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Fall is definitely my favorite time of year for baking. It's all about the pumpkin and warm, fragrant spices! Every year I'm always on the search for new pumpkin recipes, but I still have a few classics I just can't pass up. This weekend I decided to kick off my fall baking by testing some new recipes, but with a few twists! I started with a Pinterest recipe from Like Mother, Like Daughter* for pumpkin cinnamon rolls! I mostly stuck to the recipe for the dough, aside from doubling all of the spices and doing a second proof after slicing the rolls. When it came to the frosting, I decided to play a little bit! I love having multiple flavor profiles in my food, so I substituted ginger extract instead of vanilla. I also added a dash of lemon juice to brighten things up! The flavors came through a bit strong, so I had to add a few more ounces of cream cheese to balance it out. The ginger/lemon complimented the pumpkin and gave it a little more depth. They practically flew off the plate at work, so it seems this experiment was a success! I also tried a new pumpkin pecan cookie recipe from one of my many cook books. Again, I stuck mostly to the recipe, except for doubling the spices and adding a few extra. Again, the frosting was really where I tweaked things. The recipe was just a buttercream made with brown sugar, so to add a little depth I browned the butter first. I also added a good dash of whiskey, which helps cut the sweetness and gives it a nice smokey flavor. These cookies were so moist and light, but not too sweet. The frosting is optional, but it definitely compliments the pumpkin well! They got rave reviews and definitely didn't last long! Last but not least, I made some spiced sugar cookies, mostly just to have some fun cookies! I definitely need to practice my royal icing skills a bit more! That's all for now, but there is definitely more pumpkin-y goodness to be had. Stay tuned!
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This post is over a month late, but it's terribly difficult to keep up without a laptop! Any-who, a friend of mine recently had a birthday and of course I wanted to make a cake! She had quite the makeup obsession, so I thought it would be a good time to try more fondant work! The cake itself was a pretty basic chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, but I did sneak a little surprise in the center! The big task was the decoration. I chose a MAC makeup theme, so I decided to cover the cake with a shiny mirror glaze for a nice, clean look. Making the glaze itself was actually simpler than I anticipated, it was the application that's a bit tricky. I used a fluffy chocolate mousse for a base frosting, so the mirror glaze couldn't be too warm when I put it on or the mousse would just melt. However, you still have to pour the glaze on before it cools too much or the gelatin will set. Because of that, the mousse didn't stay perfectly smooth when I began to pour/spread the glaze. In retrospect, a buttercream would definitely be a better base for mirror glaze. Aside from that, the mirror glaze smooths quite easily over the cake and gives it beautifully clean lines! After it set, I tossed a little bit of silver lustre dust on it for extra glam. The final touch was the fondant makeup and logo! I don't have specific fondant tools yet, so I made do with a paring knife and biscuit cutter to cut out the basic shapes. The logo was the difficult part! I printed it out on regular paper, cut it out and put it on top of rolled out fondant. Unfortunately my knife wasn't sharp enough and I didn't get the clean lines I was hoping for. I also should have put the logo on while it was still pliable, instead of after it dried (it broke in a few spots). After adding a little more lustre dust (and a few toothpicks to keep things upright), it actually all came together quite nicely! I'll definitely be looking for more excuses to do mirror glazes and fondant work! |
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November 2019
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