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Gingerbread People
We all know the nursery rhyme: “Run, Run, Run as fast as you can, You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” Which on a side note, is terrifying. Imagine baking a gingerbread cookie, and when you open the oven it suddenly bursts out and runs away while yelling at you. I don’t know which is more alarming- the bursting, the running, or the yelling. It’s probably just the being alive part. That story is a weird one, because I don’t actually remember learning a life lesson from that story. I just remember being confused as to why everyone in the story (the people, the farmyard animals and eventually the…
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Cream Cheese Frosting
When bakers think of frosting a cake, immediately two options come to mind- chocolate or vanilla buttercream? Which is a dang shame! There are so many other flavors and varieties that should be in a bakers repertoire and are honestly better choices sometimes! Cream cheese frosting is one delicious option that packs a more flavorful and unique punch then the more standard flavors. It is just as important as a buttercream and can be transformed into whatever flavor you want! A pumpkin cake that needs a frosting? Try adding some nutmeg. A banana cake that needs a finishing touch? Try adding caramel. A blueberry cake that needs some pizzaz? Add…
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Homemade Baking Spice Blends
Baking spice blends are one of those thing that you only think about a couple times a year, and it’s a pain. You get it with the best intensions. You want to bake a pumpkin pie. You want to tackle that intricate crust for the apple pie you saw on Pinterest. You attempt a gingerbread house with the kids. You buy it once, it sits between the bay leaves and the whole cloves until you go to use it in a few years and see that it is expired. Such is the life and times of a spice blend. While store bought spice blends get the job done, I am…
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Homemade Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract. Most baking recipes call for vanilla extract, but why? It adds the vanilla flavor of course, but it also helps to bring out the notes of all of your other ingredients. Bakers take vanilla extract for granted, when it is one of the powerful things in your baking arsenal. Not only is vanilla extract essential in your kitchen, but it is also extremely easy to make. It only involves two ingredients- alcohol and vanilla beans. For my alcohol, I usually rotate between plain vodka and Kentucky bourbon. You can’t go wrong with either choice, and both will leave you with a wonderful flavor. It doesn’t have to be…
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Cranberry, Orange, and Clove Shortbread Bars
Cranberries. Nothing screams holiday season in Maine more than these wonderful, tart berries! I use them in everything around this time: cookies, upside-down cakes, jams, tart and basically anything I can put a cranberry in….I do. Another thing that screams holiday season for me is oranges with whole cloves poked in them. It’s a tradition that my mum started with me when I was young, and I still continue it as an adult. The smell of orange and clove creates such a warm and loving feeling for me that I knew I wanted to incorporate both flavors into a festive dessert. I started with my lemon bar recipe and thought,…
