Ingredient: powdered sugar

Honey Butter Pumpkin Cake

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Honey Butter Pumpkin Cake

This subtly sweet, perfectly spiced, soft pumpkin cake, with a touch of honey, is perfect for those autumn pumpkin-spice cravings. The delicious honey butter glaze gives this cake the perfect balance and helps to keep it moist for days. The recipe is easy enough to make as a breakfast cake, but elegant enough for afternoon tea. I decorated my cake, fairy-style, with edible flowers and roasted, salted pumpkin seeds. It’s also delicious served with dollops of whipped cream.

Honey Butter Pumpkin Cake

by Mari Vasseur
Subtly sweet and perfectly spiced soft, moist single layer pumpkin cake topped with honey butter glaze
Print Recipe
Course Brunch, Dessert
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
  

Pumpkin Cake

  • 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg preferably freshly ground
  • â…” cup (132g) granulated sugar
  • â…” cup (150ml) avocado oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons (42g) honey
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (227g) canned pure pumpkin purée not pie filling

Honey Butter Glaze

  • ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons (42g) honey
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) orange juice
  • ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste

Instructions
 

Pumpkin Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, honey, eggs and vanilla, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth and well blended, Beat in the pumpkin purée. Stir in the flour mixture by hand, just until combined.
  • Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 33-40 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool the cake in the pan for 10-12 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.

Honey Butter Glaze

  • In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the honey, orange juice, powdered sugar and salt until smooth and well blended. Add additional salt to taste if desired. Brush the glaze generously over the warm cake.
Keyword cake, honey butter, pumpkin

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes

Did you know that classic strawberry shortcakes have a tender biscuit-like texture? If you like vintage-style strawberry shortcake, you’ll love my grandma’s Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes. The addition of chocolate chips makes them extra delicious! Top them with a cloud of fresh homemade whipped cream and you’ll have the most delightful dessert to share with family and friends. They’re perfect for a spring or summer brunch and they make a delightful, refreshing dessert.

 

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes

by Mari Vasseur
Soft, tender chocolate chip shortcakes topped with fresh sweetened strawberries and homemade whipped cream.
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6 shortcakes

Ingredients
  

Macerated Strawberries

  • 4 cups (567g) strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

Chocolate Chip Shortcakes

  • 1 ¾ cups (223g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 3 tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
  • ¾ cup (177ml) cold buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (85g) mini semisweet chocolate chips
  • Heavy cream or buttermilk for the tops of the shortcakes
  • Coarse sugar for the tops of the shortcakes

Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup (237ml) cold heavy whipping cream
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons (15g) powdered sugar

Instructions
 

Macerated Strawberries

  • In a medium-sized bowl, stir the strawberries and sugar together. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours.

Chocolate Chip Shortcakes

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together until well blended. Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or with your fingertips until small pea-size pieces are formed. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk and vanilla extract together. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients just until a shaggy dough forms.
  • Turn the dough out into a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over into itself a few times. Do not overwork the dough. Form the dough into a 1-inch thick, 6-inch diameter round. Cut out 6 rounds with a 2 3/4-inch floured biscuit cutter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. (It’s important to keep the dough cold. If your kitchen is warm, freeze the rounds for 5-10 min. before baking.)
  • Brush the shortcakes with heavy cream & sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until golden, about 17-22 minutes. Immediately transfer the shortcakes to a cooling rack. Split the cooled shortcakes and top with strawberries and whipped cream.

Whipped Cream

  • In a large bowl, mix the heavy cream and vanilla, with an electric mixer on low speed. Sift the powdered sugar into the heavy cream and mix until combined. Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until medium peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Keyword chocolate chip, shortcakes, strawberry

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

Although we have access to apples year around, apple season is my favorite time to bake with apples. I love the opportunity to go apple picking or choosing fresh apples from the abundance of apples available at farmers markets. Baking with apples makes your home smell cozy and delightful, especially when paired with cinnamon. These Caramel Apple Crumble Bars have the autumn flavors you’re craving. They’re the apple version of my popular Blueberry Crumble Bars and they’re equally delicious.

This recipe requires multiple steps, but the steps are all very easy. The apples are cooked briefly on the stovetop to achieve the perfect texture. The crust is par-baked to keep it crisp. The caramel is drizzled over the apples which helps keep them juicy and we all know what a perfect match apples and caramel are! Adding the caramel to the apples, rather than drizzling it over the top of the crumble topping also keeps the topping crisp. I like using tart green apples for this recipe, such as Granny Smith or Golden Delicious, or a combination of green and red apples, but you can use any baking apples that you prefer.

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

Fresh apple cinnamon filling and caramel on a crisp, buttery shortbread base with a generous crumble topping
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 16 2-inch bars

Ingredients
  

Apples

  • 4 cups (16 oz or 454g) chopped, peeled fresh baking apples I used a combination of Granny Smith and Fuji
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
  • 1 ½ tablespoons (21g) butter
  • 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (160g) caramel sauce or salted caramel sauce* purchased or homemade

Crumb Topping

  • 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
  • â…“ cup (67g) packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Crust

  • 1 ½ cups (191g) all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (43g) powdered sugar plus extra for sprinkling on top
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened

Instructions
 

Filling

  • In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice.
  • In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the apples are tender, about 10-12 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Crumble Topping

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and salt until well blended. Work the cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or with your fingertips until it looks sandy. Press together to form chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Crust and Assembly

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. (180ºC). Line an 8-inch square baking pan** with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and salt until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth. Add the flour mixture and beat just until the dough comes together.
  • Press the dough into the prepared baking pan. (To press the dough evenly into the pan, it's helpful to place a piece of parchment paper over the dough when you are pressing it into the pan. Remove the parchment before baking.) Bake until the surface looks evenly light golden brown, about 20-22 minutes. Remove from the oven. Top with the cooked apples. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Top with the crumb topping. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking until the topping looks golden brown and the filling starts to bubble, about 25-28 minutes.
  • Let cool completely in the pan. Dust the cooled bars with powdered sugar.

Notes

*For an easy caramel sauce recipe, click here. For my favorite homemade caramel sauce recipe, click here.
**To find the baking pan I used, click here.
Keyword bars, caramel apple

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cakes

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

Summer was such a happy season for me as a child that I didn’t want it to end. I still love summer, but now that I’m an adult, I begin to anticipate fall right around the time when I’m tired of harsh, hot temperatures, rumbling air conditioners and flies buzzing around at cookouts. Now is that time for me. It’s so hot where I live right now, that I’m welcoming the cool, crisp fall weather and all it brings.

The beautiful warm flavors of fall are perfectly captured in these Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cakes. The moist, perfectly spiced cakes are topped with a cinnamon swirl which is basically cinnamon roll filling. I topped them with Vanilla Bean Icing, but you can also make it cream cheese icing by swapping out 1 tablespoon of the melted butter for 1 tablespoon of softened cream cheese, if you prefer. The optional addition of meringue powder helps the icing set up and gives it that crunch we love on glazed donuts. To find meringue powder, click here.

I used a shallow jumbo muffin pan to make these cakes. The muffin cups are 4 inches wide and 1 inch deep. A hamburger bun pan for 4-inch buns or six 4-inch cake pans will also work. To find the pan I used, click here.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cakes

Moist pumpkin cakes with cinnamon swirls and vanilla bean icing
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Servings 6 4-inch cakes

Ingredients
  

Pumpkin Cakes

  • 1 cup (4 1/2 oz or 128g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg preferably freshly ground
  • 1 cup (7 oz or 200g) sugar
  • â…” cup (4 5/8 oz or 145ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (8 1/4 oz or 234g) pure pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)

Cinnamon Swirl

  • ½ cup (3 1/2 oz or 100g) packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • pinch fine sea salt
  • ¼ cup (2 oz or 57g) unsalted butter, melted

Vanilla Bean Icing

  • 2 tablespoons (1 oz or 28g) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • ½ cup (2 1/8 oz or 60g) powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon meringue powder optional
  • pinch fine sea salt
  • 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) whole milk

Instructions
 

Pumpkin Cakes

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 6-serving shallow jumbo muffin pan with jumbo muffin liners.* (The liners will fit by pressing them in around the inside bottom edges.) The muffin pan I used has cups that are 4-inches across by 1-inch deep. A hamburger bun pan for 4-inch buns or six 4-inch cake pans will also work.
  • In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth and well combined. Mix in the pumpkin purée. Stir in the flour in two additions, just until combined.
  • Transfer the batter to the muffin cups, evenly dividing the batter among the cups. Pipe the cinnamon swirl mixture in a spiral on the top of the batter of each one.
  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake part comes out clean, about 23-27 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Cinnamon Swirl

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the melted butter and whisk until well combined.
  • Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1/4-inch wide round tip.

Vanilla Bean Icing

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, vanilla bean paste, powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and 1 tablespoon (15ml) of milk until well combined. Whisk in more milk as needed to reach your desired consistency.
  • Brush the icing on the cooled cakes with a small pastry brush or make the icing a little thinner and drizzle the icing on if you prefer.

Notes

*To find jumbo muffin liners, click here.
To find the baking pan I used, click here.
To find 4-inch cake pans, click here.
To find meringue powder click here.
Keyword cake, pumpkin cinnamon roll

Peach Crumble Pie Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Peach Crumble Pie Cookies

I couldn’t decide whether to call these cookies or pies, so I made a compromise. They’re about the size of cookies, but they taste like little peach crumble pies. The base is tender like shortbread or pie crust and the filling is made with fresh peaches. I’ve seen people make something similar with jam and call them cookies, but since I used fresh fruit for these, they deserve to be elevated to pie status.

The peaches are macerated to draw out the excess juices, to help avoid making your cookies soggy. If you’re impatient, don’t be tempted to skip this step. It’ll go by fast as you prep the crumb topping and the remaining ingredients.

When I first made these, I used cupcake liners because I was worried that they might stick to the pan. It turns out that they stick to the cupcake liners more than the pan. So the next time I made them, I opted to lightly spray the pan with nonstick spray instead of using liners. I ran a small thin offset spatula around the perimeter of the cookies to loosen them from the pan and they popped out nicely.

I love topping these little peach delights with caramel sauce. Salted caramel is also a delicious addition. Or you can simply sprinkle them with powdered sugar if you prefer.

Peach Crumble Pie Cookies

Tender, peach-filled cookies with crumble topping and caramel drizzle
Print Recipe
Servings 12 cookie tarts

Ingredients
  

Macerated Peaches

  • 1 ¼ cups (213g) chopped peaches
  • ¾ teaspoon lemon juice
  • ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon cornstarch

Crumble Topping

  • ½ cup (64g) all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 ½ tablespoons (35g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Cookies

  • 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 7 tablespoons ( 99g) unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup (28g) powdered sugar

Topping

  • 3-4 tablespoons caramel sauce, purchased or homemade

Instructions
 

Macerated Peaches

  • In a medium bowl, toss the peaches with lemon juice. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir gently to combine. Let stand 30 minutes.
  • Drain the peaches, reserving 1 tablespoon of the juices. In a small bowl, whisk together the reserved peach juice with the corn starch. Mix with the drained peaches.

Crumble Topping

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
  • With your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like wet sand. Press the mixture together to form chunks.

Cookies

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly spray a 12-serving muffin pan with nonstick spray. (If you're concerned about the cookies sticking to the pan, see notes below.*)
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  • Mix in the flour mixture on low speed or by hand, just until combined.
  • Press generous tablespoon size (about 20g each) portions of dough into the bottoms of the muffin pan cups with a pastry tamper dipped in flour. You can also use the bottom of a flat shot glass.
  • Top with the peaches, then the crumble topping mixture. Bake until the cookies are set and the topping is golden brown, about 15-17 minutes.
  • Cool the cookies completely in the pan. Once cool, remove the cookies from the pan by running a small offset spatula or paring knife around the inside perimeter of the muffin cups to loosen them. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Notes

*You can line the bottoms of the muffin cups with 2-inch parchment circles to make sure your cookies release. I don't recommend cupcake liners because the cookies stick to the ridges of the liners. You can, however, cut the circles from the bottom of the cupcake liners if you don't have parchment paper.
Keyword cookies, peach

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets

My fascination with Christmas cookies started as a child when my elderly neighbor used to bring over a tray of her homemade Christmas cookies every year. I loved the moment where I got to choose a cookie from the beautiful, interesting selection. In my humble opinion, I think a holiday cookie should be something special. It should be something that you don’t eat on a regular basis, maybe because it seems fancy or requires a little extra work to make. Or maybe it has a special meaning or a fond memory. These Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets check all the boxes for me. They have that something special a cookie needs to be the star of the holiday cookie tray…tender jam-filled chocolate dough, dipped in shiny chocolate with a pretty pop of red.

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Tartlets

Print Recipe
Servings 20 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ cups (6 ounces) powdered sugar
  • â…“ cup (1 ounce) unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups (9 ounces) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ½ cup (5 ounces) raspberry jam or or fruit spread
  • 4 ounces melted semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil or vegetable shortening
  • crushed freeze dried raspberries or sprinkles of your choice Optional

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, sift together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
  • In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth.
  • Add powdered sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
  • Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined.
  • On low speed, beat in flour just until combined.
  • Divide dough into two equal portions. Wrap with plastic wrap and form into disks. Refrigerate at least two hours or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Roll dough between two sheets of wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough into 3-inch rounds, re-rolling scraps as necessary. If dough becomes too soft at any point, chill in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes then continue with recipe.
  • Place rounds on prepared baking sheets. Top each round with a teaspoon of jam.
  • With a small food safe brush or with your finger, apply a small amount of water to the edge of half of each round. Fold over and press edges to seal.
  • Bake until tops of cookies look set, about 9-11 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
  • In a small bowl, mix melted chocolate with coconut oil until smooth.
  • Dip cookies about 1/3 of the way into melted chocolate. Top with freeze dried fruit or sprinkles.

Notes

*To find freeze dried raspberries, click here.
To find the cookie cutter I used, click here.
To find food safe brushes, click here.
Keyword chocolate raspberry, cookies

Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream

Lavender and honey go so well together. Bees know it, fairies know it, princesses know it. The flavor combination is so delightful in these cookies, that I decided to share them with you. In addition to delicious, compatible flavors, these cookies have a divine texture combination. The shortbread cookies have a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Together with the silky, smooth honey buttercream, they’ll make you feel fancy and regal. You’ll hold your head up higher, ring for your tea and declare that you do indeed deserve fine things!

Some people are nervous about baking with lavender because they don’t want their baked goods to taste like soap or perfume. That can be a concern if the lavender flavor is too pronounced. However, if you don’t use enough you won’t be able to taste it at all. There’s a fine balance. If you use the right amount, it will taste pleasant and have sweet undertones. I used two teaspoons of culinary lavender in these cookies, but you can adjust the amount to your tastes. You can start out with one teaspoon, bake a small sample of dough and taste it, to customize the flavor.

Speaking of tasting, my grandmother always said, “taste as you go.” This is also helpful when making the honey buttercream. Typically, when making other flavors of buttercream, you add more powdered sugar if your buttercream is too thin. In this case, adding more powdered sugar can make the buttercream too sweet. Once you have added the amount of honey that tastes good to you, you can add a little cornstarch if you need to stiffen it up a bit.

Lavender Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Honey Buttercream

Tender lavender scented cookies with silky honey buttercream filling
Print Recipe
Servings 18

Ingredients
  

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

  • 2 cups (9 oz or 255g) all purpose flour
  • ½ cup (2 1/4 oz or 64g) powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup (8 oz or 227g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons culinary lavender

Honey Buttercream

  • ¾ cup (6 oz or 170g) unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup (2 1/4 or 64g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2-3 tablespoons honey
  • pinch fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch optional

Instructions
 

Lavender Shortbread Cookie

  • In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt.
  • In a separate large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the lavender. Beat in the flour mixture on low speed, just until combined.
  • Divide the dough into two discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but not more than 8 hours.
  • Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch circles. Place two inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Refrigerate cut cookies for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Bake cookies until the bottom edges are light golden brown, about 12-14 minutes.
  • Transfer cookies to a cooking rack to cool completely.
  • Pipe or spread about 1/2 tablespoon of buttercream on the bottom of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

Honey Buttercream

  • In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar together until smooth. Add honey, one tablespoon at a time until desired sweetness and consistency is reached.
  • Mix in a pinch of salt to taste.
  • Mix in cornstarch, if necessary, to firm up buttercream. *See notes below.

Notes

*The addition of cornstarch helps to firm up buttercream without adding additional sweetness.
To find culinary lavender, click here.
Keyword cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Lemon Crinkle Cookies by Brownie Mischief
Click here to watch the video

Crinkle cookies, also known as crackle cookies, have been around for a very long time. The pretty, crispy, cracked exterior and the soft, moist interior are what we love about them! There’s definitely no shortage of recipes for crinkles out there, everything from chocolate to red velvet. I even saw an audacious cookie company selling lemon crinkles for twelve dollars each, more money than it will cost for this entire batch! So many of the recipes I tried were disappointing, especially the ones made with cake mix. So I created my own version which happened to go viral! Here’s to making sure delicious lemon crinkle cookies are available for all to enjoy.

This recipe requires a bit of chilling, which I know many people don’t like because they’re impatient. I happen to be one of those people. Old fashioned crinkle cookies require about 3 hours of chilling. My recipe has the addition of cornstarch, which helps prevent spreading and allows for a shorter chilling time. As an added bonus, cornstarch makes the cookies more tender. Win win!

Fresh lemon zest and lemon juice in these cookies is crucial to the best lemon flavor. A bit of pure lemon extract is added to enhance that flavor. Don’t be tempted to use imitation extracts. The flavor will disappoint you. I added two drops of lemon yellow food color, which made them so pretty they look like pure sunshine!

 

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon cookies with a crackled, crispy exterior and a soft, tender interior
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 14 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¾ cups (223g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ¼ cup (28g) cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • Zest of 1 large lemon
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1-2 drops yellow gel food coloring (optional) *I used Americolor lemon yellow
  • ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar

Instructions
 

  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and baking soda until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg until well incorporated. Mix in the lemon juice, extracts and food coloring until well combined. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
  • Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes to one hour.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • Roll the dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons each. I used a #30 portion scoop*. Roll the dough balls generously in powdered sugar.
  • Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
  • Bake until the cookies are set, about 10-12 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute then transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

*To find Americolor lemon yellow gel food color, click here.
**To find a #30 cookie scoop, click here.
To find the striped wax paper pictured above, click here.
 

Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Imagine you’re in a beautiful room, reclining on a plush velvet chaise lounge. There’s a dainty table nearby. On the table is a cake pedestal with a little pyramid of small, perfectly plump, pink pastries. They’re filled with sweet, luscious strawberry cream. And they’re all yours. This Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles recipe can make that dream come true. Maybe not the velvet chaise lounge, but really any comfortable chair will do while you indulge in these delicious little gems. Profiteroles have a way of making you feel regal and majestic. I think princesses and princes snack on them. Most of us don’t have a personal pastry chef or the budget to order from a French bakery every day, but we can certainly follow a recipe and make one of the easiest pastry doughs there is. Choux pastry or pate à choux is used to make profiteroles, cream puffs, eclairs, churros and other pastries. Once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.

This recipe features fresh strawberries, but frozen strawberries will work too. You can also substitute raspberries or peaches. To find the recipe for Peaches & Cream Profiteroles, click here. The strawberry purée can be made a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator. To make it easy on myself, I like to make the strawberry purée on day one, the pastry cream on day two, then make the profiteroles and strawberry icing and assemble on day three. It’s also helpful to practice the French culinary style of prep, mise en place, which means to have all of your ingredients and equipment in place before you begin. Everything will go much smoother and prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.

 

Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Mari Vasseur
Bite sized choux pastry puffs filled with fresh strawberries and cream filling and topped with fresh strawberry icing
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 18 profiteroles

Ingredients
  

Strawberry Pureé

  • 12 ounces (340g) strawberries, hulled and sliced About 2 1/2 cups after hulling and slicing
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon strawberry extract

Strawberries and Cream Filling

  • 1 cup (237ml) whole milk
  • â…“ cup (66g) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (17g) cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, cubed
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Strawberry puree recipe above
  • â…” cup (156ml) heavy whipping cream

Profiteroles

  • ½ cup (118ml) water
  • ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, cubed
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (64g) all purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs room temperature

Strawberry Icing

  • ¾ cup (90g) powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) reserved strawberry purée
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ teaspoon strawberry extract

Instructions
 

Strawberry Purée

  • Purée the strawberries in a blender or food processor. Strain the puréed strawberries through a sieve into a small saucepan. Stir in the lemon juice.
  • Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the strawberry purée is reduced by half. Remove from heat. Stir in the strawberry extract. Set aside to cool completely

Strawberries and Cream Filling

  • Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  • Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk until smooth.
  • When the milk starts to boil, remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
  • Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture through a sieve placed over a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and let cool completely.
  • Set aside 2 tablespoons (30ml) of strawberry purée. Add the remaining strawberry purée to the cooled pastry cream and stir until well combined. Cover strawberry pastry cream and chill in refrigerator.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whip the heavy cream, with an electric mixer at high speed, until stiff peaks begin to form. Fold the whipped cream into cooled strawberry pastry cream. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Profiteroles

  • Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Combine the water, butter and salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball.
  • Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until steam dissipates and mixture cools to lukewarm. Add the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl.
  • Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. (I used Ateco tip 808.*) Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds, about 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Smooth the tops lightly with a wet finger.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven heat to 350ºF (180ºC) and continue baking until golden brown, about 8-10 more minutes. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick a small hole in each profiterole to allow steam to escape. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Use the tip of a paring knife to make a pilot hole in the bottom of each profiterole.
  • Place strawberries and cream filling into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. (I used Wilton tip 12**) Place the tip into the pilot holes and fill each profiterole with filling.

Strawberry Icing

  • In a medium -sized bowl, whisk all of the icing ingredients together until smooth. Spoon over the filled profiteroles. Refrigerate profiteroles until ready to serve.

Notes

*To find Ateco tip 808 click here.
**To find Wilton tip 12 click here.
Keyword profiteroles, strawberry

The Nutcracker Land of Sweets Cupcakes

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Nutcracker Land of Sweets Cupcakes

The tradition of enjoying the Nutcracker Ballet at Christmastime has been in my family for over 20 years. The Nutcracker Land of Sweets is a magical theme that has me mesmerized. Gingerbread, candy canes, gumdrops and billowy clouds of pink frosting are what dreams are made of. And that’s exactly what these dreamy cupcakes are made of. The cupcake flavor is a subtle spice cake. The recipe is adapted from a Martha Stewart cake recipe I made last summer. The original cake was paired with blackberry jam, but I knew plum jam would be perfect for these cupcakes. I topped them with a mildly sweet, fluffy Swiss meringue buttercream.

Part of the fun of making these cupcakes began at the store as I collected the sweets to decorate the cupcakes. Another perk of the job is taste testing the candy. I discovered that purple spice drops are licorice flavored and red spice drops are cinnamon. Who knew?

You might also like my Nutcracker Land of Sweets inspired candy bark. It’s a delightful holiday bark I designed that is often imitated. To view it, click here.

The Nutcracker Land of Sweets Cupcakes

Spice cupcakes filled with plum jam, topped with fluffy pink frosting, gingerbread men and Christmas candy, and dusted with sugar snow
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
  

Spice cupcakes

  • ¾ cups (3 1/4 ounces) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ¾ cups (3 ounces) cake flour, sifted
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • small pinch ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (6 1/8 ounces) fine granulated sugar or regular granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
  • â…” cup whole milk
  • ¾ cup plum jam I used red plum jam

Pink Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 â…“ cups (9 3/8 ounces) fine granulated sugar or regular granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ cups (12 ounces) softened, unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract or pure vanilla etract
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 drops pink gel food color I used Americolor deep pink

Decorations

  • small gingerbread cookies
  • mini candy canes
  • assorted candies such as spice drops, gumdrops, peppermints,
  • sprinkles or sugar pearls
  • powdered sugar

Instructions
 

Spice Cupcakes

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 serving muffin pan with disposable baking cups. (I used silver foil liners.)
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
  • Add egg, egg white, and vanilla, one at a time, mixing until well combined.
  • Add flour mixture in two additions, alternating with milk. Mix until combined.
  • Divide batter evenly into wells of prepared muffin pan, filling about 2/3 full.
  • Bake until light golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 16-18 minutes.
  • Let cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes. Gently transfer cupcakes to cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Core the center of each cupcake, removing a 3/4-inch deep circle. Fill with jam and replace the circle top.
  • Frost cupcakes with pink Swiss meringue buttercream. Decorate with cookies and candies. Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Pink Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercreamgue Buttercream

  • Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set over a pan of gently simmering water.
  • Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and temperature of 160ºF is reached.
  • Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixture with a whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed, gradually increasing to medium-high speed. Whisk until glossy, stiff peaks form and mixture reaches room temperature.
  • Turn mixer to medium-low speed. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, allowing the butter to fully incorporate each time before adding more.
  • Switch to paddle attachment. On low speed, mix in vanilla, salt and food color. Continue mixing on low speed for a few minutes until smooth.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Spice Cake
Keyword cupcakes

Happy Jam Tarts

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Happy Jam Tarts

We’ve all needed a little cheering up at times, especially this past past year. These cute, happy tarts won’t take your problems away, but they can certainly make you smile, especially if you make them for someone else. They’re super easy to make and they taste better than the ones in the box we ate as kids. You can use store bought pie dough if you want to streamline the process. Any flavor of jam or preserves you have on hand works too!

Feel free to have fun decorating these little cuties. The possibilities are endless. You can use edible glitter, purchased candy eyes or even add mustaches. Happy baking!

Happy Jam Tarts

Jam-filled tarts with icing
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Servings 8 tarts

Ingredients
  

Jam Tarts

  • 2 9-inch pie crusts, store bought or homemade
  • 1 cup strawberry jam or preserves or any flavor of your choice
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk or water

Icing

  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch salt
  • gel food color * I used Wilton Rose gel food color
  • ½ teaspoon meringue powder ** optional but helps icing to set

Decorations

  • sprinkles
  • black fondant
  • blue fondant or any color of your choice

Instructions
 

Jam Tarts

  • Preheat oven to 375º.
  • Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Roll pie dough onto lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 6-inch by 4-inch rectangles, re-rolling dough as necessary.
  • Make egg wash by beating egg together with milk in a small bowl.
  • Spread 2 tablespoons of jam onto right half of each rectangle to within 1/2-inch of edges. Brush edges with egg wash.
  • Fold dough in half, left side over right. Seal edges by pressing with a fork
  • Poke several holes in the top of each tart with a toothpick.
  • Bake until golden, about 15-20 minutes.
  • Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Icing

  • In a medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt together until smooth.
  • Using a toothpick, add food color a little at a time until desired shade is achieved.
  • Stir in meringue powder, if using.
  • Spoon icing onto tarts.
  • Add sprinkles while icing is wet. When icing has set, add eyes, mouths and bows if desired.

Decorations

  • For the eyes, make 16 1/8-inch balls of black fondant. Flatten slightly. Adhere with a bit of water.
  • For the mouths, make 8 1/2-inch long, very thin strips of black fondant. Adhere with a tiny bit of water, using tweezers if necessary.
  • For the bows, roll out blue fondant to 1/16th-inch thickness. Cut out bows using ***bow cutter. Adhere with a bit of water.

Notes

*To find Wilton Rose gel food color, click here
**To find meringue powder, click here
***To find bow cutter, click here

Cherry Blossom Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
cherry blossom cookies

Each spring, I look forward to the sight and fragrance of beautiful botanical blooms, especially cherry blossoms. We often think of cherry blossoms as something unique to Washington D.C. or Japan, but cherry blossoms can be found in many regions of the United States. Georgia has many thousands of the beautiful pink trees. They can also be found in my home state, California. Here in California we also have many other types of beautiful blossoming fruit trees.

Inspired by the beautiful pink blossoms, I baked some cherry blossom cookies. There are many varieties of the blossoming pink trees. The Yoshino variety that we love to admire is not the same as the trees that produce cherries that we typically eat, but I decided to make the cookies cherry flavor. Cherry extract is more accessible, but it’s also possible to make the cookies sakura blossom flavor if you prefer. You can purchase culinary sakura blossoms or sakura powder and flavor the cookies with it.

These perfectly pretty, pink cookies are easy to make and fun to decorate. You can sprinkle sparkling sugar on them before baking and call it a day or you can make some pink cherry icing and add sugar pearls or sprinkles. Either way, they look beautiful and taste delicious!

 

Cherry Blossom Cookies

by Mari Vasseur
Pink cherry flavored sugar cookies with cherry icing
Print Recipe
Course Brunch, Dessert
Servings 6 dozen

Ingredients
  

Cherry Blossom Cookies

  • 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 6 tablespoons (3 oz / 85g) cream cheese, softened
  • ¾ cup (150g) sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure cherry extract or natural cherry flavoring *see note below
  • â…› teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 3 cups (383g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • Pink gel food color **see note below

Cherry Icing

  • 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt
  • 4-5 tablespoons (59-67ml) whole milk
  • ½ teaspoon pure cherry extract or natural cherry flavoring
  • Pink gel food color

Optional Cookie Decorations

  • White sparkling sugar
  • Pink sugar pearls
  • Pink nonpareils

Instructions
 

Cherry Blossom Cookies

  • In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer on medium speed, just until smooth and well blended.
  • Add the sugar and salt. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in the egg, then the extracts until incorporated.
  • On low speed, mix in the flour in two additions, just until combined.
  • Mix in the food coloring, a tiny bit at a time, until the desired shade is achieved.
  • Divide the dough into two disks. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or up to overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch blossom cutter..***
  • Place the cookies about 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar if using.
  • Bake for 7-9 minutes until the bottom edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
  • Cool completely then ice with cherry icing, if desired. Decorate with sugar pearls or sprinkles before the icing sets.

Cherry Icing

  • In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, salt, 3 tablespoons (45ml) of milk and the cherry extract. Add additional milk until the desired consistency is reached. Whisk together until smooth.
  • Mix in pink gel food color, a tiny bit at a time, until the desired shade is achieved.

Notes

*Do not use imitation cherry flavoring or extract. Imitation extracts may make your cookies taste medicinal. 
** I used Wilton gel food color in shade rose. Click here to find it. 
*** Use your favorite blossom cookie cutter or click here to find the blossom cutters I used.
Keyword cherry, cherry blossom, cookies