Cake Boss Cookies - Week 11 of the 12 Weeks of cookies

The one on the bottom left is the best one I made.

   So we are getting so close to Christmas that I am going to be so busy making cake balls that I wanted to try a few new recipes before then.  Don't get me wrong I love making cake pops and balls, but I wanted to try new things on this blog and share, so that is what I am going to do today.

  A few weeks back we went and saw Cake Boss, you can check out the pics there.  We got his new baking book, and there are a lot of good things in it, but a lot I cannot see myself doing. Only because a lot of them have nuts, and with Hubby being allergic, I cannot bake with them when he is home.  It bothers him.  So fine, for him I will put off the nut stuff.

  I looked for something simple, but different and I set myself on these Black and White cookies.

Black and White cookies
From Baking with the Cake Boss, by Buddy Valastro

3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP Sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 extra large eggs  ( I always use extra large eggs)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 TSP pure vanilla extract
1/8 TSP fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cup cake flour
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 TSP baking powder
1/4 TSP salt
1/4 cup water
2 cups icing sugar
2 TBSP semisweet chocolate chips or 1/2 ounce semisweet chocolate chopped

My son helped measure out everything so he wanted to be in the picture.

And without the boy.

Pre heat oven to 340 degrees ( 315 if you have a convection oven)

-cream butter and sugar
-add, one egg at a time, mixing for one minute between each egg
-add milk, vanilla and lemon juice and mix until just incorporated
-sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt
-add the dry ingredients to the wet until the mixture is smooth and fully absorbed

The batter was like water before I added the flour, I had to double check I had not messed up.  I hadn't I just had to be patient.  I am not patient, be forewarned.

-scoop the mix onto parchment lined cookie sheets, 1/4 cup of mix at a time, leaving a few inches for them to spread

I only got 11 cookies, but I think my scoop was a bit too big.

-bake until light golden brown, about 18 minutes

Not perfectly round, but what can you do.

-as soon as the cookies are firm enough to move with a spatula, move to a cooling rack, cookies will continue to bake if you leave them on the cookie sheet
-once fully cooled, but them on a plate and into the freezer while you make the icing, at least 10 minutes, they must be firm so they do not break when you frost them

Frosting
-use a double boiler or a bowl on top of  a pot of hot water and bring the 1/4 cup of water to a boil
-when water in the top of the double boiler is boiling whisk in the powdered sugar
-mix until uniform and smooth

See this it too thick, I got impatient and added a bunch more icing sugar, and it was too thick to work with .  Follow what the recipe says, it works better.

-working one cookie at a time, take a butter knife or a spatula and spread the icing over half of the cookie

Okay so I tried to spread on the icing, and that was a fail, so just dribble it along the top and it will run all over the cookie and run off.

-if the icing gets thick or clumpy put it back over heat and whisk until smooth again
-once all cookies are half iced put the double boiler back on the heat and mix the chocolate into the remaining icing

So what I would do is mix the icing right before each cookie and  drizzle the cookie.  The icing set really quickly.

-ice the other half of the cookies, and let them dry, which takes very little time

These are the better ones, sad I know.

Those ones on the left I tried to spread the frosting.  Letting the frosting drizzle down was much better.

  They keep up to 3 days in an air tight container, but since you only get 12 cookies, they will not last that long.

  And I had planned to keep these all for myself, but I ate one and had to lay down, the amount of sugar made me sick, very sick.  I have to really learn to stop that, silly me.  So I packed them up for work, I kept one for me to eat over the next few days.

All packed up for work, so I don't make myself sick again.  Sigh they are so good.

  I also think if I want to make them again, which I will, I will make them with a small cookie scoop and make them much smaller.

  I found the actual cookie to be like a nice thick lady finger cookie, not too sweet at all, but the icing, oh that icing sure packs a sugar punch.  So good!

  Give them a try, I mean they are Cake Boss cookies after all, they have to be good.  And these are big, so they would be perfect wrapped up with a nice gift tag.

  And to make a gift tag, I will get a little crafty again, but just a little.

  I used my shape punch and just cut out some pattern paper and wrote on it.  Then punched a hole in it and tied it on with curling ribbon.  Very simple and home made all the way.