Post by Kate on Jun 17, 2015 21:48:36 GMT -5
Pink Fairy Cakes
Ingredients:
4½ cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5¼ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter (room temperature)
1½ cups pureed strawberries
8 egg whites
⅔ cup milk
1 to 2 drops red food coloring to make cakes more pink
Preheat the oven to 350° F. and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and blend on slow speed for 30 seconds. Add butter and strawberry puree and blend ingredients. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy – 2 to 3 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and red food dye to blend. Add egg whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping sides of the bowl well and mixing only enough to incorporate each addition.
Pour mixture into muffin pan and bake 18-25 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you want to add icing to the cakes, let them cool completely first. (I prefer them without icing.)
Ingredients:
8 oz. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
½ tsp. salt
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
Additional confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350° F. In mixing bowl, cream butter, salt and lemon zest. When butter is pale and fluffy, sift in confectioners’ sugar and beat until combined. Sift in flour and cornstarch and mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined.
Place dough on waxed paper or parchment, divide in half, and roll each piece into a cylinder about 1½ inches in diameter. Wrap tightly and chill for at least an hour.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice cookie dough into ¼-inch rounds and place on baking sheet about an inch apart. These cookies expand, but do not spread, so 1-inch between them is fine. Bake the cookies at 350° F. for about 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden and the tops feel set and appear dry. (The tops will not brown.)
Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes. Dust a lined, cool baking sheet with a layer of confectioners’ sugar. Place cooled cookies on sugar-dusted sheet and dust with additional sugar to cover. These cookies can be stored in a tight container for up to a week, or they can be frozen. Store in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. They can also be frozen for use at a later time.
