was the actual simplicity of his dishes. He could create true masterpieces with the use of only a few simple ingredients, something that few people can do with their cooking and baking.

While unpacking a box this week, I stumbled on some crumpled pieces of paper. As I unfolded them, I realized I had just found gold: my copies of recipes from the Villa Corsi-Salviati kitchen. While most of them are pasta dishes (including the best pesto recipe ever), there are a few dessert recipes as well, one of which I am sharing in this post.

This Torta di Mele is extremely simple to make, requiring only 9 ingredients and a few minutes in the kitchen. If you make sure to use the freshest milk, apples and lemons in this torta, you will not be disappointed with the result. You may even feel like you are on a quick trip to Italy.

Torta di Mele

from the Villa Corsi-Salviati kitchen

3 Granny Smith apples

juice of one lemon

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

7 tablespoons melted butter

a little over 3/4 cups sifted flour

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Peel the apples and cut them into thin slices. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice. In a separate bowl, mix all other ingredients until it becomes a semi-liquid batter. Add in the apple slices to the mixture and stir until coated and thoroughly mixed in.

Pour mixture into a round pan and place in the oven for about 45 minutes. The torta should be golden brown on top. Once removed from the oven and slightly cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Buon appetito!

Classic Birthday Cake

Summer is the hardest time of year to bake. After walking around in 90 degree weather all day, the absolute last thing anyone wants to do is hang out in a 100 degree kitchen. That being said, it takes a lot for me to actually bake during the months of June, July and August (which explains my recent lack of posts).

Anyway, with yesterday being Dan's 26th birthday, I decided to brave the heat and make him a birthday cake from scratch. My apartment only has one tiny window air conditioner in it, so when I say my blood, sweat and tears went into this cake, I mean it... with a big emphasis on the sweat.

Moist Yellow Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting

adapted from here and here

For the cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (12 tablespoons)

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

3 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the middle.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and whisk to get ready of any lumps or chunks.

Place butter into a bowl and mix on a medium or high speed until fluffy and light in color. Add in sugar and vanilla, and beat until thoroughly creamed and mixed in. Add egg yolks one at a time, letting each egg yolk mix fully in before adding the next. Add the whole eggs one at a time as well, allowing 1 minute of mixing between additions. The mixture should be very pale in color at this point.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture and mix until incorporated. Add in half of the milk and mix until incorporated. Continue to alternate adding in the dry ingredient mixture and milk until all ingredients are thoroghly mixed in and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter between two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Be sure to butter them thoroughly before filling with batter! Bake until the cake edges slightly pull away from the pans and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out dry with just a few crumbs, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove the pans from the overn and let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature

2 2/3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted (VERY IMPORTANT!)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

Beat the butter with a mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Stop the mixer and add the powdered sugar in stages until it is fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla and chocolate and beat on a medium high sped until the frosting is light and airy.

To frost:

Make sure the cake is thoroughly cooled before frosting. The frosting should be at room temperature for frosting, but don't let it get too soft or else it will become runny and won't hold on the cake.

I assume most of you know how to frost a cake, but if you don't, click THIS fantastic link for a video tutorial.

Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Brioche

I had my first foray into bread-making this week when I made these mini Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Brioche. While they aren't bread proper, the brioche definitely required me to be patient while baking them. I had to let the little guys sit and rise not once, but twice before I could place them into the oven.

If you know me, you know that I am always on the go, so this "waiting" concept proved a bit challenging. But patience is a virtue- and thanks to the act of making little treats, I think I am slowly beginning to embody this virtue. Well, sort of.

Chocolate Chip and Cinnamon Brioche

adapted from 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly

1/2 tbp. active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp. sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1/4 cup superfine sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter, softened

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 beaten egg

Combine the yeast, water and teaspoon of sugar in a large, warmed bowl. Stir well and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the flour until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Beat the eggs and add them to the yeast mixture. Add the sugar and salt. Stir in the remaining flour and the cinnamon, and mix until the dough is soft and slightly sticky. Leave in a warm place (covered with plastic wrap) for about 45 minutes or until the batter has doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 mini brioche or muffin molds. Beat in butter and chocolate chips. Fill the molds halfway. Leave in a warm place to rise for about 20 minutes, or until the dough has risen to fill about 2/3 of each mold.

Brush each brioche with a little of the beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes. Cool in the molds for five minutes, remove and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Spring is not necessarily my favorite time of year for baking. It might be directly related to the fact that my apartment does not have air conditioning, and therefore the apartment's temperature rises significantly with every treat that is baked in my tiny kitchen's oven. While the sweet aromas of a baked good may be enough to win some people over, I find that not being sweaty takes priority over a homemade cookie at times.

This Saturday was different, though. Although the temperature in NYC rose to a boiling 90 degrees, I still decided to bake some scones to bring along to my day in the park. Yes, the apartment was heated to 100 degrees, but it was worth every bite of these tasty little treats. Hope my roommates agreed. ;)

Cranberry Orange Scones

adapted from here

2 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp orange zest

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and orange zest and set aside. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course meal (I used my hands) and then stir in the cranberries.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and egg yolk, then stir in the cream. Slowly add into the flour mixture and mix it until it's just combined.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it into a 1 inch thick square about 8 inches in diameter. Cut out 15 to 20 triangles with a sharp knife and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet with an inch of space between them. Be sure to line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bake the scones for 15 to 20 minutes or until they turn a light golden brown. Transfer them to a cooling rack and let them sit for 5 to 10 minutes before enjoying.

Gourmet S'mores

S'mores, the good old campfire standby. Who can pass up on the perfect combination of chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers? While I usually take delight in Nabisco graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate, and Campfire marshmallows, I decided to glam the classic up by adding a little oomph to the ingredients.

The main upgrade to the combination was homemade graham crackers, a simple recipe. The grahams taste more like cookies than crackers, but they still have the delicious cinnamon and honey flavors that give graham crackers their distinct taste. After I made the graham crackers, I added in some warm marshmallows and a bit of dark chocolate Ghiradelli pieces and- viola!- a delicious, mature version of a S'more. I am still liking the mallow off of my fingers...

Homemade Graham Crackers

adapted from here, a recipe taken from Miette Patisserie in San Francisco

2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flour, wheat flour, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar for about 2 minutes in a bowl. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the honey. Stir in dry ingredients on low speed. NOTE: the dough is very crumbly, so ball it up to make sure it all sticks together. Scrape the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat it into a disc, wrap well. Refrigerate until firm but still pliable, about one hour.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out very thinly, about an 1/8-inch thick. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter and place on the baking sheets. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar if you like. Chill the cut cookies on the sheets for at least 15 minutes before baking. Bake 14 to 16 minutes until golden. Let the cookies set for a minute before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Semolina Butter Cookies

Sometimes the best baked goods can be whipped up from ingredients that are already in your kitchen. Feeling much too lazy to leave my apartment this weekend, I wanted to bake a delicious treat that could be made from what was already stocked in my cabinets.

These brown sugar butter cookies have a truly unique taste that basically consists of salt and butter. It may sound plain, but trust me, they taste wonderful. And in case you don't know what semolina flour is, it's a course, Italian-style flour that gives the cookies a gritty (but enjoyable) texture.

Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Semolina Cookies with Sea Salt
Adapted from here

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling.

Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer on low until well combined. Add the egg yolk, then both of the flours, and then the salt as you continue to beat until the mixture just starts to hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and roll it into a log. Wrap with plastic wrap (not tin foil- it's too sticky!) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until the dough is well chilled and firm enough to be cut into slices.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a cookie sheet or cover in parchment paper. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a sharp knife, the slice the dough into 1/4" slices, and put them on the cookie sheet with a couple of inches room between them. Definitely try to cut them as thin as possible; this will keep the cookies light and crispy when baked. Sprinkle the cookies with a little bit of sea salt, but not too much, as the salt flavor can easily overtake the cookie taste.

Bake until the cookies are firm but not browning, about 15-20 minutes. Let the cookies rest on the sheets for a moment before you remove them to cooling wracks.

Blueberry Muffins

Classics are called classics for a reason. They are those go-to recipes that always come out just right, resulting in a baked good that can please just about every palette out there, from the pickiest to the most refined eaters.

My last baking attempt was vegan chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, as I tried to bake outside of the "classic" category. I went out and bought fancy ingredients (Xantham gum?) and spent hours concocting the dairyless baked goods, debuting them at my friend's Super Bowl party. Every time I watched someone take a bite, I could tell that they had to try very hard to chew and swallow the treats, forcing out an "Mmm, so good!" to make me feel good about myself. A little advice, friends: Next time, be honest with me. I am a big girl. I can take it. :o)

This week I decided to bake something I knew would taste perfect. These little blueberry muffins are perfect for a Sunday morning! Or a Sunday afternoon snack. Or a Sunday evening dessert. Or a Monday morning breakfast... Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

adapted from here

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or defrosted frozen
1 tbs. flour
3 tbs. sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liner and grease rims with butter. I used silicone muffin cups, so no greasing was required.

Cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with yogurt. Mash 1/2 cup blueberries and mix into batter. Toss remaining blueberries with 1 tbs. flour and fold into batter by hand. Fill muffin cups to top. Sprinkle the top of the muffins with brown sugar before placing into oven. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes.

Brooklyn Rose Cupcakes

It's about time someone posted something on this blog! I know I've been extremely busy with work, Nikki has been extremely busy with work, and Krissy has been extremely busy... working on her tan in Mexico. Ha. All in all, a rough couple of weeks for the Cookie Confessions girls.

I actually had enough downtime today for some quality kitchen time. I volunteered myself earlier this week to bake cupcakes for Julia and Kristen's birthday, so I made sure to keep my schedule clear today so I could fully embrace my baking responsibility.

What did I decide to bake for the occasion? Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes- from scratch. This was my first attempt at Red Velvet Cupcakes, and while they tasted delicious, they actually looked more like Brown Velvet Cupcakes. That's because I didn't read the recipe close enough and missed the part about them being an adaptation of a Mocha Cake. Oops.

And it turns out that my frosting technique is quite unique. For some reason, when I swiped the frosting across the cupcake tops, they all ended up looking like roses. So I named these creations Brooklyn Rose Cupcakes. And there you have it.

Here's the entire time-consuming recipe for those who feel inclined. Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake (adapted from here)

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tbsp red food colouring

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 9″ baking pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Beat butter until fluffy, add sugar and beat until incorporated.

3. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl until fully incorporated.

4. In large bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring.

5. Add half of dry ingredients to butter/egg mix, then half of wet. Repeat process until all is mixed together.

6. Pour into lined baking sheets and bake for 22-25 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking rack in pans for 5-10 minutes. Remove from pans by inverting onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely before decorating.

Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from here)

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) at room temperature

8 ounces of Philadelphia cream cheese (1 package) at room temperature

2-3 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese toegther, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness.

3. Spread on with a blunt knife or spatula.

Paris in Park Slope

Ham and Cheese Croissant

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions, but this year I am going to give it a try. In 2010, I am going to deeply explore the borough in which I live: Brooklyn. Most of my days and nights are spent in Manhattan, causing me to miss out on many of the great bakeries, restaurants, bars and stores that are right outside my door. So this year, I am going to try and undertake frequent local explorations.

I ventured out into the 20 degree weather this morning in search of a delicious pastry. After about a 10 minute walk, I stumbled upon Colson Patisserie, a delightful French bakery in Park Slope.

The pastries were very authentic. I ordered a Morning Roll, a light, sweet and flaky roll that paired perfectly with my cup of morning coffee. Dan ordered a ham and cheese croissant. While I don't particularly like savory pastries, I have to admit that the croissant was delicious! And although I didn't have a chance to try one on my first visit, Colson Patisserie is apparently famous for their Financiers, the little French cookie cakes. I will definitely be back for some of those!

Morning Roll

Some more goodies at Colson Patisserie

What is your favorite local spot to grab a morning pastry?

A New Year

Happy New Year to all!

Photo credit from here

Couldn't be happier that 2010 has arrived.

We have a lot of exciting things planned for Cookie Confessions this year- starting with a much needed site re-design! Enjoy the new page, and we'll post some fresh news and baked goods this week. Until then, enjoy our new look.

Cookie Two: Italian Christmas Cookies

I will be the first to admit that keeping up with the "Twelve Cookies of Christmas" idea has been quite difficult. Between work, holiday parties, shopping and everything else in between, I can barely find a moment to place even a toe in the kitchen, let alone hours to bake tasty treats. Luckily, this Sunday turned out to be quite a lazy day, thanks to a late night out celebrating this great beauty blog.

Looking for inspiration this morning, I perused the web for a cookie that was visually stimulating. I stumbled upon Italian Christmas Cookies on Tastespotting.com, which looked colorful, bright and happy in the post.

Excited to be back in the kitchen, the dough was a breeze to make, but the glaze on my cookies did not have the thick, opaque texture I was hoping for. I dreamed of cookies that looked and tasted like homemade animal crackers; the end result was more like a kindergarten class's group project with Play Dough and confetti. Please see the turtle creature below. Credit for that one goes out to Dan Rainwater.

Moral of the story: skip these cookies. But here's the recipe if you think you can salvage the little treats.

Italian Christmas Cookies (adapted from here)

1/2 cup margarine or butter (1 stick) softened

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 teaspoons anise extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

rainbow sprinkles

In large bowl with mixer on low speed beat margarine or butter with sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until creamy. At medium speed beat in eggs, vanilla and 1 teaspoon anise extract; constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour and baking powder occasionally scrapping bowl. Dived dough into 4 parts, wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze at least one hour or refrigerate over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On lightly floured surface divide 1 ball of dough into 9 equal pieces, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. With lightly floured hands, roll each piece of dough into a 7 inch long rope. Shape the cookies into your desired form (I did little pretzels, but twists looked pretty as well).

Place cookies on a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake cookies 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool. When cookies are cool, prepare glaze.

To create the glaze, mix confectioners’ sugar with 1 teaspoon anise extract and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Brush top of cookies with glaze. Add sprinkles. Set cookies aside to allow glaze to dry. ***If you are going to make these, I would think about researching a thicker, more delicious glaze to top the cookies. This one was definitely not tasty.***

Cookie One: Raspberry Ribbons

Again, apologies for the terrible photo quality. Camera was nowhere to be found and iPhone had to suffice.

Raspberry Ribbons, the pretty little melt-in-your-mouth cookies. I think these could be one of my favorite treats that are served during the holidays, with their slight tangy flavor and small size. I am definitely a one-bite cookie kind of girl.

That being said, these cookies aren't the easiest to make on your first try. This isn't because they don't taste right; it's actually because it's rather difficult to get them to look right. As I was getting ready to place the cookies in the oven, I noticed that they looked nothing like ribbons. In fact, they looked more like snakes that had just eaten a small child, with a huge bulge in the middle and extremely thin ends. I tried to smash them into shape, but it wasn't as easy as I thought. So I baked them anyway and trusted in the art of creative slicing to try and get the cookies to look somewhat uniform. As you can see from the picture, I did a pretty good job with the cutting, but the glazing and jam placement was a completely separate challenge for me... a challenge that I apparently lost.

But they still tasted delicious! That's half the battle, right?

Raspberry Ribbon Cookies

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam
• 
  
• GLAZE:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
• 1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• 
  
• 2. Divide dough into four portions; shape each into a 10-in. x 2-1/2-in. log. Place 4 in. apart on greased or foil-lined baking sheets. Make a 1/2-in. depression down the center of each log. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
• 
  
• 3. Fill depressions with jam. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes. Remove to a cutting board; cut into 3/4-in. slices. Place on wire racks.
• 
  
• 4. In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over warm cookies. cool completely.

Gingersnaps

I just realized yesterday that the Holiday season is right around the corner. Thanksgiving is less than a week away, and we all know what that means- the start of over a month of non-stop parties, gatherings, shopping, eating and drinking. Although Halloween season is my favorite time of year (yes, I know that I am strange), the Holiday season runs a close second in my heart.

To get myself (and hopefully all of you) into the Thanksgiving spirit, I decided to bake something that centers around some holiday flavors: ginger and cinnamon. These cookies are extremely easy to whip up and are perfect to pair with a post-Thanksgiving dinner cup of coffee. Pass the turkey, please.

*I apologize for the horrible picture quality. I didn't have a camera to use at the time and iPhone obviously lacks in the "zoom" and "focus" functions of its camera...

Gingersnaps

2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
11 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup mild-flavored molasses
1 large egg, at room temperature

1. Stir together the dry ingredients.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter just until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth, stopping the mixer to scrape down any butter clinging to the sides of the bowl.

3. Stir in the vanilla, molasses and egg.

4. Mix in the dry ingredients gradually until the dough is smooth.

5. Divide the dough in two equal portions and roll each on a lightly-floured surface until each is about 2-inches around. Don't worry if they're not perfect; you can neaten them up in a second.

6. Wrap each in plastic wrap then roll them lightly on the counter to smooth them out. Refrigerate, or better yet, freeze the cookie logs until firm.

7. To bake, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

8. Slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch rounds with a sharp knife. Leave a couple of inches between cookies since they'll spread while baking.

9. Bake for 10-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, until deep-golden brown. The cookies will puff up a bit while baking, then settle down when they're done. Bake on the lower end of the range for softer cookies, and more for snappier ones, depending on your oven.

10. Let the cookies cool two minutes, then remove them with a spatula and transfer them to a cooling rack.

Big Love for Cakelove

Washington D.C. is quickly growing on me as one of my favorite cities in the U.S. It has everything you could ask for: stunning scenery, great shopping, amazing restaurants, and a very lively nightlife.

I was fortunate enough to visit D.C. this past weekend for a quick reunion with some friends. Although everyone else was happy just hanging around and chatting, I had one task that I needed to accomplish this weekend: visit at least one of D.C.'s well-known bakeries.

While shopping in Georgetown on Saturday, I made sure to allot time for my friends and I to make a stop at Georgetown Cupcake, one of D.C.'s only cupcakeries. Having read the bakery's backstory (two sisters quit their jobs and started their own little cupcake shop), I just knew I had to try one of their delicious little cakes.

Although we were tired, my friends and I walked a few final blocks to Georgetown Cupcake, spotting its cute black awning from down the street- only to be completely dismayed by the line to enter the store. It was literally wrapped around the block! We got in line and began to wait, but after about 15 minutes and barely any progress, we had to move on. I was a little disappointed, but I didn't let it get me down. There was another delicious baked good waiting for me somewhere in D.C.

The line at Georgetown Cupcake.

We woke up as early as we could on Sunday (quite difficult after a long night of, um, talking) and headed out to the next bakery on my list: Cakelove. Nestled in the fabulous U Street Corridor of the city, Cakelove is a bake shop that has grown from one location to six- and for very good reason.

We walked into Cakelove and were stopped dead in our tracks at the amazing variety of baked goods: cakes, bars, and cupcakes, all looking like absolute perfection. After going back and forth between the options, we decided on a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting, a red velvet cupcake, a chocolate Boston creme cupcake, and a vanilla caramel cupcake.

The cupcakes were absolutely amazing! The frosting was some of the best I've eaten in my life (and that means a lot coming from me) and the cake was light and airy. Whatever they are doing over there, they are doing it right.

Moral of the story: if you are in or around Washington, D.C., get into your car/onto your bike/onto the Metro and get over to Cakelove. There is a cupcake soulmate waiting for you.