Cartoonery; Ice Cream

The closest this lactard has been to ice cream in weeks!creamyword

Cartoonery; COOKIES!

Hello…I love cookies…cookies

I tried my first recipe from the Momofuku Milk Cookbook...

All hail Christina Tosi!

I attempted the Corn Cookies last night and although I was concerned that they would be uninteresting ..or too corny… or whatever silly nonsense it is that keeps us from venturing into the unknown, they are anything but lackluster. I tasted the batter, I always do, it was sweet and complex with a good amount of salty aftertaste. Like the crunchy corn bread crust that sometimes forms at the edges of the pan. You know as well as I do that is always the best part of the cornbread. I was sold. It was on. All the best idioms! I cannot recommend this recipe enough!

corn cookie retouch

Get yourself a copy of that book. Seriously. Now. 

I added a little bit of glaze just to add a hint of strawberry. Here’s a quick run down if  you want to try it;

Strawberry Glaze

2 tablespoons powdered strawberry *

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon strawberry jam

milk to thin to desired consistency

Whisk together all the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Do as you see fit… I plopped it into a small ziplock bag and snipped the corner. Zig-zag, swirl, or go all Jackson Pollock on those cookies while still warm. They will take a few hours to dry so the glaze is no longer sticky.

*Powdered strawberries? Yes. Taking a page from Tosi, I grabbed some freeze dried strawberries from my local Whole Foods and used a mortar/pestle to grind them into a powder. Took 20 seconds at most. Worth the extra effort to boost the strawberry flavor in your glaze and give you that insane shade of crazy Barbie pink.

Which recipe to try next…

Cartoonery; Happy Donut Day!

Every day is Donut Day for Covette…donut

Coconut Buttercream Frosting

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As a compliment to my Wheat-free Carrot Cake this frosting is killer. I literally stood in my kitchen and repeatedly ‘taste tested’ it…like, like…some sort of sugar addict!

**Jenna fully acknowledges that she is indeed a sugar addict, she is fine with this.**

It is glorious. New favorite buttercream…by far. It’s a riff on my standard buttercream recipe but with the addition of organic creamed coconut…which is the secret ingredient. It gives natural coconut flavor with the kind of forgiving texture that people like me (are there other people like me?) dream about. Smooth for frosting, but stiffens like mortar when chilled.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting

– 2 cups (4 sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature

– 1/2 cup (1 stick) of non-hydrogenated shortening (I like this one)

-1/2 cup (3/4 of a package) of the unsweetened organic creamed coconut (here is your link)

– 3.5 cups powdered sugar

-1 tbsp vanilla

-5 tbsp pineapple juice (canned, not fresh!)*

-1/2 tsp salt

*Fresh pineapple contains and enzyme that could make your frosting curdle. If you don’t have pineapple juice, you could replace this with coconut extract and some cream to thin the frosting to a consistency you like.

Add all that room temperature buttery goodness to the bowl of your favorite mixer, the non-hydrogenated and coconut stuff too. Whip the mixture until homogenized. This will take 2-3 minutes and a lot of bowl scraping. Consider investing in one of these guys.

coconut

A Quick note about that ^^^weird creamed coconut^^^ I keep talking about. Straight out of the package it has the texture of fruity concrete. To use it in this frosting, I placed the sealed plastic bag in a sink of warm water. The solid mass of cocoliciousness melted to a softened consistency. The package says you should mix it with water, DO NOT THIN IT WITH WATER… just add it straight. Your buttercream cannot support the extra water.

Once everything is looking a little fluffy and puffy, lower the speed of the mixer (seriously.) and start adding in your powdered sugar bit by bit. Once you’ve hit the 3.5 cup mark and everything is looking mingled, add your flavoring, salt, and pineapple juice….then jack the speed of your mixer to high and let it go for at least 5 minutes.

Walk away, just let it go… try to avoid that oh so needy behavior of watching and speculating about whether everything will turn out as planned. Did I add all the sugar? Will I have enough frosting? I suggest that you try to locate some rum and concoct a pina colada-like drink from the remaining coconut and pineapple juice. You are a creative being, I have faith in your capabilities.

After your frosting is thoroughly fluffed, you should grab a spoon and taste it and adjust, just remember that you can always add, but you can’t take away. Season wisely my friends. ….NOW YOU ARE READY TO FROST AND ENJOY! or just eat it out of the pastry bag. I don’t judge.