Decorated Sugar Cookies, GALLETAS DECORADAS

The Internet facilitates us many websites that teach or sell courses to make decorated cookies. Decorated cookies make a very nice gift and is a great family project to do with kids. I 've done some a couple of times and it is quite gratifying to make, decorate and see your family and friends eat them with delight and thank you for giving them these detailed and beautiful homemade cookies.

En Español, Aquí.

This is my first post with Decorated Cookies and I am sure there will be many more because these cookies were not enough for me to decorate. They sure are fun to make and the ideas to decorate them are endless. For me it was very relaxing and fun project. I always like to make these activities with my daughters because it makes it even more special.

The following is the recipe I always use to make these cookies. As I mentioned in "Double Sweetheart Sugar Cookies” post, this is an easy to make cookie dough, perfect to decorate for any occasion. It's a great recipe for when you intend to use cookie cutters because it does not spread while baking. The cookies come out of the oven the same way they were before entering. This recipe is easy to double if you want to do in large numbers of cookies

Group of cookies now decorated with gold and silver nonpareils.

I get to eat my present cookie made especially for me!

Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter or margarine at room temperature (225 g)
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar (200 g) or granulated sugar * see notes
1 egg
1½ teaspoon vanilla
3 ½ cups of flour (450 g) if it is very sticky, you can add 1/2 cup more at the end.
½ teaspoon of salt 

Preparation:
1. With the paddle attachment, beat butter until soft (1 minute), then add confectioner’s sugar already SIFTED after measuring or granulated sugar, slowly. Continue beating until the butter mixture is pale yellow in color, fluffy and sugar has dissolve to make a creamy mixture (about 2-4 minutes). Do not over beat.
2. Add egg and flavoring (this time I use 1 ½ teaspoon lemon zest but I commonly use extracts or pure vanilla).
3. Mix dry ingredients in bowl separately and add to the butter mixture. If the dough is sticky, add a little extra flour if you think necessary.
4. Cover the dough with saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 30minutos - 1 hour. The more chilled the better, especially in warm weather.

5. A. Divide the dough just out of the refrigerator in two and place each ball between two sheets of wax paper. With a rolling pin extend to desired thickness (typically 1/8 - 1/4 inch). The wax paper helps to prevent the dough from sticking and it makes it easier to roll.
    B. You can also roll the dough without wax paper, sprinkling a little flour on the work table to prevent sticking. You can try both ways and decide which is best for you. See notes.

6. Bake at 350 ° F (175 ° C) by 8-10 minutes approx. or until lightly brown in bottom.
7. Leave to cool. Decorate to taste; there are no limits let your imagination run wild! See recipes below for Lemon Glaze and Royal Icing.

Notes:
a) Why use confectioner’s sugar? Although you can use regular granulated sugar, confectioner’s sugar dissolves more easy and produces a completely smooth texture in the cookie which makes it much more enjoyable when eating and gives it a more appealing texture.

b) Instead of step # 4 and # 5, I have noticed that what works for me and helps my cookies come out better is to: divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion of dough into an 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wraps and chill it for at least two hours. At times I've left the dough overnight. After chilled, work with a portion of dough at a time (leaving remaining dough in the refrigerator), remove the top plastic sheet, cut the dough with cookie cutter of your choice, placed on baking sheet and bake at 375 ° F (190 ° C) for 8-10 minutes. Repeat the procedures with the remaining dough, allow cookies sheets to cool in between.

c) In humid or rainy days you may need more flour. If you find that after you mix everything the dough needs more sugar you can add more sifted powder sugar only, and mix a few seconds until incorporated. You should keep in mind that if you're going to decorate cookies with icing, that also makes the cookies sweeter so do not use more sugar than called for in the recipe. My favorite icing for cookies is royal icing because it dries to a matte finish, smooth and hard at the same time. Royal icing can be done in two ways, see recipes HERE. For the cookies I baked today I used a lemon glaze with icing details.

Recipe for Lemon Icing:

For these cookies I wanted to use the following glaze because it is faster to do and I was looking for a combination of the tartness of the lemon with the sweetness of sugar. This together with the taste of the butter cookies is DELICIOUS.

Ingredients:
2 cups sift confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup lemon juice

In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and the lemon juice until smooth. Spread on cookies evenly, you could do an outlining with royal icing using tip#2 if you prefer, I decided for this occasion not to. Let set until completely dry before decorating and outlining with Royal Icing.


Site recommended site with free tutorials and videos on to decorate cookies: Karen Cookies

En Español, Aquí

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Dominican Moms, that celebrate there special day today. May the Lord bless you today and always.

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  

Ephesians 6:4

Cupcake Rose (English)

A couple of weeks ago I presented an entry on how to make a "Cupcake Bouquet". I personally love cupcake bouquets because it is like having two gifts in one. First by how similar is to having an arrangement of flowers, and second because the cupcakes are so delicious. 

Para leer esta entrada en Español clic aquí. 

Today I will share this short video to show you how simple it is to make this type of rose. You can do a bouquet with various styles of flowers, but I personally like this rose because it looks pretty and it’s easy to do. Contrary to how we normally decorate cupcakes, for this technique one begins to decorate with frosting from the center outwards and this gives the impression that it is a Rose. 

Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD who finds great delight in his commands. Psalm 112:1

A special hug and thanks to my friend Carolina from “La Cusine de Carolina” who has sent me this beautiful postcard of Bretagne, France.  

Thank you for visiting. I wish you a blessed and beautiful day,

Mari's Cakes PIZZA

Italy has two national dishes that have become an international favorites, pasta and of course pizza. I have read that once you try a real Italian pizza you will never feel the same about this simple and delicious food again. I have had ....

the opportunity of tasting the pizzas of quite a few piazzioli who keep to their homeland traditions and I have to say that the thin and traditional New York pizza is the best, that’s outside of Italy of course!

My husband and I love to make our own pizza because the taste is delicious and incomparable. No delivery or frozen product will ever taste as good as a real homemade pizza. For those days when you are on the run a can not do your own pizza I recommend the following pizzerias which are my favorites: in Mid-Town NY Sbarro's, Lower East- side, Rosario's Pizza, in Massachusetts, Bertucci's and in the Dominican Republic the best pizza is in Pizzarelli.

Today I will share our favorite Pizza Crust Recipe.

Manny’s Herbed Crust Pizza

Para la versión en Español  de esta Receta de Pizza clic aquí. 

Ingredients:

3 ¼ cups white flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of herbes Mixture: Rosemary, Thyme, Fennel and Basil

freshly ground pepper

1 package of ¼ oz. of active dry yeast or 0.6 oz. of compressed yeast

1 ¼ cup tepid water

2 teaspoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup of cornmeal to prepare pizza pan

Baking sheet or pizza tray

Preparation:

1. Dried yeast: sprinkle over surface of water and whisk until dissolved

leave mix to rest in a warm place for 10 mins until frothy on surface and doubles in size. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in yeast liquid. Stir in oil.

2. Using floured hands mix together. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 mins until smooth and elastic.

3. Place in a bowl greased with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place for about 1hour or until doubled in size.

4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down to deflate. Cut in four if making individual thick crust pizzas or roll out completely to form a crust for on large pizza.

5. Transfer prepared crust to a lightly greased and sprinkled with cornmeal baking sheet or pizza pan. Push up the edge a little to form a ridge to retain the filling. Add your pizza sauce, cheese, and favorite toppings. Today I used: corn, onions, peppers, olives, chorizo and chicken.

6. Bake at 425 F for 15 to 20 minutes. Monitor pizza crust, especially the bottom of the crust as it bakes. It will turn brown when it is done, plus the cheese will be melted and brown on top. Remove from the oven and let it cool down for at least five minutes before you attempt to slice it.

To my beloved husband Manny il mio pizzaiolo and the best husband in the whole world,

For all the love you put into making delicious pizzas for me and the girls, we love you with all our hearts. May God Bless you and guide you always.

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Matthew 19:5-7