Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(A whole month late...)

The Gingerbread Post!

So with the new mixer in the kitchen, mom and I decided that we could do some serious gingerbreading this year. We were trying to remember how long making gingerbread cookies had been a tradition for us--we think our first attempt was in 1993. This time we made a double batch (that's *12* cups of flour in the mixer!), so we ended up with about 120 cookies. The decorating took the better part of two nights, but as usual, we had a lot of fun being creative.

AND. This year, decorating coincided with the arrival of a beautiful new 50mm lens, so a HUGE thank you to Blake for making these photos possible!

New Best Friend?

Mom's kitchen has a new addition--it's pretty safe to say I'll be visiting a lot more frequently now! We've probably been talking about getting a stand mixer for a good five years, and now that it's here, we are all very excited.


Its first project was a *double* batch of gingerbread (more on that soon)--that's TWELVE cups of flour! And it did an absolutely wonderful job. A photo of it in action, and another of the enormous batch of dough:

The two of us will be spending a lot of time together during the next week...

Let it Snow!

Happy Holidays!

Gingerbread with Royal Icing

We've been lucky enough to have a wonderful autumn here in New England, so I decided to try a baked tribute to the season. Gingerbread is probably my all-time favorite type of cookie to make (and possibly my favorite to eat), and I think the pairing of the spiced cookie with the subtle lemon flavoring of the royal icing is just wonderful.

This post is happening a whole week after the baking--the photos were forced to stay in my camera while I tackled week two of midterms. One more week of exams left, so hopefully my baking frequency will be a bit better come November...

Royal Icing
-2 large egg whites
-3 1/2 c. sifted confectioners sugar
-juice of 1 lemon (~4 t.)
-2 drops glycerin (optional--it adds a nice shine when the icing dries)
-food coloring (I like to use the gel colors, but the liquid works quite well too)

1. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
2. Add sifted sugar, lemon juice, and glycerin. Beat 1 minute, until smooth. If necessary, add more sugar or water to achieve the desired consistency.
3. Divide into smaller bowls and tint.

Gingerbread Cookies
-6 c. sifted flour
-1 t. baking soda
-1/2 t. baking powder
-1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
-1 c. dark brown sugar
-4 t. ground ginger
-4 t. ground cinnamon
-1 1/2 t. ground cloves
-1 t. ground pepper
-1 1/2 t. salt
-2 large eggs
-1 1/2 c. molasses

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in spices. Beat in eggs and molasses.
3. Add flour mixture; mix well. Divide dough into 3-4 parts and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
4. Roll dough on floured surface to ~1/8". Cut as desired. Chill on ungreased baking sheet for 15 minutes.
5. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack before decorating.

(The Silpats make another appearance--they did an excellent job with this recipe!)