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Get ready for the holidays no matter what they may bring with two new cake cookbooks and a cookie cookbook!
From the famed name in hospitality comes "Martha Stewart's Cake Perfection."
The book contains more than 100 recipes for cake, ranging from complex to simple snack cakes. There are also chapters on essential ingredients and tools as well as frosting techniques before the six chapters of cakes: Show Cakes, Layer Cakes, Everyday Cakes, Sheet Cakes, Cupcakes and Celebration Cakes.
Show Cakes include stunners like Faux-Stone Cake and Watercolor Cake, which something no mere mortal will probably ever achieve, but are pretty to look at in the book. Layer Cakes come back down to earth with Milk-and-Cookies Cake and Mint-Chocolate Icebox Cake. Everyday Cakes include favorites like Red Velvet Pound Cake and Lemon Olive-Oil Cake. Sheet Cakes too bring familiarity with Vanilla Sheet Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting and Spiced Snacking Cake. Cupcakes bring a party to the table with Soft- Serve Peanut Butter Cupcakes and Mini Mocha Cupcakes. Celebration Cakes bring holiday themes like a Holiday Yule Log -- perfect for this time of year.
My husband loves snickerdoodles, so I made him a Snickerdoodle Crumb Cake, which was a very simple cake to make indeed. It had the taste and look of a snickerdoodle in coffee cake form, and he really enjoyed it. And it was not a complex cake to make, so everyone can enjoy.
"Martha Stewart's Cake Perfection" is published by Clarkson Potter. It is $28.99.
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Also on the simple side is "Snacking Cakes" by Yossy Arefi.
This cookbook contains 50 easy to make cakes that anyone can do and enjoy homemade cakes in the same amount of time it takes to make (yuck!) boxed cake mixes.
There are four chapters of cakes: Fruit Cakes, Warm and Toasty Cakes, Chocolatey Cakes and Not Your Average Vanilla Cakes.
Fruit Cakes are not, you know, fruit cake, but seasonal ingredient cakes that use fruits to bring out the flavor, like Black-and Blueberry Ricotta Cake, Cherry Coconut Almond Cake, Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Maple Olive Oil Glaze and Double Apple Cake.
Warm and Toasty Cakes are nut and spice cakes ready to make you feel cozy like All the Spices Cake with Vanilla Bean Glaze, Lemony Currant and Rosemary Cake, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake and Sparkling Gingerbread.
Chocolatey Cakes brings everyone's favorite ingredient to the table with all kinds of rich cakes like Browned Butter, Pecan and White Chocolate Cake, Minty Chocolate Malt Cake, Milk Chocolate-Chip Hazelnut Cake and Fudgy Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting.
The final chapter is Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting that you can mix up with four variations like Golden Vanilla, Rainbow Sprinkle and Malted Vanilla.
One day while working at home, I decided to make the Powdered Donut Cake, but make a Glazed Donut Cake using the Vanilla Bean Glaze from another cake. This nutmegy treat really does remind you of a cake donut and the glaze is perfectly sweet without being overpowering. And it was very easy to make while waiting on stories to come in.
"Snacking Cakes" is published by Clarkson Potter. It is $24.
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Finally, of course this time of year is the perfect time to make cookies, and now you have a cookbook with plenty to choose from in "100 Cookies" by Sarah Kieffer.
These are cookies meant for basic bakers and those who know a little more around the kitchen. But as long as you can follow directions, you can probably make any of these cookies.
There are 7 chapters of cookies that are waiting for bakers to dive in: The Classics, Brownies and Blondies, Fruitextravaganza, The Next Level, Time to Play, Pan-Banging Cookies and Mix and Match, as well as a chapter with some basic extras as well.
The Classics have what you'd expect, Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate-Chip Cookies, Sugar Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, all with some variations as well to branch out with. Brownies and Blondies have obviously Brownies, with several different extra variations, like Rocky Road Brownies, Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies and White Chocolate Red Velvet Brownies, but also Blondies and their variations like Espresso Caramel Blondies and Cinnamon Roll Blondies. Fruitextravaganza has fruity cookies like Orange Almond Shortbread Cookies, Banana Cream Pie Bars, Strawberry Creme Fraiche Bars and more. The Next Level starts to get a bit more complex with Lavander Cookies with White Chocolate-Creme Fraiche Glaze, Black and White Cheesecake Bars and Boston Cream Pie Bars. Time to Play has fun cookies like Neapolitan Cookies, Half-and-Half Cookies and even Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark. Pan-Banging Cookies are a concept I'm familiar with: you bang the pan on the counter, making these funny little ripples that make a flat cookie, and there are several types like Rum Raisin Cookies, Rocky Road Cookies and S'Mores Cookies. Mix-and-Match ends things with combinations like Brownie Cookies with Cardamom Buttercream Filling, Sugar Cookies with Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream and Chocolate Malt Ice Box Bars.
I love white chocolate so I made White Chocolate Brownies for myself, which are basically the usual brownie but white chocolate instead of cocoa or melted chocolate. I loved them, they were exactly what I wanted, but I was surprised in that everyone in my family loved them too and the picky youngest wanted to make them again herself. Have at it! She could easily do it, they are pretty simple.
You are sure to find something that everyone will love in this book. And be sure to try out the Neapolitan Cookies below!
"100 Cookies" is published by Chronicle Books. It is $27.50.
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Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com.
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Reprinted from 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer with permission by Chronicle Books, 2020
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NEAPOLITAN COOKIES
This cookie was inspired by pastry chef Matthew Rice's Neapolitan cookie, which I stumbled upon while searching Pinterest for the color pink. This cookie popped up, and I was intrigued by the pretty colors all rolled together. I headed straight to the kitchen. I used my sugar cookie as a base and came up with the version here. My children beg for this cookie, and it's worth the extra steps needed to create it.
Makes about 20 cookies
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon [364 g] all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup [8 g] freeze-dried strawberries
1 cup [2 sticks or 227 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups [350 g] granulated sugar
1 large egg plus
1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 or 3 drops red food coloring (optional)
2 tablespoons Dutchprocess cocoa powder
White, pink, and brown sprinkles, for rolling (optional)
1) Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350∂F. Line three sheet pans with parchment paper.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3) In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, pulverize the strawberries into a powder.
4) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
5) Dump the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into three equal portions. Put one-third of the dough back into the mixer and add the powdered strawberries and food coloring, if using. Mix on low speed until totally combined, then remove the dough and quickly wipe out the bowl of the mixer.
6) Add another third of dough to the mixer. Add the cocoa powder and mix on low speed until totally combined.
7) Pinch a small portion (about 1/2 oz.) of each of the three doughs, and press them gently together, so they adhere to each other, but keep their unique colors. Press the piece into a cookie scoop or roll it into a ball, then roll the ball into sprinkles (if using). Place six or seven cookies on each sheet pan. Bake the cookies one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. Bake until the sides are set and the cookies are puffed, 10 to 11 minutes.
8) Transfer the sheet pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the pan, then remove them and let them cool completely on the wire rack. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.
NOTES: Use black cocoa powder for a darker color. The powdered strawberries on their own won't give a bright pink hue, so I like to add a little food coloring. I also like to roll each individual color of dough into the same color of sprinkles, but you can mix and match however your heart desires.