From our WMAL 630 AM Radio Appearances...
check back often for updates...
Holiday Baking Ideas
Gingerbread Cookies:
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. Ginger
1 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup unsulfered molasses
3/4 tsp. Pure vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour--may use one cup more
Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix well. Add melted margarine, milk, molasses. Add vanilla. Mix well. Add flour. You may need to add more flour. It should not be sticky. Kneed dough. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and use cookie cutters. Put onto cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper. The cookies are done when the dough springs back when touched.
A word on gingerbread houses. Make sure you roll out the dough thinner than a cookie. You want the dough to be dry. You can use the back of a baking pan for the bigger pieces. To make stained glass, cut out the space for the window, and put crushed clear hard candy. Like Life Savers. When assembling the house, make sure each side is set before you add more pieces.
You can use royal icing to decorate or poured fondant icing.
Royal Icing:
3 Tbsp. Meringue powder
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. Water -- You can use more to thin out your icing.
Put meringue powder and sugar in mixer. Mix. Add water and mix on low speed for up to 10 minutes. You may scrape down the sides of the bowl. When using royal icing, remember it dries quickly and you must keep it covered with a damp towel or it will dry. Also, royal icing will melt in humidity. Don't put your finished cookies with royal icing in the refrigerator.
Poured fondant:
4 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. Hot water
1 Tbsp. Light corn syrup
Mix over double boiler until all powdered sugar is melted. Pour over cookies or dip cookies. You may color using icing colors.
German Butter Cookies
You must use a scale to weigh out the ingredients. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
23 2/3 ounces room temperature unsalted butter
13 1/3 ounce powdered sugar
7 ounces whole eggs ( about 4 large size eggs)
33 ounces all purpose flour
Mix sugar and butter until creamy and light. Add a little flour. Add eggs one at a time. Add rest of flour.
Mix until incorporated. You can take this dough and pipe it with a large pastry bag and a large French star tip. You can pipe different shapes. Logs, horseshoes, drop flowers, shells, Christmas wreaths.
You can also color the dough with icing colors. You can put the dough in the refrigerator and roll it out and cut with cookie cutters.
Baking tips:
Always use an oven thermometer. Sometimes it really is the oven's fault. Make sure to buy one with mercury.
Use baking parchment paper. Wax paper is not made to bake in the oven. You can find parchment paper at your local grocery store.
Always pre heat your oven for at least 20 minutes.
Room temperature butter means the butter has to sit out of the refrigerator for 3 or so hours. It must be soft to the touch.
Always use unsalted butter
Most recipes that use eggs refer to large size eggs
There is a difference between: pastry flour, cake flour, all purpose flour, bread flour, high gluten flour.
Never use anything but cake flour unless the recipe calls for all purpose. The difference is the amount of gluten in each kind of flour. Gluten is a toughening agent in the flour. The more gluten, the more tough your dough will be. We use cake flour and pasty flour for pastry because we want the product to be light. We use all purpose flour for cookies and heavier cakes (like carrot) because we want a tougher dough.
The different kinds of flour will have different weights. The more gluten, the heavier the flour.
You can freeze most baked goods. Make sure they are well wrapped. Use plastic wrap or freezer paper.
When you make most cookie recipes, you don't want the cookie to have too much air. Make sure to mix only enough to blend in the ingredients. You don't want the butter and sugar to be too fluffy. For chocolate chip cookies, use half butter and half Crisco. The cookie will be softer and won't be too thin.
Be brand loyal. Only use Domino Sugar, Crisco, Gold Metal Flour, the best brand of chocolate you can afford, whole milk. Good ingredients make a difference.
Most important: HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
previous shows:
Halloween Tips and Treats 2002
The David Burd show
is on WMAL AM 630
Saturdays 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM
