How to Make Perfect Sugar Cookies

I received an email from Kathy about preparing the “perfect” sugar cookie. She told me she made two batches of sugar cookie dough using the same recipe and one batch turned out perfect while the other “was puffy and lost shape.”

Kathy wanted to know why this happened so I contacted my friend Chef Jennifer Field, a graduate from the Orlando Culinary Academy, for some help since I’m not much of a baker. Jennifer had a bunch of questions that were answered in Kathy’s next email. Here is what she said,

“The batches were made and cooked on different days. The second batch was refrigerated for a couple days (at least). The recipe was the same, however, I may have beat my shortening, sugar and egg mixture longer the second time. Temp the same.”

Kathy’s Definition of the Perfect Sugar Cookie

“My definition of a perfect sugar cookie is one that is light and a little crisp with the buttery icing softening it just slightly. I’m not into a fluffy cakey sugar cookie. I definitely want one that will hold the shape and design of my cutter. I want to make snowflake shaped cookies at Christmas and my cutter has little cut outs you can add for more detail.

This is the recipe I used:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cup flour

I’m not sure exactly if my mixing was different either time usually I mix in this order: sugar and fats together till creamy, add eggs till fluffy, add dry ingredients that have been combined beforehand, and end with vanilla.
Bake at 325 degrees in a convection oven.

I’m anxious to hear from you and what your suggestions will be for my success.
Thanks again – Kathy”

Chef Jennifer Field’s Recommendations

With these facts in hand, Chef Jennifer was able to point out why the second batch did not turn out “perfect” plus offer some changes to Kathy’s recipe for future cookies.  Here is what she said,

“What immediately jumps out at me is the refrigeration time for the second batch of cookies.  I see that your leavener was baking soda. Baking soda in a baked good only has one chemical reaction: it fizzes and bubbles when it gets wet. This, of course, happened when you first mixed your ingredients together. Since you baked your first batch immediately, the soda did its job correctly.

As your dough for the second batch chilled in the fridge, the chemical reaction ceased. Your rise was probably uneven because you beat more air into the dough (you said your mixing time was longer the second time) so, even though the soda had fizzled by the time you baked, you still had lots of little air bubbles that were probably not evenly distributed in your dough, causing a wonky rise.

I see that the recipe called for 1 teaspoon each of soda and cream of tartar. It sounds like an old recipe. Try substituting double acting baking powder next time. Double acting powder has two chemical reactions:  one when it gets wet and a second one when it gets hot. So, even if you let your dough hang out in the fridge and lose the first reaction over time, you’ll still get a fairly even second boost of leavening when you put your dough in the oven.

Since you’re also interested in your cookie holding a fairly detailed shape after baking, I’d also consider using shortening in place of the oil. Since oil is liquid at room temperature and when heated, cookies will tend to spread a bit. Shortening, being a solid at room temperature and a fairly slow melter, will yield a cookie with less spread.

I hope this helped!  Good luck with your baking.

Chef Jenni Field
Pastry Sous Chef
The Ravenous Pig

P.S.  Your idea of a perfect sugar cookie made me drool.  Just a little:-)”
Me too! - RG

How to Make Incredible Molten Chocolate Cake at Home

Sorry for the delay in posts but I’m on vacation with my family at the Jersey shore. I’m trying to find time to write about some of the delicious meals we are having but between the beach, meals and taking the kids to different night entertainment, I’m not finding time to get much writing done.

Here’s the recipe for the Molten Chocolate Cake that I promised to post in my Humbled But What a Great Night of Cooking blog. If you didn’t read it, this recipe came from a cooking class my wife and I attended at a great BYOB restaurant called Blackfish. Not only did we have a fun night of cooking and a great meal, I learned a lot from Chef Jeff Power and Chef Ashley Hess.

Molten Chocolate Cake
Makes 20 cakes

Important Tip –I learned from Chef Jeff while preparing this recipe it is critical to not get any water in the melted chocolate. He made it clear that even a drop of water would ruin the chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. chocolate (we used those chocolate chips you buy for cookies)
• 1 lb. butter
• 5 oz sugar
• 4 oz sifted flour
• 10 eggs
• 10 egg yolks
• 20 aluminum tins (butter & floured)*
• Powdered sugar for dusting at the end

* The tins were 4 oz disposable aluminum cups that you might use for muffins or souffles. The dimensions are about 3 - 1/8 inch across the top, 2.25 inch across the bottom and about 1.5 inch deep.

How to Prepare Molten Chocolate Cakes

Set up a double boiler by putting a large stainless steel mixing
bowl over a pot of simmering water. You can buy a double boiler,
but it is just as easy to set one up using the pans you already own.
Just make sure that no water can splash up and get into the chocolate.
(You can see examples of double boilers or double boiler inserts at
Cookware  under double boilers)

Melt the butter and chocolate in the double boiler using a spatula
to keep the chocolate from burning while you are combining the
two ingredients.   You want the consistency at the end to be silky.

While the chocolate is melting, whip the sugar, eggs and egg yolks
together in a kitchen aid mixer until it triples in volume. For us, it was
when the mixture reached the top and was just about to overflow
the mixing bowl. I guess you can eyeball what three times the volume
would look like if you were cutting this recipe in half.

If you don’t have kitchen aid mixer, try using an electric hand mixer
but it is going to make the next steps harder without having your hands
free. So this is a great recipe to make with your spouse or even your
kids.

Once the eggs and sugar reach triple volume, slowly fold in the melted
chocolate using the spatula to scrape any chocolate sticking to the
sides. On the kitchen aid mixer we were using, I had it running at
almost full speed while the eggs and sugar were mixing but turned it
down to 2 when I folded in the chocolate.

With the mixer still running at a slower speed, fold in the sifted flour
into the chocolate and egg mixture and immediately stop the machine.
Lower and remove the mixing bowl, remove the mixing whisk and stir
the mixture by hand to make sure to scrape along the sides to be sure
everything is well combined. Be careful not to over mix at this point.

Pour the mixture into the buttered and floured tins and bake at 350
degrees for 5 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and gently remove the cakes from
the tins by turning them over and gently taping the sides and bottom
of the tins onto the serving plate. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar
over the top and serve.

We didn’t cook them right away so Chef Jeff covered and put them
into the freezer until about 10 minutes before we were going to bake
them. If you hold them for any length of time, you may want to
remove them 30 minutes before baking.

Related Topics:

Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

I wanted to treat you to more of Chef Robert Reynolds. I was reading his web site and came across this paragraph where he was discussing preparing an elegant but simple fish dish. He served it with three garnishes but each garnish added only one flavor.

He said, “The first garnish is a simple sauté of onions, cooked without browning until they are soft and sweet. They are garnished with lemon rind that has been blanched and then cut into threads. The slivers of lemon rind disappear into the onion compote; you don’t see them, but are surprised to discover the little burst of lemon they offer when you bite into them.”

These are the morsels of information I want to learn more about. What a simple technique described so well you can almost taste it. Can you imagine attending his cooking school, Chefs Studio, and getting 8 weeks of this kind of knowledge? I do.

I also wanted to share with you Chef Reynolds’ first cooking video, giving you a glimpse of who he is and how he works. It is berry season at the time and he is making a Genoise Cake covered with strawberries that have been mixed with honey, marmalade, red wine and heavy cream.

Genoise cake is basically a sponge cake except the egg yolks and whites are NOT beaten separately. It’s of Italian descent and gets its name from the city of Genoa. Instead of using any kind of leavening agent, it gets its volume from the air suspended in the batter while mixing.

Here’s Chef Reynolds’ version of Strawberry Shortcake. To view the video, click here or on the image.

Genoise

• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• tiny pinch of salt
• 1 cup flour, twice sifted
• Butter for the cake pan
• 2 pints of strawberries
• 2 or 3 tablespoons excellent quality honey or, 2 or 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 or 2 tablespoons orange marmalade (optional)
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups red wine, or real fruit juice
• 1-cup excellent quality heavy cream, whipped to soft peak, sweetened with sugar if desired

How to Make At Home

1) Butter the cake pan. Place a piece of parchment in the pan, spread it flat to coat the paper with butter. Invert the paper so it’s buttered on the cake side, and line the pan with the buttered side up.

2) Beat the whole eggs, sugar, and a pinch of salt until the eggs increase in volume two and a half times.

3) Sift a third of the flour on top of the egg/sugar base, and fold gently to incorporate the flour. Try to make it happen in a dozen folds so you don’t over fold. Add the next third, and fold again. Add the final third of sifted flour, and fold once more.

4) Pour the batter carefully into the cake pan, and tilt the pan to get the batter into the corners, rather than spreading with a spatula. The spatula will only flatten all the air bubbles you made by beating the eggs and sugar, and those bubbles are what make the cake go high.

5) The person incorporating the flour with the least number of strokes gets the highest and lightest cake. They win the church bake-off.

6) Bake the cake in a 350°F oven for 18 minutes until golden. When you touch your finger to the top of the cake, it should spring back without leaving an impression of your finger. If it doesn’t spring back, return the cake to the oven for a couple more minutes.

7) Run a knife around the edge of the cake pan. Lift a corner of the cake, grab hold of the paper. Hold the other end of the cake pan, and pull the cake onto the counter.

Spread orange marmalade evenly and lightly over the entire surface of the cake. With the cake lengthwise in front of you, grab the paper under the top of the cake, tug and fold an inch of the cake over the top of the cake. Then, pulling on the paper, roll the cake into what you’d recognize as a jelly roll.

9) Re-wrap in the paper, and set on a cake rack to cool. Take a deep breath and open the red wine. Sample if necessary, just to see if it’s drinkable.

10) While the cake bakes, slice the strawberries. Add the honey and the orange marmalade, and stir. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes. Five minutes before serving, add the wine to the strawberries and juice.

11) Whip the cream to soft peaks. Add sugar to the cream as desired, or sprinkle that same amount of sugar over the top of the cream once it has been dolloped onto the strawberries.

12) To prepare the dish, slice an inch-thick piece of cake and set it in a flat soup bowl. Spoon generous amount of strawberries and juice (there is no point in having leftovers), and top them with whipped cream. Go passed “GO”. Collect pleasure.

Robert Reynolds