Eat Me

My love of cake and all things sweet and sugary started when I was sixteen. For almost seven years I have been experimenting and teaching myself the art of cake decorating and baking. My family and friends have been great testers for me. Those scenes in Alice and Wonderland, where Alice eats the cakes and cookies with “eat me” on it but she is not sure what to expect is close to what my family and friends experience when they eat one of my concoctions. Sometimes it’s good and other times it’s really bad. But thankfully they continue to be my taste tester in hopes that my mistakes become less and less!

I have had homemade cakes go flat, burnt to crisp cookies and mousse that I whipped into butter because I forgot about them.. Baking is a precision form of cooking that when the recipe is not followed, it most likely will flop. And you also have to pay very close attention to the clock! You cannot, I repeat cannot get caught up in stalking your Facebook friends because you will forget what your doing and most likely burn something. Trust me I know, I have done this a lot. Its hard to remember a cake when your learning that your best friends cousin cheated on her bf with your exs girlfriend and they had a fight in front of Wal-Mart and someone posted pics you just have to track them down.(see with all of that drama im sure you have already forgot what i was talking about, so who can blame me when i burn something!)

Clay (my love, pain in the butt and victim of most of my experiments) loves sugar cookies almost as much as he loves me(maybe, not 100 on that). I searched for months for the perfect recipe and finally found it. I go to the grocery store with recipe in hand to buy the ingredients, get home and get started on the cookies. When I am done, thankfully only burning one batch, they are beautiful buttery yellow sugar cookies, with sugar crystals lightly brushed on top.

I could hardly contain my glee as he bites into the first cookie(i just knew it was going to be the best cookie he had ever eaten). But, much to my surprise, the look on his face was less than that of having the best cookie he has ever tasted. So I tried a cookie, it had a odd flavor, not bad nor good, and kind of numbed your mouth. I could not figure out what had gone wrong, so I poured over the recipe too find out what had gone wrong. Finally I realized that I had forgotten to add the brown sugar in addition to white sugar and had added too much baking soda. He appreciated the sentiment at least. These cookies are phenomenal when done right.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened
2 large eggs
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
2. Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
3. Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.
4. Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

So readers you are my new victims to experiment on, no taste testing(aren't y'all lucky) just leave some feedback so I can improve at this blogging thing.