Goldilocks bakes a perfect cookie!

If you are like me, sometimes I feel like Goldilocks looking for that perfectly baked cookie.  Not crunchy, not so soft that it falls apart as soon as you pick it up, but somewhere in the middle.  The edges are a little crunchy but the center is just melts in your mouth. 

To achieve the perfect cookie there are some key things that the expert cookie bakers are doing to make sure that theirs are a step above the rest.  Well, you don't have to be a professional pastry chef to get a perfect product from your favorite cookie recipe. 

Here are some secret tips to cookie greatness. 

Secret #1 -  Choose the right flour.  Not all flour is created equally.  Most cookies call for all-purpose flour.  Try substituting cake flour in place of the all-purpose.  1 cup of cake flour is the same as 1 cup of all-purpose.  This change will yield a much lighter cookie.


Secret #2 - Never use eggs and margarine/butter straight from the fridge.  Leave them out a few hours or the night before you plan to bake.  The temperature of these two ingredients can significantly change your end results.    For chewy cookies, melt the margarine before adding it to the sugar.

Secret #3 - Use brown sugar in place of white sugar.  Brown sugar will suck up all that moisture in your cookie batter and leave the cookie with that perfect chewy center.

Secret # 4 - Don't over mix.  Well, don't under mix either.   Overmixing will thin out the cookie and under-mixing will make them crunchy.  So, for Goldilocks to get that perfect cookie, she should mix the ingredients until they are well blended and the batter is fluffy.  This will take your cookie from good to great! 

Secret #5 - Cool the batter!  Before you form your cookies and place them on your tray, cool the batter in the frige before you put them in the oven. 

Finally, to create that perfect center, remove them when they are cooked through, edges crispy and centers are still soft and goey.

So, no excuses now friends.  The perfect cookie is now attainable!

With that I bid you adieu!   Let them eat cake!!  (or a really amazing cookie)

Don't touch or I will spork you!

This is one of those treats that will make you want to stab your loved one with a spork if they even think about touching your share. 

Today's treat has a delicious cake bottom with fillings of cream cheese, pudding and whipped cream.   It so good even my DH ate his whole piece.  He isn't a "sweets" kinda guy, so for him to clean the plate means it is well above exceptional.  I did modify this from an original recipe that I found online. 

Get ready to take a mouth watering look...




Chocolate cream dessert 

 

Ingredients:

1 pkg - chocolate cake mix         1 pkg - cream cheese                    2 pkg (3.9 oz) - inst. chocolate pudding
1 egg                                             1 1/4 cups - confectioner sugar                           3 cups - milk
5 tbsp - butter                               4 - 5 cups - whipped topping/divided


Directions -
Grease a 9x 13 baking pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, combine cake mix and butter.  Mix until blended.  Beat egg and add to mixture.   Blend well to creak a crumbly mixture.  Press into well greased baking pan.  Bake for 15-17 minutes until it is set.  Remove from oven and comletely cool on a wire rack.  If you add the cool ingredients before completely cool they will run and separate.

Once cake base is cool, proceed with following steps. 

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese & confectioners sugar.   Once creamed, fold in 2 1/2 cups of whipped cream with spatula.    Spread onto cooled base.


In medium bowl (preferrably metal to keep ingredients cool) combine chocolate pudding mix and milk.  Let this stand so that it thickens to a pudding consistancy.  Spread layer on top of the cream cheese mixture. 

Top layers with remaining whip cream.  I like to top this with chocolate shavings or morsels to give it that extra appeal.

Let'm eat cake!

For the love of cheesecake... or pie!

So excited to announce that I have added a Facebook page for Cake and Bakes!  Please check it out an join the party!

A sample of what you might find.....

Oh, pumpkin cheesecake.  How I love thee!  This is so much like a pumpkin pie and yet it is creamier with the cheesecake just melting in your mouth!

How about this sweet favorite.

Home-made Pecan Pie

 Pecan pie that is made from scratch from the crust up.  What more can you say about a classic favorite?!   I don't think this is a treat just for the fall holidays.  My family just gobbles it up whenever it is around here! 

What is your favorite (homemade or store bought) treat?  What would you like to see posted on here to encourage your love for baking? 

 Post your comments and remember....

 Let them eat cake!  (or cheesecake, whatever you prefer).

Celebrate with cake! Happy Valentine's to all.

Now, let it be said that I am not much for the commercialized holidays and all that goes with it.   Feeling obligated to get gifts, receive flowers, candy, etc.   Tell the person/people in your life that you love them every day, not just when the retailers want you to!  Besides my need to fight "the man" on this, my dad passed away at Valentine's, so this "holiday" really doesn't stir up the emotion within me to celebrate.

This year however, I decided to treat my family to a special day.  My sister and I made our families dinner.  To end the evening right, I make a yummy two tier cake all decked out in Valentine's garb.

The cake was amazing.  Strawberry/cream cheese on one tier and the other tier vanilla with a strawberry filling.  Can you say yum?   I have edited a fondant recipe that I found on the net and whollah!  Fondant that tastes as close to icing as it can possibly get.  Who could ask for more?


In future posts I will add recipes, but this being my first post (and only my second ever fondant cake), I wanted to keep it simple.

So, I think a picture speaks louder than all my gibberish and without further ado -

Let them eat cake!