Cookie Gift Baskets Tip & Recipe Blog

• 3 ½ cups flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 envelope yeast
• ¾ cup skimmed milk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp. skimmed milk
• icing sugar to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In food processor mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast for 30 seconds. Warm milk slightly and add to food processor alternately with eggs. Mix until a ball forms. Continue to mix for 1 more minute to knead dough.Place dough in greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.Filling:

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• ¼ cup skimmed milk

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans, raisins and cinnamon. Mix well. Roll out dough to form a 9 in. x 12 in. rectangle. Brush with warm milk except for a ½ in. edge. Spread filling over dough. Roll up dough like a jelly roll. Pinch ends to seal well and fold them under roll.Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour until dough has doubled in size.In a bowl, beat egg yolk and milk, brush onto roll. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. After baking for 15 minutes cover with foil to prevent from becoming too dark in color.Let cool and sprinkle with icing sugar. [8 servings]

Many of these points may seem self-evident but often they are ‘so’ that we tend to assume too much making us less of a baker.

1. Read the recipe over at least twice, slowly and carefully.
2. If you have any doubts about the meaning of the terms used in the recipe, look them up.
3. If the recipe calls for eggs, remove them from the refrigerator at least one hour before using, so that they can come up to room temperature. If they are to be separated, separate them immediately upon taking them from the     refrigerator.
4. Arrange in a convenient place all of the ingredients called for in a cake.
5. Make sure that the pan you intend to use is the correct size; this is quite important, for an outsized pan would result in a flat cake, with a texture, appearance and taste totally different from what you anticipated. A small pan would result in an over-expanded cake, which would also be unsatisfactory. Use only shiny, unspotted pans for cakes, for they reflect heat best. Pies may be baked in glass pie plates. 
6. Preheat the oven at least 20 minutes in advance, so that the oven can come up to the proper temperature. Oven temperatures must be checked carefully, for thermostats frequently go out of order. Place a small oven thermometer (they may be purchased for about $1.oo) in the oven to check the thermostat from time to time.
7. In recipes, standardized measures are used, including teaspoons, tablespoons and cups. This does not mean that you may use any handy teaspoon, tablespoon or cup in your kitchen. One ordinary household tablespoon may hold twice as much as another tablespoon; it is absolutely essential that the standard measuring teaspoon, tablespoon and cup be used. If not, the entire balance of ingredients will be lost, and disappointment will inevitably follow.
8. Which rack in the oven should you use? Where there are no special instructions, place the cake on a rack in the middle of the oven, centering the cake as much as possible, so that heated air can circulate evenly around the cake. Don’t put anything else in the oven when making a cake, for this will interfere with proper baking. It would be poor economy to bake two large cakes at the same time, only to find that neither is properly baked. However, shallow cakes may be baked a few at a time if the recipe specifically calls for it. Assuming that the average oven has two racks, dividing the oven into three levels, you should follow these general rules:
   1. Bottom: Never use this for baking, for the bottom of the cake would be overly browned with the top remaining partially unbaked.
   2. Middle: This is the best for almost all baking, particularly unfilled pie or pastry shells.
   3. Top: This should be used only to brown quickly, or caramelize, the tops of cakes. Ordinarily, baking on the top rack would produce cakes which are too brown on top and unbaked on the bottom.
9. The baking time specified in each recipe can only be approximate because of the many variables (freshness of leavening, temperature variations in ovens, amount of kneading, etc.). It is quite essential that cakes be tested shortly before the end of the baking time specified. This is done best with a “cake tester” or a long toothpick or wooden match. If dough adheres to the cake gently with your finger; the cake should spring back quickly. If your finger leaves an impression on the surface, the cake is not done.
10. The recipes in this book are best suited for altitudes from sea level to 3,000 feet. If you live at a higher altitude, you will have to make a few allowances. First, because flour becomes drier and more compact at high altitudes, you should use less of it than the recipe calls for. Second, you should use yeast somewhat sparingly since yeast action is stronger at high altitudes. Third, you should increase your baking temperature very slightly: for example, if the recipe calls for 350°, make it 360°. However, high altitude baking varies somewhat from recipe to recipe, and only by experimenting will you find the correct allowances for a given cake or pastry.
11. To cool the cake, place the pan on a cake rack, so that air can circulate on all sides; if the cake is placed on a counter or other solid surface, no air can circulate under the bottom of the cake, and it will cool unevenly, with undesirable results. Unless otherwise directed, let the cake cool for about 15 minutes, and then loosen the sides gently from the pan with a spatula. Then remove the cake rack from under the cake pan, and place the rack on top of the pan. Invert quickly, holding the cake rack and cake pan together, remove the pan, and let the cake cool further.

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon all spice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cloves

Cream together shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Roll into balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten to make a thin cookie. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes.

• 3 phyllo pastry sheets
• 2 tbsp. melted margarine
• 3 green apples, peeled and cut in ½ in. slices
• 3 tbsp. corn syrup
• 4 tbsp. fresh mint, finely chopped
• 4 oz. light cream cheese
• 2 tbsp. plain yogurt
• rind of 1 orange, grated
• 1 tsp. icing sugar
• 2 tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted

Thaw phyllo pastry and with a pastry cutter, cut out 4 in. circles .Place circles on cookie sheet and brush with margarine. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 4 to 5 minutes, set aside.

In a nonstick frying pan, melt margarine on medium low heat. Cook apple slices for 5 minutes. Put aside in a bowl.In the same frying pan, add corn syrup and mint; cook a few minutes. Add cheese, yogurt and orange rind, mix well. Let cool.Place a bit of cheese and one apple slice on 4 pastry circles. Cover with another pastry circle, cheese and apple slice. Cover with last circle, sprinkle with icing sugar and garnish with toasted almonds. [ 4 servings ]

• 1 cup sifted cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease only the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan and dust lightly with flour.Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Beat the eggs in a bowl until light and thick. Gradually beat in the sugar then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture gradually, stirring just until blended. Bring the butter and milk to a boil; add to the previous mixture, stirring steadily until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack. 

For this recipe, even after the lemon peel is grated, it should be minced into little specks and then soaked in the lemon juice. This softens the peel and prevents fibrous in the cake. To store, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. If eaten the day it is baked, the cake is light and fluffy, by the following day it will assume a denser texture, similar to pound cake.

For the cake

• Grated peel of 3 lemons
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, preferably low fat
• 3 large eggs plus 1 large yolk, at room temperature
• 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

For the glaze

• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1. To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan, or spray pan with a cooking spray that contains flour.
2. Finely mince the grated lemon peel and combine with the lemon juice. Set aside to soften for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk. In a small bowl, gently whisk the eggs and yolk to combine.
4. In a medium bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium high speed about 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Reduce to medium speed and add half the eggs, mixing about 15 seconds, until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Reduce to low speed. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately, mixing about 5 seconds, until just incorporated after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the batter once or twice with the rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set on the lower middle rack of the oven and bake 45 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown.
6. To make the glaze: While the cake is baking, whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice gradually as needed until the glaze is thick but still pour-able.
7. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack set over a baking sheet 10 minutes, then turn the cake onto the rack. Pour half of the glaze over the warm cake and let cool one hour; pour remaining glaze evenly over the top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours.

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup skimmed milk
• 2 tbsp. corn syrup
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• 8 slices whole wheat bread, crusts removed
• 2 tsp .butter
• 10 ½ oz. black cherries, thawed and drained, saving juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch, diluted in a little water
• 2 oz. semi sweet chocolate flakes

In a shallow dish, beat eggs, milk, corn syrup and nutmeg together. Soak bread in egg mixture.Melt butter in a nonstick frying pan. Add bread and cook slices on both sides. Keep warm.In a small saucepan, pour cherry juice and sugar. Bring to a boil ,thicken with cornstarch. Add cherries and remove from stove. Place 1 bread slice on each plate, garnish with cherries. Layer another bread slice and sprinkle with chocolate flakes. [ 4 servings ]

• 3 egg yolks
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 ¾ cup 2 % milk, warm
• 1 cup instant tapioca
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3egg whites
• 1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
• rind of 1 orange
• rind of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp. pistachios, chopped

In a double boiler or saucepan, cook egg yolks on low heat. Add warm milk, tapioca, salt and vanilla extract: heat for 10 to 12 minutes.Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature for 15 minutes.In a bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Combine with tapioca, add diced pear, orange and lemon rinds: mix gently. Pour into dessert dishes and refrigerate for 2 hours. Sprinkle with pistachios before serving. [4 servings]

• 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 pound sweet chocolate
• 1 cup finely chopped filberts, walnuts or
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee
• Pecans
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 4 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10-inch tube pan and dust lightly with flour. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Break the chocolate into small pieces and combine with the coffee in the top a double boiler. Place over hot water until melted; cool.Cream the butter. Gradually beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg yolk at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla and melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in the nuts. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan; smooth the top with a spatula. Bake 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a cake rack 20 minutes before removing from pan. The cake may be served as is, cut in wedges, or split into as many layers as you like. Whipped cream or any filling may then be spread between the layers.

• 6 egg yolks
• 6 half eggshells full of
  Marsala (heavy sweet sherry)
• 6 level tsp. sugar

Break egg yolks into top part of large double broiler. Add sugar. Beat with egg beater until light lemon color and thoroughly blended. Add
Marsala. Beat thoroughly again.

Place boiling water in lower part of double broiler. Cook egg yolk mixture (over boiling water) about 5 minutes or until it begins to thicken. While cooking be sure to beat consistently. Do not allow to boil. Remove from fire immediately upon first sighn of bubble. Cool. Place in refrigerator.

Serve cold in sherbet or parfait glasses. Serves 6.