Author: thecookiefilesblog

Vegan Chocolate Orange Buttercream

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The agents are not vegan, but they have vegan friends.

You’re gonna need:
-Stand mixer

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup vegan butter (salted), room temperature
-3/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
-1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
-3 tbsp orange juice (no pulp, no added sugar)
-1 1/2 tsp orange extract

Instructions:
-In the mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until very well combined.
-With the mixer on low, add in the rest of the ingredients, little by little. Beat everything for a couple of minutes, and don’t forget to scrape the sides to make sure everything is well combined.

That’s it!

Trip to Brunswick

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So, we decided to take a little trip in March. First stop: Brunswick. Why? Because of the stew, of course. Did you know that Brunswick, GA, claims to be the place of origin of the stew? Apparently, Brunswick county in VA also claims that. We’ll have to investigate further someday in the future.

But let’s focus on what we have right now.

We went to Marshside Grill and ordered the famous stew. Boy, it was GOOD. Even Agent Blondie, who is not much of a fan of soupy type of foods liked it. So, we both recommend the experience in case you are passing by this small town.

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Next stop: Pinball Palace. Agent Danish really loves pinball, so this stop was mandatory. Unfortunately, it seems that they don’t have the Big Lebowski table out for play, but the amount of different pinball machines that they offer is still rather impressive.

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Agent Danish’s favorites: South Park, Revenge from Mars, The Hobbit, Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Castle, and Funhouse
Agent Blondie’s favorites: Roller Coaster Tycoon, The Simpsons, Aerosmith, and South Park

Third and last stop in Brunswick: The Pot
We stopped to see the pot that was used to make the first Brunswick Stew. Here it is.

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Unfortunately, the farmer’s market that was supposed to be held on the day we visited the stew pot was not there, so that’s all we got. The Pot. Still, good memories.

Chocolate Orange Snack Cake

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Sometimes we just want a basic cake, and this one is just perfect for any afternoon: not too much work, and it has enough flavor that you won’t be (necessarily) asking for some frosting.

What you’re gonna need:
-Mixer
-Oven
-A 13x9x2 inch pan, either covered with foil or greased and dusted with flour, your pick (I generally pick the foil for rectangle pans, by the way).

Ingredients:
-1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
-3/4 cup cocoa powder (not dutch)
-2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 eggs
-3 tsp orange extract
-1 cup buttermilk
-1 cup orange juice (100% juice, no added sugar)

Instructions:
-Preheat the oven to 340ºF
-If you don’t have your pan prepared by now, don’t forget to line it with foil or grease and dust it with flour. Set aside.
-In a big bowl (not the mixer one), combine all the dry ingredients. Set aside.
-In the mixing bowl, mix all the remaining ingredients until very well combined. Add in the dry ingredients little by little, beating just enough, so everything is well combined. Don’t forget to scrape the sides with a spatula.
-Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake it for about 28 minutes, in case you have the exact same size that we’ve used here. However, we strongly advise you just do the toothpick test – that is, if you insert a toothpick right in the middle of your cake and it comes out clean or with just very few crumbs on it, it’s time to take your cake out of the oven.

That’s it!

Oh, and in case you want some buttercream for your cake, check out this recipe here: Chocolate Orange Buttercream

Chocolate Orange Buttercream

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What you’re gonna need:
-Stand mixer
-Microwave
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
-3 tsp orange extract
-1/2 tsp salt
-3 cup powdered sugar
-1 cup dark cocoa powder
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-12oz (or 340g) dark chocolate (53%)
Instructions:
-In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stop and stir it with a spoon every 30 seconds, to avoid burning it. When everything is well melted, set the bowl aside.
-In the mixer bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for about a minute. Add in the orange extract and the salt, and beat for at least 30 seconds more.
-With the mixer on slow, slowly add the powdered sugar and the cocoa powder to the butter mixture. Don’t forget to scrape the sides. Keep the mixer on low.
-Pour the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl, little by little.
-Add the heavy cream, and beat for about 3 minutes. Again, don’t forget to scrape the sides and to make sure that everything is well combined.

Use it immediately. If you put it in the refrigerator to use it later on, bring it to room temperature and beat it in the mixer for a couple of minutes before using it.

That’s it 🙂 See you guys soon!

Buttermilk substitute

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Let’s be honest: not too many people have buttercream in their refrigerators. It’s just a fact. That being said, we’ve got a buttermilk substitute that you can make at home that is so easy you’ll never have to worry about buying (or even finding) buttermilk ever again.

Ingredients:
-1 cup whole milk
-1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions:
-Put one cup of milk in a bowl, and take out one tbsp of it. Now, add 1 tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice to your milk. Mix well and wait for at least 5 minutes before using it.

That’s it! That gives you 1 cup of buttermilk substitute. So you just have to multiply to the right amount for the recipe that you have.

Marzipan Cake

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WhatsApp Image 2023-03-09 at 18.50.58So, with our marzipan recipe, you can make this wonderful Marzipan Cake.
Are you ready for it?

What you’re gonna need:
-Oven
-Microwave, or some other way to melt chocolate (we used the candy melting pot from Wilton—I strongly advise you to use it if you have it, since it keeps the temperature stable for the whole process)
-Stand mixer
-Baking pans — we used two 6 inch (15.24 cm) round anodized aluminum pans
-Food processor (in case you still have to make the marzipan)

Ingredients for the cake:
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-Pinch of salt
-1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-2 egg whites
-1 tsp almond extract
-2/3 cup buttermilk
-Some extra unsalted butter (at room temperature) and all-purpose flour to butter and dust the cake pans.

Instructions for baking the cake:
-Pre-heat the oven to 340ºF. Spread the (extra) butter carefully all over the inside of both cake pans. Dust them with (extra) flour and tap them upside down to get rid of any unnecessary flour. Set them aside.
-In a small bowl, mix together baking powder, baking soda, flour, and salt. Set aside.
-In the mixing bowl, beat sugar and butter until combined. Add in the egg whites, one at a time, beating well after adding each of them. Add the extract and beat a little bit more, until everything is well combined.
-Add half of the dry mix to the mixing bowl, mix in the buttermilk, and then add the rest of the dry mix to the batter. Beat just until well combined. Don’t forget to scrape the sides.
-Pour the batter into the pans. Bake them for about 23 minutes in case your pans are exactly like ours. However, I strongly suggest you just do the toothpick test. If your cakes are starting to get this very light brown color on the outside and the toothpick, when inserted in the middle, comes out clean, it’s time to take them out of the oven. Let them cool off before working on your cake.

Filling:
About 1 1/2 recipe of our marzipan will give you about 3 layers of filling, and maybe some leftover that you can happily snack on.

Frosting: Half of this recipe will be more than enough to cover the cake. Let the frosting sit on the cake for at least an hour before putting the melted chocolate on top of it.Finishing touch: Melt the chocolate (dark, 53% cocoa) and carefully spread all over the cake. DO NOT USE CANDY MELTS OR ANY OTHER “FAKE” CHOCOLATE, OTHERWISE YOU WILL END UP WITH A HARD SHELL. About 16oz of chocolate should be enough. I’d just grab two 11oz bags and use whatever is left in another recipe, just to be safe.
Let the chocolate layer dry before cutting the cake. That will probably take a couple of hours.

Tip: If you are going to store this cake in the refrigerator, I strongly advise you to cut the slices before doing that, otherwise the chocolate will get too hard, and you might get giant cracks when cutting the cake.

That’s all for now 🙂 See you guys soon!

Basic Vanilla Frosting

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Sometimes we just need something super easy to cover a cake.

You’re gonna need: A mixer

Ingredients:
-3 cups confectioner’s sugar
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
-Pinch of salt
-1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
-In the mixing bowl, beat the butter on low speed. Add in the extract and the salt.
-With the mixer still on low, add the confectioner’s sugar little by little. When you are done adding in the sugar, you can turn the speed to medium and mix a little bit more, three to four minutes should be more than enough.

Since this buttercream doesn’t have whipped cream or any agent that would melt (in normal conditions, that is), always use this recipe when you need a vanilla frosting that has to sit at room temperature for a long time.

Easy marzipan recipe (egg free!)

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We’re big marzipan fans in this house. Really. But Agent Blondie cannot even imagine eating raw eggs, much less keeping a recipe that has raw eggs sitting in the refrigerator for god knows how many days/weeks. That being said, we have the solution, and an easy one on top of that.

You’re gonna need: A food processor

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups almond flour
-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
-2 teaspoons almond extract
-3 tablespoons of meringue powder
-3 tablespoons water
We don’t use rose water, but feel free to add some if you like it.

Instructions:
-In a small bowl, mix the meringue powder and the water. Set aside.
-In the food processor, pulse the almond flour with the confectioner’s sugar until combined. Add in the extract and the meringue powder mix to the dry mix. Pulse until a thick dough is formed.
-Put your marzipan in a bowl and knead it for a little bit just to make sure everything is very well mixed in.
-Wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator. It should be good for at least a couple of weeks.

See you guys in the next post!

This is a message from the cookie agents

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Welcome! This is our top-secret place with our top-secret recipes! The cookie agents Blondie and Danish will present you not only cookie recipes per se, but also cakes, millions of other types of desserts, and some savory stuff here and there.

This is just a short introduction. We’re done here. Agent Blondie did not think it was polite to start our journey without saying hello first, and agent Danish agreed.

Toodaloo