I hate coconut!

Something to do with the stringy texture in my mouth. And both of this week's cookies included it. They were also both drop cookies, which we've done before, so overall, not my most favourite class. Coconut Macaroons include whipped egg whites, icing sugar, coconut, ground almonds & lemon zest. They are then scooped onto onto a tray and baked for about 20 minutes. Once cooled, they are dipped in chocolate.

Apricot Coconut cookies include more of the dreaded coconut, dried apricots, oats, and the usual suspects {butter, sugar, flour...}. They also include orange juice and zest, which gave them a fresh, healthy taste. Yes, even when I'm not excited by our recipes, I still want to sample them!

Cookie coffee cake

This Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake had a dense, almost cookie-like texture. The batter included the basics: flour, sugar, butter, sour cream, eggs, baking powder & soda. It was then piped into the pan {a bit messy! a tough one to work with} and the filling {cream cheese, sugar & eggs, raspberry jam, sliced almonds, cinnamon sugar} was spread in the center and baked for an hour at 350 degrees.

The ultimate coffee cake

Loved this! This Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake was the basic recipe for all coffee cakes; the chocolate chips can be substituted with anything.

As with the other coffee cakes I've made so far, super-easy to make and no secret ingredients {butter, eggs, sugar, sour cream milk...}. Cinnamon sugar was layered in, which I thought was unusual for a chocolate coffee cake. Baking time was typical too: almost an hour at 350 degrees.

No mint. No chocolate. No likey.

These Choco-Mint Pinwheels contain: butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder and milk. The dough is then cut in half; cocoa powder is mixed into one half and peppermint into the other. A piece of each colour of dough is rolled flat and one laid on top of the other, then rolled into a log, refrigerated and cut into pieces. Baking time is 10 minutes. Even though we used 2 tsp of peppermint extract instead of the suggested 1/2 teaspoon, all we got was a minty after-taste. Peppermint oil would definitely be better to use and I couldn't taste the chocolate at all! Not my favourite but they made for a nice photo.

Straight from the ice box

Is it just me or do these look like shrimp cakes? Orange Pecan {Ice Box} cookies contain: butter, white & brown sugar, eggs, orange zest, flour, coconut and pecans. What we learned this week was how to roll dough into a log, refrigerate it {which makes it easier to cut as the dough has a chance to set} and then cut it into pieces. This log was rolled in pecans before being baked for 10 minutes. They taste pretty good.

Brownies & berries

My last Classic to Modern Cake! This Brownie Berry Tower layered in chocolate cream {cream, cocoa, sugar, gelatin, water}, Grand Marnier cream {cream, Grand Marnier, sugar, gelatin} & berries between brownie layers. The brownies are amazing; we swapped in corn syrup in place of some the sugar, which made them really moist. We even made our own chocolate chards by piping and spreading white & dark chocolate onto parchment paper, letting it set and then breaking it into pieces. Definitely the prettiest one so far.

Worth the wait

Today was my first Coffee Cakes class. Too many ingredients to count in this, as well as all the others I'll be making, according to my recipe book. But the good news is: I love coffee cake! Love it. It's somewhere between breakfast bread and dessert. Sour Cream Coffee Cake contains a brown sugar, pecan & cinnamon filling and is super-moist. Baking time will most likely always be about an hour for the cakes in this class, but totally worth the wait. The glaze {brown sugar, icing sugar, butter, vanilla & milk} is poured over the cake once cooled. The visual doesn't really do justice to the taste.

Chocolate overload

These look like plain chocolate cookies but god, they are good! Most likely because they include both melted bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder. That, plus butter, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, bread flour & baking soda are mixed and rolled into little walnut-sized balls which spread when baked for 10 minutes. Once cooled, they are dusted with icing sugar. Will definitely be making these again over the holiday season.

False advertising

So Split Second Cookies don't actually take a split second to make but they are pretty simple. They're a cross between shortbread and biscotti and contain: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, bread flour & baking powder. The dough is shaped into a 12"-long roll and a depression {"split"} is made down the middle with the handle of a wooden spoon, which is filled with cherry pie filling. They are baked for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and once cooled, they are cut diagonally into strips.

Mango mousse & fun with chocolate

The steps involved in the making of this Mango Mousse Cake are easy, but the decorating technique is the interesting part. First, the recipe: Sponge sheet {eggs, sugar, flour & vanilla} is baked and cut into circles. The mousse {cream, egg yolks, sugar, gelatin & mango puree} is whipped. The glaze {mango puree, gelatin, sugar & water} is cooked over heat.

To assemble, the sponge cake circles are layered in with the mousse in a springform pan and the resulting cake is refridgerated until set. Once set, the glaze is poured over the surface and garnished with fruit. For the chocolate design {the really fun part!}, melted chocolate is piped in a lattice pattern over a piece of acetate which has been cut the length of the cake's circumference. Before the chocolate hardens, the acetate is wrapped around the cake and left on until set. Once removed, the lattice should stay in place {it almost did}. Voila!

Sugar & spice

Who cares what this is made of? It's so cute. Sugar cookies taste a lot like Peak Freans. Sugar, milk powder, shortening, butter, salt, vanilla & lemon zest are creamed and sifted cake flour & baking powder are added. Then water is poured in until the dough binds together. After being refrigerated for about half an hour, it's rolled out and cut out with cookie cutters. Baking time is only 10 minutes {at 375 degrees} and the result cookies are sandwiched together with jam and dusted with icing sugar or drizzled with chocolate.

I didn't realize that Rugalachs are what my babcia makes as hers are filled with jam and these also include a mixture of pecans, raisins, sugars & cinnamon. The dough is very simple: cream cheese, butter, sugar and bread & pastry flours are mixed, formed into a ball and refrigerated for an hour. As with the sugar cookies, this dough is rolled out, but into a 10" circle that is cut into pie-shaped wedges. Each wedge is filled and rolled. Baking time is 25 minutes {at 350 degrees}.