Decorated sugar cookies

This challenge had me stumped. When I first read what we Daring Bakers had to do, I was delighted. Here's the brief:

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of What the Fruitcake?! Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

But as I read the instructions further, I began to wonder. The theme was "September" and the decoration for the sugar cookies would be related to whatever September meant to us (for the full recipe, click here).

September means the start of school for some people, and the fall or spring season depending on which hemisphere you live in. Of course, if you live within the equatorial belt, it's just dry and wet, neither of which should be the feature of any cookie. Say the word "September" and the first thing that comes to my mind is Earth, Wind and Fire's song of that name! Base my cookies on September? Err... take a look at the lyrics and see if you could come up with something appropriate.

But I only needed to look at some of the finished cookies posted on the Daring Baker's forum to get a push (you can view them here). This really is my first attempt at decorating sugar cookies with royal icing so I told myself to keep it simple. I had got a set of alphabet cutters on my last visit to the baking supply shop, and I like words, so that seemed a good way to go.

Time for T(ea)

I just didn't reckon on how difficult it would be to get the dough out of the cutters! They aren't very big and even though I floured the cutters well, I still needed to push the alphabets out with a chopstick. And washing the cutters afterwards was a pain as well because the dough got into all the tiny holes! I didn't do a very good job at icing either.

But despite what seems like complaining, I actually got into this activity and rather enjoyed it. It's leisurely and you get to be as creative as you want. I can see how a person could get hooked. No doubt Mandy, who came up with the challenge, knew this would happen.

The date of this post, Sept 27, coincides with the Husband leaving for Oxford University to start his PhD. Since I won't be there with him, I've left him a message (right). The pastels don't make the cookies very manly, but he gets the drift... (Don't you, dear?)

Vegetable mung bean griddle cakes

Mung beans are fantastic. Why am I only just realising this?

Mung beans come in all manner of dishes ­­­­– they appear in Chinese dishes like ang ku, and in Indian idli, both favourites of mine – and yet I have only just come to think about their role in a particular food item.
Perhaps because they're so small and unassuming. With their green skins on, they stand out among the other legumes on the shelf, but split and skinless, I wouldn't be able to say what they were if not for the label on the packaging. But they're certainly not to be underestimated.

It was after I made Tepung Gomak, which has a filling of mashed mung beans and grated coconut, that I realised how much I actually like mung beans. Having some beans left over from that recipe, I added them, mashed, to a pancake batter together with some vegetables and fried them on a griddle. I enjoyed the texture very much and there's a certain roundness to the taste that you don't get with just flour, milk and eggs.

This griddle cake is based loosely on the Korean Bindaetteok, a pancake comprising mung bean and kimchi (here's a link to a recipe). I substituted the kimchi with cooked cabbage and pickled carrots­­ – the type that comes in a Bánh Mì, the Vietnamese sandwich ­­– because Hungry Caterpillar (whose birthday happens to fall today. Happy Birthday Ivy!) had given me some, but of course any vegetable is fine. 

MUNG BEAN GRIDDLE CAKES WITH VEGETABLES

Makes 6-10 cakes (7cm in diameter), depending on thickness

½ cup split mung beans, soaked in cold water overnight
½-¾ cup water
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A pinch of chilli powder or cayenne pepper
2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Cooking oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup finely shredded cabbage
1 cup pickled carrots or finely shredded fresh carrots
Soy sauce, to taste

Equipment
Egg rings, optional

• Rinse the mung beans and place in a saucepan; cover with fresh water. Bring to the boil, then simmer until beans are soft; drain. Process the beans with the egg and seasonings until smooth. Remove to a large bowl and whisk in flour. Stir in enough water to form a thick batter. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
• Heat a little cooking oil and sauté the garlic. Add cabbage and fresh carrots, if using, and sauté until tender. Season with soy sauce. Remove from pan and leave to cool. Stir cooked vegetables and/or pickled carrots into the batter. 
• Heat a griddle pan and coat the base with a little cooking oil. If using egg rings, grease the inside rim and place into the pan. Spoon the batter into the rings or make small rounds. Cook until golden brown on both sides. If cakes are browning too quickly, turn the heat down.
• Serve hot or cold, plain, with chutney or a dipping sauce.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Jalapeño and corn loaf

This bread is hot! I don't mean stolen, angry, popular or having a high temperature, although it is fresh and a success. No, I'm talking about the burn-the-skin-off-your-tongue kind of heat that comes from chillies!


My chakras must have been aligned and all that good energy worked its way out of my fingers into the dough when I was kneading it because this bread turned out very well. Only thing is, there are a few too many chillies in it.

Even for my highly-tolerant palate, the heat is a bit much. Ten (yes, 10!) shrivelled jalapeño peppers don't look like much after they're roasted, skinned and chopped, but they can still hurt you. And even if you can take the heat, it can overwhelm the bread and take over. I gave some to Veggie Chick, and she breathed fire too.

We decided the heat could be tempered with a soup. And I spread Marmite and cream cheese over a slice and that was perfect. It is just too powerful to eat on its own. If a coyote with the voice of Johnny Cash starts offering me spiritual guidance, I'll start worrying.

Green heat and multi-coloured beads

The corn in the bread's name is in the form of kernels. I used dried multi-coloured corn kernels ­­– in orange, yellow and purple ­­– and cooked them in a slow cooker for a few hours to soften. I thought they would add a brilliant palette to the bread but as you can see, they didn't exactly keep their colour. Using frozen or fresh corn should be just fine and much easier.

I used Daniel Steven's baking advice from The River Cottage Bread Handbookand got a lovely crusty top. The crumb was pleasantly soft, although I would have liked it to be slightly more chewy. Experienced bakers will of course have their own techniques to achieve the kind of loaf they like.

I am submitting this to YeastSpotting.

JALAPEÑO AND CORN LOAF

Makes 1 loaf

2-4 jalapeño peppers (depending on heat), washed and dried

¼ cup dried corn kernels*, soaked overnight

1¼ cups organic bread flour

¾ cup organic whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon milk powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon instant yeast

1 cup warm boiled water, approximate

Fine cornmeal

• Turn on the oven grill to high. Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds. Place them in a baking tray, cut side down and place under the grill. When the skin has blistered and turned black, remove them and place in a bowl; cover the bowl to allow the peppers to sweat. When cool enough to handle, remove skin. Chop up the peppers.
• Place corn kernels in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer until kernels are soft. Alternatively, cook in a slow cooker. Set aside to cool.
  * Use frozen or fresh kernels if desired. You will need about half a cup.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, milk powder and salt. Add honey and butter and rub into the dry ingredients. Stir in yeast.
• Pour in almost all the water and bring ingredients together. Add more water if necessary until a soft but moist ball of dough is formed. Leave in the bowl, covered with a tea towel, for about 10 minutes.
• Knead dough on a work surface, using a plastic dough scraper to help shift the dough so that you do not add too much extra flour. If the dough gets too sticky, form into a rough ball and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then knead again until dough is springy, about 10 minutes, and passes the windowpane test. 
• Now it's time to incorporate the chopped peppers and corn kernels. Stretch the dough out on the work surface; scatter the ingredients over the dough then fold, roll and knead briefly to incorporate them. Form dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl; cover with a tea towel and leave to double in size.
• 45 minutes before baking, turn on the oven to 250°C. Place a heavy baking pan in the bottom of the oven. Deflate the dough and form into a stubby cylinder. Place on a baking tray dusted with cornmeal. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise.
• Have some freshly boiled water ready. Make three deep diagonal slashes on the top of the dough; brush or squirt with water and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough in the oven, pour the hot water into the baking pan in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Shut the door and leave for 10 minutes before turning down the oven to 190°C. Bake for a further 30-35 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

The greenish parts on the crust (in the foreground) are the jalapeños