Lemon Ricotta Acorn Cakelets

I'm in love with Nordic Ware pans.  I've posted about my seashell teacake pan (which I prefer to call cakelet pans) but I haven't shared my newest acquisition...the Acorn pan!  I saw it on Amazon and searched every local retailer possible to no avail so I finally broke down and ordered it online.  When you live in the boonies and you want something specific, Amazon can be a real life saver.  I am still a firm believer in shopping in local independent shops whenever possible...but sometimes...you gotta go with the big box in the sky.  This was one of those times.

It's been on my wish list for over a year.  I kept hoping the price would go down.  It didn't.  I also opted to buy a second seashell cakelet pan.  It gets really old to try to make batches of these and wait for cooling in between.  Nigh impossible for my patience level!  So, now, I have 4 Nordic Ware "teacake pans".  One, the first, is not my favorite, but I use it anyway.  I'm sure I just need to find the correct density batter/dough to make that first one work well.  I usually end up with a lot of holes and that's not always pretty!

Anyway, here's a picture of my new pan.  So cute!

Nordic Ware Acorn Cakelet Pan

I had every intention of creating or finding a pumpkin recipe for the acorn cakelets...but I ended up having 6 expensive Meyer lemons that were staring at me from my counter, and I needed to use them before they became over-ripe on me.  I search for them so I really don't want THAT to happen!  Therefore, I grabbed my absolute favorite lemon cookie recipe (which is quite cakey) and decided we would have lemon acorns...and lemon seashells too, because, I do live at the coast!

I whipped them all up and having 3 pans made life so much easier.  The recipe made exactly 2 pans worth of each cakelet (4 pans total).  Since I started the acorn first, it was great to have it cool and easily washed for the 4th round.  I did up the glaze recipe a bit because I tend to run out when I use the original recipe instructions.  Here's the link to the original recipe from Giada De Laurentis.  I don't change anything in the dough. However, I do give a quick spritz of Pam or other cooking spray to the pan before filling.  I use a 1 Tbsp. scoop to fill (and actually liked the second batch of acorn cakelets where I used a heaping Tbsp scoop instead of it leveled off).  For a more ample amount of glaze, I make it thusly:

Lemon Drop Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 lemon finely zested (a Microplane is perfect for this task)

Combine ingredients with a small whisk.  Cover and let sit for 15 minutes or so to ensure any sugar lumps dissolve.  Re-stir before using.

Place the cakelets on a rack over a baking sheet.  Ensure they are completely cool.  Dip the cakelet upside down into the glaze, allow to drip a second or two over the bowl, then turn right side up and place back on rack for glaze to harden.

The glaze is hardened and the cakelets are now
easy to handle.  If you look close you can see
the zest in the glaze.  OMG - so good!

I call it Lemon Drop Glaze because my family says these cookies/cakelets taste like lemon drops.  They are deliciously sweet and tart and my eyes roll when I bite into one!

I have no idea how long these cookies or cakelets last.  They don't stay around in my house long enough to find out!  Keep covered and enjoy (I love a cup of coffee or hot tea with 2 or 3 of these babies).

See you on the other side of Thanksgiving my friends!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

King Bob's Birthday 2013

I was so happy to be invited to the 2nd Annual King Bob's Birthday party on the beach!  Bob's wife, Sally, puts on a great party...which included beach-front umbrellas and lounge chairs in front of Wanna-Wanna, ice chests filled with icy libations, yummy snack trays. Sand Castle Queen of the Island, Sandy Feet, her very entertaining "sand slaves", and a bunch of interesting people to talk to!  I really enjoy meeting new friends.  I also love talking to people who have moved to the area and find out where they come from.  There's always a story...I just love hearing the tales!

I enjoyed using some of my stencils on the minis!  These
came from Designer Stencils

My offering was a set of cookies made for King Bob (Bob's 71st birthday and his 1st anniversary of retirement makes him King of the Day!).  The cookie set included a large layered cake-shaped cookie, some crowns for the king, and a few minis to fill in the set.  He was kind enough to share the cookies and it seems the Acorn Squash Sugar Cookies were a success.  Even my trial with a new royal icing recipe seemed to work out okay (I didn't have time to taste a dry cookie before leaving for the beach so I wasn't sure how taste and texture would be after drying...risky on my part but...whew...it apparently worked).  Nothing makes me more happy than people enjoying my treats!

These were drying to the very last minute!

Photo by Sally Scaman
I was having a big hair humidity day...the
curls were blowing wildly as Sally snapped
a photo of me and Bob and the box of cookies

While a lot of the United States is enjoying Fall weather, folks on South Padre Island are enjoying one of our favorite times of year.  The beautiful days of September and October are PERFECT beach weather.  So, it being a perfect day on the beach, I'll just end the post with a slew of photos featuring Sandy Feet, Dennis,and Ken working hard (did you know, it's important to place your beer higher than the sandcastle...else you fill your can with sand???) Enjoy!

This stuff is hard work!

Things are shaping up as the creative genius kicks in!

Hot work when you are working on the side where there is no wind!

Sandy Feet carving the King's Sculpture

Dennis (L) and Ken (R) carving supporting castles on each side
of the King Bob sculpture 
(yep, they are a lot more than just sand slaves - 
they are talented sculptors themselves).  
This is the status when I had to leave.


Following Photos from Sally Scaman

The King and his Pampered Princess
The Sand Sculptors (behind)

Bob and Sally...beach royalty.  Great party and Fabulous Sand Sculpture!

Bon Appetit, Y'all...and May Your Day be Filled with Sunshine!!!

Painting Cookies...practice required!

Inspiration - My Tervis Tumbler coffee mug!

When I think back to high school art class, I remember feeling so incredibly incompetent.  I think even further back to a class I took at the Austin PARD in my pre-teen years and I remember the teacher shaking her head because I couldn't get my head around painting a windmill in a field of tulips.  I couldn't see depth, I couldn't see that I didn't have to detail each and every tulip...I had such a literal sense of the visual that I could not put it on canvas.  I began to hate drawing and painting..despite my mother buying me an easel, paints, and a plethora of canvas so I could "practice".  I have ever since always said I am NOT an artist.

However, now that I am past that double-nickel point in time, I am a bit more forgiving of my abilities and find that I enjoy "trying" again.  I can step back and try to see the whole instead of every single little detail.  Decorating cookies has helped me see that I can be artistic without having to be "an artist".  Of course, the obvious benefit of working on cookies, as I've said before...you get to eat the mistakes and they are gone forever!

I have spent the last couple of days of this lazy week-end painting Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies and Apple Butter Sugar Cookies.  I had only done a couple of painted cookies in the past and they took so much time I wasn't sure I would do it again.  However, I had some leftover base coated plaque sugar cookies and decided to spend some time playing with painting.  I watched some Arty McGoo and SweetAmbs youtube tutorials for inspiration today (I had seen both of them before).  I only finished a few...I'm still very slow.  However, I am trying!

I long to take a watercolor painting class...but I'm still afraid...leftover from those previous feelings of incompetence.  I know, however, that I really need to do exactly that!

Here's what I accomplished... and at the end, I'm adding one of the 1st two I did as well.



Inspired by SweetAmbs - I painted the flowery things
and used a FooDoodler to write the words.

Scribble Roses - Inspired by Arty McGoo

My second time to consider painting a cookie.
My son said "paint a rose" and was appalled when
I began a scribble rose :-)

My first time painting (my second cookie - both were herons)
At first I was hypercritical...then I let up on myself.
It's not awful...

Well, thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to over the past few days.  I'm happy that I had some leftover cookies to practice with.  I think I'll base coat some more cookies and keep them "ready for the moment"... kind of like having a canvas on hand!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Beach Cookies

The Beach Cookie created following
tutorial from Marlyn of Montreal Confections

I know it is February and many folks North of the equator are having a nippy week...but where I live, it's pretty nice weather!  I live on the Gulf Coast ...right on the water... and this week-end, I'm driving up the coast a few hours to spend time...at the coast.  Yep, weirdly enough, it's true.  My flip flops are happy to be in the sand, wherever the sand may be.

So, cookies were requested by the traveling companions ...apple butter cookies specifically.  Ask and ye shall receive!  I made 30 cookies and got them all decorated in one day via carefully scheduled fan drying of layers and starting early in the day.  I used a different method for making royal icing this time...from the wonderful Jaci at Ali's Sweet Tooth.  We both live in a land of great humidity.  Her method worked beautifully.  Not a bit of separation all day long...and a good thick base to work from with my handy dandy spray bottle. Yay!

My favorite cookies were a "beach" with waves I meticulously created using the YouTube tutorial from Marlyn at Montreal Confections.  I am slightly addicted to her tutorials...she is such a good teacher.  I saw it earlier last year and knew I would eventually get around to trying it out.  Today was the day!  Mine doesn't look as sharp as hers... but I'm pleased with the result for a first effort.  I didn't make fondant sea shells, I used some white and milk chocolate instead in a Wilton silicon mold I bought from Amazon.  I'm not fond of fondant...but I surely do love chocolate.  They came out sort of cute, so I'm glad I took that turn.

I didn't have the cool sanding sugar Marlyn used.
I used turbinado sugar instead.

I also used, for the first time, my air brush.  I carefully covered my table and used a 3-part science poster board to protect over spray as recommended by the talented Melissa at The Baked Equation .  I was so joyful to spray the shades of blue and then pearl the waves.  I am laughing myself silly now, though.  Guess what I didn't protect?  The inside of my nose!  I blew blue icky stuff this evening (OK - blue boogers - I'll just say it).  Good grief!  I'm thinking a mask may be in order next time.  Now that I see how cool the airbrush is, I know I'm going to try to find ways to add more depth to future cookies.

Since I didn't take photos during the process (and you can see Marlyn's online tutorial here) I'll just post these photos of the finished products.  Dolphins, sand dollars, star fish, and some scallop shells add to the beach theme.  The teen informed me "uh, those shells look a little different", in reference to the colors of the scallops.  Heck, I needed to use up some of the blue and peach icing from other cookies...so we have "different" scallop shells.  Leave it to the teen to point out the obvious!

Happy dolphins, funky scallops...it's all good when it gets in the belly!

The sand dollars are much better than my last attempt!  Still
a few issues to work out.  Still, better!
 

Slowly but surely, I'm trying to get back to enthusiasm for baking.  I have some more stencils I want to use as well as quite a few new cookie cutters.  I need to start sketching out some ideas.  I'll keep you posted!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

I airbrushed pearl on the center starfish and used sugar pearls to accent.
The rest of the starfish were just piped dots and no pearl.
I think I like the pearl best...and I like the dots better than the sugar pearls.
Next time :-)

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