Of Sambal And Snow: Baking Inspiration

I haven't been feeling all too fantastic these past few days and I think the pains in my leg and hips are coming back (HORRORS!!) but the good thing is that much of the pain comes at night so I'm left alone during the daytime. Which is a great thing cos then I get into the mood to indulge in my favourite past time...baking.

The weather has been pissy rain all week and it just feels nice and homely to have a warm kitchen filled with the smell of freshly baked bread, cakes, muffins or cookies. And a few days ago while grocery shopping, I stumbled upon a box of frosting tubes that was just the thing I had been looking for. This would allow me to actually decorate and write letters on my cakes! YAY!

And so started my baking inspiration. To top it all off, I finally found a frosting recipe for cakes that did ask for a kilo of frosting sugar cos those kinds of frostings are so sweet they make me sick. And I also found a new way to decorate my cookies that did not add sweetness to the already sweet sugar cookies.

So exciting!! After making sure I had all I needed and gaining further inspiration from a fellow cooking enthusiast's beautifully done blog, I was ready to BAKE!! And for once, I shall NOT be lazy and actually post the recipe as well. I told you, I was INSPIRED!

I decided to make 2 creations yesterday since one recipe required 2 egg yolks and the other asked for 2 egg whites, so why not right?? Must be smart about this (plus I got all this time on my hands). But to be truly honest, this egg issue only came about cos I had the itchy fingers to frost yesterday. So instead of wasting 2 egg whites just because I wanted frosted cookies, I decided to start off with chocolate muffins TOPPED with white frosting (that solved the egg white issue) and fresh strawberries. I tweaked the original muffin recipe a little and left out all the extra chocolate pieces that were supposed to go in for 2 reasons, 1: I realised I had run out of baking chocolate (husband dear is a heavy user and occasionally dips into my stash) and 2: since I was gonna have frosting on top, one comes to a point where too much sweetness has to be stopped. But I've put down the original recipe below just in case you do want to go into chocolate shock. Hey, I've done it.

Chocolatey Chocolate Muffins (makes abt 8)

1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 plain flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
60g butter, melted
60g good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
12 chocolate balls (I usually use Lindt balls)
icing sugar, to serve

Preheat oven 180 degrees C and line muffin tray with paper cases.
Sift together cocoa powder, rice and plain flour and combine it with brown sugar in a medium sized bowl.
Make a well in the centre and add eggs and melted butter, gently stir until well combined.
Stir in chopped white chocolate (you can add in nuts too if you want).
Fill each muffin case 1/3 of the way, place a chocolate ball in the centre of the case then spoon more of the mixture tocompletely cover the ball.
(The muffin will rise a little so make sure not to over fill the case)
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are firm to touch.
Cool for 15 minutes in the pan.
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

As for the actual white icing, I used the Fluffy White Frosting recipe below:-
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, stir together sugar, water and cream of tartar.
Cook over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved amd mixture is bubbly.
Whip the egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks.
Gradually add sugar mixture while whipping constantly (this is where I ADORE my KitchenAid) until stiff peaks form, about 7-10 minutes.

Granted, my hands are not the most steady and my frosting technique is greatly lacking (for right now), I still think my muffins look pretty damn tasty. But this was just the side order, the small fry, the easy peasy recipe leading up to my main star, the Frosted Sugar Cookies.

Making the sugar cookie is straightforward enough with the basic sugar cookie recipe:-
2/3 cup shortening (I used butter)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon or orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
4 tsp milk
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cream the shortening, sugar, zest and vanilla thoroughly.

Add in egg and beat until light and fluffy.
Add in milk and mix.
Sift the dry ingredients together and blend into the creamed mixture

Divide the dough in half, wrap each half in baking paper and slightly flatten.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or if you're in a hurry, place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Roll out the dough but not too thin, about 1/4 inch thick (otherwise cookie gets too crispy) on a lightly floured surface and cut into shapes.
Transfer to a greased cookie sheet and paint on the cookie glaze with a soft bristle brush.
Bake at 180 degrees C for approximately 6 minutes. DO NOT allow to brown.
Allow to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transfering to a wire rack (cookie is VERY soft in the beginning)

Egg Yolk Glaze (recipe is for 1 colour)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp water
2-3 drops food colouring (depending on how dark you want it to be)

Mix everything together and go nuts!

Here is the husband, enthusiastically working his creative side.

One requires a gentle touch and stroke to ensure one does not damage the pre baked cookies.

His idea of funky cookies. Can you find his Zorro emblem? That is his favourite apparently.

These are MY cookies fresh out of the oven. They're not very pretty yet but hey, even supermodels need some time after a shower.

Finally, my pride and joy!
The finished products that husband and I decorated. Can you tell who did which cookie? Hint: He only got to decorate 2 cookies.

A close up of the day's winners: