Brown Sugar Pretzel Cookies

I really need a brake from complicated recipe, well I feel a bit tried. But you know me, I can live my life without baking, so this time let's make something easy and simple.

Again the recipe comes from ............) books, (well I'm a big fan of both of them, I really love their books, the recipes are easy and most of them are great). This recipe has an unusual ingredient for sweet, the mirin if you cook Japaneses food often you must know about this condiment. It give the cookies a lightly sweet fragrance and a bit of sweet taste. I adjust a recipe a bit, only to make the cookies more delicious (in my opinion, haha).

Brown Sugar Pretzel Cookies
Makes about 22 pieces

120 g	Cake flour (sifted)
50 g	Butter (cold , cut into pieces)
35 g	Brown sugar (sifted)
4 tsp	Milk
2 tsp	Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice seasoning)
	A dash of salt
	Sugar for sprinkle on top

Put the flour, salt and brown sugar in a bowl of the food processor and pulse several times to mix.
Add the butter and pulse until the butter is finely mixed in. The mixture should be powdery (but mine seen a bit like breadcrumb).

Pour mirin and milk into the bowl and pulse several times, the mixture will look like breadcrumb.

Using lightly floured hands, shape the dough into square. Dust lightly with flour and wrap each with plastic. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 170°C.

On a lightly floured pastry cloth or board, roll the dough to a 3-4 mm thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. After cutting, transfer the cookies to a sheet of wax paper.

Carefully place on cookie sheets. Sprinkle evenly with sugar.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown lightly. To ensure even browning, toward the end of baking time rotate the sheets from top to bottom and front to back. Let stand on pans for 1 or 2 minutes. With a thin metal spatula, remove to cooling racks.

Brown Sugar Pretzel Cookies

November 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge #24: CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

I had a feeling that I won't have enough time to make it, this month challenge. I had a lot of doctor appointment (I went to a hospital every week, oh!). But at last, I finally found some time, and I made it (^_^). For this month, the challenge is Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon.

I never make it before so, it's a real challenge for me again. I separated the work into 2 days, first day, I made the cake and next day I made the frosting.

Anyway, I feel a little upset with the result, the cake and the frosting are too sweet for me. So, I write my own version for anyone who doesn't like very sweet cake. The frosting is quite easy to play with but due to a lot of sugar in the frosting it becomes hard after setting for sometime (I think the icing will be great for children party cake, yum.)

The best part is it's fun to make the caramel syrup, I don't have a chance to do it much, so I think this is the thing that I learned from this challenge.


Host of this month : http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/ with Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo: http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/, Jenny of Foray into Food (http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/).

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

Makes 1 (9"cake)

10 Tablespoons	unsalted butter at room temperature
1 ¼ Cups	granulated sugar (if you don't like too sweet cake, I suggest using only 1 1/8 cup)
½ teaspoon	kosher salt
⅓ Cup	Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2	eggs, at room temperature
	splash vanilla extract
2 Cups	all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon	baking powder
1 cup	milk, at room temperature
	Candied fruit for decoration (you can see how to make candied fruit or flower here

Preheat oven to 350F
Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed.


Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.


Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}


Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups	sugar
½ cup	water
1 cup	water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons	unsalted butter
1 pound	confectioner’s sugar, sifted (you can use only 14oz.-my own version)
4-6 tablespoons	heavy cream
2 teaspoons	vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons	caramel syrup
	Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.


Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

Assemble

1 Cut the cake into two layers, and spread the butter cream on top of the first layer.

2 Place another layer on top, frost top and side of the cake.

3 Decorate as you like.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

Green tea Sponge Cake: Japanese style high tea!

I don't know why I love green tea so much, but a smell of green tea always give me a sense of tranquility. I always try any brand that I get an eye on, even sometimes they turn out to be pantry waste, haha. But how can you resist it, the lightly bitter taste of the green tea is its own charm too. For this time, the green tea sponge that has a clean taste of the green tea (and there are no oil or butter in the ingredients list), make it an ideal treat for a cup of hot green tea. The sponge is sweet and dry but it's a good companion when come with the bitter taste of the tea.
I really like the upper crust of the cake, which has caramel taste (due to the high portion of sugar in the cake).
Well, with this cake and a cup of tea, it's one of the best moment of the day.

Green Tea Sponge Cake
Makes 20x20 cm cake

90g	Eggs
2	Egg yolk
100g	Caster sugar
20g	Glucose syrup (or corn syrup)
25g	Honey
15ml	Hot water
70 g	Cake flour
5g	Green tea powder
7g	Skin milk powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C
Line cake pan with baking paper , set aside.
Sift cake flour, green tea powder and milk powder together, set aside.

Mix hot water with glucose syrup and honey, stir to combine.

Put eggs, egg yolks and sugar into the bowl. Place the bowl over the pan of simmering water.
Beat until very light and puffy.
With the mixer running, gradually pour the honey mixture into the bowl. Beat to combine.
Take the bowl out of the pan.
Pour the flour mixture into the bowl, fold lightly until blend.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 15 minutes then lower the temperature to 160°C and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Note: you can let the upper crust more brown than mine, but if you don't want the crust to be brown, cover with aluminum foil after baking for 20 minutes.

Green tea Sponge Cake: Japanese style high tea!