Friday, December 18, 2009

Martha's Gingerbread~

From her recent book of Cookies~



The dough was very easy to work with and I really enjoyed working w/ these plastic bottles w/ decorating tips..I am not talented in the cake decoration area at all.. and this is easier for me to work with than the bags now~
I also used her Royal Icing from the same book..
Martha's like Ina~:)They both always work for me..Great teachers~


The Cookies..


La Recette~

Ingredients

Makes 16 cookies
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 large eggs
1 cup unsulfured molasses
Royal Icing
Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Directions

Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Set aside.
Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick. Cut into snowflakes with a 7- inch snowflake-shape cookie cutter. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as Ateco #7). Pipe designs on snowflakes; immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar. Let stand 5 minutes; tap off excess sugar. Let icing set completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. Store cookies between layers of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

The Icing..


La Recette~
1 lb powdered sugar
5 Tbs meringue powder
½ cup water

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, meringue powder, and a scant ½ cup water on low speed. Beat until mixture is fluffy yet dense, 7 to 8 minutes.
2. To thin the icing for flooding (filling in areas with a thin layer of icing), stir in additional water, 1 tsp. at a time. Test the consistency by lifting a spoonful of icing and letting it drip back into the bowl; a ribbon should remain on the surface for 5 to 7 seconds.
3. To tint icing, dip a toothpick or wooden skewer into food coloring, and gradually mix it in until the desired shade is reached.
Yield: About 2 1/2 cups


Enjoy~
.

15 comments:

  1. Gingerbread is on the week end list! These are adorable. I bet the kitchen smells delightful!

    I have debated about the plastic bottles for decorating. I think the scale is now tilted! Enjoyed the post...

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  2. Whoever thought of plastic bottles with decor tips is brilliant! I would have struggled with piping bags and what-not. Plastic bottles!!! So handy! And you made such perfect festive cookies, Monique. I LOL-ed at your arrangement of Santa on a sleigh pulled by Rudolph (with his red nose in the air). Too cute! My favourite one, though, is the snowflake. Who doesn't like snowflakes? ;) My daughter likes the sleigh :) Have another great day making pretty eats! :)

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  3. It wouldn't be a proper Christmas without gingerbread cookies. Your decorating skills are wonderful, Miss M.

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  4. so cute~ i thought the bottle might be hard to squeeze, i have weak hands, they are easy?

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  5. your "work" it's so nice!!!
    kisses!!!!

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  6. Great timing - I'm making these cookies today!!

    :)
    ButterYum

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  7. These are beautiful. I love gingerbread, and I've been looking for a good recipe. I'm bookmarking this one.

    We don't have those bottles here--at least I haven't seen them. What a good idea! I use something like that for painting sometimes, but it's not food grade.

    I have a question: 6 cups of sugar to make 16 cookies? That seems off to me. I just used 3 cups to make about 6 dozen cookies--admittedly they're not large, but still...

    I love your mosaic too.

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  8. Kate..I'll check my recipe in my book again:) I am at the office..but her snowflakes were big:) I made all those:) I'll check ..good point!!!

    Thank you..

    Jain..I have tendonitis from lifting small boys.. 4 of them in 4years and 2 were not that small at 1 yr old:) I pulled something in between my thumbs and indexes..everything can hurt ..I can easily squeeze the little bottles:)I am awful w/ those bags:)

    Sur La Table had them but I so soo lucky I found mine at HomeGoods..so much more reasonable..Look there:)

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  9. There are some recipes from her book that I'm anxious to try too! I am a Martha wannabe in many areas. Not such a great decorator here either. The sleigh and reindeer are adorable!

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  10. M, Your gingers are PERFECT! seriously perfect! and I love those plastic bottles with the tips...I was just informed I need new thumb joints in both hands...my response was..(Not in this lifetime!) I'll put up with the pain. Wondering if my thumbs could work those plastic bottles.
    I'm with you...Martha and Ina speak my language...of course you do too!!!! xoxo~Kathy @ Sweet Up-North Mornings...

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  11. This is a great recipe! I haven't tried it in years, but remember the addition of pepper which is really good. I'm loving those little applicators you have. I always make such a huge mess when I decorate cookies. Yours are gorgeous!

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  12. Mea Culpa..I am home now..many of you know I type w/ 2 fingers..

    so when

    I find the recipe I am looking for online..I copy and paste..I looked at these ings..and they seemed spot on to my recipe..

    ..Well I just looked at my book and CLOSE..but not exact..could she have modified pre-book or post-book?
    5 1/2 cups flour...1 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses..makes 24 cookies..:)

    That's what I did the ..the above.. just 2 slight differences..but now I have learned a lesson..Kate thanks so much.. I have to tell you I am posting a good little recipe soon from a book I have and I promise I actually typed it out myself from the book itself..and my New Year's resolution..is don't look for the recipe online:)

    Kate..again thanks!!

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  13. Those cookies are just magnificent!
    Love them...i also use Martha's recipe...love it and her sugar cookies as well...

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  14. beautiful and perfect cookies...I cant believe you're not good decorating! everything looks perfect.

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  15. Bonjour Monique, ils sont merveilleux, trop beaux pour être mangés, ;0).

    Je te souhaites à toi et ta famille de passer de très Joyeuses Fêtes.

    Josée
    Bisous

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