There is something so appealing about a hi-hat cupcake. It brings me back to childhood summers when we would sit outside the ice cream shop and desperately try to lick up the ice cream as it melted down our arms. Cherry-dip was always my favorite, but I was always outnumbered by the chocolate lovers.
With Mardi Gras around the corner, I thought I’d bake up something the whole family can enjoy. New Orleans is known for many institutional cocktails, but these sweets will allow the little ones to participate in the fun too. You can’t go wrong with a delectable yellow cupcake covered in sweet clouds of frosting and gently dipped in chocolate. That first bite is transcendent, the second so satisfying.
Get the recipe
Home bakers often ask, “Why can’t I use salted butter in a recipe that calls for unsalted butter, especially when salt is listed as a separate ingredient?” Right? I totally get the question. Why wouldn’t you just use salted butter and call it a day?
First, let me say that I never use salted butter. Not to bake with, on my toast in the morning or for any recipe that calls for butter.
Call me a control freak; however, the reason is that the salt added to salted butter varies depending on the brand you buy. All salted butters are not created equal. So why take your chances when baking? Just buy unsalted butter and start with a clean slate.
This leads me to the next most-asked question:
“Why can’t I use self-rising flour for all baking?” I totally comprehend this question too. It sure would eliminate buying a variety of flours, right?
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This has been a magical year for me. I wrote my first cookbook, Baking Out Loud, received a James Beard award nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef, created seasonal recipes for the Cooking Channel, was featured on Season 3 of Unique Sweets, appeared on the TODAY show and most importantly, experienced having the love and support of so many people I’ve met along the way.
Some of my favorite FN Dish blog posts of 2012 included Baking in Jars and Food Tastes Better on a Stick. Both of these articles were inspired by my real-life job as Executive Pastry Chef for Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in Miami. The restaurant is always busy, so necessity has been the mother of invention; and putting pies in jars allowed me to be creative and eliminate storage issues, while dessert on sticks helps keep people on the go.
With all of that said, here are some things I’m most excited about for 2013:
• Baking with olive oil
• Pickling fruits
• Smoking honeys, nuts and flours
• Continuing to develop portable baked goods
Learn how to make a cake-in-a-box
Fall has finally given way to winter. Driveways are being shoveled, snow tires are mounted onto cars and steaming mugs of hot chocolate warm our souls. I, however, sit on a snowy-white beach contemplating what to bake for Santa’s annual visit, a tradition my mom started when I was very young.
Fast-forward to today: As one who works with flour, sugar and eggs, I bring joy year-round (to the many sweet tooths out there), but never a more important time than at holidays. This time of year, I bake for a “claus.”
I like to deliver tasty treats to my local police and fire stations as my way of saying thank you for saving lives. All of this leads me to sharing some of my fun holiday traditions. Some are past favorites, some are newer ideas soon to become classics.
Cookies left on a plate for Santa maybe very traditional, but who says it has to be boring? Invite the neighbors, family and friends over for a decorating party.
Find out how I set up my decorating party
By Ron Ben-Israel
I once made a few cakes for dessert — some coffee cakes. The recipe that I tried was not accurate; it said butter the pan, but should have said butter then flour the pan. Half the cake came out and half of it didn’t, and it had a big crack on the side.
So if a cake flops, what can you do to save it? If the cake is supposed to be frosted, then don’t worry about it. Just cover it with frosting. It will still be delicious. If it’s like a coffee cake, which doesn’t get frosted, preslice and serve it plated with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream and berries.
Always remember this rule of thumb
With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in full swing, it can be tempting to take shortcuts for the sake of simplicity. This year, we’re all about doing whatever it takes to make this holiday your easiest, best one yet, but when it comes to building your own gingerbread house, you can skip the store-bought, pre-assembled kit and create your own one from scratch in flash. Believe it not, the gingerbread house pictured above comes together in just 1 hour and 30 minutes thanks to a fuss-free recipe with clear, step-by-step instructions. Learn the basics of making gingerbread houses below, assemble and decorate this simple, seasonal structure with your family, then post a picture of the finished product to Food Network’s Facebook timeline.
Chill Out
The beauty of this gingerbread dough in particular is that it can be made entirely in one bowl. After creating a stiff mixture of wet and dry ingredients, however, it’s important that the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least a half-hour. This will make it less tacky and far easier for you to roll out.
Measure twice, cut once
It’s time for 12 Days of Cookies, Food Network’s annual virtual cookie swap. Each day, visit us here on FN Dish for a peek at new holiday cookies, party-planning tips and top techniques for rolling, spooning, slicing, baking and decorating delicious sweet treats to give — or keep — from your favorite Food Network chefs.
Kids — and kids at heart — will appreciate the bright color and seasonal whimsy of these decorated star-shaped bites. Although the Pioneer Woman’s recipe is similar to that of traditional sugar cookies, it boasts one secret ingredient: grated citrus zest, either orange or lemon. Just a half teaspoon of this refreshing flavor is all it takes to transform Ree’s cookies into light, scented treats. Before baking, Ree tops cutout dough with a brush of colored egg-yolk glaze, and later finishes the cooled cookies with snow-white powdered-sugar icing.
Get Ree’s Favorite Christmas Cookies recipe and check out 12 Days of Cookies for dozens more recipes and holiday baking inspiration. Then, join the conversation: Tell us what you’re baking this season and what your all-time favorite cookie is.
Show us your best cookie creations
It’s time for 12 Days of Cookies, Food Network’s annual virtual cookie swap. Each day, visit us here on FN Dish for a peek at new holiday cookies, party-planning tips and top techniques for rolling, spooning, slicing, baking and decorating delicious sweet treats to give — or keep — from your favorite Food Network chefs.
Crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, Jamie’s turbinado sugar-topped cookies are made with molasses and a blend of seasonal spices like ground ginger, cloves, allspice and cinnamon to guarantee that they turn out as wonderfully fragrant as they do deliciously sweet. This top-rated recipe can be made entirely in one bowl, and since the cookies only need to bake for 9 to 11 minutes, they’re a go-to pick for a last-minute dessert. If you’ve never baked with turbinado sugar before, know that you should be able to find it at most grocery stores; it’s a kind of raw cane sugar that’s crystallized and off-white in color.
Get Jamie’s Old-Fashioned Ginger Crinkle Cookies recipe and check out 12 Days of Cookies for dozens more recipes and holiday baking inspiration. Then, join the conversation: Tell us what you’re baking this season and what your all-time favorite cookie is.
Get recipes for past cookies
It’s time for 12 Days of Cookies, Food Network’s annual virtual cookie swap. Each day, visit us here on FN Dish for a peek at new holiday cookies, party-planning tips and top techniques for rolling, spooning, slicing, baking and decorating delicious sweet treats to give — or keep — from your favorite Food Network chefs.
If you’re a novice baker or simply don’t have the time or energy to heat the oven and bake up cookies, Alton’s chocolate-coconut candies are a holiday treat to savor. These no-cook beauties are made with only six ingredients, and it takes just minutes to press the deliciously rich, sweet combination of crunchy macadamia nuts, shredded coconut and thick condensed milk into balls. The rest of the time it takes to finish the candies is largely hands-off; just wait for the balls to set, either quickly in the refrigerator or more slowly at room temperature, then dunk the clusters in a glossy pool of melted semisweet chocolate and let them dry before digging in.
Get Alton’s Coconut Balls recipe and check out 12 Days of Cookies for dozens more recipes and holiday baking inspiration. Then, join the conversation: Tell us what you’re baking this season and what your all-time favorite cookie is.
Host your best cookie swap yet
It’s time for 12 Days of Cookies, Food Network’s annual virtual cookie swap. Each day, visit us here on FN Dish for a peek at new holiday cookies, party-planning tips and top techniques for rolling, spooning, slicing, baking and decorating delicious sweet treats to give — or keep — from your favorite Food Network chefs.
Just because this recipe was created by an Iron Chef doesn’t mean it’s going to involve oddball ingredients or a crazy-difficult cooking process. In fact, these light, vanilla-scented cookies are made with just eight ingredients, and you don’t even need a cookie cutter to shape them. After mixing together flour, butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla, roll the cookies into a long log and chill before cutting and rolling the dough into two-bite crescents. If you’re a first-time crescent-shaper or are baking with little ones who are, don’t worry if your moons look more like stars, spaceships or the sun — they’ll surely be deliciously sweet anyway.
Get Geoffrey’s Vanilla Crescents recipe and check out 12 Days of Cookies for dozens more recipes and holiday baking inspiration. Then, join the conversation: Tell us what you’re baking this season and what your all-time favorite cookie is.
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