Food Goal: Tea Cookies

A "food goal" is what I'll be calling the foods I hope to make and for now will just be storing here on this lil ol blog. These tea cookies sound oh so lovely.

Tea Cookies (from Habeas Brulee)
(adapted with very minor variations from Lovescool/Amai Tea & Bake House)
3/4 C (2.25 oz) confectioners sugar
5 oz unsalted butter (5/8 C, or 1 and 1/4 stick), straight from the fridge, cut into 1 tbsp slices
1 3/4 C (8.5 oz) all-purpose flour
3 large egg yolks (save the whites to make tuiles or macarons)
1 1/2 tbsp ground tea of your choosing
1 C granulated sugar (for coating)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix the sugar and ground tea together. Add the butter and continue mixing until smooth and pale.

Add the flour and mix until well combined.

Add the egg yolks and mix just until the eggs are fully incorporated and a mass forms.

Form the dough into a disk and chill in the refrigerator until firm - the original recipe calls for at least 30 minutes, but with my fridge I prefer to let dough chill for at least a couple of hours before rolling it out.

Which is what you’re doing next, of course - rolling it out. To about 1/2″ thick, which will feel surprisingly thick to those of us more used to rolling out pie crusts.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Cut the dough with small cookie cutters of whatever shape you like. Mine were about 1″ diameter.

Toss each cut cookie in a bowl of granulated sugar to coat.

Place the sugar-coated cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheets, about 1″ apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating from top to bottom and back to front halfway through the baking time. When they are done, they will be slightly golden around the edges.

Baby Slice for me

Sorry I've been so terrible about posting on this blog. But I'm back and hopefully will be able to be a bit more consistent. I'm working on this blogging lifestyle. I think I get so absorbed in reading other blogs. And to be honest, sometimes it overwhelms me when it comes to my blog but at the same time its motivational.

Aaaanyways, today I want to share with y'all this inventive silicone cake pan you can get at design3000.de. Design3000 is an online shop of really wonderful products from gadgets to larger furniture pieces. I thought the cake pan was such a great idea especially in my family where each member has their own slice size preference (i'm guilty of it too, 'fraid) 15 slices of varying width and height. loves it. It has a nice architectural feel to the shape too. I can totally picture having little figurines on the "steps" or legs dangling from the ledges. : )

Check out the site's many goodies here. Oh, and make sure you click on the Britain flag, unless you're fluent in german. : )

Have a great day foodies.

Amy Atlas

Can you say, WOW. Amy Atlas is an event planner in New York who seems to have found her calling in creating beautiful visual palettes that really pack a lot of flavor.This woman is amazing. Eye-candy you can really eat. The photography, the food, the colors, the themes. I don't know where to begin. I love how intentional all her treatments are and how she really lets the desserts shine regardless of the theme. Whether modern or traditional, her attention to detail is a sweet success. I would love to have her plan one of my events. Here are a few more of her shots. You can also visit her portfolio for more.

Hi Foodies

Hello. I'm starting this blog that will catalog my food adventures in the kitchen, on the streets and through the web. I hope to build this blog as my food adventures develop. I've got all these recipes I want to share and I need an outlet. I hope this blog will help me find that and enable me to meet others who share a similar passion. And the journey begins...with what i ate for breakfast : ) Pancakes.

( recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson.)

Heres the recipe below.

Ingredients
For the dry pancake mix
600g/1lb 5oz plain flour
3 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
40g/2½oz caster sugar
To make the pancakes (amounts per 150g/5¼oz dry mixture)
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
250ml/9fl oz milk
1 tbsp melted butter
For the blueberry syrup
125ml/4½fl oz maple syrup
200g/7oz blueberries ( i am going to use frozen)

Method
1. For the dry pancake mix, place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Transfer to an airtight container, seal and store until needed.
2. To make the pancakes, add the appropriate quantity of egg, milk and melted butter per 150g/5¼oz of the dry mixture (a filled American cup measure will give you the requisite amount per batch, so you may like to use one and dispense with any weighing). Mix well to form a smooth batter.
3. Heat a flat griddle or non-stick frying pan without adding oil.
4. Spoon drops of 1½-2 tablespoons of the batter onto the hot griddle and when bubbles appear on the surface of the little pancakes, flip them over and cook until golden-brown on both sides. It should take about a minute per side.
5. Meanwhile, for the blueberry syrup, place the maple syrup and blueberries into a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the blueberries have broken down slightly.
6. To serve, pour the blueberry syrup into a jug and take to the breakfast table with the pancakes. If you have any of the syrup left over, you will notice that it sets into a kind of glossy jam. This will keep for a few days decanted into a jar and put in the fridge, and is glorious dolloped into yoghurt or spread on bread.

My Verdict:

So typically, I try to make most recipes my own by changing a few things. But I'm new to making pancakes so I tried this one and followed the ingredients and the measurements as precisely as possible. The outcome was pretty good, but I'm in search of the perfect recipe for pancakes like the ones we have at a local restaurant called Zake's. I'm telling you. Pancakes – To. Die. For. And some sort of special caramel syrup sauce that I've vowed to figure out or atleast make a decent copycat version.

Anyways, the measurements for the above recipe are in grams and for me, that's not a good thing. I was able to get a small food scale at a local department store that was closing for a pretty good price. But for times when you don't have one, I found this convenient conversion chart on Nigella's website.

Have a good day everyone~