Bake it Up Baby Now!

If you're in the mood for awesome...

2011-09-22T18:10:00.004-04:00

You MUST try this recipe:

Browned Butter Snickerdoodle Brownies with Butterscotch Sauce

It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the best things I've ever tasted. I was expecting a chewy, more brownie-like texture and a thicker sauce... but this turned out more like a extremely soft, rich spice cake with gooey caramel/butterscotch glaze.

There are so many overlapping flavors that as you keep eating it you keep experiencing different tastes: sweet, salty, buttery... but let me tell you that more than a small piece and you will be toast for the rest of the night. A little goes a long way.

Here's what I modified (though the recipe requires little modification) and a few things to note:

1) I lined the 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, but only used spray cooking oil to coat the bottom - the flouring of the pan is really unnecessary for this recipe.

2) The directions on browning butter are very helpful - it enhances the butter smell/nutty flavor that you can taste in the final product, so don't skip this step!

3) Don't be afraid to use a full 2 teaspoons of salt in the brownie - it will actually enhance the sweetness of the brownie and highlights the other flavors.

4) I decreased the amount of brown sugar in the brownie to just around 2 cups - it's not much of a difference, but it made me feel a little less guilty serving it up. :)

5) Add the slightly beaten eggs to the mix a little at a time - this will keep the eggs from cooking in the hot browned butter.

5) I increased the mount of salt in the butterscotch sauce to almost 3/4 teaspoon (but I'm a sucker for salted caramel - I would recommend tasting the sauce and add more salt a very little bit at a time to find what you like best). Also, I added just a splash of vanilla to the sauce which helped the flavor and aroma.

Enjoy!

What's Bakin'

2011-09-09T14:26:00.007-04:00

Wow, talk about a serious lapse in blogging - I'm sure all two of you who follow this blog are relieved to see that (a) the last cake project didn't kill me and (b) I was not abducted by aliens.

In actuality, 2011 has been a very VERY busy year - from Memorial Day through Labor Day we experienced an almost constant flow of friends, family, and the occasional vagabond to keep us plenty busy all summer. It was a rich time with our loved ones, but left little time for blogging and baking.

And now fall is upon us. The weather (literally) changed overnight this week: hot and humid 90+ degree weather one day, and chilly and rainy 60 degree weather the next. We're officially in the season of apples and pumpkins (pie, anyone?), sweaters, trick or treating, and hay rides.

Speaking of trick or treating, I've started the (rather painful) task of figuring out Halloween costumes for the kids. Our daughter has started preschool this year and will be attending an actual Halloween party, so the pressure is on to put out some real effort.

The kids have been on a serious aquatic animal/creature kick these days, so it was no surprise when our daughter asked to be a jellyfish this year. At first I balked at the idea (my sewing skills are only slightly behind my bread baking skills - see here). Until I found this link for a no-sew jellyfish costume:

This seems doable even for a sewing/crafting dunce like myself. Hot glue and some ribbon? I think I can handle that.

This gave me enough courage to search for other aquatic-related costumes for little brother... and then I found this:

I think I just died from overexposure to cuteness.

This costume was listed in an article titled "10-Minute Halloween Costumes."

WHAT??

Eye-squelching cuteness factor AND can be completed in less time than it takes to check my email? DONE.

What kind of costume ideas have you got cookin'?

UPDATE:

Gracie loved her costume (though it does wobble a bit)

Emmett, on the other hand....
Note: Don't make this costume for kids who are sensitive to scratchiness.
Or goldfish. Or fun.

Wedding Cakes - A Labor of Love

2011-02-07T10:51:00.009-05:00

When people look at wedding cakes, they (hopefully) see the dainty flowers, swirly icing, crisp edges, maybe even imagine what it will taste like.

What people usually don't see are the countless hours, weeks of planning, tears shed, baking snafus, flowers that shattered, illness, and the numerous other ways Murphy's Law tried to sabotage the entire project.

I choose to believe that prayers were answered in the completion of this cake for our dear friends Tim and Stephanie. It was such a joy to celebrate their coming together as husband and wife with them, and the fact that the cake was truly a labor of love made the presentation that much more rewarding.

Congrats, Mr & Mrs Tim and Stephanie Strader!

I'm filling a little pleased with myself...

2011-02-05T01:40:00.003-05:00

(Insert your groan here for the horrible pun, I couldn't resist.)

So, this weekend is kind of a big deal. One of Jason's best friends is getting married to a fantastic girl, and we couldn't be more excited for them. We are honored to be asked to join the revelry, as well as doing our best to make this celebration a really special day... the beginning of a new and wonderful season of marriage. Hooray!

As a wedding gift, I offered to make the wedding cake... my first three tier (gulp) and my first try working with gum paste (double gulp). So far it's been going well, mostly due to the fact that I allotted every evening this week to preparation. Tonight was cake baking and filling making night.

The bride and groom decided on raspberry buttercream filling in the bottom layer and honey cinnamon buttercream filling in the middle layer. I was pretty confident that both of these recipes would be tasty and bring a little extra oomph to the cake... but MAN! I am seriously impressed with the subtle flavors and the wonderful creaminess of these fillings! So much so that I am designating an entire blog post about them. Try them - you will understand why.

Raspberry Buttercream Icing
**Note: You can substitute butter for the shortening - it will be more natural and taste even better. However, if you are needing it to be able to firm up and hold its shape you will need to at least use 1/4 cup shortening. Also, I increased the amount of raspberry preserves to 1/2 cup for a little more flavor (I used Smucker's Simply Fruit preserves)

Honey Cinnamon Frosting
**Note: Double the cinnamon - you won't regret it. Also, you can increase the confectioner's sugar up to 2 cups if you need more stability, though it will make it significantly sweeter.

More wedding related posts coming soon!

Cars

2011-01-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

The Pixar movie "Cars" has got to be on the Top Ten List for all children under the age of six - of course, my kids and several of their friends are no exception. In the last three months I have made TWO Lightning McQueen cakes as gifts to two very Car-lovin' boys.

I want to dedicate this first cake to my Wilton instructor, Miss Veronica. Even though I only made it to half of the classes, I gleaned a lot of helpful information that made this cake a success. So, thanks for letting an exhausted 3rd trimester pregnant student in to your class with her lopsided cakes and poorly mixed icing. Oh, and happy birthday, Owen!

The second cake was for our friend and neighbor Cameron - I used the frozen buttercream transfer method (FBCT - see this previous post for details of method):

Finding just the right picture for this cake was tough - none of the online coloring pages had just what I was looking for. I eventually ended up just printing an image of a Cars birthday invitation and used it as a stencil. Thankfully, the birthday boy enjoyed seeing both McQueen and Tow Mater on his cake, making all of the extra effort worthwhile. :)

So there are the Cars cakes... I think I've filled my vehicle cake quota for a while.

KA-CHOW!!!

Christmas Cookies, better late than never!

2011-01-06T21:54:00.007-05:00

Man oh man - talk about tardiness! I meant to post these recipes before Christmas, and here it is the 6th of January! In my defense, December was chock full of wonderful family visiting, an ice storm, Jason's seminary graduation, home insurance adjusters and estimators (did I mention our kitchen ceiling fell in on Thanksgiving?), and general Christmas/New Year merriment... so I'm going to cut myself a little slack and pointedly ignore the calendar for the next hour.

Speaking of merriment, we traditionally like to make goodies for our next door neighbors at Christmas. Gracie was extremely helpful this year:

Ain't she cute?

Last year I made seven pans of homemade cinnamon rolls. This year, we did an assorted cookie plate:

Won't you be my neighbor?

So, in case anyone is wanting a few good cookie recipes to extend the Christmas cheer and shake off the winter blahs... or if you have already given up on your New Years resolutions, here are a few examples of ways to indulge:

1) Baklava - fool proof recipe, and very simple (not quick, but simple!)

2) Thumbprint Cookies, aka "Austrian Jam Cookies" - I guess Austrians like their thumbprints rolled in chopped nuts, yum

3) White chocolate covered pretzel sticks (bag of pretzel sticks + melted almond bark = you're in business)

4) Oreos coated in white chocolate and dark chocolate (again, almond bark is easy - use a little leftover bark to mix with melted semi-sweet chocolate chips to help the dark chocolate coating set)

5) Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter (or equivalent)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (or chips)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
2) Cream butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla until fluffy. In separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate, cranberries, and nuts.
3) Drop cookie dough in teaspoon sized amounts 2 inches apart on cookie sheet(s). Bake for 11-12 minutes until lightly golden brown around edges. Remove from sheet immediately and cool on wire racks. Makes 3 dozen.

Hope you had a very merry Christmas and have a blessed new year!

Quicky Dinner Idea: Bow Tie Lasagna

2011-01-06T21:08:00.006-05:00

I've felt exhausted all week... it could be all the renovations going on at our house (we came home from Thanksgiving weekend to find a substantial gaping hole in our ceiling - thank God for homeowners insurance), it could be the post-holiday adrenaline rush, or it could just be the winter blahs.

Whatever the reason, I find it so hard to motivate myself to cook when I'm that tired. So, it was the perfect week to try a recipe my pal Jes sent me via Pioneer Woman:

Bow Tie Lasagna (thanks, Jes!)

Of course, I felt the need to change a few things (because I just CAN'T leave a recipe alone!)... so here are the alterations:

1) Substitution for the hamburger:
- 1/2 pound of pork sausage
- 1/2 cup zucchini (chopped)
- 1/2 cup yellow squash (chopped)
- 1/3 cup carrots (finely chopped)
**Brown sausage first, then when almost cooked through add the vegetables - cover and let cook until carrots are tender but still firm. Drain and continue with original recipe

2) Reduce sour cream to 1/4 cup, and add an additional 1/2 cup of cottage cheese

Bonus: the veggies are in small bites so they were easier for the kids to eat, and you've got all of your food groups in one easy to prepare dish.

Few dishes + kids eating vegetables =
(insert picture of me doing the happy dance)

Oh, and speaking of happy dances.... Jason graduated from seminary!!

YAHOO!! Way to go, babe!

Thanksgiving Pies

2010-11-25T09:09:00.005-05:00

What would Thanksgiving be without them? A pie-less Thanksgiving? Perish the thought!

So, here are two that you may want to try... one is a recipe that I have used countless times from allrecipes.com and is often requested, and the other is a recipe I've posted previously but stands to be re-shared. I hope you enjoy them both!

Apple Cream Pie

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie

The pecan pie is a great one to let little ones help with. My 3-yr old daughter made it almost entirely by herself, her first made-it-all-by-myself-well-maybe-Mommy-helped-a-little pie.

I am so proud!

In all seriousness, I love Thanksgiving and what it stands for: a day to remember to be thankful for all that we have and for the people in our lives. So, thanks be to God for His great love and mercy and how he has cared and provided for us over the years, for my beautiful family, for creativity, and for chocolate. Amen. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take that french toast and stuff it!

2010-11-13T16:31:00.010-05:00

I stayed at a bed and breakfast recently, and the innkeeper made french toast stuffed with fruit filling... inspiration!

So, for this Saturday's breakfast I decided to relive the experience and share with the family:

French Toast stuffed with Caramelized Bananas

Let me just say, it was waaaaaay better than I thought it would be - the warm buttery sweet caramel flavor with bursts of banana, cinnamon and vanilla, encased within fluffy french toast... NOM NOM NOM... It was also incredibly simple and quick.

A couple of notes:

1) I would definitely use a large, crusty loaf of French bread cut into slices of 1-inch thickness, makes the splitting/stuffing much easier.
2) I intentionally did not use super ripe bananas, as I find overly-ripe bananas tend to overpower every other flavor in a recipe. But to each his own.
3) I did not use as much sugar as a similar recipe called for, so it was just lightly sweet - increase amount of brown sugar for extra sweetness (but to no more than 1 cup).
4) Use a bread knife or some kind of serrated knife to slice the cooked french toast - it was still a little difficult, so if you have any suggestions on how to do this without burning fingers, let me know!

So, here it is - let me know how it turns out, and anything you would do to improve it.

French Toast stuffed with Caramelized Bananas - Serves 4

French Toast:
- 8 thick slices French bread cut into 1-inch thickness
- 3 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon/sugar mixture
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, for frying

Caramelized Bananas:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 bananas, diced
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of cinnamon

1) Heat a large skillet and small skillet on medium heat. In a medium sized bowl, combine eggs, milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon/sugar mixture, and salt and whisk until well combined. When large skillet is hot, melt butter to grease the pan. While the butter melts, begin dipping pieces of bread into the egg mixture, allowing a few seconds for the bread slice to absorb the egg. Immediately place in hot skillet to cook, cooking each side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

2) While french toast is cooking, begin cooking the bananas. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in the smaller skillet, and let the butter heat until very lightly brown. Add the bananas and vanilla and stir constantly until the banana pieces sizzle and begin to caramelize (about 5 minutes). Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, and stir gently until the sugar melts.

3) Slice hot french toast in half lengthwise (see photo). Spoon bananas into center of french toast and close. Serve hot, and with a sprinkle of powdered sugar if the spirit leads.

Homemade Granola Bars

2010-10-27T16:09:00.008-04:00

So, I used to spend a small fortune in commercial granola bars. No longer! A couple of years ago I found an incredibly easy recipe on allrecipes.com, and I will never go back. It's easy, economical, and endless in possibilities!

Granola bar day at the Shaw house is always a happy day. It begins with a quick rummage of the pantry for any nuts and dried fruits that will inevitably go into the bars. I've used peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit bites from the baby snack aisle (prechopped, can it GET any better??), you name it.

Today was a very good rummage day... because Gracie and I made these:

Cranberry chocolate hazelnut granola bars.

I know. Shut. UP.

This is too good of a recipe NOT to be shared, so here it is. Just a note for today's featured bars: I omitted the cinnamon and vanilla, and for the "mixin's" I just used 1 cup chopped hazelnuts, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Just a note: in case there are those who aren't thrilled with the idea of using sweetened condensed milk (FYI: it literally only has two ingredients - milk and sugar, who knew??), I've heard that honey works well - haven't tried it yet, will probably alter the flavor a bit. Just be sure to substitute something sticky (and sweet!) to help give the granola bars form and flavor.

Basic Granola Bar Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups quick cook oats
1/2 cup butter (one stick), melted
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, almonds, etc)
1 cup sunflower seeds (sometimes substitute pecan bits)
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots or apples, etc)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
2) Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Pour oat mixture onto greased cookie sheet and press flat into pan.
3) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

Happy granola making, and remember: silence can be bought.

Pancakes = Happiness

2010-10-23T10:46:00.004-04:00

For almost as long as we've been a family, we've had a tradition of making Saturday a special morning where Jason or I prepare a hot breakfast for the family.

This morning, I decided to put a pitiful, lonely, almost too-ripe banana out of his misery by making him a part of the breakfast festivities. Here is what I came up with:

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

In a medium/large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
In second smaller bowl, combine milk, egg, vanilla, oil, and banana. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and combine until just moistened. Fold in pecan bits and chocolate chips.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Virginia!

2010-06-18T10:49:00.004-04:00

Frozen Buttercream Transfers: The New Frontier

2010-05-15T14:45:00.009-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted. It's been pretty busy around here with two kids, and with the summer quickly approaching we have a lot of celebrations, birthdays, and travel coming up. Time for blogging is scarce and often used to wash dishes and potty train, but I wanted to be sure to post about a recent cake decorating revelation that I hope will inspire a few of you to try in the meantime: frozen buttercream transfers.

A FBCT is a way to trace a design with icing and after it freezes can be transferred to a cake. This is great because it doesn't require drawing freehand on a cake (can we say anxiety attack?) and you can also make it a day or two in advance and keep in the freezer until you need it.

I was actually pretty worried that it wouldn't work or that it would be incredibly difficult. I was wrong on both accounts: It was one of the fastest cakes I've ever decorated with some pretty impressive results.

I won't hash out all of the details, but I will post a link to some great instructions that I found very helpful on Cake Central:

How to Create a Frozen Buttercream Transfer

Some tips I would want to share:

1) Definitely purchase a tube of Wilton black icing along with a #2 Wilton icing tip (very small circle) and coupler. This will probably put you back about $5-7, but it will give you a cleaner image and will be the biggest investment for the project. Plus, the tubes last a long time so you can reuse it for more projects.

2) I just used canned frosting to fill in the image instead of making my own FBCT icing. I guess the benefit of making your own is that the fat content is so high that it doesn't stick to the wax/parchment paper, but I found that the generic canned stuff worked just fine.

3) After filling in the color to the image, gently but firmly tap the image a few times on a flat surface to help remove air bubbles in the icing. I didn't do this and ended up with little air bubbles in the image - not a big deal, but it would have helped clean up the finished product.

4) When you are done tracing/filling in your FBCT image, be sure NOT TO SKIP re-covering your image with more white icing (or whatever color is going to match your cake), and be sure that the extra icing extends a good 1/4 to 1/2 inch past your image on all sides. The edges of the transfer will stick a little and this will keep you from distorting the image that you just worked so hard on.

Good luck! I would love to hear if you try your own transfers!

The happy birthday girl

Outback Bread

2010-01-28T07:39:00.006-05:00

Okay, last night I had another epic bread making FAIL while trying to make Outback Steakhouse bushman bread. This is what it's supposed to look like:

Can't you just taste the slightly sweet, warm, pillowy softness?

Aaaaaaaand this is what I got:
Bland, hard, and only fit for propping the door open.
(Please note poised position above the trash can, where it now lies)

Okay, in defense of the recipe I've tried to make, I only was able to use half the called for amount of molasses (I ran out). When I usually make it, the taste is pretty good but it is still hard and has the darndest time rising to a nice fluffy loaf.

So I now pose a challenge: I am going to post three Outback Steakhouse recipes. The first is the original recipe that I have been trying to make work for three years but never seem to be able to cooperate for me (I am fully aware that it could be solely that I am still not a seasoned bread maker). The second is almost an identical recipe, but calls for more yeast. The third is a completely different recipe.

Now, my challenge to you is this: try your hand with at least ONE of these recipes and tell me what happens. Does it come out soft and tasty? Or is the recipe defunct? Did you do anything differently? Does rye flour need added gluten to rise properly? Do I need to hire a priest to exorcise the bread demons out of my oven?

Recipe #1:
http://www.bigoven.com/119219-Outback-Steakhouse-Bread-recipe.html

Recipe #2:
http://restaurantrecipesbook.com/outback-steakhouse-bushman-bread-recipe/

Recipe #3:
http://www.lickthespoon.org/?p=203

I await your responses, bread masters!

Remembering

2010-01-19T21:32:00.004-05:00

Today marks the one year anniversary for the passing of a dearly beloved friend and mother-like figure. Lynn McGary was and is one of the most beautiful women you will ever meet, inside and out. She was called home after a long battle with cancer, but her impact on the ones she knew and loved still continues to radiate like a star even after it dies out. My husband Jason posted a beautiful memorial to her and I want to share it with you all.

Ancient Lyric: In Memory of Lynn

Last January I posted something about Lynn that I wrote in her final days on this earth. You can read it here to know more and understand what she has meant to me and to so many others:

A Reflection on a Remarkable Woman

We still miss you and love you, Mama Lynn, and look forward to seeing you again.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

2010-01-07T10:05:00.007-05:00

...but muffins are so delightful!

I was inspired this morning to whip together some warm muffins to fend off the winter chill. What I love about muffins is that they are really quick and easy to make, and that you can add almost anything to them (fruit, nuts, cheese, meat... you name it).

This morning, I had pecans and dried cranberries on hand so... surprise! Cranberry pecan muffins - lightly sweet, more like fruity bread loaves. Here's the recipe in case you need some help fighting the brrrrs.

Cranberry Pecan Muffins
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk (or rice milk)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted, or oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
dusting of powdered sugar (optional) - gives a little more sweet

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease twelve muffin cups or line them with paper bake cups.
2) In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
3) In another medium bowl stir together egg, milk, brown sugar, and butter/oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy - stirring too much will make your muffins tough). Fold in dried fruit and nuts.
4)Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done (if a toothpick is inserted into center of muffin and toothpick comes out clean). Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm. Makes 12.

The Yeast and I: Friends Again

2010-01-04T18:11:00.005-05:00

Well, thank you so much to everyone who posted thoughts, suggestions, and encouragement. After using the kids' entire nap time to try every trick suggested, there was a satisfactory result:

What was I doing wrong? A couple of things:

1) Cold bowl that wouldn't warm up. It's important to make sure the bowl you use to let the dough rise is pre-warmed. A cold bowl = bored yeast. I was also told that warming the measuring cup for the warm water is also important. Since my Kitchenaid mixing bowl wouldn't warm up, I put a greased Pyrex bowl in the oven on low for a few minutes and transferred the dough. Much better.

2) It's possible I didn't have the water warm enough - apparently 130 degrees F is the best temperature for bread (warm enough to get the yeast excited but not too hot to kill it).

3) The kitchen wasn't warm enough. Following good advice, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees F and turned it off before putting the dough in to rise.

I was really starting to wonder if my dough was EVER going to rise after sitting so long in an inactive state. Let this be a lesson to all of you aspiring bread makers: don't give up on the dough too quickly! Try everything before giving up - it's worth the effort to have that smell of freshed baked bread permeating your house.

So thanks again to all my friends with their bread wisdom to share - it won't be another six months of despair before I attempt another loaf of bread. :)

And I must give kudos to Lisa - that sweet bread is AMAZING! It tastes very much like the rolls at O'Charley's. In case you need the link again to her recipe, here it is:

Lisa's Amish Sweet Bread Recipe

Yeast, why do you despise me?

2010-01-04T13:12:00.005-05:00

So I have been trying for almost three years now to master the art of bread making. And I have to admit that the majority of my bread attempts have ended in disappointment. The only recipe that I have managed to complete with any real success has been Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls - everything else either doesn't rise, doesn't rise enough, or rises and then flattens out to an unattractive, hard loaf.

My most recent attempt was this morning: I am attempting to make my friend Lisa's recipe for Amish sweet bread. I proofed the yeast, and followed the rest of the recipe to a tee. I covered the dough over an hour ago to let it rise. When I went back to check on its progress, this is what I found:

It's enough to make you want to weep.

So I am sending out a cry for help into my cyber-hood and see if anyone can explain to me what I'm doing wrong. Here is what I have ruled out:

1) The yeast being old - I just used it a few weeks ago to make cinnamon rolls.
2) The water too cold - I made sure it was warm but not too hot.
3) Didn't rise long enough - I just checked it again, and after almost 2 hours, it STILL hasn't risen.

And here is what I want to ask about:
1) Do I need to warm up the bowl before I set the dough in it to rise? The metal bowl was a little cold but I hoped the water would warm it up.
2) I stirred the yeast this time since it's what the recipe said to do before I proofed it. Should I just sprinkle it in the water and leave it be until it bubbles?
3) Am I just yeast-challenged?

I await your wisdom.

On the lighter side

2009-12-31T19:12:00.007-05:00

Cooking is a passion of mine - there is usually nothing I enjoy more than trying out a new and exciting recipe and finding the results to be tasty and satisfying. Food is truly my love language, and every meal is an opportunity to express care and creativity to family and friends. New recipes are an adventure, and "mistakes" are often opportunities to exercise creativity to salvage a would-be disaster and to learn to laugh at yourself. You cannot take yourself too seriously in the kitchen!

With that said, I want to expand the subject of this blog beyond just sugary treats (though they are fun to make) and include fun meals that others might enjoy trying themselves. I also hope to encourage others who may feel inadequate in their cooking abilities to branch out and try something new. Maybe blogging meals will also help me to plan better and more interesting meals to share. Win-win!

Breaded boneless pork chops with baked sweet potatoes,
and cranberry pecan salad with feta cheese

You'll need:
4 boneless pork chops
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1 cup italian bread crumbs

4 sweet potatoes, washed
butter
brown sugar
cinnamon

1 heart of romaine, washed
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup shelled pecan halves
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
poppyseed dressing

2 hrs before dinner: Bake sweet potatoes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Pierce sweet potatoes all over 8-10 times with a fork and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour (depending on size of sweet potatoes). When done, slice each sweet potato down the middle and insert a pat (about 1 tablespoon) of butter to give it time to melt and permeate the inside of the sweet potato. Mmm..
**To check for doneness: pick up the largest baking sweet potato out of the oven with oven mitt. With medium to light force, tap it on the counter - if it feels soft (or even gets a little smashed), then they are done. If it still feels stiff, put it back in and bake for another 15 minutes or so and check again. (I forgot to do this and we ended up with partially baked sweet potatoes - remember what I said about laughing at yourself?) :)

45 min before dinner: Prep salad.
Tear washed romaine leaves into bite sized pieces and place in salad bowl. Sprinkle cranberries, pecans, and feta cheese on top. Done! (Don't forget to set out dressing when it's time to eat - that way the lettuce won't be soggy.)

30 min before dinner: Prepare pork chops.
1) Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium to medium high heat. Beat egg and sage in a small bowl and set aside. In a second small bowl, pour in bread crumbs. Use paper towel to pat-dry your pork chops.
2) When the pan is hot, dip each pork chop into the egg mixture bowl making sure to completely coat the pork chop on all sides. Do the same with the bread crumbs.
3) Place chops in hot skillet and brown on both sides (about 5 minutes on each side). Add chicken broth to pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover skillet and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until pork is cooked through. Serve hot.
**If broth evaporates before chops are done, just add a little more. Too much broth will make your chops soggy!

Before serving the meal, slice open the tops of the sweet potatoes and dress it up with a pat of butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Homemade Pecan Pie + Dark Chocolate = YUM.

2009-12-21T20:21:00.008-05:00

My mom, a very health conscious woman, mailed us a bag of pecans this week. Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of pecans my mind usually drifts into one particular direction:

**Photo courtesy of webmd.com - under an article titled "holiday food horrors"

I'm sure my mother did NOT have this purpose in mind for her lovely pecans, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. And my friends, it WAS bliss.

This time I decided to spice things up by chopping up some semi-sweet dark baking chocolate and mixing it into the filling before baking it. Actually, my husband suggested the addition. The result: Amazing. Something very similar to derby pie but with a little more bittersweet bite to it. Yum.

Here is the recipe - if you want an easy pie to make for Christmas, look no further.

Note: I started with a basic pecan pie recipe from the Millard Cook Book, a collaboration made several years ago by the men and women on my dad's side of the family. Thanks again for the copy, Aunt Sis!

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter/margarine, melted
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup pecans
- 3-1 oz blocks of semi-sweet dark chocolate
- 1 unbaked pie crust

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine eggs, sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt until well blended. Set aside.

2) Using a serrated bread knife (I'm told this kind of knife is best!), carefully chop dark chocolate blocks - make small cuts on the corners of the brick and work your way inward. The pieces don't have to be very large or uniform, though you will probably want a few nice sized chunks to bite into. Fold chocolate and pecans into egg mixture.

3) Pour filling into pie pan and place pie on cookie sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until done.

4) Enjoy a warm piece of pie with a cold glass of milk.

**I made this pie dairy-free by substituting reduced fat margarine for the butter and using Baker's chocolate. You will have to make your own crust if you need it to be dairy-free also, simply make it by substituting the butter with same margarine.

Bad boys, bad boys...

2009-12-21T14:17:00.007-05:00

I'm almost finished playing catch up now - 2009 was not a good year for cake making. Pregnancy was nine months of illness, dizziness, fatigue, etc etc - but on September 30, 2009 the result was a beautiful baby boy, Emmett Abraham!

Though I'm not planning on getting back into cakes yet (helloooo, new baby?), I am hoping to post a few fun recipes and little projects here and there over the next few months. But before I start with the new, I have one more cake from this past summer that I made for my friend Robby who graduated from police academy.

Robby's wife and my long-time friend Rachel wanted to surprise Robby with a cake that looked like the LMPD squad car. She let me borrow a miniature that they possessed and I did my best to replicate it. So here they are, side by side:

I was so out of it that I forgot the cover the cake board with foil, DOH!

Ah well, at least Robby liked it.
Congrats, Robby!

Weddings, weddings... Part 2

2009-08-18T21:45:00.010-04:00

Wow, I've really fallen behind in blogging - between trying to eek out the last few weeks of pregnancy and buying/moving into our first house, there hasn't been much time to post. But I will quickly attempt to at least post a couple of pictures of some fun wedding cupcakes for a fun couple, Jared and Stephanie Manes!

Stephanie and Jared opted for light blue swirl cupcakes with purple/orchid candy hearts. I was excited about the project and happy to be a part of the celebration, and I knew it was going to be a lot of good old fashioned work. The first step: bulk up on icing and start filling those candy heart molds!

Multiply this sheet by 26. and that you are getting the idea.

This is my friend Kasey - she helped make the 6-7 batches of icing for the cupcakes. I think it ended up being about 30 lbs of icing, whoo!!

**NOTE: I began this blog entry several months earlier, and it is now December. So, I'm just going to fast forward to the end product:

The Cupcakes

The Topper Cake

Display Table - construction by the lovely bride herself!

Congrats, Jared and Stephanie! :)

Weddings, weddings... Part 1

2009-06-04T13:41:00.011-04:00

Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted - a thousand pardons to all two of you who read this blog. Truthfully, the first half of pregnancy really packs a punch in my case: for a while there I couldn't even GO into a kitchen without wanting to be ill. In fact, I felt so terrible that I had to cancel almost all of my cake baking commitments (thanks to all of you for understanding).

Essentially the only commitments I didn't cancel were two weddings for old college friends: one for Adrienne (Keller) Eisenmenger and her wonderful new husband David, and the second wedding for Stephanie Wilson and Jared Manes. Adrienne and David were married on May 16th, and Stephanie and Jared's wedding were just married this past Saturday, June 6th. I'm going to recap both weddings and their cakes in two parts.

Here are a few photos of the process of creating Adrienne and David's cake:

First, I was still coming out of the morning sickness haze so Adrienne graciously agreed to purchase a pre-made wedding cake from Walmart and I would simply add the decoration. However, when I picked up the cake I was extremely disappointed: the cakes had big gaps in between each other, there were areas where the cake could be seen through the icing, and the cakes weren't even level. GAH!

So, I whipped up a batch of icing and started patching, smoothing, and making some repair on the cake.

Once it was in a somewhat better state, I started on the decoration: an assortment of fondant vines and a matching live green accents. My dear friend Ang came in from out of town and was staying the night because she was going to be doing wedding hair in the morning. Little did she know that she would also be assistant cake decorator as well. :) So we started cutting out the leaves using Wilton fondant leaf cutters... and kept cutting... and cutting...

A few hours and hundreds of leaves later...

WHEW! Done - I think this part was complete by 12:30am.
Thanks, Ang, for your help - it would have been much later if I didn't have you cutting those leaves!

The next morning, I added some more accents with kelly green buttercream icing...

And off to the wedding!

Many congrats to David and Adrienne - may your love continue to grow!

A Bun in the Oven

2009-03-09T10:43:00.002-04:00

So, I haven't posted in a while and wanted to give an explanation for those of you who don't know already...

Yep. We are. :)

As many of you know, I tend to have terrible morning sickness for the first few months... so bad, in fact, that cooking and baking of almost any kind is next to impossible. I managed to bake one cake for a friend last week, but I was so exhausted and sick that I didn't even remember to take a picture of it. So, I'm taking a break from cake making until May - I'm really hoping the nausea dissipates before then, because I have three orders that month (yipes!!).

In the meantime, if you have any baking creations of your own that you would like to feature on my blog feel free to email a picture and I'll display your confectionery masterpiece for all five people who follow this blog. So... get baking!

And I'll be getting another cup of chamomile and laying down on the couch for the next two months.

A birthday cake fit for a princess

2009-01-21T20:00:00.019-05:00

One of my long time friends, Rachel, has a daughter who just turned four years old. For her birthday, she requested a princess cake - so Rachel decided to hire me for the task. Rachel, her daughter, and I put our heads together and after some internet searching for photo inspiration (other cakes, mainly) decided on a Cinderella castle cake.

(Gulp.)
Deep breath. Hoo boy.

This was by far going to be the most challenging cake I had ever made. Of course, I wasn't going to make an exact replica (I'm not suicidal), but I wanted it to be recognizable. The kicker: due to unforeseen circumstances I was going to have less than two days to make it. YIPES. I had been counting on a week.

One immediate decision was to forego making the turrets and spires by hand using ice cream cones and cardboard tubes (yes, you can do it and someday I will... maybe). For the sake of time, I bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and buy the Wilton Castle Cake kit, which is basically just plastic turrets/spires/roof/door/windows. Thankfully I found it on sale - yes! Whew, that was going to cut down on about 2 days of work. (Keep in mind that I have to do my cakes while Gracie is usually napping/sleeping or she tries to sneak bites of the "cookie" = anything sweet.)

Now, I had already decided that I wanted the castle covered in little pink blossoms (hel-LO, it's a princess cake!!). So, with the help of my trusty blossom plunger, fondant, white nonperiels sprinkles, and sugar glue....
Ah... God bless the man who invented flower plungers.

Okay, I didn't take many pictures of the actual cake making/icing/fondant covering because - honestly - I didn't have the time to grab the camera. Just use your imaginations. :)

BUT I did get a shot of the pre-fondant turrets - I took this after my dear friend Jen (who came over to help with Gracie) helped me decide on the placement to maximize visual appeal.

She did a pretty good job, huh?

Okay, I had to break after that for Gracie's sake - you can see that his part was finished while it was still light outside. Once Gracie went down for the night, it was time to get down to business:

Several hours of grumbling, mixing, cutting, wrapping, dusting, and pasting later:
Hmm... not bad. WAIT. The door is too big!!! DOH!!!!

I used a new chocolate cake recipe and it fell significantly after it came out of the oven. To make it worse, when I inserted one of the top turrets into the cake, the side bulged out and cracked the fondant covering. I almost cried, but I decided it was too late to worry about it and maybe I could decorate it in a way that it wouldn't be noticable tomorrow.

The next morning:
Well, the flowers were definitely a nice touch, and I think it actually made the door look nice. But the castle still seems like it needs a little more UMPH. So... let's make a few more fondant windows for the turrets.

Now THAT's better. Oh, and a "flower vine" to disguise the crack... (hoping no one will notice the huge thumbprint right next to it from trying to save the cake)

And... voila! A cake fit for a princess!

Happy birthday, Hannah - Aunt Donna loves you.
And now she needs a nap.

A reflection of a remarkable woman

2009-01-12T19:28:00.002-05:00

Many of you know that Lynn McGary, a woman who has been a personal mentor, friend, and like a mother to me has been battling cancer for about seven years now. And many of you know that her condition became very grave last week and she has now been allowed to go home and spend what time she has left with her family and loved ones.

This weekend Jason and I were able to go and be with her and her family who is so much like my own, and to see Lynn, hug her, and tell her how much we love her. I wish I had been able to tell her how much her love and relationship has meant to me for the last few years, but it would have taken much too long and time is so short.

For those of you who don't know Lynn, she is one of the most incredible people I have ever been privileged to know. She, with her husband Ross, founded a soon to be nationwide organization that ministers to families with children with special needs, Stone Soup (see website http://www.stonesoupnews.com for more information). Her background in child development and education also provided other opportunities to teach parenting and education seminars locally and internationally, as well as draft a book of baby games for babies from newborn to one year old.

Lynn loves exercising and encouraging creativity in others. She enjoys opening her home to others and hosting people with delicious foods and meaningful conversation. She loves God's many creations with joy and wonder: brilliant colors, beautiful nature scenes, and the intricacy of the human body always illicit comments of amazement and thankfulness.

She is also an amazing wife and mother, daugther and sister - she loves completely without holding back and without giving a second thought to herself. I've heard countless stories she's had with her children, many including her ability to turn potentially difficult situations into "adventures." :) Something her daughter Lisa once told me has always stuck with me: that in all the years she has known her, she never recalls a moment in which Lynn complained about something. Oh, to have that kind of legacy with your grown children.

Lynn doesn't know how to love people half-heartedly - she sees every person as having value and being made in God's image. And she seeks to show them how they really matter, to herself and to her Lord. She greets cashiers at her usual grocery store by name and enquire about their mothers, their children. And she really listens when they answer.

Lynn has played a pivotal role in my own life tenfold, impacting every aspect as an adult, a wife, a mother, and a follower of Christ. She humbles me by her matter-of-factness, her openness and lack of ceremony, and her continual giving of herself to others without expectation of recognition or return. She was first known to me as a mom of a roommate and dear friend who we saw at holidays, but over time I was slowly pulled into the "McGary Force" and soon felt like one of the family.

Ross and Lynn were also an important part of mine and Jason's story of deciding to get married, directly and indirectly. :) They led our premarital counseling and taught us by example what marriage should look like: how to love deeply and with honor and respect, how to face challenges as one no matter what, and how to really laugh together and revel in the joys of marriage. They rejoiced with us at our wedding and delivered the charge to the bride and groom during our ceremony and led a prayer for our future together.

Ross and Lynn were one of the first people we called when we found out that we were expecting a baby, and Lynn helped me cope with the first difficult months of pregnancy and morning sickness. They came up soon after Gracie was born to see her, "their first grand baby," as they call her. Lynn was a listening ear during the dark moments of post pardum and offered much counsel as I floundered and fretted as a new mommy. It was also Lynn who talked me through the fears and questions of an ectopic pregnancy, emergency surgery, and loss shortly after Gracie's first birthday.

I wish you could be able to read this and know how much you impacted my own little life - thank you for being such a steady and steadfast presence, always ready with a hug and a kiss and an "I love you, sugar." I look forward one day to see you dance and laugh and sing off key again, free from sickness or grief or weariness... and you will be with the Creator you know and love so well. Thank you for the legacy you leave behind you through your husband, children, brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, students, friends, and on and on and on. We love you and cherish you and all of the memories you leave behind.

Cupcakes are poppin' up everywhere

2008-12-27T12:05:00.007-05:00

Hope you all had a great Christmas with your friends/family... ours was a nice and quiet one overall, and we enjoyed spending time together at home this year. But I have to share one magnificent gift that my amazing husband got for me as a complete surprise:

TA-DA!! A Kitchenaid Artisan mixer!!
No more hand mixing icing, cake batter, or cookie dough for me!
It's time to step into the 21st century... er, the 20th century.

Ahem.

Okay, so I know I've already featured a Bakerella recipe, but as a new follower I am continually inspired to try some of her recipes/ideas. So, when I started seeing more and more cupcake pops on her site... it was only a matter of time before I would make them. And since Christmas Eve sneaked up on me and I still needed to make gifts for our neighbors, I decided the time had come:

I was surprised at how much easier they were than the bon bons - the sticks really make them easier to dip (and that you're only dipping half of the bon bon at a time). The only thing to remember: make sure to insert sticks while the chocolate on the bottom is still unset - since your bon bons have been in the fridge prior to dipping, the melted chocolate doesn't take very long at all. But if you DO make the mistake of forgetting to insert sticks (or if you don't have any), you can just make little cupcake bites, like so:

Either way, you can finish them off by using small candy bags and ribbon to gussy them up and they are ready to give away (or eat them yourself, whatever). :)

Bakerella also has other incredibly cute designs for these cupcake pops (themed for holidays, like Thanksgiving turkeys and reindeer pops), so check them out and get popping!

Oh, Christmas wreath, Oh Christmas wreath...

2008-12-24T08:59:00.007-05:00

Well, I finished my second official cake order last night: a cupcake Christmas wreath from Karen Tack and Alan Richardson's book "Hello, Cupcake!"

I was pretty pleased with the end result - I just hope my neighbor is too. The key to a realistic wreath? Chocolate coated mint leaves.

Yep, and it's surprisingly easy! Just melt candy wafers and paint with food grade, high quality paint brush onto fresh mint leaves.

Then let harden for a few minutes, and peel off mint leaves (they come off easily).

Add a few atomic fire balls for "holly" (the book recommends a kind of chocolate candy made by Cadbury, but I couldn't find them), and voila!

A few things I would probably change the next time: stick to mint leaves that are no longer than 1 1/2- 2 inches (I had a few mammoth ones 3-4 inches and they were too big). Also, the book recommends painting the top of the mint leaves, but I found that painting half of them on the underside allows for some of the leaves to be more textured or "veiny".

Karen Tack is my hero... a couple of my friends (thanks Rachel & Ang!) brought to my attention that more of her cupcake genius was featured on the cover of Taste of Home magazine.

Be sure to check it out - she has the how-tos of making beautiful blue poinsettia cupcakes and other adorable and DOABLE designs.

Have a very merry and bakeriffic Christmas!

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

2008-12-19T09:39:00.010-05:00

Yes, you heard me. TRUFFLE CHEESECAKE. Anytime those two words are in the same sentence you know that happiness and world peace will soon follow.

I saw this recipe on Allrecipes and just HAD to try it. I'm going to be bringing it to the Tuckers' Christmas party tonight, so some of you can help taste test this recipe and let me know what you really think.

Now, the original recipe calls for a vanilla wafer crust but I thought I would follow others' suggestions and make a chocolate cookie crust instead.

So, start with about 3 cups of crushed Oreos in a gallon freezer bag and a rolling pin to crush and follow up with some smashing by hand. Then add 3 tablespoons of melted butter directly into the bag (less cleanup) and smash again.

When sufficient smashing has commenced, simply pour contents into springform pan and press down to cover the entire bottom of the pan. I think I should have probably smashed a little more... the crust is still pretty chunky. Oh well.

Now it's time to melt the chocolate - 2 cups (one bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips on a double boiler. A metal (or glass) mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water works great. Melt and mix until smooth.

And now it's time for the star of the show: the cream cheese.

A moment of silence. (Cue angelic choir.)

Cream 3 (8 oz) packages of said dreamy goodness with tender affection, words of love, and biceps of steel (I'm still in the dark ages so it's just me and the spoon).

Now gradually add a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk... it's used in place of sugar, nice huh?

And now add the melted chocolate... ohhh, yesss... (sorry, blurry picture - the chocolate was wooing me)

And now 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 4 eggs... and BLEND!

Now we pour that chocolately cream cheesy goodness into the pan.

Bake at 300 degrees F for 55 minutes.
When it's done baking for the allotted time, turn off the oven but DO NOT remove the cheesecake from the oven!

Two reasons:
1) it allows the cake to cool gradually in the oven to prevent cracking
2) it will allow the cake to continue to cook a little longer since the middle is still a little underdone.
I let mine sit in the oven for about 2-3 hours, but even 1 hour would be sufficient.

In the meantime, find something interesting to do
like listen to your husband practice his mandolin.

After the cake has cooled, feel free to decorate
with fruit, whipped cream, drizzled white chocolate, or...
Red ribbon, white chocolate leaves (ask me how), and "holly berries" (atomic fire balls)

And that was it! Pretty easy, huh? I thought so - only seven ingredients to make a delightfully creamy, super rich, but not overly sweet chocolate cheesecake.

Click here for the original recipe

Hope you enjoy it, and let me know how yours turns out!

Bakefully yours,
Donna

Red Velvet Bon Bons

2008-12-13T15:05:00.005-05:00

So, I found a recipe for red velvet bon bons about a month ago on Bakerella's blog and had to make them. The results were quite satisfactory:

Here is Bakerella's directons to make them for yourself:

Bakerella's Red Velvet Cake Balls

The recipe will make about 5-6 boxes of about 10 a piece.

If you prefer, you can make your own cream cheese icing using real butter and cream cheese (little better for you - at least you know what's in it). Here is a good recipe:

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups confectioner sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons milk

Cream together cream cheese and butter until blended. Add vanilla, milk, and confectioner sugar and mix well. If too thick, can add more milk one teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

If you wanted to jazz them up a little more, you could use melted candy wafers to draw decorations on the outside, like hearts or initials and make them for any occasion (wedding favors, Valentine gifts, etc etc). I also used Wilton candy bags to store them and just drop them into little takeout boxes you can find at your local craft store.

Have a bakeriffic week!

Pioneer Woman, I salute you

2008-12-12T09:05:00.000-05:00

As my first entry, I have nominated Pioneer Woman as the baker of honor. Her cinnamon roll recipe has forever changed Christmas in the Shaw household.

Behold, the majesty...

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Roll Recipe

These babies are very rich, gooey, and should be savored slowly with a glass of milk. And maybe an insulin shot. But don't take MY word for it - try the recipe yourself. Yeast novices, have no fear: if you follow the instructions entirely, you will be just fine. Oh, and please note: the recipe makes seven pans of rolls. SEVEN. That's 49 cinnamon rolls. Be sure to have people on speed dial to give these babies away. If you can.

A couple of personal modifications:

1) I found that I did NOT use as much melted butter (1 1/2 - 2 CUPS) as PW suggests to cover the dough before sprinkling/rolling. It just pours off of the dough and makes a pool on the table, which eventually moves to the chair, then to the floor... you get the idea. Try starting with just ONE stick of butter and see if you need more to cover the entire dough surface.

2) For the icing: if you don't want to spend the money on maple flavoring, you can substitute maple syrup. I started with 1/4 cup syrup, tasted it, and then added a little at a time until I got the desired flavor. And the coffee does add a nice subtle taste, so don't skip it!

Happy baking!