Sweet Inspirations: Linzer Cookies

Did You Know? Outselling every brand of peanut butter combined, the amount of Nutella produced worldwide in one day is equivalent to nearly three times the weight of the Statue of Liberty.

The bakery has really been a lot of fun for me and Chris, and we can't help but to spend our days dreaming of the future of the business. Sweet Inspirations had its largest order to date over the weekend (8 dozen cookies), and it couldn't have gone smoother. Salvage Chic, an antique store located in Bryantville Center (Pembroke), contacted me a few weeks ago, in hopes of ordering something special for a sale they would be having this past weekend. I knew their logo involved price tags, so we set out to make some pretty impressive cookies for the event. Linzer cookies were our choice, giving us the ideal recipe to get creative with. We could cut out price tags for the base, and include the initials of the store for the jam to show through. Although the dough was by far the toughest I'd worked with, they turned out wonderfully, and tasted even better.

The dough was made with ground up hazelnuts, and for some reason, all it wanted to do was tear, and fall apart. I knew from the comments left by others that it wasn't the most cooperative recipe, but I thought I might have better luck. In the end, it all worked out, and I found that freezing the dough for a little before cutting out the initials worked the best. Just make sure to roll the dough between parchment paper, or you'll never get it off the rolling pin. And don't let my troubles scare you from trying this recipe, it was a huge success among everyone who tried them, and they only get better as the days go on - a great cookie if you're looking for something to make ahead of time.

If you live in the South Shore, and have not yet stopped by Salvage Chic, I highly recommend you do so. Christine and Claudia, the two owners, could not be any nicer, and the store itself is something out of a magazine. Each room is set up like a different room in a house, filled with items both old and new. I recently picked up a beautiful glass juicer and a set of vintage cookie jars with my sister and Maddie, and plan on going back to scan through their fabulous aprons. It's always our first stop when we're antique hunting, and we never leave empty handed. They even have a blog, so if you don't live nearby, you can check out all their finds over there.

Raspberry & Nutella Linzer Cookies
Adapted from Gourmet via Epicurious

2/3 cup hazelnuts (3 oz)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12-oz jar seedless raspberry jam (or Nutella)
Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)

Special equipment: a 2- to 2 1/4-inch fluted round cookie cutter and assorted 1/2-inch shaped cookie cutters or aspic cutters

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan until fragrant and skins begin to loosen, about 6 minutes. Rub nuts in a kitchen towel to remove any loose skins (some skins may not come off), then cool to room temperature.

Pulse nuts and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer (preferably fitted with paddle) or 6 minutes with a handheld. Add nut mixture and beat until combined well, about 1 minute. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

With floured hands, form dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 5-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

Roll out 1 disk of dough into an 11-inch round (1/8 inch thick) between 2 sheets of wax paper (keep remaining dough chilled). If dough becomes too soft to roll out, rewrap in plastic and chill until firm. Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with larger cookie cutter and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging about 1 inch apart. Using smaller cutters, cut out centers from half of the cookies, reserving centers and rerolling along with scraps (reroll only once). Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are golden, 10 to 15 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies from second disk.

Dust the windowed cookies with confectioners' sugar. Spread about 1 teaspoon jam (or Nutella) on flat side of 1 solid cookie and sandwich jam with flat side of 1 windowed cookie. Sandwich remaining cookies in same manner.

Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment, and chilled in an airtight container, 2 weeks.

Sweet Inspirations: Daisy Cakes

Did You Know? Daisies are not one flower. A Daisy is made up of two types of flowers - disk florets and petal-like white ray florets. The Disk florets are at the center and the ray florets are at the periphery, arranged to give the impression of being a single flower.

Chris and I had our second cupcake order over the weekend for Sweet Inspirations, and this time it was for a bachelorette party. The bride is a huge fan of daisies, so one of her friends requested daisy cupcakes from us to go along with the theme of the wedding. After throwing back a few ideas between the two of us, we settled on these, and couldn't have been happier with the result. And from the looks that we got when we delivered them, we were reassured that the bride would absolutely love them.

A vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream was asked for, so with a little gel coloring, we tinted the centers yellow, and piped creamy white petals around them, but not before applying a thin layer of frosting to the base beneath. I love how the petals fan out around the soft serve-like centers, giving the cupcakes a bit of height. The only thing left to do was to come up with one of our signature quotes, and Chris was all over that aspect.

Being a philosophy major, Chris thought it would be a unique touch to deliver all of our baked goods with a personalized quote to fit the occasion. This time around, he went with one of his originals, channeling his "inner girlfriend" to come up with something special. He pretty much nailed the whole sisterhood thing down with this one. And like I said before, if you live in the South Shore area, and are looking for something special for your next party, send me an email, and we'll think of something to fit your tastes, quote and all.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
Adapted from the Joy of Baking

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar, in the bowl of an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin cups with batter about 2/3 to the top. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with the vanilla buttercream, and decorate as desired.

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
6-8 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk

Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, add the confectioners' sugar, scraping down the bowl halfway through. Add the milk, and the rest of the sugar, and continue to beat until you've reached your desired consistency. Be sure not to whip too long, or the frosting may begin to separate.

Makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes.

Sweet Inspirations: Raspberry-Almond Cupcakes

Did You Know? Half to one pound of raspberry fruit per day can provide twenty to thirty grams of fiber, which is adequate for an adult daily nutrition requirement.

I've mentioned my hopes for someday opening a bakery, Sweet Inspirations, with my best friend Chris in the near future, so that's pretty much what I've been busy with these past few days. We had our first order for an engagement party on Saturday evening, and we never would have predicted the success that was to come. Chris' brother Jeff had been working on our logo for a while, and I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect (and I can so see it on a t-shirt someday). He's thinking about taking it a little further, but his design sense is awesome, so I know I'll love whatever he decides on.

Raspberry-Almond Cupcakes and Lemon Bars were on the menu, so I thought I'd show you the cupcakes today. I wanted something girly, but classic looking, and I thought a raspberry-hued cake with an almond-scented buttercream would be perfect. The red berry against the white frosting was really traditional looking, and very fitting for the occasion. Packaged inside crisp, white bakery boxes, our first engagement turned out to be pretty professional.

The guests couldn't get enough of our desserts, and loved the original flavors we had paired together. Our next step will definitely be to finish our business cards, and maybe make some bumper stickers to put on all the cars of our friends and family members. We even booked two more clients for June, both for cupcakes, and the future bride of this engagement party rebooked us for another event she is going to have sometime over the Summer. We definitely have some hard work ahead of us, but so far things are looking really good. If we can keep delivering for small gatherings, and getting our name out there, I really see a future in the baking business. So if any of you live in the South Shore area, and are looking for a baked good for a party of yours or to bring along with you, send me an email, and we would love to create something special for you. And those lemon bars I mentioned will definitely be featured soon!

Rough Draft of our Logo/Engagement Quote

Raspberry-Almond Cupcakes
These were definitely on the less sweet, more muffin-like spectrum as far as cupcakes go, but when paired with the sweet, almond buttercream, I thought they were perfectly balanced. Add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar if you're looking for something sweeter.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups puréed raspberries, fresh or frozen, thawed
3/4 cup milk (or soymilk)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with paper cups, and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together remaining ingredients. Add this to the dry, beating with a wire whisk.

Pour into prepared cupcake tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until done when tested with a toothpick.

Makes about 30 cupcakes.

Almond Swiss-Meringue Buttercream
Enough for the 30 cupcakes, plus leftovers

4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft
2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pints fresh raspberries (for garnish)

Mix egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk to combine. Set over a medium pan of boiling water, and whisking constantly, heat egg whites and sugar for about 4-5 minutes, until hot to the touch.

Remove from heat and reattach to the stand mixer fixed with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until the mixture resembles marshmallow fluff, a few minutes.

At this point, you want the frosting to be completely cool before adding the softened butter, so surround with ice or frozen vegetables, until it has reached room temperature.

When cool enough, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time. Halfway through, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the remaining butter, the extracts, and beat until fluffy. Frost the cupcakes, garnish with raspberries (if desired) and enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Did You Know? The world's largest peanut butter and jelly sandwich was created in Oklahoma City, OK, on September 7, 2002 by the Oklahoma Peanut Commission and the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. The PB & J sandwich weighed in at nearly 900 pounds, and contained 350 pounds of peanut butter and 144 pounds of jelly. The amount of bread used to create the sandwich was equivalent to more than 400-one pound loaves of bread.

I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, but when my best friend Chris came home from a semester in New Zealand last Summer, his teaching goals had somehow evolved into a baking career. And apparently I was to be his business partner. So ever since then, we've pretty much been all talk. We came up with a name for our bakery, Sweet Inspirations (Chris is a Philosophy Major), are working on a logo (thanks Jeff), we have this little website of mine, but we hadn't actually baked anything together...until now.

I have been meaning to make these bars ever since I saw them on Martha Stewart. Peanut butter and jelly has always been my favorite flavor combination, although the PB has been put on the back burner for my preference for almond butter. But that's besides the point. Any nut butter mixed with a fruity jam is an unstoppable combo. Throw in some butter and sugar and turn it into a bar-type cookie, and I'm in PB & J heaven.

We made these so that Chris would have something to present to his family for Easter a few Sundays ago. We're always talking about the bakery with them, convincing our future investors that we'd make a great investment, so we thought it was about time to show them what we're all about. The sticky-sweet jam sandwiched between peanut-buttery shortbread brought the classic lunchbox staple to new levels. Sprinkled with roasted peanut pieces, this bar was the ultimate in sweet and salty. Although we couldn't help but to try a piece straight out of the oven, I'd recommend letting them cool before slicing. The warm pieces sort of slid apart, but the oozing peanut butter and jam was something I just couldn't wait to dive into.

I'm known for "healthing" up a lot of the recipes I make, so I can't wait to try some more variations on these. I wanted to keep this first go from the book, so we followed Martha's suggestions to the T. I'd love to do an almond butter and banana version or maybe almond butter and fig jam. Ashley from Sweet & Natural did an awesome job using more wholsesome ingredients when she conquered these bars, too. I'd better go write some of these ideas down before I forget...Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Holiday Cookies 2001

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups strawberry jam, or other flavor
2/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, and coat inside of pan with flour; set aside.

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes.

Whisk together salt, baking powder, and flour. Add to bowl of mixer on low speed; combine. Add vanilla. Transfer two-thirds of mixture to prepared pan; spread evenly with offset spatula. Using offset spatula, spread jam on top of peanut-butter mixture. Dollop remaining third of peanut-butter mixture on top of jam. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Bake until golden, about 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cut into about thirty-six 1 1/2-by-2-inch pieces.