Another Snow Storm, Another Activity for Toddlers

Well, in my last post I wrote about finding activities for my toddler after the epic snow storm we had. Since then, I've lost count of how many epic snow storms we've had.  I think it's between three and fifteen.  Basically, we have a ten foot tall snow drift in our front yard.  Even when it's not blizzard conditions outside, it's been frigid and windy.  Forget "Winter Storm Watches," the National Weather Service should start publishing "Toddler Freak-Out-Tantrum-Jesus-What's-Happening-To-My-Kid Watches."

We were able to get out of the house today which was great.  During our venture out, we went to Home Goods, one of my favorite places ever.  While looking for a first birthday present for Lizzy from Sully (who is 2.5 years old and felt that what Lizzy really needed was a new train set), I saw this neat kit to make and paint your own bird house for only $6.99.  I have been wanting a bird house to put outside the dining room window so the kids can watch the birds.  Score!

After Sully's nap, I assembled the bird house with him avidly watching and getting ready to paint.
I would highly recommend this kit.  It was very easy to assemble, and the only tool you need is a hammer.  The kit comes with nails, hooks, and even wood glue.  Assembling furniture and other objects is NOT my forte, and this took me about five minutes and was very easy!  Then I covered the table with some cardboard and Sully got to work!

He had a great time and I can't wait until spring when we can hang it up.  If Queen Elsa decides to ever put an end to this endless winter, that is.

~Sugar Dish

A Snow Day Activity: Homemade Animal Crackers

We've had an epic week of snow here in New England! Last Tuesday we got about 20 inches of snow, more on Friday, and today we're in a white out that's supposed to yield 10 inches or so. Snow days can be fun, but with a baby and a toddler in the house, it becomes torturous as we sit around desperately trying to find things to keep our kids active while we all slowly slip into madness.

Today, I pulled out some animal cracker cutters my mom gave us from Williams Sonoma. The box included a recipe to make the crackers, so I decided to make them with my 2.5 year old. It turned out great with delicious animal crackers, and he really enjoyed it! He loved stamping out the animals and talking about what sounds they make. They also came in a cute circus train box, and Sully played for quite a while with it on his train tracks.

I've included my version of the recipe below. My alterations basically make a simplified version of
the original, because something is telling me Williams Sonoma's test chefs aren't working with a toddler when they come up with this stuff. There was also a spice I didn't have in my cupboard which I substituted for. The cookies still turned out great!

Sully loves to help me mix up the dough.  I recommend pre-measuring your ingredients and having everything in bowls and ready to go for your toddler to dump in the mixing bowls.

The Williams Sonoma animal cracker cutters were super cute and easy to use, and I would recommend them if you get an opportunity to purchase. However, you could use any cookie cutters for this recipe, or even a glass for round crackers if you don't have a cutter!

Here we go!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.  Slowly add the sugar until combined, scraping down the side of the bowl as you go.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Add half the flour mixture and beat until combined, and then add the second half.  Add the water as needed until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Remove the dough from the bowl and split in half.  I gave one half to Sully and he kneaded it and rolled it into a ball, while I did the other half.  Roll it up, press it into a disc, wrap in cellophane, and put it in the fridge for 2 hours.  During these two hours, practice animal sounds and play with the zoo choo choo train with your toddler.

Remove the dough from the fridge and let sit for five minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour, and roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness.  Use the cutters to create your cookies, and place them an inch or so apart on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove and cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes.  Remove the cookies to cool completely directly on the rack.

Enjoy!

~Sugar Dish

Dairy and Soy Free Chocolate Cupcakes!

These cupcakes are delicious.

As I covered in last week's post, I have cut out a myriad of foods while nursing, due to my daughter's intolerances. I am currently free of dairy, soy, and nuts. However, as you know, I have a passion for cupcakes. I also have had a rather rough stretch at work.  So, today I did what was only natural. I made a s**t ton of dairy, soy, and nut free chocolate cupcakes, complete with similarly allergen free chocolate chip cookie dough buttercream frosting.

I worked pretty hard perfecting this recipe, but it was oh so worth it.

As a base for the cupcakes, I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I have used this recipe countless times, and it's always perfect.  You can find the recipe on a blog called Tracey's Culinary Adventures. This is a fabulous blog, with many wonderful recipes, so check it out.

For my allergen free version of the recipe, see below, and happy baking (and eating)!

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup rice milk
3/4 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons canola oil (do not use vegetable oil, as it has soy)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup warm water

*Combine the 3/4 cup rice milk and 3/4 tablespoon lemon juice.  Let sit for 10 minutes before adding to the recipe as noted below.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Add the eggs, rice milk/lemon juice mixture, oil, vanilla extract and water and blend until the mixture is smooth and all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Distribute the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pans to wire racks and let the cupcakes cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove them from the pans and cool completely on the wire racks.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough/Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from http://21nogluten.wordpress.com/  and www.godairyfree.org

This frosting is made in two parts, and "swirled" together.

12 tablespoons Earth Balance dairy and soy free butter
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons coconut or rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, beat the Earth Balance and sugars until creamy.  Add the rice milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Cut the end of a 12" pastry bag, and fill with the frosting.  Set aside.

½ cup Earth Balance dairy and soy free butter
¼ cup organic non-hydrogenated shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons So Delicious Coconut Milk Coffee Creamer
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, beat together the margarine and shortening for one minute.  Add the powdered sugar and beat until creamy.  Add the two tablespoons coffee creamer and vanilla, and beat until smooth.  Add another tablespoon of coffee creamer if needed and beat the buttercream until light and fluffy.

Cut the end of another 12" pastry bag, and fill with this frosting.  Cut the end off a 16" bag and use a 1M star tip. Place both 12" bags in the 16" bag. When the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe the frosting on each cupcake starting on the outside edge and swirling up. Garnish with chocolate chips.

Yields 18 cupcakes

~Sugar Dish

Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Nut, and Egg Free Cupcakes

No, I'm not kidding.

Like many nursing moms, I cut out foods from my diet due to my babies' intolerances. With my son I went dairy and soy free, which I thought was difficult at the time...If only I knew what adventures were ahead of me with my daughter!  At the height of Lizzy's issues, I was dairy, soy, egg, nut, wheat, fish, and shellfish free.  Needless to say, it has been a difficult journey nursing her.

These types of intolerances are very common for babies, especially dairy and soy.  I have heard that 50% of babies are dairy intolerant.  Most babies grow out of this as their systems develop.  Lizzy was diagnosed only a few weeks after she was born.  Looking back, I'm not sure what I ate for the roughly five months she couldn't tolerate these foods.  I then was able to slowly work back in fish, shellfish, eggs, and wheat. Today I am only dairy, soy, and nut free.  Lizzy is almost one year old, and although I am sad to see my baby all grown up, I am SO looking forward to finally eating EVERYTHING.

  

I wanted to come up with a cupcake recipe free of all the allergens I cut out while nursing Lizzy. It was not simple, as I had to cut out almost everything tasty and delicious.  But I am glad to say that I have been successful!  These cupcakes prove that even allergen free desserts can be delicious!

I looked at a lot of different allergen free recipes, but most were just dairy, nut, and gluten free.  I found it particularly difficult to eliminate both dairy and soy from recipes, as most butter substitutes seem to have soy in them.  I had planned to use non-hydrogenated shortening instead of butter, but at Whole Foods I was pleased to discover Earth Balance now makes a soy free butter substitute!  Eggs were also difficult.  I chose to substitute eggs for half a mashed up banana.  I found this substitution list, which is very helpful!

In the end, I used this recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes as my base.  This is a very clever recipe, but I made alterations to remove the soy and egg components of the original recipe, as well as a few alterations to suit my own preferences.  Here is my version of the recipe!

Dairy, Soy, Egg, Nut, and Wheat Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

For the Cookie Dough Filling:

• 3/4 cup gluten free flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter, melted (I used Earth Balance soy free version)
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Foods brand which is allergen free)

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup canola oil (don't use vegetable oil, as it contains soy)
• 1/2 mashed banana (to replace 1 egg)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Cookie Dough Frosting:

• 12 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter (I used Earth Balance soy free version)
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Garnish 

• Mini chocolate chips
• Chocolate chip cookies (optional)

1. Start by making the cookie dough filling.  In a small bowl, sift together the gluten free flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla until smooth.
3. Whisk in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips until smooth.
4. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes or until firm.
5. Using a melon baller, scoop out dough into 12 balls.  Don't fill the melon baller completely.  If the balls are too big, it messes up the cupcakes. The balls should be no wider that 1/3 the width of your cupcakes.  Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
6. While your cookie dough balls are in the freezer, make your cupcakes.
7. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a cupcake pan with 12-15 liners.
8. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt.
9. Add the water, oil, banana and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are combined.
10. Fill each cupcake liner 1/2-2/3 full.
11. Take your cookie dough balls out of the freezer and gently press a one ball into the center of each cupcake, only submerging the ball 1/2 way.
12. Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out fairly dry. Chunks/pieces of cake are okay, just not moist batter.
13. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
14. To make your frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
15. Add the milk and vanilla and beat on high until well combined.
16. Use a 1M tip and a pastry bag to pipe the frosting on each cupcake.  Top with mini chocolate chips and the cookie et voila!

~Sugar Dish

Two Sweet Blessings

This weekend I had the honor of making not only mini cupcakes for a little guy's second birthday, but I also made his new baby sister a beautiful pink rosette cake.  Their parents apparently have super hero powers, and are throwing a joint birthday/welcome-to-the-world party for their children, only one week after baby girl was born!  Pretty impressive.

I was so pleased when this new mama asked me to make this cake for her baby girl -- what a great way to welcome a new baby into the world - with a beautiful cake!  I also got to sneak a peak of the baby when I delivered the cakes to them.  I think my creations will have a hard time standing out next to that little angel!  She's like a perfect snowflake.

While decorating these cakes, it was very important to me that the colors were perfect.  Once you learn how to make buttercream rosettes, they make for pretty quick work.  The most time consuming thing about this cake is tinting the frosting.  It is very important, because the ombre look of the cake adds sophistication, and is perfect for the birth of a sweet baby girl.  I have found that it takes a lot of thought and planning to make sure it is done correctly, especially if you're also going to be tinting frosting other colors for another project, like my blue cupcakes.

Whenever working with color, start with your lightest color and work towards the darkest.  For example, I first rolled out the white sugar paste and cut out the shape for the monogram.  If I had first tinted the dark pink or blue frosting, and then cut out the monogram shield, I may have gotten residual blue or pink on the white sugar paste.  After completing the monogram plate, I then made a large batch of buttercream, and split it into three equal portions.  I first tinted the lightest pink, using a very small amount of pink gel food coloring.  Once I was certain the color was right, I tinted the medium pink.  Once I mixed it up, I compared to the light pink to make sure it was what I wanted.  Keep in mind that tinted frostings deepen after sitting a few minutes.  If you go too crazy, all the sudden your colors may be too dark.  Repeat for the darkest pink, and then you're ready to go!

I started at the bottom of the cake and made the darkest layer of pink roses.  Then the middle, and then the top!  Then pipe on the monogram, top the cake with the monogram plate, and you're all done!

I then moved on to decorating the chocolate cupcakes.  I wanted these to be "sky inspired" cupcakes, so I split my buttercream in to two equal batches, and used the same strategy as above to tint a light blue and dark blue.  I then filled a 12" piping bag with the light blue, cutting the tip off the bag, and also filled and cut a second 12" bag with the dark blue.  Then, I put both of the bags in a 16" bag, after cutting the end off of that bag, and inserting my 1M frosting tip.  This gives you the swirl of the two colors.  I love the way it turned out!  Adding rainbow sprinkles completes the look for the birthday cupcakes!

I loved these projects because they brought together the elements I love most about cake making: a special celebration for special people, delicious flavors, artistic expression, and beauty.

Salt Dough Ornament How To

Yeah yeah, I know it's after Christmas, but I just made our salt dough ornaments for this year.  I've been so busy making dozens and dozens of cupcakes, cookies, cakes etc. that I didn't get to this yet.  But I figure that my main goal is to preserve my kiddo's cute paws for all time, so the exact date isn't really that important.

I made these last year and they turned out great.  Not only do I love having the ornaments on my tree, but they make great gifts for family as well!  They are easy to make, but if you have very small children like mine, I recommend having a helping hand while doing this project.  This can also be a fun way to preserve your pet's paw prints.  It was extremely stressful to get Moses' paw print last year...I was very pregnant with my second baby, and while down on the floor trying to wrestle our 90 pound lab's paw to make a print, the dog was trying to eat the dough.  I have often been told Labradors are among the top five smartest dog breeds.  I have found no evidence to support this theory in my own house.  Needless to say, I am glad that Moses is done growing, and I don't need to get another paw print from him this year.

The dough is easy to mix up.  In a bowl, combine 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water.  This recipe makes approximately five toddler hand/lab paw ornaments.  I have read in the past to soak the salt beforehand in the water so the crystals will dissolve.  However, I personally have not found that necessary.  There is so much salt in this recipe (they don't call it salt dough for nothing), that it would take a long time to dissolve.  I have not done this in the past, and it has not affected the dough.    After mixing, kneed the dough for a bit.  Then sprinkle your surface and your rolling pin with flour, and roll it out to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.  The dough does not rise much while baking.

Now, you have to get your kiddo's prints.  For a baby under six months, it's difficult if not impossible to get a hand print, so stick to foot prints for the littlest babies.  Luckily, newborn toes are pretty cute in salt dough.  It's usually helpful to have assistance with this part (thanks Mr. Sugar Dish).  After you get the prints, cut around them in the design you want, and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.  Spray a very light layer of cooking spray.  Last year, I used too much spray, and the ornaments absorbed it.

DO NOT FORGET TO CUT A HOLE FOR THE ORNAMENT'S RIBBON.  I use a drinking straw for this, works great.

Bake for three hours at 200 degrees.  I then flipped my ornaments and baked for another 20 minutes.  I have read that you should flip the ornaments halfway through, but I would not recommend this if you are making hand or foot print ornaments.  Upside down, the gravity takes some indention out of your hand or foot prints, and 20 minutes is more than enough.

Once complete, remove from the oven and let cool.  Then paint, seal, and add a ribbon.  I used acrylic paint and this sealant.

Happy Crafting!

~Sugar Dish

"Birch" de Noel

I decided to make a Buche de Noel this year for Christmas. I've always admired these cakes, and I was very excited to make it.  Decorating a cake like a log is not something you get to do every day!

As I made my plans, I asked myself where this holiday tradition comes from. It is, after all, a little strange that a log covered with holly and snow elicits festive sentiment in so many people. So I did a little research. Apparently, for many centuries the Yule Log was an important part of the holiday tradition in Europe. A large and often scented log, it was meant to burn for several days or weeks in the fire place or bonfire. Eventually, families began to serve a cake version of the Yule log, particularly in France, known as the Buche de Noel.

For my cake, I wanted it to be chocolate with a white crumb layer of buttercream, creating a birch tree. I love birch trees, and they always make me think of my Father.  A great outdoorsman, he often took us for outdoor adventures.  When we lived in Duluth, Minnesota, I remember seeing many birch trees with him, some even surrounded by softly falling snow.

I used this recipe from Martha Stewart for the chocolate cake and salted caramel filling, and I would highly recommend it.  The cake's consistency is perfect for rolling into logs, and it was moist and springy.  The filling was definitely the most difficult part to make.  Luckily, I had some help from Mr. Sugar Dish on this part.  We initially used  too large a pan and the sugar burnt, so we changed to a smaller saucepan and started over.  This time it worked well!  I also added extra salt.  It turned out great.

After the filling was done, the most difficult part was getting Mr. Sugar Dish to stop eating it so I could use it for the cakes.  I followed the recipe's instructions for rolling the cakes, and found them to be spot on:  I removed the finished cakes immediately onto cooling racks lined with parchment paper.  Once cool, I divided the filling between the two cakes, and spread even leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides.  I then rolled the cakes tightly, peeling back the parchment as I went.  Then, I tightly wrapped both cakes in clean dish towels.  I placed them on a baking sheet and left them in the fridge over night.  This was the best move ever.  When I removed them from the towels, they were perfectly rolled and set, and frosting them with buttercream was a dream.  The rolled cakes also held up when I cut the ends off, and hacked up the second roll to use as the knobs and bend in the log.  Be sure to use a serrated knife for cutting.

After creating the crumb layer of frosting, it is easy to add the bark texture you want using an angled spatula.  I used the buttercream to adhere the knobs to the bark, and added the rest of the second roll as a bend in the main log.

Overall, making the "Birch" de Noel was much easier than I expected!  I finished up by sprinkling with cocoa and powdered sugar, and adding some mushrooms I made and holly leaves.  This will definitely be a part of our Christmas tradition in the future.  I've already started to plan how I will decorate next year's Buche de Noel!