Sugar Cookies with Marshmallow Fondant and Royal Icing

If you are looking for a sugar cookie with a little more UMPH to it these are for you! Easier than meets the eye, but with all the look of having taken years to make! 

One line reminder to vote for Cherry Tea Cakes in the Express Night Out Best of DC Food Blogger Vote through September 30th! See instructions here!

I tell ya, the Daring Bakers challenge coming at the end of the month was a LIFE safer for me. With my friends' wedding that I am catering coming up this Friday I have been frazzled! It's been absolutely fabulous to have a post done ahead of time! 

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.

We were asked to make cookies of what September meant to us....and this September has mostly meant wedding plans. I made some cookies that would be graceful and lovely just like the bride, and as "colorful" as the husband (he he, they are my friends. I can tease the groom!). 

The picture below will show you just how much time I had to put into them, and all the steps. I mean....geeze. What a cookie! But so cute and so worth it! I'd totally do this again! 

My apologies in advance for a week of posts that were predone (i.e. Iron Chef, Daring Bakers, and Baking with Butchie) posts because this week I am in wedding catering meltdown! 

See you next week for a normal and sane Jana! 

Basic Sugar Cookies

½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1 cup Confectioners Sugar
1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Cream together the butter (I do not allow butter to soften), sugar and any flavorings you’re using. Beat until just becoming creamy in texture. Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms. Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.
 

Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5 mm. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30mins.

Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface.
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife. Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour.

Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies.

Leave to cool on cooling racks. Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

Marshmallow Fondant

1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows

4 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully put the melted marshmallows into a greased stand mixer and stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.

Coat your hands with powdered sugar and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch.

Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.

Roll out to desired thickness. Press with any designs desired. Cut using same cookie cutter as was used for the cookies. I personally spread a little corn syrup as a glue on the underside of the fondant to help it stick. Adhere to the cookies and decorate with either royal icing.

Royal Icing

2 ½ - 3 cups Confectioner’s Sugar, un-sifted
2 Large Egg Whites
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until combined. Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites. Beat on low until combined and smooth. Use immediately or keep in an airtight container.

Chocolate Raspberry Charlotte Royale Bombe Glacee

This treat takes some work! And even more effort to make look pretty! I was paranoid the entire time. This ice cream cake is a twist of a Charlotte Royale and a Bombe Glacee, two amazing antique desserts. The result is beautiful and a very tasty treat!

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

This challenge was just that! A challenge! With multiple components coming together it took me the better part of my Saturday to complete the charlotte bombe glacee. I can’t call it a swiss roll ice cream cake. It just seems a little too low for such amazing antique desserts. The bombe has been around since the 1800s. Can you imagine trying to make ice cream in the early 1882? I can’t but Le Guide Culinaire has nearly sixty recipes for the bombe and it was published in 1903! The Charlotte Royale dates back farther to the 1700s. Absolutely amazing.

The biggest recommendation I can make is to freeze the swiss rolls before trying to assemble. It kept crumbs from getting in the icing, and kept the rolls from falling completely flat under the pressure of the knife. I also had a second mold for my bome that I used to ensure things were even, and cut up smaller pieces of swiss cake roll to fill in any gaps between the rolls to keep the ice cream from showing.

I absolutely loved this challenge! Thanks Sunita for an excellent challenge!

You’ll be making a few components for this dessert:

chocolate swiss rolls with raspberry buttercream

hot fudge sauce

raspberry jelly ice cream and

chocolate ice cream.

Personally I’d recommend completing all components before assembly.

Chocolate Swiss Rolls with Raspberry Buttercream

6 medium sized eggs

1 C caster sugar

6 tblsp all purpose (plain) flour +

5 tblsp dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tblsp  boiling water

a little oil for brushing the pans

for the raspberry buttercream:

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

a pinch of salt

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

raspberry jelly to taste (about ½ cup for me)

Pre heat the oven to 400 F. Brush two 11x9 inch pans with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.

Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.

Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.

Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.

Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.

Repeat the same for the next cake as well. Allow to cool. Meanwhile make the raspberry jam buttercream. Whip butter, salt, and vanilla till creamy then whip in powdered sugar in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Beat on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add jam and continue until incorporated.

Open the rolls and spread the raspberry jam buttercream, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).

Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer until needed, seam side down, until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee

The Hot fudge sauce

1 C powdered sugar

3 tblsp dutch process cocoa powder

2 tblsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)

1 and ½ C whipping cream

1 tblsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, arrowroot powder and whipping cream.

Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth

Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee

Raspberry Jelly Ice Cream

2 large eggs
¾ cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk

½ cup raspberry jelly


In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the cream, milk and raspberry jelly. Do not whip!

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pour ice cream into a suitable container and freeze until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee.

Chocolate Ice Cream

2 large eggs
¾ cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup dutch process cocoa


In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the cream, milk and dutch process cocoa. Do not whip!

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pour ice cream into a suitable container and freeze until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee.

Assembly:

Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices ( approximately 2 cms each ).

Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.

Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

Soften the raspberry jelly ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm ( at least 1 hour)

Add the fudge sauce over the raspberry jelly ice cream, cover and freeze till firm . ( at least an hour)

Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set .

Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.