Pinwheel Party

 Welcome to my table scape of shattered dreams. I had such big plans for my Mom's 50th birthday party. I made a big pinwheel backdrop to hang above my white console table which would have held all my desserts and a cute banner underneath that. I had giant pinwheels I had made to stick in the grass on both sides of the dessert table.

Unfortunately I hadn't counted on the dirt being rock hard or the massive winds that ripped down my back drop each time we tried to hang it. So sad. Here is how it turned out anyway:

 Pinwheel Birthday Cake

 Mini Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

 I found these cute mini forks at Hobby Lobby.

Hand Painted fondant wafers to top the cupcakes.

 Mint Chocolate Cake Pops

I So wish this would have worked out. This bent in half mess of paper would have been really cute hanging above my white dessert table but the wind kept ripping it down.

Please notice the banner that was meant to hang under the desserts. It was supposed to read 'CELEBRATE', but we lost the R somewhere along the way and so now it just says 'CELEBATE'.

Epic Fail.

Baby Strawberry Shortcakes

 Aren't these darling? I feel like such a lady when I have these on my plate. Throw in a cup of tea and call me Kate Middleton. Ha. Just kidding. But really, these are such a dainty little dessert, great for dessert tables or tea parties. I made these for my little sister's bridal shower and they were a hit. And their tiny size is great when you have many other desserts to choose from.

The only problem was that that evening I found myself eating about 10 mini shortcakes clumped together on a plate topped with a tower of strawberries and whipped cream.

Note to self: Mini shortcakes are for parties and not for an 11 pm sugar-fest. I should have just made myself one big shortcake when I was baking.

 

Ingredients: 

 

• 2 C. All-purpose Flour
• ¼ C. Granulated Sugar, divided
• 1 T. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• ½ C. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 2/3 C. Heavy Cream or Half and Half
• 1½ C. Sweetened whipped cream(Stabilized works well for this dessert)
•  12 Large Strawberries
• Powdered Sugar, for dusting

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
2. Place flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
3. With the processor running, Drop in the cubed butter piece by piece and process until just combined and forming small crumbs.
4. Drizzle the cream into processor through top while processor is running and process until dough JUST comes together.
5. Place dough on floured work surface and pat dough to form a rectangle about 1-inch in thickness.
6. Cut dough into rounds about 1-inch in diameter with a cookie cutter. Reform dough as necessary with scraps being careful not to overwork dough and re-cut into rounds.
7. Place cut dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake shortcakes for about 8-12 minutes or until tops are just turning slightly brown. Cool on a wire rack. While the cakes are baking, cut both ends off of each strawberry. Slice each trimmed strawberry horizontally into 3 slices and place in a bowl. Sprinkle the remaining 2 T. sugar over the strawberries and toss to coat. Set aside.
8. To assemble, cut shortcakes in half horizontally. Pipe a dollop of whipped cream onto bottom round, top with a strawberry slice, pipe with one more mound of whipped cream and cover with the shortcake top. Dust powdered sugar over the tops before serving.

Makes about 36 baby shortcakes.

 Oh, and maybe form yourself one larger shortcake before you bake the dough. It may come in handy.

Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

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Lemon Bars, Perfected.

 I love lemon bars, but I don't love the sticky topping that is messy to cut through and doesn't always hold it's shape. So I've been on a quest to bake the perfect lemon bar. Soft but still crisp shortbread like crust and a lemony, firmly set glossy lemon topping that can be cleanly cut through.
Instead of pouring a wet batter on top of a par-baked crust, I make a lemon curd on the stove top and then pour it over the partially baked crust. Then it bakes for a short time to set the top and finish cooking the crust.
I know it's an extra step, but trust me, its worth it.

CRUST
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 C. Butter, cut into cubes and semi-soft

Curd FILLING
7 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 C. + 2 T. sugar
2/3 C. lemon juice (from about 4-5 medium lemons), strained
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 T. unsalted butter, cut in to 4 pieces
3 T. heavy cream

For the crust
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and process briefly, about 2 seconds. Add the butter pieces and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then process until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second pulses. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared cake pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer over the entire pan bottom. 

  Bake the crust until the edges start to brown, about 23 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

For the filling
In a medium saucepan whisk together the egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar until combined. Add the lemon juice and salt and whisk until well combined, about 30 seconds.

Add the butter pieces and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the curd thickens, about 6 minutes.
  Stir in the heavy cream and then pour the curd into the warm crust.
Bake until the filling is shiny and opaque and the center 3 inches jiggle slightly when shaken, about 10 minutes.  Let the bars cool. Cut into 2 inch squares, wiping the knife blade clean between each cut. Sieve powdered sugar over the bars, if you prefer.

 

Whoopie Pies

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Wild Orange and Vanilla Scones

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Come over to The Kitchen McCabe for this recipe!

Lemon Meltaways

These cookies are so yummy! Soft lemon shortbread with a tangy lemon buttercream center. And almost fail proof, thanks to the cornstarch in the shortbread.

Lemon Meltaways:
200g [7/8 cup, or approx 14 tablespoons] unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one lemon
Filling:

1 cup confectioners sugar
50 [ 1/4 cup, or approx 3.6 tablespoons] grams unsalted butter, room temperature
juice of one lemon

*an extra 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar was required for a thicker icing sugar. Please keep this in mind if a thicker consistency is preferred.

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius / 300 F.

In a large bowl cream the butter, salt and sugar until light and fluffy on a medium setting, roughly 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and incorporate the vanilla and lemon zest, scraping down the sides as you go. Sift the flower and cornstarch into the mixture and beat on a low setting until just combined.

Take small portions of the mixture and roll into balls, continue until you have 25-30 (I made mine quite large, I ended up with roughly 23) pieces. If you want them to be as even as possible, roll out the mixture until it forms a log then use a clean knife to section into 30 pieces.

Place them on a baking tray lined with wax paper, gently press on each piece with a fork until it has left an imprint. You can also press on them gently with your fingers, if you do not wish to leave an imprint.
Bake for 20 minutes. let them cool completely.

For the filling beat the sugar, butter and lemon juice on a medium setting until incorporated. Use the back of a spoon, or a knife to ice one side of the cookie then sandwich them together. Try to find two which are similar sizes.

Recipe curtesy of ittybittykitchen