Tips on Baking the perfect butter cookie

Have you tried baking sugar or even butter cookies at home and they seem not to bake right?  They are too dark or burnt, or when you bite into them they are dry and hard? Well, I'm giving you a tip that may help you bake them just right every time.  Your cookie should look beautiful not only on the side you decorate, but on the other side too.

Make sure that before you use your cookie cutters, you roll out your dough as even as possible.  The reason for this is for the cookie to bake evenly.  Thinner sides will bake faster and thicker sides will take longer making your finished baked cookie look burnt and yucky!

As you cut them place them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and leave enough space between cookies so that they have room to expand and not stick to each other.

Once your cookie is taken out of the oven it should look golden brown and even like the picture above.  If it's darker than this and it's not a gingerbread cookie than you have over baked your cookies and I can guarantee that they will not taste good at all.

Hope this mini tutorial helps you make some great cookies during these holidays! 

Fall or Thanksgiving cookies

These are Vanilla Bean cookies.  They are covered in Vanilla Bean  flavored Royal icing.  I'm really happy on how smooth they came out.  I finally figured out the right consistency. These cookies flew!

Acorns, Leaves and Pears

Pears (I love how these came out)

Leaf

Thanksgiving Dessert Dominican Cakes

These cakes I made are not artistic in their nature because the client wanted something simple, merely to be enjoyed for their taste, but delicious they were!  Dominican cake with plum and cream filling covered with Suspiro (Dominican Frosting) or boiled meringue.  I had to make one for me as well!

 

This was for a customer 10x10 round

 

I made an 8x8 for the family

Damask - Black and Green Tablescape

This year I wanted to do something  different for Thanksgiving.  I didn't want to use the traditional colors and icons used for this celebration. So I decided to use Damask and Sage green.

I made these little favors that also served as place cards for everyone sitting at our table. Inside are two Ferrero Rondnoir chocolates. These are simple mini lunch sacks that I cut a piece of Damask scrapbooking paper and glued on and added a punched tag with a ribbon. With a black pen I wrote our guests' names.

Menu card tucked into a pocket folded black napkin decorated with damask ribbon I found dirt cheap at Micheal's. I made the menus with Photoshop using a Damask stamp. Trimmed it with a similar green cardstock and used Chopin font.

 

Dinner tables for 12 people. I had beautiful yellow roses pn a black vase and smaller vases for the centerpieces and pears to bring in some warmth and whimsy to the black and sage green colors used. As a runner I used some damask material.

Closer view

The desserts consisted of Dominican cake, apple pie, pumpkin pie, coconut flan, Vanilla bean cookies, and delicious fruit turron.

Teal and Lime Tier Cake

I designed this cake for my daughter Lauren's 17th Birthday.  Vanilla with dulce de leche filling!  She absolutely loved her cake!

Teal and Lime Cupcakes

Teal and Lime Dinner Party

Table setting

 

Teal and Lime Green Cookies

 Lemon Chiffon Cookies

 

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Dessert Buffet

This dessert buffet I made for my daughter Lauren's 17th Birthday. She loves sweets, so I thought it would be a great idea to make this for her.

 

Rock Star Cake

This is a simple 10x10 rum cake for a little girl turning 7.

Pop Art Cupcakes

I was asked to come up with cupcakes that showcased words of inspiration in English and in Spanish.  I've always been a fan of pop art so I figured I would do these kind of with that concept in mind.  The flavors are Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting topped and vanilla with vanilla buttercream all topped with MMF.

 

Little Yellow Corvette Cake

I made this cake yesterday. It's a 10" round with a MMF molded corvette on top.  The client ordered it for her husband to celebrate  their 34th anniversary.  She explained to me that this has always been his favorite car.  Flavor Leelee's Specialty Vanilla Cake.
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Pink Daisy Cake

Ok, so this is not really a fun cake, but I had to do it for a client that really only wanted to do was have a taste of  Leelee's Vanilla Specialty cake to see if she likes it to then order a more elaborate cake.  I've made this cake before in another color. I hope she likes it.