Pinwheel Cookies Tutorial

Easy 'Slice and Bake' Cookies         

Slice and Bake Cookies: Pinwheels and
Chocolate Hazelnut and Vanilla

Also know as Refrigerator cookies, or Icebox cookies, these Slice and Bake cookies are a neat and easy way to make pretty cookies. Just roll the dough into a log, freeze, and then slice away as many as you need. With only two different flavours of dough, there are limitless possibilities. Make some checkerboard cookies, or even add some of your favourite nuts for a new flavour combination.

Here is my cookie dough recipe and instructions on how to form the pinwheels. I hope you have fun make these super cool looking cookies!                                      

Chocolate and Vanilla Pinwheel Cookies          

Makes 36 cookies 

Adapted from: www.sugarywinzy.com                                                     

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

To form the pinwheels:

Wax paper

Rolling pin

Sharp knife

Scissors

Cling film

Cardboard roll from paper towels, optional

INGREDIENTS:

For the vanilla dough:

1 cup (227 g) butter, soft

1 cup sugar (207 g) white sugar

2 eggs (large)

4 teaspoons (16 g) vanilla essence

2 tablespoons (28 g) milk

3 cups (405 g) flour

2 tablespoons (20 g) Maizena

1 tablespoon (18 g) baking powder

For the chocolate dough:

(To be combined with a portion of the vanilla dough)

6 tablespoons (40 g) cocoa powder

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter, soft

2 tablespoons (28 g) milk

  

DIRECTIONS:

For the vanilla dough:

1.       Sift together the flour, Maizena and baking powder.

2.       Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

3.       Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

4.       Add the vanilla and milk.

5.       Fold in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until combined. A smooth dough should form.

6.       Remove about ¾ of the dough, cover in cling film and refrigerate. The remaining dough is used for the chocolate dough.

For the chocolate dough:

1.       Melt together the butter and milk in the microwave.

2.       Stir in the cocoa powder, until a thick paste forms.

3.       Mix together the cocoa paste with the vanilla dough, until the chocolate dough is formed.

4.       Refrigerate for at least half an hour. This will make the dough easier to roll.

To form the pinwheels:

1.       Divide the vanilla dough into two equal parts. Do the same for the chocolate dough. Use this to make two cookie dough logs.   

Chocolate and vanilla cookie dough

2.       On a sheet of wax paper, roll out the vanilla dough into a rectangle that is about 10 mm thick. Set aside and repeat with the chocolate dough. Keep the rectangles approximately the same size.

3.       Place the chocolate dough on top of the vanilla dough. Lightly roll over the chocolate dough, with the rolling pin, to press together the vanilla and chocolate dough.

4.       Using a knife, trim a straight edge along the longest side of the rolled dough. Along this same side, roll the dough tightly into a log, and cover in cling film.

5.       Cut the cardboard roll so that the cookie log fits into the roll. This ensures the cookie log does not form a flat edge. Place in the freezer for at least an hour.

Cookie dough log, ready to be sliced

6.       Slice off cookies about 10 mm thick. Bake on a lined cookie sheet, in a preheated oven, for 15 min at 180°C.

Pinwheel cookies ready for the oven

7.       Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack.

For variation, make a chocolate and hazelnut dough by combining 40 g crushed hazelnuts into the chocolate dough. 

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes choc-full of choc chips      

Choc Chip Cupcake topped with a
Choc Chip Cookie

      

I needed cupcakes to go with my cookies, and this is the result! I made mini choc chip cookies as toppers for these sweet treats. 

Click here for the cookie recipe.

And here’s the cupcake recipe for you to enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes                                                                                                         

Makes 12 cupcakes

Adapted from: Recipes from the Royal Kitchen compiled by Heilie Pienaar

INGREDIENTS:

70 g butter, soft

½ cup white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1½ cups flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

½ cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with baking cases.

2.       Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.

3.       Beat in the egg, and add in the vanilla.

4.       Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold in to the above mixture, while alternating with the milk.

5.       Fold in the chocolate chips.

6.       Spoon the cupcake mixture into the lined muffin pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7.       Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them to cool completely, on a wire rack.

Fresh out the oven

I decorated my cupcakes with some chocolate buttercream and mini chocolate chip cookies. Get creative with a different flavour buttercream or enjoy these cupcakes just as they are. Happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies packed with chocolate chip goodness

Freshly baked Choc Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are definitely worthy of the Cookie Monster. Packed with chocolate chips and slightly soft on the inside, they make a yummy cookie!

This is my version of Averie Sunshine's Choc Chip Cookies. I added half the amount of chocolate, but still used a combination of my favourite 70% dark chocolate and chocolate chips. I added the cornflour too, to make sure the insides were soft. 

When baking the cookies, I kept a close eye on them to make sure they didn't burn. Remember the cookies will continue to bake, on the tray, after removing them from the oven.     

Follow this recipe next time you're baking choc chip cookies. You won't be disappointed!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Adapted from: www.averiecooks.com   

INGREDIENTS:

180 g butter, soft

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons maizena (cornflour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup (60 g) chocolate, 70% cocoa, chopped into small pieces

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Cream the butter until pale and fluffy.

2.       Add the sugars and continue creaming.

3.       Beat in the egg and add in the vanilla.

4.       Sift together the flour, maizena, and baking powder, and fold into the above mixture.

5.       Fold in the chocolate chips and pieces.

6.       Form the cookies by rolling about a ¼ cup of the dough into balls. Press the dough into discs about 1 cm thick.

7.       Refrigerate the cookies for at least 2 hours. This results in thicker cookies.

8.       Bake the cookies at 180°C, in a preheated oven, for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. 

Lindt Studio Master Class

Learning the Art of Classic Cake Making

Cakes we enjoyed at home after class.

Birthdays mean cake! And what better way to celebrate my birthday this year, than with a Lindt Studio Master Class. Thanks for the AWESOME birthday gift Big Sister, Nishtha. It was tons of fun spending the morning learning about cakes in the Lindt Studio kitchen.

We attended the Art of Classical Cakes class, where we learnt how to bake 5 different types of cakes: Black Forest Gateau, Helvetia Slice, Tiramisu, Paris-Brest and Sacher Torte. My favourite, by far was the Helvetia Slice. It was full of white chocolate and hazelnut delicious-ness!    

Here’s a description of each of the cakes:

Black Forest Gateau 

This dessert is made from a combination of chocolate cake, cherries and whipped cream. We made individual sized versions of this classic cake using silicone moulds. Chocolate cream was piped between thin layers of chocolate cake, finished with a layer of sprayed chocolate, a topping of Kirsch cream and a cherry.

Big Sister spraying the Black Forest 
Gateau with tempered chocolate. 

Helvetia Slice 

This version of the Swiss cake is made from almonds, white chocolate and sponge cake. The cake is assembled by alternating layers of the thin sponge and white chocolate almond ganache several times.

Tiramisu 

This popular dessert is made using coffee liqueur, boudoir biscuits, mascarpone, and white chocolate coffee ganache. Once the different components are layered, all that is needed to decorate is a generous dusting of cocoa powder.

Paris-Brest 

This ring of choux pastry represents the wheel of a bicycle. The dessert commemorates the Paris-Brest-Paris race in France. The choux pastry is baked with a sprinkling of almond slivers and filled with a rich hazelnut praline pastry cream. 

Paris-Brest ready to be filled.

Sacher Torte 

This sweet Austrian cake is made from an almond chocolate cake, apricot jam and covered with a dark chocolate ganache.

I enjoyed learning new techniques from the Lindt pastry chefs. Even though the class wasn’t very hands on I picked up some useful tips:

1.       A double boiler isn’t necessarily the best way to melt chocolate. A microwave is fine as long as you only heat the chocolate in 30 second intervals while stirring in between.

2.       Ganache is made by heating the cream first, then adding the chocolate. Not the other way around! (For you, Nishtha).

3.       Fresh cream whips the best straight from the fridge.

4.       The trick to using silicone moulds is to freeze whatever you’ve made first, then removing from the mould. This prevents any breaking of your special treats.

And finally, I discovered 2 more baking stores I can visit; Culinary Co. and the Chocolate Den. I will now not ONLY be found at Kadies and Baker’s Warehouse on the weekends!  

I really enjoyed attending this class. But most of all I enjoyed eating our treats at home. Don’t worry, we did share them! Tea and cake with friends is what my baking is all about. Give me a shout if you want to come over anytime. 

Chocolate! Can't get enough of it.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

Chocolate Cupcake with
Chocolate Buttercream

It’s been all about the chocolate lately. First I experimented with chocolate fondant, now I baked some chocolate cupcakes, and this weekend I’m planning to make a Mother’s Day chocolate cake too.

So to celebrate all this chocolate baking, here’s a tip for baking with chocolate.

How to melt chocolate:

Be sure to use a double boiler, or bain-marie. It’s easy to make one of your own. All you need is a saucepan, and heat proof bowl. The bowl must fit into the saucepan without touching the bottom. Chop the chocolate to be melted into small pieces, and place it in a heat proof bowl. Allow a little water to simmer in the saucepan, and then place the bowl of chocolate over the heat. Keep mixing the chocolate until all is melted. This method will allow the chocolate to be gently heated, and won’t affect the chocolate’s appearance and texture.

Try out the Chocolate Fondant recipe with melted chocolate. Or keep it simple with the Chocolate Cupcakes below.

Happy baking and I hope you enjoy your chocolate treats! 

Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Adapted from: Recipes from the Royal Kitchen compiled by Heilie Pienaar

INGREDIENTS:

60 g butter, at room temperature

¼ cup castor sugar

1 large egg

1¼ cup cake flour, sifted

¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted

1½ teaspoons baking powder, sifted

¾ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2.       Cream together the butter and sugar until pale.

3.       Beat in the egg.

4.       Mix in the vanilla essence.

5.       Fold in the flour, cocoa and baking powder, while alternating with the milk, until incorporated.

6.       Spoon the batter into the liners. Fill till about ²/₃ full.

7.       Bake for 15 minutes at 180°C.

8.       Remove from the oven and test for doneness; a toothpick comes out clean once inserted.

9.       Allow the cupcakes to cool, and then pipe the chocolate buttercream as desired.

There are so many ways to decorate your cupcakes. Get creative! I used different sprinkles and some chocolate balls. So much fun!

Decorated Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Fondant

Rich mini chocolate cakes, with a gooey centre

Makes 6 fondants

Chocolate Fondant
Served with Vanilla Ice Cream

These warm, soft, little chocolate cakes are the perfect dessert. Make them for your dinner party and they will be a hit! They are also fairly simple to make. Just make sure to keep a close eye on them once they’re in the oven.

I came across the most delicious chocolate fondants at one of my favourite restaurants in Cape Town; El Burro in Green Point. The combination of ice cream and warm chocolate is the best way to end off a meal.

Since I’m in Johannesburg now, quite a distance from those yummy El Burro chocolate fondants, I decided to make some of my own. I served mine with some vanilla ice cream too! This weekend, why don’t you give them a try? Here’s how to make your own warm chocolate desserts.

INGREDIENTS:

140 g good quality dark chocolate

100 g butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

50 g castor sugar

50 g flour

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour 6 ramekins.

2.       In a double boiler, gently melt the chocolate. Add the butter and stir until the mixture is smooth. Remove the mixture form the heat.

3.       Whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add in the vanilla essence.

4.       Whisk in a spoonful of the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. This will temper the eggs.

5.       Whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

6.       Sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Gently fold until incorporated.

7.       Divide the mixture between the 6 ramekins.

8.       Allow the filled ramekins to chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

9.       Remove the ramekins from the fridge and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

10.    Run a knife around the edge of each ramekin to loosen the cakes. Turn out onto plates and serve with vanilla ice cream. 

Checkerboard Cake Tutorial

Learn how to make your own checkerboard cake

Checkerboard Cake

This cake looks fantastic, on the inside and out. Don’t mind the crumbs while putting this cake together, because I promise, the fun you will have afterwards, is worth the mess! I couldn’t wait for us to cut the cake, to reveal the inside.

I baked this cake for Sanjay’s farewell. He’s moved to the UK now. And it’s very cold there, so to help him celebrate his last bit of warmth here in SA, I made this fun cake. He also loves to play golf, so I completed the cake with some fondant golf decorations.

Here's how I made my Checkerboard Cake.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 vanilla butter cake, 20 cm

1 chocolate butter cake, 20 cm

Large serrated knife for creating layers

Round wax paper template, 12 cm

Toothpick

Small sharp knife
Round cookie cutter, 5 cm

Cake board, 20 cm

Chocolate butter icing

Palette knife

DIRECTIONS:

1.       Have your 2 cakes ready to assemble into your masterpiece.

Vanilla and chocolate cakes

2.       Place one of the cakes on a cutting surface. I started with the chocolate cake.

Ready to cut

3.       Using a large serrated knife, cut the cake in half to create 2 layers.

Chocolate cake in 2 layers

4.       With a toothpick, secure the 12 cm round wax paper template to the cake. Using a small sharp knife, cut out a 12 cm cake round.

Template secured in place

5.       Next, create a 5 cm cake round using a cookie cutter.

5 cm cookie cutter

6.       You will then be left with 2 cake rings and 1 cake round.

7.       Do the same with the vanilla cake.

8.       Now you will have 4 cake rings and 2 cake rounds altogether. You are now ready to layer your checkerboard cake.  

9.       Begin with a 20 cm chocolate cake ring. Place this ring on your cake board. this will make it easier to move your cake later.

10. Using a palette knife, spread a thin layer of butter icing on the outer edge of a 12 cm vanilla cake ring. Place this cake ring inside the chocolate cake ring.

11.   Now take a 5 cm chocolate cake round and spread a thin layer of icing on the outer edge. Insert the chocolate cake round into the vanilla cake ring. Spread a thin layer of icing on top of this first layer.

Cake layer with chocolate ring on the outside

12.   Continue to layer your cake by alternating the chocolate and vanilla cake cut outs. Don’t forget the icing between the cake rings. This will prevent the cake falling apart when you cut it.

Cake layer with vanilla ring on the outside

13.   Once you have completed 4 layers, your cake will look something like this.

Cake layers

14.   Now you can cover your cake with a crumb coat, and decorate as you like.

Finished cake

I would love to hear from you about your baking adventures. Let me know how your cake turns out.

KitKat Chocolate Brownies

Your favourite chocolate brownie with a surprise!

KitKat Chocolate Brownies

These baked goodies come to us thanks to Big Sister, Nishtha. And I think they are quite yummy! 

As I arrived home from work one day, Nishtha greeted me with a sudden call of my name: ‘Deepta!’

‘Oh no!’ I thought to myself. ‘What have I done wrong now?’ Big sisters tend to be a little bossy at times, so naturally I was worried. 

Nishtha then pulled out her phone, and showed me a picture of some KitKat Brownies. ‘You HAVE to make these for us', she said, sounding excited.

'Phew!' I thought. 'All she wanted was cake'. No problem. Because I love an excuse to bake.

So with our love of chocolate, I baked these for us as a special treat. They turned out so good that I wanted to show you how to make some of your very own. Here's how. Let me know what you think.

KitKat Chocolate Brownies

Makes 36 small brownies

Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman Cooks (thepioneerwoman.com)

INGREDIENTS:

150g good quality dark chocolate

125g (½ cup) butter

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla essence

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup self-raising flour

1 pack Family Break (150g) KitKat
1 teaspoon icing sugar, for dusting

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20 cm square baking tin.

2.     Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan, over a low heat.

3.     Stir in cocoa powder.

4.     Remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir in the sugar and vanilla essence.  

5.     Pour in the eggs, and then fold in the flour.

6.     Pour ¾ of the batter into the tin, and spread out evenly using a spatula. Line the KitKat fingers on top of the batter. Pour in the remaining ¼ of the batter so that the KitKat fingers are completely covered.

7.     Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 180°C, or until a toothpick comes out clean, once inserted.

8.     Remove from the baking tin and leave out to cool on a cooling rack.

9.     Dust the icing sugar over the brownies using a fine mesh sieve, and cut into squares.

For variation, replace the KitKat with 100g (½  cup) pecan nuts or walnuts, roughly chopped.