Science Cookies: Drosophila melanogaster

Science Cookies: Drosophila melanogaster!

A new cutter and a new science cookie. I made roughly 100 Drosophila cookies yesterday, expecting trouble decorating them. I was right. These things are as annoying in cookie form as they are in real life.




While planning my cookies design, I found it hard to balance a realistic look with something you're supposed to want to eat. I iced numerous test cookies trying to get one that actually looked semi-respectable, semi-edible and easy enough to repeat over and over for dozens of little cookies. I think I settled on a happy medium with these flies. Although, I'm certain someone will find something 'wrong' with them, perhaps deciding to school me in the ins and outs of fly sexual dimorphism. While I appreciate free lessons, let me remind the accuracy sticklers:

They are cookies.

Everyone got that? Awesome. Let's move along...



I decided to go with wild type Drosophila. Mostly because I thought they were the most visually interesting of all the cookies I decorated. The others ended up being a little too monochromatic for my tastes. I did try to demonstrate some sexual dimorphism in the banding though, but it was a little tough with my current set of piping tips. I think I need a 0 or 00 sized tip to do a more accurate design on a cookie of this size. I'll pick them up next week...although that means I'll be straining my icing though nylon. Ugh, dealing with small tips is always messy. Anyway, hopefully the difference in sex is vaguely apparent, that was all I was aiming for.

So, to make these cookies, I took my generic sugar cookie recipe and decorated them with royal icing and some edible platinum luster dust.

Since the cookie was small I didn't do any flood work with these. I just piped blobs of semi-thick icing for the head and body background-color. The wings I outlined in white icing and allowed them to dry. I then painted the wings with the platinum luster dust to give them and the cookie beneath a slight shimmer. I denoted the body segments with darker brown icing and added the banding. Lastly, I piped on little blobs of red-orange icing for the eyes.

The previous generations of test cookies all aimed for a little more realism and were far more complicated. In the end, they didn't look as good as these and while I'm not totally happy with them (I need smaller piping tips!) I still think they are cute. I do like the effect the luster dust gives the wings.

Enjoy the bugs. They do taste better than the real thing.




(Oh, and I just finished my zebrafish cookies too. I should have those up within the week.)

Miniature Cupcakes with Marzipan Cherries

What to do with leftover cake batter?!

Earlier this week, I found myself with leftover cake batter from the Bacon cake. There really wasn't much left, and despite being boring ol' yellow cake mix, I was reluctant to throw out the cup of batter that remained. Something neat could be made with it, I just had to think small...

I decided on a batch of bite sized mini cupcakes. In the classic cupcake style, with swirls of pink frosting and a marzipan cherry on top.


My daughter, who turns two at the end of the month, has a book that features a drawing of a cupcake just like this, one that she likes to grab at with her hands and pretend eat. Which is a little strange, since she has only had one cupcake in her lifetime and that was over a year ago. She seems to naturally know that cupcakes are yummy.

Well maybe...

She also tries to eat this sail boat on the same page.

Anyway, I figured I'd make the littlest Humble a treat from the remaining batter.

If you have any leftover cake or brownie batter, feel free to give this a go. I wouldn't attempt this with a full batch of cake batter as it will make well over a hundred cupcakes. I don't know about you, but dealing with that many tiny cupcakes seems a little tedious to me.

Not so Humble Mini Cupcakes with Marzipan Cherries:

makes approximately 2 dozen

Leftover cake batter, roughly one cup

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon heavy cream

1 oz marzipan

1/2 oz fondant

red food coloring

brown food coloring

Using 1 1/3" x 3/4" foil liners set into a mini muffin tin, divide your leftover batter among the cups. Bake at at 350 degrees for roughly 10 minutes and then allow to cool completely.

In your mixer beat the sugar, butter, vanilla, cream and a drop of red food coloring until light and fluffy. Add the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a medium sized round tip (Ateco 12).

Tint your marzipan with a drop of red food coloring and kneed to distribute. If it gets sticky add a little powdered sugar to your hands. Roll the marzipan into a half inch thick log and then slice into small even pieces. Roll each into a ball and then roll one side of the cherry along the length of a bamboo skewer to create a little crease in the side of the cherry.

Tint the fondant brown in the same manner as the marzipan and then roll out into a very thin length. I used the tip of my skewer to cut each length, stabbed one end of my 'stem' to pick it up and then stabbed it (the stem and my skewer) into the top of my cherry to securely place it.

Top each cupcake with a swirl of frosting and top with your marzipan cherries and you're done.

My daughter was thrilled by them. These would be great for a child's tea party.

Potato Leek Soup with Pancetta & English Cheddar Puffs

More soup, because it is cold outside today. Actually, it is cold inside too.

Apparently Seattle is supposed to get some snow soon, which will be lovely... for anyone who doesn't need to use a car. I know folks from other Northern states who chuckle at the chaos that unfolds in this city when we get even a trace of snow, but they don't seem realize that the whole city is pretty much built on a 90 degree incline. I don't exactly get around in a monster truck, so word of snow puts me a little on edge.

Anyway, dinner tonight is potato leek soup with pancetta served with warm savory english cheddar puffs. Easy, hot and yummy. Exactly what I need.

Not so Humble's Potato Leek Soup with Pancetta:
Serves 8

1 leek, washed and the white portion finely chopped
1 large onion finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 pound thick sliced pancetta, cubed
2 large boiling potatoes peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chicken stock
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
1 3/4 cups whole milk
salt
pepper

In a pot over medium high heat, add olive oil and onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the leek, celery, pancetta and potatoes and saute for another 3 minutes stirring often. Add the three cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a separate pan until bubbly, add the flour and cook over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add the milk and whisk until smooth. Once the sauce thickens, add it to the soup mixing well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.




(Just a quick shout out to Mother Humble in London: See Mom! I used that cheese you left behind! You can stop worrying about it going to waste now.)

These are wonderful savory little puffs, packed with cheddar flavor. They make great appetizers and they are also great with tonight's soup.

If you can't find a nice English cheddar, be sure to substitute a sharp cheddar. Milder cheddar cheeses don't pack enough flavor for these puffs, so keep that in mind. This recipe also calls for french fried onions, for which I've provided a recipe at the bottom of the post. If you don't want to go through all the trouble of making your own fried onions, feel free to substitute the store bought variety.

Not so Humble's English Cheddar Puffs:
yields roughly 32 puffs

1/4 cup butter
1 cup plus two tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs
1 2/3 cup packed, grated sharp English cheddar
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 cup french fried onions

Preheat your oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small pot, add the butter, salt and one cup of water and bring to a boil. Grab a wooden spoon, reduce the heat to medium and add the flour. Mix with the wooden spoon for about 2-3 minutes until the dough is glossy and has pulled away from the sides of the pan.

Add the dough to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add the cheddar, thyme and pepper and mix on medium low speed to combine. Then add the french fried onions, mixing until just incorporated.

Add the dough to a pastry bag with a wide round tip and pipe 2 inch blobs onto the parchment, about an inch apart. Alternatively you can just spoon blobs onto the parchment, if you don't want to bother with a pastry bag.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until puffy and golden. Serve immediately.


French Fried Onions:
1 small yellow onion
1 cup flour
oil for frying

Prep the onion by peeling, halving and then slicing very thin.

Pour a couple inches of oil into a pot, enough to cook your onions without crowding them. Heat the oil to 350°F using your candy/deep frying thermometer. Take the onions, a small handful at a time, and coat them in a bowl with the cup of flour. Shake off the excess and sprinkle them into the hot oil. Let cook until a golden brown color, roughly 3-4 minutes. Remove and place on paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining onion, allowing the oil to reheat to 350°F between batches.