Recipe: Melted Ice Cream Cake (Funfetti Cake + Birthday Cake Ice Cream)

This whole thing started a few weeks ago the morning after a girls night with my best friend from home. We'd gotten Ben & Jerry's, eaten a few heaping spoonfuls, and the still mostly full pints were languishing in the freezer. I wasn't really too excited about having them stick around, but I certainly wasn't going to toss them, so I started thinking up ways to use them. "There's gotta be a way to use melted ice cream in some sort of baked good"—that was my first thought. And then "cake!" One of the pints was red velvet cake, so I got this grand plan to use red velvet cake mix with the red velvet ice cream and make super red velvety red velvet cake. I found this recipe from the blog Cookies & Cups to work off of (because I wasn't quite sure how to pull this off) and was all set to make it, but I ended up pushing it off while I spent a week in Memphis with my boyfriend. I told him about my plan and he suggested funfetti cake with birthday cake ice cream (because he loves cake-flavored frozen treats), so I promised to make him that instead of my red velvety red velvet and send it to him for Easter. The cake turned out pretty well—fairly moist, tender, and very very cake-flavored. It was actually quite sweet, but definitely tasty. In the future, I would plan to use a more subtle cake base (vanilla or chocolate) and try a fun flavor of ice cream (I'm dreaming of a strawberry-chocolate cake, mint-chocolate cake, or peanut-butter chocolate cake—yum!). This was pretty easy to make and pretty fun too. Since I'm mailing the cake, I decided to top it with a glaze rather than icing, since glazes hold up a little better. A generous spray of sprinkles completed the cake and made it perfectly fun and colorful for Easter.

Yields: 1-2 cakes, depending on what type of pan you use (I used two, 9 in. pans); approx. 12 servings (according to the cake mix package)
Prep. time: 5-10 minutes
Baking time: Varies (depending on the type of pan you use)
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients
For the cake

• 1 box of cake mix (approx. 15-18 oz.)
• 1 pint (approx. 2 cups) of ice cream, melted (use this in place of the water and oil required for the boxed mix)
• 3 eggs
• Cooking spray to grease the pan

For the glaze

• 1/4 cup milk (2%)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Sprinkles (if desired)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Lightly grease the pan(s) you plan to use for the cake. In the bowl of a mixer, add the cake mix, melted ice cream (ice cream should not still be solid and/or frozen...it should be totally or mostly melted), and the eggs and beat on medium speed until well-blended. Do not add the oil or water required for the mix—the melted ice cream acts as a substitute for these. The mixture should look creamy, fairly thick, and smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake according to package instructions (different pans take different amounts of time). Be sure to check the cake a few minutes before it's done (my cakes were in 9 in. pans and were supposed to take at least 29 minutes to bake, but they ended up taking almost 7 minutes less than that). Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then finish cooling on racks. 

Heat a small pot over low heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar and whisk until well-blended and smooth. Cook until smooth and warm. Remove from heat and pour or drizzle over cake. If you want to add sprinkles, add them while the glaze is still wet. You can also use a prepared icing or make your own and use this in place of a glaze.

My boyfriend and his friends, having seen pictures, are calling this "metacake" and "cake-ception." Love it.

Melted ice cream cake is a fun twist on traditional cake and, because you're just using boxed cake mix, it's super easy to make. You can mix and match endless flavors to create exactly what you're craving. I highly recommend sticking with a basic cake (chocolate, yellow, white, or vanilla) and picking a fun ice cream flavor, thought this birthday cake ice cream-funfetti cake combo was definitely fun. 

Recipe: Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing Drizzle

I spent last week in Memphis with my boyfriend, making the most of his week-long spring break. We spent a few quiet days in Arkansas, at an old hunting lodge/clubhouse his family is a member of, and spent the rest of the week at his family home. I ate some great food (including a homemade beef and cheddar hot dog in a soft pretzel bun from Hog & Hominy, a burger at Huey's, and of course, cupcakes from Muddy's), met some of his law school friends, had some "arts and crafts" time (we painted pottery and made glass dishes--both were a lot of fun to work on!), and visited a few galleries and museums. As a thank you to him and his family for hosting me, I thought it would be nice to bake brownies and send them down their way. I found this recipe for red velvet brownies and knew I had to try it out—I don't generally play around with baking recipes because they are so precise and I find it hard to change and edit ingredients (it's so much easier to mess up in baking than it is in cooking), so I left it as is, but added a little drizzle of cream cheese icing to give them a little more flavor (makes 'em prettier too). The resulting brownies were perfectly chewy and dense with a light, flaky top, just like a brownies should be, and the drizzle of icing added a little tangy flavor and creaminess to them.

Yields: 1, 9x13 inch pan of brownies (approx. 20 brownie squares)
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Baking time: 35-40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

For the brownies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1&1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1&1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 oz. red food coloring (if you don't have enough food coloring, add water to get the required measurement)
• 4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2&1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's, because that's all I could find, but a better quality brand will yield better brownies)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
  

For the cream cheese icing drizzle

• 2 oz. cream cheese
• Approx. 1/2 cup powdered sugar (or more, as needed)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. milk

Directions

Preheat the over to 350*F. Spray a 9x13 inch clear, glass baking dish with cooking/baking spray. Using the paddle attachment in your mixer, beat together the butter and both sugars on medium speed until creamy, light, and fluffy (approx. 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs slowly, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Slowly add the food coloring and vanilla and blend on medium speed until the color is fully incorporated. In a medium bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt and whisk to mix. Slowly add this mixture to the mixing bowl on medium speed until it's fully incorporated—be careful not too over mix though.  The batter should be quite thick and all of the flour should be mixed in. Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and spread evenly in the dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until done (insert a toothpick in the center—if it comes out wet with batter, the brownies need more baking time, but if it comes out clean or a little crumby, the brownies are done). Brownies should be a little flaky on the outside, but slightly moist on the inside. Set aside to cool.

While the brownies are cooling, add the the ingredients for the cream cheese icing drizzle to a small bowl and whisk to blend (you can use the mixer, once clean, to make this go a little faster and to mix it better, but I was too lazy to clean the mixer and ended up whisking together the icing by hand). The finished icing should be thick, but still be able to be drizzled easily. Cut the brownies into squares and, using a spoon, drizzle the icing as neatly as possible over each square (I actually used a squeeze bottle to get more precise drizzles; you can use an icing/pastry bag with a round tip for neater results). Let the icing set (it will not get hard, but rather, it'll thicken and be a little sticky) for a few minutes.

Serve with a glass of cold milk or a mug of hot coffee, or whatever beverage you prefer. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla (or perhaps red velvet, for added red velvet-ness?) ice cream or with some fresh berries. Store brownies in an airtight container and avoid stacking them, if possible, because the cream cheese drizzle will get smeary and smudged.

These brownies are essentially your basic, everyday brownies, but the pop of red food coloring and the sweet and tangy cream cheese icing drizzle add a little pizzazz to them. Great for dessert, for a party, or an afternoon snack, these brownies are chocolaty, chewy, and absolutely delicious.

Recipe: Fresh Peach Cupcakes with Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

My kitchen smells like fresh-picked peaches and it's absolutely heavenly! I ran across this recipe for peach cupcakes while browsing through posts on TasteSpotting and, as a peach lover and a wannabe baker, I knew I had to make them. I made up a half batch (I've posted the full recipe though), seeing as I'm on my own this week, and I'm hoping I can resist their delicately sweet call, beckoning to me from the fridge. These cupcakes are light, with a sweet peach flavor that's very present without being overpowering. The cream cheese frosting also incorporates the sweetness of the peach, but with the creaminess of butter and the tangy flavor of cream cheese. Perfect for a summer brunch or dinner party and such a pretty, pale peachy-pink color!

Yields: 24 cupcakes
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Baking time: 21-24 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Equipment: Electric mixer

Ingredients
For the cakes

• 2 & 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup pureed fresh peaches (cut slices off of the peach, being sure not to include the pit; skin on is okay)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs (large)
• 1.75 oz freeze-dried peaches, pulverized (use food processor or place in Ziploc bag and crush with mallet; Target's Archer Farms brand sells 1.75 oz. bags of freeze dried peaches, which is perfect)

For the frosting

• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter (salted or unsalted)
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1.75 oz. freeze-dried peaches, pulverized
• 3-5 cups of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)

Directions

For the cakes

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line cupcake tins with liners.In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, pureed fresh peaches, and vanilla, then set aside. Add the butter and sugar for the cakes to the bowl of the electric mixture and, using the paddle attachment, blend on medium speed until the mixture is pale and well-blended (approx. 2 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the freeze dried peaches. Mix in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of the buttermilk mixture (i.e. flour, then buttermilk, then flour, then buttermilk, then flour, and then all of both mixtures will be incorporated). Mix until just blended, scraping the batter down the side of the bowl as needed. Scoop even amounts of batter into the cupcake tins and bake for 21-24 minutes, until golden brown (a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean or slightly crumby). Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

For the frosting
Using the paddle attachment on the electric mixer, mix the butter until softened and pale in color. Add the cream cheese and beat to combine, then add the vanilla extract. Add the pulverized peaches and blend thoroughly. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar to the mixture and mix. Add more as desired, and mix until the frosting is creamy, thick, and spreadable.

Spread or pipe frosting onto each of the cupcakes. Garnish each with a dusting of pulverized, freeze-dried peaches or a slice of fresh peach. Can be kept at room temperature or in the fridge (I like to keep mine in the fridge because of the cream cheese and butter in the frosting).

These cupcakes are perfect for the summer time! Fresh and dried peaches offer light, sweet, and fruity flavor, while the cream cheese in the frosting creates a tangy, buttery taste that blends well with the sweetness of the cakes.

Recipe: Homemade Slice-and-Bake Cookies (a.k.a. Ice Box Cookies)

For most colleges and graduate schools, it's final exam time, which means there are countless 20-somethings, my boyfriend included, stressing out, staying up late, and eating junk food just to make it through. I thought it would be fun to send a care package to John with some homemade cookies and other goodies to make his law school exam studying a little less awful, and I decided to try out a cookie recipe from one of my recent Bake 1 classes. Ice Box cookies, are they are officially called, are essentially homemade slice-and-bake cookies, called "ice box cookies" because the dough can be made up and then stored in the fridge (or "ice box"), and cookies can then be sliced off one at a time and baked fresh rather than be baked all in one batch. They're very easy to make, and you can dress them up by dying and rolling/shaping the dough into a variety of patterns, including the pinwheel (which I made for John) and checkerboard.

Yields: Approx. 3 dozen cookies (depends on how thin you slice them)
Prep. time: 10 minutes, plus time to chill the dough
Baking time: 12-15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate (rolling into shapes takes a little skill)
Special equipment: Rolling pin

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (or 8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 & 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Food coloring of your choice

Directions

In the bowl of an electric/stand mixer, cream together the two types of sugar and butter (cream together: using the paddle attachment, blend on low to medium-low speed until the sugar and butter are well-blended; a few small lumps are okay). Add the egg yolks and vanilla and blend on medium-low speed until incorporated. Slowly add in the flour, a little bit at a time, until it is all blended into the dough and the dough is slightly sticky, soft, and pale yellow/khaki in color. 

To create a solid-colored dough: Add the food coloring of your choice to the dough and gently knead it into the dough until the dough is completely colored. Wrap the dough up in saran wrap or put in a bowl covered over with saran wrap and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm it up. Remove from the fridge and roll into a large log, then return and chill until it's able to be cleanly sliced through (about 1-2 hours, or 10 minutes in the freezer). 

To create a pinwheel pattern: Divide the dough into two even pieces (it's easiest to weigh each piece on a kitchen scale so that you get equal pieces). You can dye one or both pieces (obviously, use two different colors if you choose to dye both). Gently knead food coloring into one or both dough balls until the dough is completely colored. Wrap the dough balls up separately in saran wrap or put in bowls covered over with saran wrap and chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm them up. Remove one dough ball and lay it out on a long piece of wax paper covered in a second sheet of wax paper. Tape down the wax paper sheets (just a small piece of tape along the top, bottom, and sides—packing tape holds really well), so they don't move around when you start to roll out the dough. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into one long, wide sheet, then remove the tape tape from the wax paper and lay the dough on a sheet pan in the fridge to chill for at least an hour (or chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes). Repeat this process with the other piece of dough. Once both pieces have been chilled, remove them from the fridge (1), remove the wax paper from on top of each (2 and 3) and flip one on top of the other as centered as possible (4). Trim the edges with a knife or pizza cutter (5) to create a straight-edged, even rectangle. The trimmings can be mushed together to create a tie-dye ball of dough that can also be rolled into a log and sliced up into cookies (see #6). Roll the rectangle into a log (you'll be able to see the pinwheel shape when you look at the ends of the log) and chill in the fridge for at least an hour (or freezer for 10 minutes). Either store it in the fridge and slice off cookies as needed, or slice the cooled log down into even slices (6) and get ready to bake. 

To bake them: Preheat the oven to 325*F. On a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, lay out the cookie slices with an inch or two of space in between each. Bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly crispy around the edges and cooked through in the middle, but still soft (they should not be very golden-brown at all though, because that means they're overdone). Remove from the oven, chill on the sheet pan, then remove to a wire rack to chill completely. Store in an airtight container (or eat a bunch right away, haha).

1

2

3

5

4

6 (this roll was made from the scraps of the pinwheel roll)

These cookies are buttery, sugary, and so much fun! They're a great thing to keep in the fridge if you have kids—you can always have fresh-baked cookies when they get home from school or when they want a snack to eat while they work on homework. They're also great as a simple dessert or easy bake sale item, and they hold up really well in the mail (so they're great for to send for Christmas or birthdays). They can be completely sliced up and baked all together too because they keep for days!

Recipe: Super Chocolatey Chocolate Icing

My grandmother is moving out of her home and downsizing considerably, so a big group of my not-that-big family spent last weekend at her house, sorting, claiming, tossing, and moving things. My cousin, Kate, had the great idea to bring baked goods as a sort of way to make the day a little brighter and hopefully help minimize family drama and meltdowns (we still had one or two—this whole process has been fairly stressful) and she ended up bringing some delicious chocolate chip cookies (I ate a lot...let's just say WeightWatchers was the furthest thing from my mind that weekend). Last Friday just so happened to be my grandmother's birthday, so my mom and I decided we would bring a birthday cake. My dad's high school reunion also happened to be last weekend, so not only was it decided that I'd make cake, but I also got roped into making cupcakes for the reunion. To make things simple, we used a delicious boxed yellow cake mix, but I wanted to make homemade icing. My grandmother has always liked yellow cake with chocolate icing, so I decided to do a variation on my vanilla buttercream from a little while ago and make a chocolate buttercream.

Now, I wasn't quite sure how to write this post, because, to be perfectly honest, I messed up the icing when I made it. And then I made a different version and messed that up. And then I combined the two, added a little milk, and they miraculously combined to make the most delicious chocolate icing ever. See, I made one batch of icing in a buttercream style using melted Ghiradelli chocolate chips, but the mixture was so thick, it was like eating fudge, though the flavor was fantastic. For the second batch, I followed the recipe on the back of the Hershey's cocoa powder box and used that cocoa for the chocolate flavor—unfortunately, I didn't read carefully and, instead of melting the butter, I whipped a whole, unmelted stick into the mixture (I was in a buttercream mindset, and you use a whole, unmelted stick of butter in that type of icing), so once again, I got too-thick icing. I knew I needed to fix the problem, and I knew milk was often recommended as a way to thin out icing, so I poured some in, whipped it, and the icing came out with the perfect consistency and flavor. I had enough icing to ice (I spread it on with a knife rather than pipe out a big pile on top) 24 cupcakes and one, two-layer cake.

So, here's what I'm gonna do: I'm going to share each recipe that I made, and say that you can either try to combine the two and make it all in one go, or, do what I did (and would probably do again), and make each icing separately, then combine and add a little milk until the desired consistency is reached. I know it seems like a lot of work, but seriously, this icing was really good—thick, super chocolatey, creamy, and rich.

M is for Molly, my grandmother's name

Too-Thick Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (sifting removes lumps that would clump up in the frosting) 
• 3-4 tbsp. milk
• 8-10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli brand, because it's good quality chocolate and creates a rich chocolatey flavor in the icing) 

Directions
Put the butter in the mixer bowl and, using the paddle attachment, blend it on low for about a minute until the butter is a little creamy. Turn off the mixer and add the powdered sugar and milk to the bowl. Blend the mixture on low for about a minute, until the powdered sugar is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and whip until the mixture is completely blended and looks thick. In the meantime, melt the chocolate either very slowly and carefully in the microwave or use a double boiler to melt the chocolate chips. Slowly add the melted chocolate to the other ingredients and whip on medium speed until fully incorporated into the icing. The icing will appear a medium to dark brown and will be thick.

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Too-Thick Hershey's Cocoa Powder Icing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup Hershey's brand natural unsweetened cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Put the butter in the mixer bowl and, using the paddle attachment, blend it on low for about a minute until the butter is a little creamy. Turn off the mixer and add the powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla extract, and milk to the bowl. Blend the mixture on low for about a minute, until the powdered sugar and cocoa are incorporated into the wet ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and whip until the mixture is completely blended and looks thick.

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Super Chocolatey Chocolate Icing (The Right Icing)

Ingredients

• First batch of icing, the too-thick chocolate buttercream icing
• Second batch of icing, the too-thick Hershey's cocoa icing
• Milk (about 4-8 tbsp., more or less until desired consistency is reached)

Directions
Combine the two different icings in the mixer bowl and blend on medium speed. Add milk, a tbsp. at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Icing should be somewhat shiny and thick. It will spread easily and hold its shape.

This icing, though a lot of work, is absolutely delicious. It's thick and creamy, and it has an intense chocolate flavor that's so delicious. Perfect on cupcakes, cakes, and brownies (I even put a little leftover icing from the cake on my cousin's cookies...so tasty!).

Recipe: Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (for Caribbean-themed vanilla cupcakes)

A few weeks ago, I found a recipe for these beautiful seaside-themed cupcakes, topped with molded chocolate seashells and pale blue frosting—gorgeous! I showed them to my mom and asked if she had any need of them for an upcoming event and, lucky for me, she had a Caribbean-themed potluck dinner going on tonight that would be the perfect place for them. She picked up ingredients for them yesterday afternoon and we made a change of plans when she found some Swedish Fish packages that included fun multicolored sea creatures. My seaside-themed cupcakes became Caribbean-themed vanilla cupcakes, topped with homemade vanilla buttercream, hand-colored sanding sugar, and assorted Swedish Fish shapes. Fun, tasty, and perfect for any ocean-themed party! I used a boxed French Vanilla cupcake mix (yes, I know...I should be ashamed of myself for not making homemade batter, but I wanted this dessert to be as easy and quick as possible). What I'm sharing here is my recipe for buttercream frosting. I absolutely hate that disgusting, fluffy, oily frosting they use at grocery stores and cheap bakeries and ice cream shops. I'm also not really a fan of the pre-made stuff they sell to go along with boxed cake mixes. I like thick, substantial icing, with a rich, yet creamy texture and flavor. This buttercream frosting, adapted from a recipe from Anne Bryn's The Cake Mix Doctor, is thick without being stiff and it has a delicious vanilla-and-sugar flavor.

One of these things is not like the other. Haha. Gotta love the random green fish.

Yields: About 2 cups (the original recipe said it yields 3.5 cups, but I definitely got less and ended up needing to make a second batch). Two batches will be enough to cover approx. 24 cupcakes with a nice thick swirl of frosting)
Production Time: 10-20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Special equipment: Electric mixer

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (sifting removes lumps that would clump up in the frosting) 
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3-4 tbsp. milk

Directions
Put the butter in the mixer bowl and, using the paddle attachment, blend it on low for about a minute until the butter is a little creamy. Turn off the mixer and add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to the bowl. Blend the mixture on low for about a minute, until the powdered sugar is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and whip until the mixture is completely blended and looks thick and creamy. If you find it's not holding its shape or seems to be "melting" on top of the cupcakes or cake you're putting it on, add just a little more powdered sugar to thicken it up (don't add too much, because it'll make your frosting gritty and dry-tasting). The frosting can be spread on cupcakes or cakes with a knife, but I used one of my "fancy" frosting tips for my culinary classes, fashioned myself a pastry/piping bag out of a Ziploc back, and piped the frosting in a simple swirl on top of of the cupcakes. Turned out great!

This is a great basic buttercream that can easily be altered to suit your needs. Add food coloring, mix in a flavor other than vanilla (like orange extract or cocoa), or mix in finely chopped ingredients (like nuts or chocolate chips) to make it perfect for any cake. For my Caribbean-themed cupcakes, I just added a few drops of blue food coloring to achieve a pretty pale blue color. That, topped with blue sugar and fish decorations made for some fun and tasty cupcakes!

Recipe: Lemon Bars

My dad and I are grilling tonight—marinated strip steaks, red potatoes seasoned with shallot-pepper (another great purchase from Penzeys Spices), and asparagus sprinkled with salt and pepper, served with Chimay Red (one of my all time favorite beers—a Belgian brew). Since my dad will be doing the grilling, I thought I'd whip us up some sort of light dessert to enjoy after our meal. My best friend and her family made these delicious homemade lemon bars (the recipe is actually from the Weight Watchers community) for the 4th of July weekend earlier this summer, so I thought I'd make those. Sure, I could have gotten a boxed mix—my dad and I have had it before and it's pretty good—but homemade lemon bars, with fresh lemon juice and zest, have so much more flavor!

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 tbsp. packed light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar, because that's all we had, but I recommend getting the light if you can)
• 8 tbsp. (a little less than 1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 powdered sugar, divided into two equal portions (3/4 cup each)
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top of the completed bars

Directions
To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350*F. Put the flour and brown sugar in a food processor and mix to completely blend. Toss butter pieces into the food processor and pulse to blend, until the picture is slightly clumpy, with butter pieces that are about the size of peas. Evenly sprinkle crust mixture into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch pan and press down on the mixture with your hand or a spatula to create a packed surface. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until slightly golden brown.

To make the lemon filling/topping: Beat eggs in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until well-blended. Add vanilla extract and 3/4 cup of the powdered sugar and mix well. Add the lemon juice and remaining (3/4 cup) powdered sugar and mix until the powdered sugar is completely dissolved, then add the zest.

As soon as the crust is finished baking, remove from the oven and immediately pour the lemon mixture over the hot crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 300*F. Put the mixture back in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes (the edges will be slightly golden brown), remove, and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Put in the fridge to cool completely. When ready to serve, cut unto 24 bars and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Store remaining bars in the fridge.

These bars are sweet, tangy, and refreshing on a warm summer day. Using fresh lemon juice and zest adds a punch of flavor and the warm yellow color is beautiful and bright. These are great served with a cup of tea, a glass of milk, or just by themselves. Don't skimp on the powdered sugar topping!—It helps balance the tartness of the lemon and sweeten the bars.

Recipe: Mini Anise-flavored Biscotti with Orange Glaze and Chocolate Drizzle

In my last post, I wrote about the collection of spicy, sweet, and salty spices we collected at Penzeys Spices yesterday and mentioned my plans for some of them. While strolling around the store with my dad, I came across various jars of anise—powdered, ground, whole—and my dad said he'd enjoy the black licorice-flavored spice in a sugar cookie, so my thoughts started swirling around recipe ideas. I picked up a small bottle of pure orange extract as we ventured into the baking and pastry section of the store and knew that that flavor paired with black licorice would work well, so I decided to make some sort of cookie with an orange glaze. After searching for "anise cookies" online and seeing biscotti mentioned several times (my final choice is adapted from this recipe), I decided they would be perfect, especially in our house filled with tea and coffee drinkers who love to dip cookies in their drinks. These cookies take a little time to make, but they're perfect with a cup of tea or coffee and they'd look beautiful wrapped up in a basket or bag and given as a house-warming gift or a dessert for a party.

Serves: Many; yields about 80-90 cookies, depending on how small you cut the pieces
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35 min. - 50 min.
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup olive oil (pure or light)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. anise seed, crushed or powdered (I used Spanish cracked anise)
• 3 & 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• Approx. 1 & 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Approx. 1/4 cup milk (2%, 1%, or skim)
• Approx. 1 tbsp. orange extract (or to taste)
• Approx. 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli brand)
• Red and yellow food coloring
• White sanding sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F. Using a mixer or whisking by hand, lightly beat the eggs, then add in the oil, sugar, and anise, mixing lightly to combine. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, and almonds and mix to combine. (I used a mixer to do all of this, keeping it on a slow/low setting—it blended the ingredients more easily and more consistently.) The dough will be thick and sticky, but smooth.
Divide the dough into six pieces, lightly flour them, and roll each into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Place the six logs onto two greased or parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until they each are slightly golden-brown and the center is cooked, approx. 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and immediately slice logs into about 1 to 2 inch-thick diagonal pieces (remember, these are mini biscotti, so they'll be about 2-4 inches long and about 1-2 inches wide). Place the tray of pieces back into the oven and bake 5-10 minutes (5 if you want slightly softer cookies, 10 if you want really crunchy/hard cookies). Remove from oven, flip the pieces over so the tops of the cookies are now face down on the tray, and bake another 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and flip the cookies back over so the tops are facing up again and let cool on the baking sheets. The cookies will be light-colored or slightly golden brown.

To make the glaze: Put approx. 1 & 1/2 cups of powdered sugar into a small bowl and mix in the milk, stirring until the mixture is a whitish-clear, semi-thick liquid. Add approx. 1 tbsp. orange extract to the mixture and stir. Add more or less of the extract depending on how strong you want the flavor to be—taste it as you mix (using a new spoon each time, of course!) so you get the flavor you want. For the coloring: I added in two drops of red and two drops of yellow food coloring to get a pale, creamy orange color, but if you want a brighter orange, follow the instructions on the food coloring box or simply add more of each color until you get the desired shade. Using a small spoon, drizzle the orange glaze over the cooled biscotti. Sprinkle white sanding sugar over the biscotti while the glaze is still wet to give the cookies a little sparkle.

To make the chocolate drizzle: Put approx. 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a small, microwave-safe bowl and microwave in short spurts (start off microwaving for about 45 seconds, and work down from there until the mixture is melted and smooth). Be VERY careful not to burn or overcook the chocolate—heating it for shorter amounts of time on lower heat is better. Do not add oil, cream, or water to the mixture. Once melted, drizzle the chocolate, using a small spoon, over the biscotti. Sprinkle more white sanding sugar on top if desired.

These cookies are sweet and crunchy, and the orange glaze and chocolate add a little creaminess to them. Biscotti are able to take on a variety of flavors and toppings to create almost endless flavor combinations— chocolate and mint, caramel, coffee, and cherry, to name a few—so play around with extracts, spices, chocolates, and nuts and berries to see what you like best. I'm planning on making a mixed batch of biscotti during the winter holiday season so I can take them to parties and gift them to friends and family, but they're perfect to keep around the house as snacks. They keep in an air-tight container for at least two weeks, and can be frozen for later use.