Q and A ~ Crumbly Rolled Sugar Cookie Dough

Question:
"I need your help! I wanted to make some sugar cookies and try to decorate them for neighbor gifts… so I made some dough and I don't know what I did to it but it is so crumbly and dry… I used the 6 cups of flour but maybe I went a little on the heavy side of 6 cups? Do you think? Any suggestions from the dessert guru?"

~Teresa

Answer:
"Hi Teresa!
So it does sound like too much flour was added to the dough but luckily you can fix it fairly easily.
There are 2 methods you can try depending on how much your dough is crumbling:

Method #1-  I have found that when my dough is slightly crumbly and kind of falling apart (but not way too much), it helps to wad it up as tight as you can in a ball (slightly kneading it), wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight or at least quite a few hours (more than 5 hrs). Then take it out and roll it when it warms up just enough. It might just need a small amount of kneading. I had the exact same thing happen to me with some dough and this worked quite well. I believe that letting it have some time to sit allowed the moisture to spread throughout the dough and make it more uniform.

Method #2- If you have already tried to let it sit refrigerated and it is still crumbly or your dough is super crumbly to begin with then try sprinkling a small amount of cold milk or water and mixing it in just enough. I don't want to tell you exactly how much because it depends on how much dough you have and how dry your dough is. Start with a little (less than 1 Tbsp) and reassess adding just enough liquid to make the dough come together. You don't want to knead it way too much because then the cookie can become tough.

Next time you make the dough you will want to add less flour. You won't believe how much of a difference your measuring method makes. Assuming that we are using all-purpose flour, I have listed the estimates of how much your flour weighs for different methods of measuring.

Dip and Sweep Method = 5 ounces per cup

Lightly Spooned = 4.5 punces per cup

Sifted = 3.75 ounces per cup

 

 

Big Difference! This is why I like to use a scale because it gives you reliable consistent results every time. I use the OXO Kitchen Scale and have been extremely happy with it but you can get a cheaper one and it will do well too. It may just have less bells and whistles.
If you do not have a kitchen scale, then I would recommend using the lightly spooned method if the recipe does not specify (which most often they do not).

Does this help? Good Luck!"

Winter Wonderland Red Velvet Cake

Winter Wonderland Party Part Deux

Red Velvet Polka Dot Cake

This was the first buttercream smoothed cake I have done and I learned A LOT of techniques regarding how to get a smooth cake surface. This one did not turn out as I was hoping and I will explain why.

Still cute though....

Problem 1: Wrong type of buttercream! To do the technique I wanted to try, you need to have a "crusting" buttercream meaning it will crust and become... well.... crusty when it dries. I had hurricane winds at my house this week and was out of power for a while so I kind of ran out of time (and energy) to make my own buttercream from scratch (a crusting one). I actually used store bought frosting ...which does not crust well might I add. It is actually rather sticky. So, yeah, a bit of a headache for someone who was inexperienced at smoothing cakes. So I did my best. It is ok, but not at all what I wanted. I wanted to use the paper-towel method, which I will explain better next time when I can do it right... grrr. Here is a video of what I was trying to do...

The Paper Towel Method for Smoothing Buttercream

Problem 2: I had no non-patterned paper towels. I have now vowed to only buy non-patterned paper towels so that when I need a smooth buttercream cake....I can have one. Before I discovered I had the wrong icing, I went ahead with the plan. But wait, dilemma....I've got a quilt for a paper towel. This did not turn out a pretty smooth buttercream (yes, I tried). So I attempted to use parchment paper instead. In a pinch, it could work but it was sliding all over the place and not cooperating. Paper towels could just form to your cake but parchment paper is just stiff and a pain. Save it for emergencies.



Problem 3: When starting to pipe borders.....start in the back. Being an inexperienced cake decorator as of right now, my borders were less than perfect. I don't know why I didn't start in the back first so I could smooth out my groove by the time I got to the front. ...And then I accidentally did it again on the bottom border...gah. Live and learn.
Another reason why I am not liking store bought frosting for cakes is that it is difficult to pipe because of the stickiness. When I let go of the pressure and pulled away, the icing stuck to the tip and stretched out instead of breaking away. Not useful. Another demerit for store bought frosting.

Ok, so now that the "things-to-consider-when-decorating-your-cake" speech is over,

On to The Making Of....

Bake this red velvet cake according to the recipe. Make three 8 inch round cakes. I made 2 batches of this recipe and the extra batter went to cake pops for my last dessert post! Efficiency at its finest.

When cool, wrap them in plastic wrap and throw them in the fridge overnight or until they are cold and firm. Get out your cake decorating twirlybob stand and a 10 inch cake board circle for the cake to go on.

Tip: Go get the cake board... it's like $0.20. You will be saved from the headache of having to man-handle your cake and ruin it. They have them at common supermarkets.

Next, level your cakes. If you have a cake leveler tool then your life will be easy (and I will assume you know how to use it for now). If you don't, like moi, then you get to eyeball it. Using a long serrated knife, cut the dome off the top of the cake so it is flat. Get down to its level and look to see if there are any raised areas and do your final adjustments. Do this for all your cakes.

Get your frosting ready. Any crusting buttercream frosting will do. (huh...I've never posted my buttercream frosting recipe. weird. I'll do that.)

Now, take some frosting and smear it on the cake board where the cake will sit. This is going to act as glue so the cake isn't sliding all over your cake board. Take a cake and place the flattest side up (probably the one that was against the pan). Using an offset spatula, smooth a thin layer of frosting onto the top of the cake. Stack another cake and frost again. Stack the last cake with the flattest side up. This will be important at this stage because this is the top of your cake!

Look to see if the sides of your cake are lined up straight. If there are any parts that are protruding out you can use the knife to gently cut them off to create a smooth side to the cake.

We are now going to give your cake a "crumb coat".

This is a very thin layer of icing that captures all the loose crumbs, therefore the name.

To do this, thin out some of your "Top Coat" frosting with water. It should be thin so it is very easily spreadable but not soo thin that it drips down the cake. Using a spatula, take some of the frosting and place it on top of the cake. Spinning the cake on the twirlybob, spread the icing out over the whole top of the cake. Instead of lifting up on the spatula to take it off the frosting, which can cause more crumbs, try dragging or sliding it off sideways. If there is excess icing then push it over to be used on the side. This coating does NOT need to be pretty. We will be covering it up later. The goal is just to capture all the crumbs in a thin icing coat.

Let this dry. I prefer to let it dry in the fridge to firm up the cakes a bit just because it seems a little easier to work with after but it's not necessary.

Now we are ready to frost the cake for real. Take a big dollop of frosting with your spatula and place on top of the cake. Smooth it out as much as possible but you don't need to take too much time on it. We will smooth it out more later. Do the same thing along the sides. Having the crumb coat makes it so you don't rip up cake chunks during this process. Fill in any holes to create a relatively smooth surface. Now you are going to let this dry for about 15 minutes or until it crusts. Test to make sure it is dry by gently touching your finger to the cake. It should not stick at all but feel soft and dry to the touch. Now you will want to contine on with the paper towel method for smoothing the buttercream surface shown in the video above.
Once your buttercream is completely smooth you can move onto the decorations. Start with the piping. I used a 1/2 inch plain round tip for the borders. This is a plain bead border. You can make the bead any size you want. Just hold and press longer for a bigger bead like around the bottom of the cake. Evenly space round dots around the cake, as many or as few as you like, You can insert candy canes or other decorations into your cake by cutting a very thin slice of cake out with a small knife. This gives a small space big enough for the candy cane to stick into. Then I just stuck a few decorated sugar cookies into the icing. Done!

Cute Winter Wonderland Cake!

Winter Wonderland Birthday Party {Decorated Sugar Cookies, Cake}

Christmas is right around the corner! I can't believe it!
Nothing fits a December birthday better than a Winter Wonderland Birthday party!

This party was inspired by Fresh Chick's Winter Candyland birthday party theme.
My friend organized this birthday party for her 3 year old daughter and it turned out super cute.

{Complete picture added to the end}
She went with a variety of winter cookies and a cake!

I love these little penguin cookies! In all honestly, these were super easy cookies to make.

The key is to make sure to add enough black food coloring to get a good true black color.

Hint: Your icing will get darker as it sits so your icing may look like a dark grey to begin with (like mine did) and will 'mature' into a black color like these penguins. You can let it sit for a short time and see if it darkens or you can just get it a dark grey and go to town. You don't need to add enough color to get it black right away.

For these cookies, use this rolled cookie dough recipe and roll out to 1/3-1/2 inch thick. Use an oval cookie cutter of your size choice to make the cookie base. Let them cool completely before decorating.

Make this royal icing recipe and thin it out to a medium consistency to be able to both pipe borders and flood. Separate the icing out into separate bowls to tint to the correct colors (black and orange). Use a water-based food coloring. I prefer gel colors because it doesn't thin your icings out. You don't need much orange at all. Put your icing in squeeze bottles for easy application. I put my orange in a little ziplock baggie and snipped the tip off.

Pipe a border around the edge of the cookie creating an oval then flood the cookie with the black icing. Give it a shake to even out the icing. Move on to the next cookie. I leave my cookies out on a cookie sheet. The icing will keep the cookies moist so don't worry about refrigerating or covering while decorating your cookies. Let the icing dry enough so that it looks more dull than shiny (It might be ready by the time you finish the rest of your cookies). A little shine is ok as long as it looks firm enough to pipe more icing on and not sink in or bleed. Once dry enough, pipe a border of the white icing to duplicate the white pattern that you see below and then flood it. Allow this icing to dry in the same manner. Make sure you are capping or covering your squeeze bottles in between use so the icing doesn't dry out.

Next, give him some eyes with just a small dab of icing and give hime some wings. I just press and released as I pulled away. I then used a little toothpick to make it look like I wanted. Now give Mr Penguin some feet and a nose. The tip opening should be very small so you can control the icing. Just do a little triangle for the nose and the design you see below for the feet. I used a little toothpick on the nose if it didn't turn out how I wanted it. Voila! Penguin. Fer cute!

Who doesn't love penguins, honestly?

Next up are Cookie Lollipops!

What?! But lollipops have sticks?! ...and so can cookies. Very easily might I add.

I wish I had taken a picture of the cookie making process for these lollipops but I didn't so this explanation will have to do for now.

The Stuff List: Same cookie dough recipe and 6 inch lollipop sticks....That's it.

Roll these out the same way and cut into circles (whatever size you want them to be). Mine are 3" cookies. Now take your stick and press it lightly onto the top of the cookie extending at least to the center of the circle. You don't want your cookie to fall apart because the stick wasn't in enough. Now get a bit of dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten it with your fingers and place over the stick. The dough should cover the stick and quite a bit around it so it will be secure and snug. Very lightly press the cookie dough disc flattening it to the cookie. Press the edges so they kind of blend with the cookie. ( ...I should do a video. I will someday I promise!)

Using a thin metal spatula, carefully flip the cookie over, place on an ungreased cookie sheet and cook as directed by the recipe. Not too bad. The cookies are suprisingly sturdy. I thought they might be crumbly or fragile but they are quite solid. Let cool completely on the cookie sheet before removing.

To get this cool design above, flood your cookie as described above with red icing. Immediately after, draw four lines, with blue icing, across the cookie crossing in the middle. Using a toothpick, start in the middle of the cookie and swirl around circling the cookie about 5 times. Shake gently.....notice the blue and red cookie in the background above.....I shook a little too vigorously and my border got overrun. Let dry.

There is no wrong way to decorate sugar cookies so experiment and have fun!

Personally, I don't think winter is complete without snow or snowballs!

These cookies are super simple to make. {The simplest of the bunch} 

Simply cut out small circle cookies (mine had a little ruffle around the edge), flood with white icing and sprinkle with white non-pereils. I flooded all the cookies and then went back to sprinkle so the non-pereils wouldn't sink into the wet icing too much. It probably doesn't matter. Just make sure it doesn't dry before sprinkling.

To make these cute mittens (below), I flooded the top of the mitten with a color (and design if applicable) and let it dry while I did all the cookies. I then went back and flooded the bottoms with white icing and sprinkled with white non-pereils. Make sure the other part of the cookie is pretty dry so the non-pereils don't stick to something you don't want them to stick to.

 When the red icing was dry, I piped on the white snowflake and placed pearls at the ends of the snowflake and in the middle. Not too bad.

To get the design below, flood the cookie with blue icing and then draw four green lines across the cookie. Using a toothpick, drag through the icing straight up and then down, then, up and down again. Give the cookie a shake to level it out.

The wrapped candy cookies were quite an adventure for me. I could not find a cookie cutter anywhere and of course I waited too long to be able to order one on line. :) So......

...I made my own cookie cutter. It was totally fun and gave me a sense of empowerment. :) 

It actually wasn't as difficult as I thought.

I bought a "make-your-own-cookie-cutter" kit from Orson Gygis and decided to give it a go.

The kit came with the wood board with peg, a ribbon of metal and some tools (for round edges and sharp edges) needed to form the cookie cutter and an adhesive to secure the ends together. Not bad for $15. It will make about 3 cookie cutters and then you can buy refill metal ribbons for about $5. So now I can make whatever shapes I want! For cheap! No restrictions!

The result?....

Sweet! (Literally...)

 

This would make another good video....dang it. I need to get on that.

So...... Homemade Cookie Cutter + Cookie Dough =

I think they turned out rather swell, don't you?

For decorating, I started with the center and flooded with the solid color (always remember to create a border first!). My icing was starting to thicken and dry a little at this point (especially the green and red) so you can kind of see the lines where I dragged the toothpick. To prevent this, just add a very tiny bit of water to thin it out slightly before piping/flooding.

To get the polka dots below, simply place a small drop of white icing onto the still wet flooded icing. It will sink in and look like this.

For the wrapper ends, draw a border, flood with icing and let dry. Then go back over the border and add some pleats to the wrapper with 3 straight lines. Cute!

Some extra snowman (or snowlady) cookies for the kids to decorate.

...And the cake.

A yummy Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!

This is an 8 inch cake and has 3 layers with a sweet cream cheese in between and vanilla buttercream on the outside.

I am going to give this cake its own post so stay tuned.

So, you put it all together and whaddya got?

{Pictures curtesy of the host}

Great Job! I love it!

Just so y'all know, I have a slight obsession with cute aprons.

Exhibit A.

Doesn't it just make you want to bake a cute cupcake and take a picture?

I added a bunch of aprons to my product list that I think deserve getting flour on.

Exhibit B: Product List

You are all welcome to get me some for Christmas. ;D

Baptism Desserts

I love white desserts. They are just so elegant and delicate and perfect for any occasion.

These particular white delicacies I made for my beautiful niece's baptism reception. She told me what she wanted and I served. :) It was such a wonderful day. It deserved beautiful treats.

The two desserts on the menu were red velvet cake pops and cream cheese frosting sugar cookies.

This red velvet recipe is a favorite and gives such an awesome texture to cake pops.

*Note: The following is my interpretation and take on cake pops. This is a personal opinion. *

I have not mentioned this before but my cake pops are different from most others and I personally like it better this way. If you do too, then that's awesome! If not, then you can use these tips to make whatever type you like.

Let's learn. I like to keep a true cake texture in my cake pops. They are not like the most common truffle style cake pop where the center is smooth and almost creamy. This to me would be called a "Truffle Pop". :) So when you see the term "cake pop" on my website I will be talking about a cake pop that keeps the structural integrity of the cake. When I term something a "Truffle Pop" then I will be referring to a treat where the center is more creamy and smooth like a truffle. I like this determination because it let's you know what to expect in the middle! Notice in the picture below you can actually see the cake structure still intact. {I will show you some examples of "truffle pops" when I make some.}

Let's continue. Not all cake recipes will give you a "cake pop". You have to have a strong, sturdy crumb. It cannot be made from a very soft, super moist cake. I will admit that I do use a cake mix every once in a while for various desserts but I never like to use them for cake pops because they seem too fluffy and have never turned out a good cake pop for me.
My favorite recipes for cake pops are yellow cake and red velvet cake.
So once you find good recipes with strong crumbs you should know that there are a few other techniques you can use to give you fabulous consistent results.
Factors: Mixing and Cooking Time
To get a strong crumb that is not overly moist what do you do? Make sure it's mixed very well and overcook it! All the things you don't want to do to your delicate cupcakes.....well we're not making delicate cupcakes...
Mixing: When you mix normal cake or cupcake batter you want to mix until "just incorporated" usually (unless you are using cake flour then it doesn't matter as much) so that you do not overmix the flour and create gluten...and what does gluten do? That's right, it adds structure (too much sometimes) and makes a strong/tough cake which may or may not be desirable. In this case it is desirable to have a strong crumb. You can go overboard, however, so don't. Giving your final batter another 20 strokes or so might be enough (depends on your batter...have fun and experiment).
Baking: I'm not talking about waiting 'till it's black....I'm talking about making sure that your cake is cooked so that pretty much zero crumbs come off on your toothpick and the top is not looking moist. It should look "well cooked". Even a bit of crusting is ok on the top. My yellow cake recipe is actually amazing when the top crusts because the flavor of the crusted cake is out of this world.
So now that we have mixed our batter a little more than normal and cooked our cake a little longer than normal we should be set up to make yummy cakey cake pops!
Now we want our cake to cool... completely. I do this by placing the cake into a large bowl and putting it in the fridge uncovered. Let it cool completely stirring every once in a while to move the hot spots around. You can break up the cake as you do this too.
The next step is VERY important. Adding the frosting. Well what type of frosting? I actually prefer storebought frosting for this because it is sticky and works as a good glue. Homemade frosting works well too. Go with whatever you prefer.
The most important step is to make sure you do not add too much frosting. Adding too much can cause your cake to go mushy and more truffle like.
Add just enough frosting to allow the cake to adhere to itself. Add a little at a time. Mix it all up and then try rolling a little ball like you would a cake pop. If it crumbles and falls apart then you need to add a little bit more. The frosting amount you add to your cake will likely change every time you make a batch depending on the humidity and how well you cook your cake as well as other factors so I wouldn't just plop in the same amount every time. Once your cake ball rolls well and is pretty stable you have added enough and now you can proceed to roll your cake balls.
This is how you get an amazing cake pop. :)

Up Next.... Frosted Cookies.

These cookies are just so pretty...too pretty to eat! But I am sure you will get over that when you think of the rich creamy cream cheese frosting covering the soft delicious sweet sugar cookie. Mmmm.....

There's really not much more to say.

But I'll ruin the moment by saying something anyway.

These cookies are made with a new rolled sugar cookie recipe I tried and love. It holds its shape well and is super yummy! You won't stop eating the dough! (...if you can get past that raw egg business)

The hubster kept asking how many he could have. I made these the night before the event and I woke up to quite a few missing cookies. Disclaimer: He is not the husband that will eat just anything especially sweet stuff. He is actually pretty picky so when he can't stop eating something I can automatically mark the recipe down as a keeper. :)

Here is the rolled sugar cookie recipe. You will roll the dough out as thick as you want it to be and then cut using a round 3" cookie cutter. To decorate, I used a 3M tip in a piping bag with store bought Pillsbury cream cheese frosting because I ran out of time (surprise). I recommend Pillsbury or Duncan Hines. They taste different but are both delicious. I would say Pillsbury is a little more tangy. Here is my recipe for cream cheese frosting if you want to make some yourself. Whatever frosting you use will need to be thick enough to hold shape and be melt-resistant. Translation: True buttercreams that use all butter like to melt when exposed to heat so it may not be the best option for these if they will be in a warm place. Buttercream recipes that contain at least half shortening in place of butter should work quite well.

If your frosting is made but not thick enough, you can add powdered sugar to get it stiffer, but keep in mind that it will make it sweeter. Using a powdered sugar that is store brand (instead of C&H or other expensive powdered sugars) can help decrease the sweetnesss slightly because it actually has more cornstarch and less sugar than the brand name products.

Good for your budget....good for your frosting!

To make the rose, start in the middle of the cookie and, pressing evenly, sweep the frosting around about 2 times. Release the pressure and sweep the tail around the side of the cookie.

The frosting will stiffen slightly but it is meant to stay soft so these are not stackable cookies. There are other recipes that will harden so you can stack them (more like a royal icing).

Keep these cookies covered so they stay soft and delicious.

Enjoy.

Print Yellow Cake Recipe

Print Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Print Rolled Sugar Cookie Recipe

Print Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Welcome Share Dessert Company

I am so excited to have this new look and name for my website! I have been wanting to get something more customized for my blog that would make it feel more cozy and personal.

 Sweet Faerie Designs did a great job! Carrie was super fast and wonderful to work with. I highly recommend her if you are in the market for a new blogger template!

Thanks Carrie and Sweet Faerie Designs!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This is the BEST pumpkin chocolate chip bread ever. Everyone raves about it and always wants me to make them more so go ahead and try it. You will NOT be disappointed!

 

The key to amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread (or any dessert bread for that matter) is to keep it moist so it just melts in your mouth. Mmmm.....

This is the perfect dessert for a dinner at home or to take to a holiday party. It is so easy to make, transport and clean-up, especially if you use disposable tins. This also makes a really cute christmas gift for neighbors if you put it in a cellophane bag and tie with a cute ribbon and tag.

Enjoy.

Print Recipe

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil (or applesauce)
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
15 oz can of 100% pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease the bottom and sides of the pans you will be using. You can use any size of loaf pans. It should make two 9x5x3”, three 8x4x2”, four 7.5x3.5x2” or about eight mini 4x3x2” pans. I like to use the tin foil disposable pans so they can easily be given as gifts. You can also make these into regular or mini cupcakes.
In a stand mixer, beat together sugar and oil until mixed. Add eggs and beat well then set aside.
In a separate large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Alternately add the flour mixture and water to the sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined. Beat in the pumpkin puree and then add most of the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the pans a little more than half full or ¾ full for cupcakes. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto the top of each pan of batter. Put them in the oven right away or else the chocolate chips in the batter will settle to the bottom….and that’s not the effect we are trying to achieve.
Bake (up to six loaves at a time) in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out relatively clean and the loaf feels fairly firm when the top is pressed. The 8 inch pans take about 40-50 minutes and the mini 4 inch pans take about 20 minutes depending on your oven. The regular cupcakes take about 16 minutes and mini cupcakes take about 11 minutes. The key is to not overbake these. This cake is best when it is very moist. Once the inserted toothpick is not gooey and just a bit of moist cake appears then take it out. The top may look dark and feel slightly dry and you may feel like you are overcooking the loaf but everything will be ok (…unless it turns black). Trust me. Given a short period of time wrapped up, the moisture in the cake will soften the top of the loaf.
If you cooked the bread in a disposable pan then just allow it to cool completely before wrapping in plastic wrap. If you made sure not to overfill the pans, the top of the loaf should be just barely below the lip of the pan and you can cover with plastic wrap without having to worry about the top of the loaf getting ripped off from the sticking. If the top is above the pan then you might want to spray your plastic wrap with a little nonstick spray.
If you did not use disposable pans, cool the bread for about 10 minutes before taking out of the pans so it doesn’t fall apart. Make sure to cool the bread completely before storing. Once completely cool, I would put the bread in a tupperware rather than wrapping because the moisture might cause the outside of the bread to stick to the plastic wrap or tin foil.
If you made cupcakes, cool them completely and top them off by dipping the tops in a thin chocolate ganache. Mmmm…

This bread will stay amazingly delicious for about 4 days. When ready to partake, slice and serve. Enjoy.

Just a few notes: This is a pretty large recipe for a 5 qt stand mixer so don’t double it unless your mixer is much bigger. Make separate batches.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Pumpkin Bread Recipe