Despite the title my Mom never made these, but that doesn't mean I can't make them for myself.
After those Monday Night Football Parties, don't you always have leftover sour cream. Whether it's from that delicious five-layer dip, or those disgusting vegetable platters, I know I'll always have extra. And up until now I didn't know what to do with it. That smidget of sour cream would just sit in the back of my refrigerator taunting me, saying, "Your mom never loved you!" I never knew why it would say that,or how could it even talk, nevertheless I would always be sad after that comment. Finally after the hundredth party, failing to completely use all the sour cream we bought, I went berserk and was just about to throw the sour cream away when suddenly, it came to me. What the smidget was telling me was that my mom never loved me because she never made Sour Cream Cookies. And that, to make everything right, I needed to make them... and eat the whole batch. Okay, well I'm not sure about the eating the whole batch part but make them I did, and they did not disappoint.
Imagine your Mom hugging you while you're eating the best cookie ever, this cookie is twice as good as that. The sour cream really makes the difference in this recipe. These cookies are light and soft, and ever so gently kissed by that touch of sweetness. You can be sure these cookie come with hugs and kisses built in. I know Mother's Day is 4 months away, but don't wait that long to show your mom...how much better of a cookie you can make. This classic cookbook cookie, which deserves so much more praise and recognition than it gets, is easy and delicious, so without further-a-do, let's get started!
In a clean bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients. That is, your flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set this bowl aside.
Using the same, singular spot in your house that is bright and photo worthy, cream together your room temperature butter and sugar. Start slow and then crank it up. You are looking for the butter to become pale and fluffy, and all the sugar granules to disappear. Add your egg, vanilla extract, and sour cream, and beat for one more minute. Next, slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter until all of the flour is used up, and a batter forms. At this stage you could refrigerate or freeze this depending on when you wanted to make the cookies.
In my case I was hungry now. I didn't waste a second to toss these into the oven. Using any method of greasing, lightly oil your cookie sheet, or use a non-stick silpat. You can get about fifteen good teaspoon dollops on a 9x13 in. baking sheet.
Wet the tip of one of your fingers and flatten each of the cookies to make sure they are all the same height and they spread thinly. Lastly sprinkle a little sugar, sanding sugar would be best but granulated works fine, on the tops of each cookie. This will give them that professional look that tells people, yes, I know what I'm doing. Even though you're feeding them cookies that you learned how to make from a random stranger you met on the internet.
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After 10 minutes under the delicious rays of a 375 oven, your cookies are done. Let them cool on a rack before dusting with powdered sugar, or drizzling with a delicious fig glaze.
WHAT! A Fig Glaze! It's so simple I don't even have a recipe for it. Take fig jam, powdered sugar and a tablespoon of milk and combine it in a small bowl, you will be shocked by the results. I especially think it works wonders with this Sour Cream Cookie, a barely sweet cookie is accented with the figgy-caramelliness of the fig jam, a match surely made in heaven.
That's it for this recipe, scroll down for more chow-fections, and I will see you next week with another delicious, tested dessert by the finest here at the Chowfectionary Creations Studios. Well someone had to say it.
Special Thanks to my cousin Wyfield for sending me that jar of Fig Jam. Wyfield if you are reading this, it was so good I peed my pants, and I only pee my pants when I get excited. And as always,
Chow!
Recipe
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
What's that? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the awesomeness of this dessert. When you take that first bite your teeth barely crush that crisp crunchy crust, however then it sinks into the soft fruity center. Buttery, strawberry-y, and slightly tangy, I don't think there's much more you could ask of this chow-fection. By the way, just to let you all know, in order to even comprehend this post you need to have read my previous post on how to make Lime Curd. That's pretty much the other half of this recipe so head on down there if you do not want to be just half as smart as everyone else. Seriously stop here if you have not read it. I mean it. He said assuming all of you could see his very serious expression.
Okay, so those of you who are left have either done what I've said, or are internet trolls, whoever you are you're definitely in for a treat. I take an easy shortbread crust, heartened with nutty bursts of oats, and layer it with strawberry preserves and lime curd. Absolutely delicious, and not to mention super easy. Seriously, as easy as mixing things in a bowl. So let's get started!
In a large bowl mix together your flour, sugar, butter, oats, salt, and baking powder. Yes, those are basically all the ingredients in this recipe, which just goes to show how simple this chow-fection is. Preferably you want to use a pastry blender, that is the wire instrument on the right side of the picture above. I think it just integrates the butter and the dry ingredients that much more efficiently but if you don't have one a fork or your hands will do fine.
Using the paper from your sticks of butter, or a can of vegetable spray, lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Our dough has a fair amount of butter in it so you shouldn't be worried much about sticking. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the pan, reserving the rest for the crumble topping.
Now it's time for, in my opinion, the best components of this dish. The strawberrying and the lime curding of the bars. First we are going to lightly spread a layer of strawberry preserves onto the crust. If you think you won't be needing the full measurement of preserves that's absolutely fine. It's better to spread less jam than more. You want to try not to spread the jam to the absolute sides of the pan. If the jam is in contact with the baking sheet then you might have some adherence. Next we can spread on the lime curd. My recipe for lime curd will yield 1 cup of custard which will all be used in this recipe. The same rules apply, evenly spread it across the jam, careful not to touch the sides. Finally sprinkle on the last bit of crumbs and you are ready to bake.
Allright, into the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown and crispy. You'll know when it's done when your whole house smells like butter and Key Lime Pies. The reviews on these squares were absolutely astounding as my brother even asked me to make a second batch for his classmates the following day. If the pickiest teenagers in California like your dessert you know you're doing something right.
Well, there you have it. Strawberry Lime Oatmeal Squares, a must make for this summer season. What? It's summer in Australia. But seriously, I really hope you make these for your family, scroll down to view this recipe and more. And as always,
Chow!
Recipe
1 3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup instant oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of strawberry preserves
1 cup of Lime Curd
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Chiffon sounds interesting right? I bet it was the only reason why clicked this link. Well sorry to disappoint you but, a chiffon cake is nothing but a sponge cake in French. Disappointing right…wait, I bet you don’t even know how to make a sponge cake. Hypocritess ;) This cake is light and fluffy, layered with my Five-Second Strawberry Mousse, and covered with whipped cream. For the holidays I flew to Atlanta to see how the great bakers there bake their cakes, and to also share this delicious chow-fection to the entire world (otherwise known as the 5 people who have visted this blog and my immediate family). The recipe demonstrated in this blogpost is none other than of famous Chinese chef, Victor Hsu, also known as my uncle, and also referred to as “who is that guy?” Well you would be right, he is a nobody, but there’s one thing he is known for, Chiffon Cakes. After smuggling from Taiwan the secrets to making perfectly light, fluffy chiffon, he perfected it with his own mad scientific flair. Littered below are his many pro tips on how to make a perfect chiffon cake that will surely impress your relatives and friends this holiday season. So without two twists of a peacock’s feathers let’s get bakin’ so we can get cakin’.
Uncle Vic begins his recipe by weighing out his dry and wet ingredients. For me I don't have a digital scale, or any scale for that matter, so in the recipe below I converted all the measurements to volume, however a part of me agrees that weight measurements would be more precise. Once your mise en place is complete we can begin to mix the meringue for the cake. The thing with a chiffon cake is that it doesn't have baking soda nor baking powder in the batter. For a cake to rise you need one of the two components, a mechanical leavener, or a chemical leavener. Usually in cakes and cookies we add baking soda or powder, these are called chemical leaveners. When they are baked they cause a chemical reaction in the batter that rises the cake. In things like puff pastry, or chiffon cake there are certain components in the dessert that cause it to rise. In puff pastry it is because of all the layers of fat and flour that expand when they're stack on top of each other. In chiffon cakes the air pockets in the meringue expand with steam causing the cake to rise. These are called mechanical leaveners.
To make the meringue we will begin to whip our egg whites. Gradually add in 7 tablespoons of sugar when the whites are frothy and continue to beat until they reach stiff peaks. Just look at the picture. Set the bowl aside so we can make the base of our cake.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar until they are ribbon-like and pale. This is called blanchiring and it will make sure that our batter is smooth and lump free. Add the juice of about a quarter of a lemon to brighten the cake and lemon zest to showcase that lemon flavor. You could also use a teaspoon of lemon extract if fresh lemons are not in season. Drizzle in veggie oil to ensure that the cake is moist and tender. Add in the water. As you all know water and oil do not combine. If you're batter looks like it's split do not be alarmed, once we add in the dry ingredients everything will mix perfectly. In a separate bowl I want you to combine milk powder, cake flour, and salt until it is lump-free and add it into the cake.
Stir till it is just combined. We don’t want to over work this, especially when we add in the meringue. You worked so hard for those delicate air bubbles in the meringue, take some care when you go through these final steps. The cake will continue to mix as we fold in the meringue so keep that in mind while you think about over mixing the cake. Begin by taking a third of the egg whites and mixing it into the batter. This helps to loosen the batter before we fold in the rest of the whites. Now comes the handiwork. Gently, gently fold in the meringue scraping from the bottom of the bowl around to the top, letting the bottom batter drop onto the top batter. Continue until almost all of the whites have disappeared.
If you haven’t before, preheat the oven to 360. Lightly grease an 8x8 spring form pan and pour the batter in. Tap the cake on your countertop to release the bubbles trapped under the surface. This also makes sure that your cake rises evenly and the batter touches all of the corners of the pan. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out cleanly.
Uncle Vic taught me a pro tip that he learned in Taiwan. To defend against deflated and or concaved centers, while the cake is cooling flip it over on a wire rack. Because the cooler denser air surrounding the cake is much heavier than the hot airy cake center of the Chiffon, these types of cakes are notorious for their crater-like centers. By flipping the cake over you prevent gravity from making you look like a fool when you go to serve. But it probably won’t even matter because we'll be covering this entire cake with whipped cream anyways so who would know. You know what, you would know, and so would I, so don’t forget this critical step. Let it cool completely before you unmold it. The best would be overnight in the fridge.
This cake is thick enough to slice into three layers. I suggest getting one of these turntables for perfect slicing and decorating. Even if you’re like me and cannot decorate for your life, it still makes it a lot easier to mess up your cake faster. So using a serrated knife go around the cake to make sure you have straight level layers. Once you are positive that every layer is perfect go ahead and color in the picture. For some reason slicing a cake reminds of those simpler days when I used spend my days in coloring books. Like for example...two days ago when I was scribbling in my favorite Toy Story coloring book, I first outlined Woody’s shoes before fully coloring inside the picture. It’s the same way with a cake, you have to outline before you cut. I'm not sure if you get the analogy but you get the idea. Now it's time to make the strawberry mousse.
This is my Five Second Strawberry Mousse. The first step is going to the store and buying a can of strawberry topping. You can find this in the pie filling aisle. Normally I wouldnt use this stuff but I think for something like this, where you've just baked an entire cake, this would be a necessary shortcut. The second step is using some of this non-dairy whip topping.
It's similar to a cool whip except in liquid form. Actually if you could buy real heavy cream and make your own whipped cream, but this is all we had and it’s like ten times cheaper. Whip until stiff peaks, and fold in your strawberry topping. Use as much strawberry topping as you want, or until its to the color you want. If you're feeling daring, you could add fresh strawberries to the mix to cut that richness. And that's done! Now you can layer your cake.
Take the bottom layer and spread on enough strawberry mousse to barely touch the edge. Remember when you stack up the layers the weight is going to squeeze some of the mousse to the edges so only spread the mousse barely to the edge. Repeat with the next layer. When you go to stack up the final layer flip the layer upside down so it has that professional inverted shape. Cover with regular white topping. You can use cool whip, whipped cream, frosting, or any like thing you can think of. Be creative, this cake is all up to the limits of your imagination. You can sprinkle on nuts or garnish with strawberries, even drizzle with chocolate. And you don’t have to layer it with strawberry mousse, you can make whatever filling you wanted. Like I said think outside of the box and let your wildest dreams run loose. After all if it taste terrible just drop it on the potluck table at your next get together and no one will even say a word.
But that is it for this chow-fection. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or hannakuh, I hope I spelled that right, I’m sure there are like 20 different spellings of that holiday. Anyways I hope you make this cake for New Years, and from the bottom of our Chowfectionary Studios family (me, myself, and I), I want to wish you all a happy, wonder-filled new years. And as always,
Chow!
Recipe
Lemon Chiffon Cake
3/4 cup of cake flour
5 egg whites
4 egg yolks
4 1/2 tablespoon of milk powder
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
9 tablespoons of granulated sugar divided
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
a couple tablespoons of lemon juice
the zest of half a lemon
Five-Second Strawberry Mousse
1 cup of whipped topping
1/4 cup or so of strawberry topping
Whipped Topping for outside slathering
Nuts, berries, or other accompaniments are welcomed
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Roasted Strawberry Tart
Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
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