Pecan lace cookies

Take a good look at these cookies because this is the first, and the last time I will be making them. Why? Keep reading and find out. The recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
2/3 cup cake flour

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat cook sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt, stirring until sugar has dissolved and butter has melted, about 7 minutes.

Remove from heat and fold in zest, pecans, and flour. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment or a silpat (silpat recommended, see below). Using a teaspoon measure, roll dough into small balls (each 1/4 ounce).

Place on a large baking sheet, about 2 inches apart (you can fit 6). Bake one sheet at a time, until cookies are golden brown, about 9 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a wire rack to cool completely.

My substitutions:

I used regular golden corn syrup as that is what I had on hand. I also ran out of pecans, so I used a mixture of hazelnuts and pecans.

Would I make this again?

No. Helllll no. It took me three cookie sheets on parchment paper before I got it through my thick head that the cookies were sticking to the paper. Finally I took out my silpat. Of course, this meant it took a couple more rounds in the oven to figure out the proper timing. It turned out to be 7 minutes and 30 seconds exactly.

But only when the oven temperature was exactly right. Then it took a couple more rounds to figure out that I had to let the cookies rest and harden on the silpat before placing them on wax paper to cool. Otherwise, the batter ran like liquid and lost its shape. Also, I soon realized I was only able to bake three cookies at a time, spaced far apart, on the silpat or the batter ran together and formed one large cookie. Finally, to keep the silpat flat, I used ceramic ramekins to hold it down. In short, it took me hours just to make about 20 cookies.

Grade: One star out of five. These were delicious and elegant to serve. But that's about it.

Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I'd been dying to make red velvet cupcakes and what better opportunity than for a Pink Party with some of my friends. (Yes, the frosting is a deeper pink, but for some reason my camera didn't capture the exact hue.)
I used this recipe from the Food Network site, but I must offer some caveats. My oven is slow to heat up, but once it does, it always goes above the temperature it's supposed to be.
I should have kept a closer eye on these cupcakes, but I didn't, and for that reason, they were a little more dry than I would have liked. This meant the red wasn't quite so vibrant in the outside layer. To be safe though, I think I would use more food colouring than the recommended amount in the future.
My main pet peeve, though, as my husband discovered when he found me sulking in the kitchen and banging around piping tips and spatulas, was that the cream cheese frosting was much, much, much too soft to be piped.
I did place it in the refrigerator for half an hour, but still no dice.
Be forewarned, the recipe produced batter for about 24 cupcakes rather than the 16 it promised, and frosting for about twice that amount.

Easter egg nest cupcakes

I know it's a bit early to be making Easter-themed cupcakes but ever since I saw the Cadbury eggs perched atop cupcakes in one of my books, I've been dying to make my own version.

I got the idea for the toasted coconut from Williams Sonoma's version of Easter cupcakes, I thought it would be more realistic looking than coloured butter cream.