Game Night and Hello Kitty!

I haven't baked in forever but this last week was a baking frenzy because I hosted a game night at my place and I made a birthday cake for my kitchen manager's daughter's 5th birthday. I actually believe it was my best cake yet. The fondant went on perfectly, it didn't crack, it didn't break, the colors were right on and everything ended up super smooth. I'm really proud of it. It took a while but I think it was worth it. The top tier was strawberry and the bottom tier was vanilla. I'm sure she was thrilled with it.

Super lovely! Also thanks to Teresa Prince for photographing it for me at 11:30 on a Thursday night. 

 This was me being super happy that my fondant looked amazing. I might have been more excited than I should have been.

In order to get ready for game night I made two easy desserts and one that was a little bit more involved. I made brownies (its the only thing I bake from a box, I love my friends but chocolate is expensive to make them from scratch, don't judge me) and I also made rice krispie treats with fall colored M & Ms in them. 

These both make for really fast and easy desserts to fill the tummies of those who were at my place working up an appetite losing at Taboo (poor guys)

Since it is October and I love me some pumpkin, well, anything, I made pumpkin cookies with Brown Butter Frosting. This recipe is from Martha Stewart and I think they are divine. That lady knows how to make cookies. Well, her staff does at least!

• For The Cookies

  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
  • 3/4 cup evaporated milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• For The Icing

  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

Make icing: Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time.

I think that Brown Butter is one of the best smelling foods that come out of a kitchen. It's buttery and nutty and delicious. What a brilliant thing to make icing with. It is important to keep a close look on your butter while browning it so you stop before you actually burn it. 

Delicious Butter waiting to melt

Starting to clarify

The power of delicious brown butter...I wish you could smell this picture!

Ready to mix with the powdered sugar

They are pretty cookies as well as delicious!

They display well too!

Overall, game night was a success. We all had a great time. Teresa pouted when she wasn't winning which is par for the course. Honestly, it wouldn't be game night without it! However, I'd like to point out that she was on both winning teams. Seen below:

Trivial Pursuit 90's Edition Winners

Taboo Winners- How they didn't realize we put together a power team, we'll never know!

Happy Baking to everyone else. I'm hoping to make some Halloween cupcakes but after that it may be a while. Grad school is a bitch and takes up so much time!