sweet & savory danish bread

The June Daring Baker's challenge was to work with a laminated dough and make "Danish Bread" from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking. I've never made danish bread before so this recipe was a welcomed one. The dough is similar to a puff pastry, but it is sweet and yeast is added to it.

My mind went immediately to making a nut filling, like a nut roll, and also to do a savory filling. I came up with ham, cheese and swiss chard because I've been craving a ham & cheese croissant and I have an over abundance of chard in the garden!

The recipe was much easier than I thought it was going to be, it just takes some time since you are rolling out then refrigerating the dough for 3o minutes, repeating 4 times, then allowing it to sit for 5 hours or overnight. Which gives you plenty of time to come up with a filling.

The butter is spread on the dough after the first roll out. The dough is then tri-folded and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. The remaining "roll outs" need no butter, since it was all put on during the first. With each roll out the dough will become a little more elastic and take slightly longer to roll to size. Just be patient with it and it will eventually give in.


Our challenge was to make at least one braid with the dough, but this dough can be used to make whatever shape or size pastry you wish. I made one large and 4 small braids.

The recipe is very self explanatory. It's a great time of year to use fresh fruit as a filling. I'm thinking I may have to try something with stone fruit now and tomatoes at the end of the summer.

Thanks to the hosts of this month's challenge, Kelly and Ben.

Here are some good tips from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking:
• Use well-chilled ingredients. This includes flour if your kitchen temperature is above 70 degrees F (~ 21 degrees C).
• It is recommended that long, continuous strokes be used to roll the dough rather than short, jerky strokes to make sure the butter block is evenly distributed.
• The 30-minute rest/cooling period for the dough between turns is crucial to re-chill the butter and allow the gluten in the dough to relax.
• Excess flour accumulated on the surface of the dough after turns should be brushed off as pockets of flour can interfere with the rise.
• When making cuts in the dough for the braid, make sure they are not too long and provide a solid base for the filling.
• Yard calls for a “controlled 90 degree F environment” for proofing the constructed braid. Please refer to this chart to assist you in this stage of the challenge:
Proofing Temperature For Fresh Dough
(room temp) For Refrigerated Dough
Degrees F Degrees C
70 ~ 21 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. 2-1/2 to 3 hrs.
75 ~ 24 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hrs. 2 to 2-1/2 hrs.
80 ~ 27 1 to 1-1/4 hrs. 1-1/2 to 2 hrs.
85 ~ 29 45 min. to 1 hr. 1 to 1-1/2 hrs.
90 ~ 32 45 min. 1 hr.


DANISH DOUGH - Sherry Yard
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and 1⁄4 inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, 1⁄4-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.


NUT FILLING - my recipe
Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
2 lbs ground nuts (1 lb walnuts, 1/2 lb pecans, 1/2 lb almonds)
1 stick of butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 c honey
2 egg whites, beaten

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl, and thats pretty much it.


HAM, CHEESE & CHARD FILLING

12 slices Black Forrest ham
10 slices gruyere cheese
1 c chopped swiss chard

Layer ingredients starting with ham, then chard then top with cheese.


DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
filling

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1/2 the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, 1⁄4 inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet. Repeat with other 1/2 of dough.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.


3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.


Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

roast beets, from the garden

I never knew how rewarding growing your own food could be until we planted our first garden last November. The golden beets from our winter planting are in their prime right now.

It's incredible how much food can be supplied from this tiny garden and it made me a firm believer that everyone should be planting something, be it herbs and lettuce in a couple of containers on your balcony or a 10 by 20 plot in the backyard full of vegetables. If you don't have a garden to enjoy, I highly suggest planting one. If you don't have the space to do so, look into joining your local community garden... that's what we did and it's improved our lives immensely.

to the beets....

My favorite way to prepare beets is simply roasting them in the oven.

Preheat oven to 350.
Trim the greens off the beets and save to saute later.
Clean the beets, leaving their skins on, toss them in olive oil, salt, pepper and place them in a cast iron skillet and cover with foil, or create a foil packet and wrap them in it.

Pop em in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Check if they are done by inserting a thin knife into the thickest part of the beet. If it slides in easily, then they are ready to come out. If the beet feels a little firm, then put them back in the over for another 15 minutes or so.
Cool slightly and remove skins.
Slice them into wedges or rounds and toss them in a salad.
It's a good idea to roast a bunch at once, then they can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days and are ready to use whenever....without the wait of roasting time.


They are really good with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, thinly sliced red onion and parm or goat cheese.


If you can't grow your own garden then please support your local farmers.

left-overs into bread pudding

I know it's not really the time of year for a warm, hearty bread pudding... but what else do you do with left-over bread? Bread pudding came about as a way to use stale unwanted bread instead of throwing it out and since I hate to waste anything I made some bread pudding from left-over everything. A couple of different kinds of bread, some honey butter, maple syrup, buttermilk, eggs, sugar.. I wish we had left over bread all of the time.


Here's the recipe I used:

1 c milk
1 c buttermilk (or use 2 c of milk and no buttermilk)
1/4 c honey butter (basically butter and honey whipped together, you could use regular butter and spoon in a TB of honey over the bread)
2/3 c brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
about 3 1/2 cups bread, torn into pieces
1/2 c chopped pecans
(addt'l ingredients could be dates or raisins... anything you like)

Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 1.5 quart casserole with butter.

In a sauce pan warm the milk (not the buttermilk) just until film forms on top. Remove from heat.

Combine the honey butter and milk and stir until the butter has completely melted. Then stir in the buttermilk. This will cool the mixture. My buttermilk separated a little, if this happens use a strainer when pouring the milk mixture into the egg mixture.

Combine eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla and beat on medium for about 1 minute. Slowly add the milk mixture and combine.

Place the bread in the casserole and pour the batter on top. Mix in 1/4 c of the pecans. Then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 c on top.

Now would be the time to mix in dates, raisins, etc.

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until set and browned on top.

Serve warm with ice cream and maple syrup.


It's great reheated the next day... just add chocolate shavings (a lot of them) before you put it in the oven to reheat and then you have a whole new experience... chocolate bread pudding!

brown sugar lemon cake

Just the name alone made our mouths water. This recipe is out of The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater, by Nigel Slater. For those of you not familiar with this book, Nigel records a year of his culinary experiences and recipes that reflect seasonality making this the perfect cook book for inspiration.

The cake we made is from the March 19th entry, so it's something suitable for early spring. The reason I say "we" is because my husband and I tag teamed on this recipe. He started the prep, made the lemon topping, got all mise en place, then I came home and finished the mixing, baking and the sauce while he ran out for a bit. I loved that we both had a part in making this rich, delectable dessert.

My part of the deal was probably easier than his but I must say that I thought I almost lost the cake. The baking time was 45 minutes, so I checked the cake at about 40 minutes and to my surprise it looked like a loaf of melted butter. It was watery and wiggly and I thought oh no.... I've ruined it. I couldn't figure out how this cake was going to set and rise, so I actually took a ladle and scooped out about 1/4 c of melted butter from the center of the loaf. I gave it 15 more minutes before declaring it a complete disaster and when checking it again there seemed to be hope. It was firming up and rising a bit. It needed to bake a lot longer than the recipe called for (about 1/2 hour longer).

After doing some online research, my husband found this recipe listed with only 1 1/4c butter, not the 1 3/4 c that we used. So we believe there was a misprint in the book.

Anyway, this is one moist, rich and flavorful bread that stays fresh for a while. We served it with creme fraiche and fresh berries. I highly recommend it.

I have to give credit to my friend Maggie of Hello Kitchen for styling the first picture of this post and to my husband of add an egg for craving the recipe.

Brown Sugar Lemon Cake with Thick Yogurt (or creme fraiche !)
by Nigel Slater

cake
1 3/4 cups butter (I believe this to be a misprint, I would use 1 1/4 c )
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup ground almonds
3/4 tsp baking powder
large lemon
4 large eggs

topping
lemon
2 generous tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp water

syrup
2 generous tbsps brown sugar
juice of a large lemon

oven 325. line loaf pan, about 10x4x3in deep with parchment.

Topping - slice lemon thinly and put it in a small saucepan with the sugar and water. bring to a boil, then watch closely for five minutes or so, until the water has almost evaporated and the lemon slices are sticky. set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a food mixer till they are light and fluffy. You can expect it to take a little longer than it would with superfine sugar. Meanwhile, measure the flour and almonds and mix them with the baking powder. Grate the zest of the lemon and add it to the flour mixture.

Break the eggs and beat them lightly with a fork, then add them to the creamed butter and sugar a little at a time. The mixture will probably curdle a bit but don't worry. Remove the mixing bowl from the machine and gently fold in the flour, almonds and baking powder with a large metal spoon (a wooden spoon would knock the air out).

Scoop the cake mixture into the lined pan, then lay the reserved lemon slices on top, overlapping them down the center of the cake. Bake for about forty-five minutes, till risen and golden. Insert a metal skewer to see if it is ready. If it comes out clean, then the cake is done; if it has mixture sticking to it, it needs a few minutes longer. remove the cake from the oven and set aside.

For the syrup, stir the brown sugar into the lemon juice; it will only partially dissolve. Spike the top of the cake with a metal skewer, then spoon over the lemon and sugar. leave to cool.

perfect party cake, green tea style

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was to make the perfect party cake. A white cake with butter cream frosting to flavor and decorate as you like. I chose to flavor my butter cream with green tea, hence the off white, ever so light green hue to my icing. I love to use green tea as a flavor in my baking and I've had much success with it. It gives such a subtle clean flavor, making it perfect for spring and summer desserts.

This is one of the simplest cake recipes I have ever tried. I love this recipe. It makes the perfect small crumbed cake. Soft and fluffy, yet dense at the same time. It would be an ideal cake base for birthday cakes, ice cream cakes, small tea cakes, tres leches.... you get the idea. My husband called the texture fuzzy like felt, almost like eating velvet. Definitely a keeper.

The butter cream recipe is also very simple. There is no need to worry about curdling when mixing this one together. If you follow the recipe exactly, the butter will beat into the ooey gooey marshmallow type egg white meringue mixture so easily you will have a wonderful pure white butter cream in no time. Just make sure you beat it for the required length of time (this is in case it curdles, if beaten long enough it will reconstitute itself) This is where I made my substitution to the butter cream, by adding in a 1/4 cup cooled brewed matcha green tea instead of a 1/4 cup lemon juice. I used about a heaping tsp of matcha powder to 1/4 c boiling water. My other substitution was that I used coconut extract in the cake instead of lemon extract.

Thanks to our hostess Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts for this month's recipe courtesy of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours.

Recipe
Perfect Party Cake
Dorie Greenspan, Baking from My Home to Yours

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract ( I substitute coconut exctract)

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) - ( I substituted 1/4 c brewed matcha green tea)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
(I didn't use any preserves, just straight up frosting and coconut)

Getting Ready
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice (in my case the brewed green tea), waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake

Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves. ( if using them)
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Easter cheese

Making Easter cheese has been a tradition in my family for the past century. I learned how to make it from my mom, who learned how to make it from our great aunt who learned it from her mom and so on. It's Slovak in origin and usually eaten with a traditional Easter meal of ham, kolbasi, pascha (sweet bread), butter, beets w/horseradish & hard boiled eggs.

The weird thing about it is that it is not really cheese at all, but more like a extremely firm custard. It's basically a curdled ball of milk and eggs, firmed up and chilled, then sliced as you would a piece of cheese. It is very mild in flavor, slightly sweet and goes well with any type of condiment. (I'm thinking I can't wait to have it for breakfast on slice of toast with some jam)

It's not the most attractive looking thing, (it looks like a small head of cauliflower) but it is a tradition and it is extremely easy to make. My mom and I made our Easter cheese today and here is the recipe...

Easter Cheese

1 qt milk
1 dozen eggs
1 tsp salt
3 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Put milk on medium heat and simmer.

Beat eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla together. Add this mixture slowly to the milk, then stir till curdles form. Remove from heat.

With slotted spoon, spoon into bag or cheese cloth and squeeze out liquid with your hands or use a slotted spoon. Tie bag tight and let hang for several hours.

Remove from bag, refrigerate and when cool wrap in foil.

Slice and serve.

sweetheart cookies xo

This is a recipe from my childhood, something my mom always used to make my brother and I around Valentine's Day... and since I'm visiting with my mom & dad right now I figured why not break out an ole favorite... the adorable, scrumptious sweet heart cookie.

This is not your typical sugar cookie recipe. This one has oats, walnuts and cream cheese in the dough. There is nothing tricky about it, and it is really simple to make. It's also good one to make in two parts - make the dough the night before you want to bake because it needs to set in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Making the dough simply requires beating together ingredients, rolling the dough in a log shape approx 1 1/2 - 2" in diameter, wrapping and popping in the fridge. The next morning unwrap the dough, slice about a 1/4" off, roll it into a ball, then shape it into a heart. Your fingers will get greasy but not sticky. If you find the dough sticky and difficult to handle you may need to put it back in the fridge for a second to firm it up.

Set your heart shaped cookies on an ungreased tray about 1" apart, bake then in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes. If they still look too doughy, then they are not ready. They cookies will not really brown, so you may need to lightly touch them to make sure they are set before pulling them out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack for cooling.

Meanwhile you can make the icing, which is a simple confectioner's sugar icing. Simply beat sugar, milk, butter and vanilla together. The icing is applied fairly thin since it is so sweet. If you like a lot of icing I would increase this recipe by another 1/2.

Sit back and enjoy with a cup of coffee and think about wonderful childhood memories...

Sweetheart Cookies
Dough:
1 c butter - softened
6 oz cream cheese
1 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 c all purpose flour - sifted
1 TB baking powder
1/4 tsp salk
1 c uncooked old fashioned oats
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Pink Frosting:
2 c sifted confectioner's sugar
2 TB butter - softened
4 tsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 - 3 drops red food coloring

• Preheat oven to 350°

• Beat together butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla; beat again.

• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat this slowly into the creamed mixture, until blended.

• Stir in the oats and chopped walnuts; Mix well. Roll into a log shape - approx 1 1/2" - 2" diameter, cover and chill for several hours or overnight.

• Slice off 1/4" slices and roll into a 1" ball. Shape into a heart and place on ungreased cookie sheet. (If you find it difficult to shape in your hands, put the ball directly on the baking sheet and form a heart by pressing ball down then shaping) If you do not want to make heart shaped cookies, simply slice pieces off of the chilled log and place them directly on the cookie sheet.

• Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack then top with icing.

• To make icing, combing sugar, butter, milk and vanilla in a bowl and beat until smooth. Add a few drops of food coloring and beat until blended. Frost cooled cookies.