Cookies are associated more strongly with fall and winter – thanks to the Christmas holiday where cookies are an absolute staple – than they are with summertime. This is a shame because the summer can be a fine time to bake cookies. The days are longer, so we usually feel like we have a little extra free time and, if you have kids around, you can get some extra helping hands to shape and decorate them. Nordicware’s Summer Series 3D Cookie Cutters is a summer themed cookie cutter set that allows you to make three dimensional cookies that can stand up on their own. The set makes six different shapes with twelve cookie cutters, and the shapes include a boat, a dolphin, an airplane, a unicorn, a dinosaur and a teddy bear. The first three tie in to a summer, travel-theme, while I will admit that the latter three aren’t as obviously summery. They are, however, very cute and because the dinosaur is my favorite cutter from the set I’m willing to overlook the fact that not all of these are beach themed.
The cookie cutters come with a cookie dough and icing recipe that works well with them. If you are going to use a different recipe, choose one that doesn’t spread very much during baking (such as a stiff butter cookie dough, rather than peanut butter or chocolate chip cookie dough) because you need the cut outs to hold their shape, or you won’t be able to fit them together. The cookies are generously sized (4-5 inches) and there is a lot of surface area to decorate, which is fun for kids and adults – and not a bad way to spend a warm summer evening at home.
I was always a fan of the Caramel Macciato Biscotti from Starbucks. They were inexpensive (less than $1) and made a great snack with a cup of coffee. I also really liked their unusual two-tone look. These cookies were recently discontinued by the coffee company in favor of some more traditional looking biscotti, so I decided make up a batch of two tone biscotti myself as a nod to them – and so I could have some freshly baked biscotti with my coffee at home!
These biscotti have two layers, one coffee flavored and one vanilla flavored. To get the two layered effect in my biscotti, I made up one big batch of dough and added a homemade coffee extract to a portion of the dough. The coffee extract is made by dissolving a generous amount of instant coffee/espresso powder in hot water, to make a very concentrated and flavorful brew that is strong enough to flavor the dough. I layered the vanilla dough on top of the coffee layer and the two baked together beautifully.
You can really taste both the vanilla and the coffee layers in the finished biscotti. These biscotti are very crunchy and are perfect for dipping in coffee, as they don’t break up too fast when they hit the hot liquid. I like a slightly thicker cookie that will soak up a lot of coffee, but you can cut these into thinner cookie crisps when slicing your dough if you prefer a more delicate cookie. The biscotti from Starbucks that inspired these have a caramel flavored coating that they are dipped in. I opted to leave these cookies plain, but they could easily be dipped in chocolate to add yet another layer of flavor to these already layered treats.
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Cupcakes started as a dessert trend but became a sweet staple for many of us, which left room for more trends to hit the dessert market after them. One of these trends was for push pop-style cakes, where cake, frosting and other goodies were layered into a push pop container (the same kind you bought from the ice cream truck as a kid) and eaten by pushing the layers up with the push pop stick. The presentation for these treats is beautiful and in Push-up Pops you’ll find recipes and instructions on how to assemble these at home.
The book covers a wide range of different desserts including cakes, pies, frozen desserts and cookie-based push pops. It starts with a detailed introduction to the techniques needed to assemble these goodies and get the best finished product before jumping into the recipes. For instance, cake batters should be baked in a jelly roll pan so that the layers are very thin, and the rounds for the pops can be cut out simply by pressing your pop mold into the baked cake to get the perfect size and shape. The recipes are clearly written and easy to follow, with lots of delicious sounding flavor combinations. The techniques used in this book might be even more useful than the recipes because the wow factor in these desserts is their unique look. Once you have the basics down, you can layer any combination of cake, cookies, fruit, frosting or fillings in your push pops and come up with your own creations quite easily.
These treats are perfect for serving at a party or bringing to a bake sale. To make these recipes as described in the book, you will need to order some Push Up Pop molds, which can be found from some online cake and pastry stores. They make for an amazing presentation and are a lot of fun to use. If you don’t have the molds or don’t want to get them, not to worry: every dessert can be assembled in dessert glasses instead and eaten with a spoon. Using relatively narrow glasses (which you probably already have) gives you a beautifully layered dessert that you can serve easily and eat with a spoon, even if you don’t have push up molds.
Refreshing isn’t a word that you often associate with cupcakes, but these Lemon Lime Cupcakes definitely have a refreshing element to them. The cupcakes are bright with both fresh lemon and lime zest, and have a lemon lime buttercream on top. It is sweet, light and surprisingly palate cleansing, for a cupcake. They’re quite different from most cupcakes, as the combination of lemon and lime doesn’t show up that often in cupcake form, and that also makes them a very nice change of pace for those of you getting bored with chocolate and vanilla.
The cake for these cupcakes is very moist and tender, with a soft, tight crumb. The lemon lime flavor comes from fresh zest that is grated into the cupcake batter. Zest – the colored, outer portion of a citrus fruit – is extremely flavorful because that is where all of the intense citrus oils are. . I used one large lemon and one large lime to get enough zest for one batch of cupcakes, but you might want to have an extra lime on hand in case yours turn out to be a bit small. A microplane is the perfect tool for easily zesting your fruit. Don’t skimp on the zest when making these to get the best lemon-lime flavor in the finished cakes – and if you have to cut back, you can boost the flavor with some lemon or lime oil, which you can buy bottled.
The cupcakes are topped with a lemon lime buttercream, where I used the juice from the fruits I zested for the cake to give the frosting a bright citrus flavor. The lemon and lime juice blend well together, and this frosting is one that you could easily use to make a batch of yellow or vanilla cupcakes more exciting. If you find that you don’t have quite enough juice from your zested lemon and lime, and you don’t have any more fruit on hand, you can add a little bit of water to the frosting to make up the difference.
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In addition to the cake mixes you can buy at the grocery store and the ones available at higher end gourmet stores, there are many mixes out there made by smaller producers that can give you great results and make fun gifts. One example of this is the Vintage Bakeshop, which specializes in all natural baking mixes packaged in stylish, vintage-inspired wrapping.
I tried a mix for their Red Velvet Cupcakes to see if the cupcakes turned out to be as lovely as the packaging. As with most mixes, you simply add a few of your own eggs, oil, etc. to the mix and stir, then you’re ready to bake. The mix comes together easily and has a very intense color to it that carries over into the finished product. I should note that all of the mixes from the Vintage Bakeshop line are complete natural (i.e. sugar, flour, etc.) with no artificial preservatives or other ingredients – except for this red velvet mix, which contains artificial red coloring (red dye no. 40). I like red velvet cupcakes and am not bothered by a bit of food coloring, but I wanted to point out that their other mixes do not contain any for those who keep an eye out for certain dyes.
The finished cupcakes were very moist and tender. I could taste the hint of cocoa that was in the cupcakes, as well as a hint of vanilla, just as you should be able to do in a real red velvet cake. This made them feel a lot more homemade than many mixes. The best part about this mix is that the packaging is simply adorable. It is the kind of thing that makes a great addition to gift baskets for Mother’s Day or other holidays. The frosting recipes included with the mix (all scratch recipes) are nice, too, and it will always improve a cupcake to use homemade icing.
