The Joy of Baking

I know Avo and my mom are right. I have to back away from the Bundt pan and cookie tins for a while. But it is hard when baking is so satisfying.

For one thing, although people can get pretty fancy with pastries and cake decorating, for the most part, baking relies on a few basic ingredients: generally sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder. And the directions are pretty straightforward – you mix the ingredients and then you bake them. Not at all like cooking, where you’ve got to double-check the shopping list to make sure you’ve got the right ingredients and then decide whether you’re going to steam, sautee, smoke, roast or fry your food.

For another thing, apart from a few freaks who don’t like anything sweet, most people appreciate a tasty cookie, cupcake or cake. You don’t have to worry that your guests are vegetarian or don’t like onions or won’t eat fried food.

On a day when I’m procrastinating about articles to write and toilets to clean, it’s satisfying seeing the result of my labor – in the form of a muffin.

So when my friend Kathryn invited me and the girls over for a cookie baking bonanza on Saturday, I didn't hesitate.

In addition to the Butter Spritz dough I prepared, Kathryn prepped the dough in advance for Swedish Tea Cakes, Gingersnaps, Chocolate crinkles and rolled sugar cookies. Where did she get the recipes? From the Pillsbury Kitchen Family Cookbook circa 1979. It's great if you're looking for recipes featuring onion soup mix or for classic cookie recipes. Unfortunately, it's long out of print and is available used on amazon for nearly $90! So take good care of that cookbook, Kathryn.

Even with the dough prepared in advance, it took Kathryn, me and assorted children six hours (!) to churn out five batches of cookies. The kids especially enjoyed decorating the sugar cookies with multi-colored sprinkles -- by the end of the day, the kids were coated in a thin layer of flour and "snacked" by licking the sugar off their hands.

Just to show that even a pro can make an honest mistake, Kathryn accidentally used the Spritz dough for the Swedish tea cakes.

"That's okay. We can paint them with egg yolks and sprinkles. Kids go wild for anything with sprinkles," said Kathryn.

Kathryn was right about the sprinkles, but unfortunately, the Spritz/Swedish tea cakes didn't hold up. They were a crinkled, sprinkled mess. Not one to be discouraged, Kathryn quickly whipped up some more spritz dough, which produced perfectly spritzy cookies. Light, sweet, and buttery.

A helpful baking tip from Kathryn: "Remember, use parchment paper for everything except for the Spritz cookies since they need to stick to the pan."

Aside from the initial batch of botched "Spritz" cookies, the rest of the cookies were delicious -- and so colorful too. The Ginger Snaps were Jesse and my favorite, while Ruby preferred anything with sprinkles. Apparently, this was the most cookies Kathryn has produced in a day. I was proud to be a part of the production process.

The girls and I went home with a nice stash of assorted holiday cookies -- which somehow managed to disappear before the weekend was over.

Perhaps it really is time to take a break from baking or else I'll have to buy a whole new wardrobe -- in a bigger size.

Baking Tips for Dummies

"Do you have a Bundt pan I can borrow?"

Yesterday, I phoned all of my domestically-minded friends in the neighborhood in a desperate attempt to locate a Bundt pan.

Not long ago, I didn't even know what a Bundt pan was.

Luckily, my friend Katherine came to my rescue just in time for me to bake my mother's famous apple coffee cake for Dori's Hanukkah party tonight.

Yes, this is the same apple coffee cake that I spurned in favor of the failed Nanaimo Bars (in case you're keeping track of these things).

Meanwhile, my friend Kathryn (not to be confused with the aforementioned Katherine) is a super-duper cook and baker has invited me and the girls to a holiday cookie baking bonanza tomorrow morning. She is baking Russian Tea Cakes, Gingersnaps, Chocolate crinkles and rolled sugar cookies. I'm impressed (and a bit intimidated!).

When I asked if I could bring anything (maybe some extra butter?), Kathryn replied:

"Oh, here is an idea: find a recipe for spritz cookies, make the dough and bring that. I have the cookie press for them and kids think this is the coolest thing since Playdoh."

So in addition to scrambling to find a Bundt pan yesterday, I was also searching for an easy Spritz cookie recipe. Here's what I found (courtesy of the Food Network):

Butter Spritz Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sifted flour
Sprinkles for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, add the sugar and the butter. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts and mix to incorporate. Sift together the baking powder and the flour. Add the flour mixture. Mix until combined. Using a cookie press, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Top with the sprinkles of your choice. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until firm, but not yet browning.

When I got to the bit about the paddle attachment, I panicked. But Kathryn assured me I can use my hand mixer as long as the butter is softened first.

"It's the key to cookies: leave the butter out till it reaches room temp and always use non-salted so you can adjust salt accordingly."

My mom e-mailed me another basic baking tip:

"When you measure flour for baking, lightly spoon the flour into a measuring cup, then level off with a knife or spatula. Don't pack it down into the cup as this will make your cake too heavy. That goes for all baking unless they say to firmly pack (which is very often the case with brown sugar)."

Believe it or not, I remember this tip from when I was a kid and I would help my mom bake cookies.

I've got the spritz cookie dough ready to bring to Kathryn's tomorrow for the mega-baking session and today, Ruby and I will tackle the apple coffee cake. Hopefully, it will turn out better than the Nanaimo Bars. Wish us luck! And feel free to share any more baking tips with me (I could use the help).