Cakes and cookies, cakes and cookies. I love to bake cookies and cakes. A good many of these blog posts are testaments to that, and this post is a marriage of a cake component and a cookie. After my light frosting application in the Yellow Cake with Strawberry Filling and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting rendition of the Real Simple recipe, I was left with a heap of Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting. That's Ghirardelli chocolate in there and it needed to be used, enter my cake component. The origin of the snickerdoodle cookie choice was mostly inspired by yet another bits-and-pieces ingredient-my spice mix variation from Sassy Radish's Sugar-and-Spice Candied Nuts including cayenne for a kick.
I split the batch between the traditional snickerdoodle spice mix of ground cinnamon and sugar and my candied nut spice mix. Either way the snickerdoodles by themselves or as a sandwich cookie were mahvelous. Make sure the frosting is at room temperature before trying to apply to via a piping bag. After creating the cookies, chill them for 15-25 minutes to set before serving. This is a treat not. to. be. missed. Take this cake and cookie monster's word for it!
Snickerdoodle Cookies (Prep time: 30min, Cook time; 1hr., Total time: 1 1/2 hrs., Servings: for six.)
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup or 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar + 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
Todd's Mini Farm Eggs, Orlando local eggs, were so beautiful I snapped them in tons of pics.
Seriously. Way too many pictures of eggs right now on my hard drive.
Directions
- Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together.
- In a large, separate bowl beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately four minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl at two minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat on low to combine each time making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Add dry ingredients, and beat on low to combine. Using your hands mold the dough into a ball.
- Cover and child the dough for an hour (or 24 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once dough has chilled mix the 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
- Roll balls using hands, like when making meatballs, 1-1 1/2" in diameter.
- Coat each ball in the spice-and-sugar mixture all the way around and place on the baking sheet. These cookies spread! Make sure you re leaving at least 1 1 1/2' between each ball.
- Bake until the cookies are cracked, about 10-12 minutes.
- Remove cookies from the pan. Let Cool. And try not to devour half a dozen of them while still hot.
I'm trying out new angles for composition purposes. Please bear with me. Thank you. Also, Snickerdoodle Cooke Stack.
Real Simple's Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting Recipe {can be made a day or two ahead of time!}
Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookie Assembly- Let frosting come up to room temperature so it will easily spread.
- Using the already baked snickerdoodle cookies and a piping bag {I used a Ziploc bag with the corner cut this time}, pipe a 1" circle in the center of the bottom cookie.
- Top with the topper cookie and gently press down to evenly spread the frosting around the cookie.
- Chill for 20-30 minutes to let the sandwiches set.
- Serve, but be warned, these babies are decadent.
Only flattering shot I was able to pull off to show how much frosting is enough frosting.
Again, funking with composition, color, etc. I do hope you enjoy my food stylings and these sandwich cookies.
PS-I still have frosting, so hold your breathe for another sandwich cookie or something frosting related coming soon!
Summer Lovin, My Ode to Produce
Summer is quickly drawing to a close but it obviously doesn't want to go gently into that good night. This summer was loud, hot, and wet. This summer was boisterous. This summer said, "You thought Spring was uproarious? You ain't seen nothing yet! How'd ya like if I scare the willies out of everybody with a national debt crisis, earthquakes, and hurricanes?" We'd prefer sunny days, fire flies, and canoe trips down the Wekiva River since you asked, summer.
But this summer was tumultuous and did I say hot? The weather this season is ablaze with fire from the sun and sopping from humid air closer to soup than a gaseous element. Even though this summer was all of these annoying and wack things, it was also bountiful in all produce foods. A wave of appreciation came over me this summer as I combed my organic and farmer's markets for best US grown produce I could find. Recently I've been on a mission to make produce the main staple of my diet for all the reasons why everyone else has already said you should. This means weekly produce jaunts and intimately getting to know my produce purveyors. Its reassuring to see most markets in my neighborhood label the geographic origin of their produce showing a true conscience about what foods they are providing to the community. For regular shopping I do my best to buy local, and then products from the US. That is my compromise in the desire to be as creative as I wish as a cook as well as being a mindful conservationist and food purist.
Agenda aside, this season's yields were not only succulent they are beyond the pale beautiful. So alluring in fact that I was utterly compelled-nay, propelled to photograph the gems and jewels of fruits and veg which graced my table. {Lest we forget my obsession over local eggs purchased for the Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies.} These photos have no recipe companion or event anecdote. This post, because this summer basically demanded it, is dedicated only to the photographic splendor of my summer love, produce.
Main Post Image: Easter Egg Radishes
Um, do I really need to say more than Easter. Egg. Radishes? No, but I will-just a bit. This beauteous bushel of singular jewels are an excellent example of heirloom vegetables. I adored them so much, I got up close and personal with them from two angles. And they packed quite a bit of unexpected biting spice.
Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
It was the early summer when I fell for produce. My family is known for two pasta salads for summer picnics and BBQs, the vegetable variety pictured here and the macaroni tuna salad. After whipping this one up for Father's Day in June I was awestruck by how composed this salad seemed to be with no effort put into the presentation. So my love raged on...Cauliflower Cross-Section, Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
Cross-sections of large fruit or veg is a naturally beautiful composition. This one happened on accident, but the next one won't.
Golden Delicious Organic Apples
To be truthful, I can't recall what these apples became dish-wise but I remember being impressed by their uniformity. Sometimes we love the truly unique produce which is often referred to as 'heirloom', and other times its the reproduction of a perfect model which stuns of sense of aesthetics. Enter, my apples.
Farmer's Market Summer Basket
Saturday is Winter Park, FL farmers market day. This market has been going strong for years offering fresh produce, local goods, and flora and fauna. Its a feast for the eyes and ears as well as the mouth. On a recent trip I was finding it next to impossible to hold in my hands all of my produce choices as I shopped. As I struggled to not juggle my selections, one of the vendors asked me if I wanted a basket. Not just for now at this moment of awkwardness, but forever. Forever? Forever, ever? Touched by this generosity and bawled over by my composed basket of fruits and veg, I photographed the whole lot as soon as I got home. While each item in this basket was divine, two items are of special note. Moscato grapes and yes, purple bell peppers! The Moscatos were a flavor and texture adventure; one I couldn't appreciate as a child when they and I were first acquainted. And purple peppers, well, the very informed gentlemen vendor told they came from Tennessee and they only come up but once a year and every year he goes there and gets them. Bravo my good man, bravo.
And with the purple bell peppers, my photographic ode to summer produce comes to a close much more quietly and sweetly than summer itself.
Thanks summer, you made your point. You rule. Now can we get to fall already?