Loving the Sablés...Still

My newest sablé flavor of choice is vanilla.  

I used my favorite sablé recipe as a starting off point (still Amanda Hesser's lemon sables).  I cut out the lemon, and instead added vanilla bean and Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract.  The leftover vanilla pod I stuck in about a cup of sugar.  The resulting vanilla sugar coated the outside of the sablés for an extra punch of vanilla.  

They have the same delightful sandy texture of the lemon, and the sweet intrigue of pure vanilla.  All around an excellent cookie. 

A Sweet Sixtieth

A dear family friend turned sixty this past weekend.  It is such an exciting occasion, we wanted to do something very special.  She also graciously gave us her cake decorating supplies, and some extras for Christmas.  I've been teaching myself, and wanted to share my progress with her.

So, we made her a cake.  The cake is vanilla bean, and the icing darjeeling tea (her favorite).  I made the icing like you would a red velvet icing, starting by cooking flour and milk together until thickened.  Except first I steeped darjeeling in warmed milk, then followed the steps to a typical red velvet icing.  It was full of darjeeling flavor with the typical creamy lightness of red velvet.

We sandwiched the icing between four layers of cake, spread it on the top and sides, then covered it all with white fondant and a green fondant bow at the bottom.  The cake is topped with sugar paste roses and leaves.  This was my first time using sugar paste to decorate a cake, we've been practicing since the beginning of January.  The first couple of attempts were disaster, but after watching a couple of YouTube videos we really started to get it down.  These roses are definitely the best yet, we're very proud.  I've included this second picture so the detail is clear.

I was so pleased with the aesthetic of this cake, it is this type of artistry in cakes that I find so fun and inspiring.

Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes...Always Good

Living in a rural area I often miss the food from my undergraduate days in New York.  I had a couple of haunts, one being Magnolia Bakery.  I first went to Magnolia's during freshman orientation.  Overwhelmed by the late night line--people leave their houses after 10p.m.?--I quickly ordered the banana pudding.  And it was wonderfully light and creamy.

Then I tried their cupcakes: vanilla with buttercream frosting.  Magnolia cupcakes are light and moist, like eating a cloud.  The eponymous cookbook generously shares the recipe.

For awhile I made it often, recently I've been enticed by flashier more complex cakes.  Yesterday I revisited the Magnolia cupcake recipe, as a cake.  It turned out just as I remembered.  With rainbow sprinkles sandwiched between the layers, it was pure nostalgia.