Cookies – Page 2 – The Ocelots' Den

Return of the Elves

By Julia on 30 November, 2019

I don’t personally have an Elf on the shelf. (Probably since I ~~think it’s creepy~~ don’t have children). I do enjoy all the fun things elves “do.” I also enjoy the magic and the fun in the season. Two of my nephews are local and love their elf named Truck. To welcome Truck back and kick-off Advent, I wanted to surprise the boys and make them some elf cookies.

*It’s a total secret. The boys don’t know that Auntie Julia is the one who made the treats.

Freshly Baked Elves Cooled and Ready to be Iced!

I lovingly whipped up my royal icing and methodically portioned it into four containers. And then as I mixed the red, then brown, and elf skin tones. I thought to myself, why do I have an extra container? What color is this supposed to be? And I promptly colored it yellow because I planned to pipe names on them and paint them with gold luster dust.

Immediate facepalm. I needed that white royal icing. I needed it to be white. I wanted a white collar and white accents on the hat. So, instead, I improvised. I piped the shape I was intending in red and covered them with silver sprinkles! Festive and fun. (If you are going to make a mistake, make it sparkle!)

It was also a new technique I hadn’t used. It was a HUGE sigh of relief that it worked. Once the elves had hats and collars, I added various “boy” and “girl” hairstyles.

It was time for the elves to get some skin and ears. I finally understood my best flooding consistency for my icing at this point. (Always learning lessons). The thicker red icing set too fast and left a texture.

While my ears were still wet, I added some coordinating gray “pearl” earrings to showcase the “girl” elves. I probably need to get some tweezers that are made for baking to place these with ease, but I threw caution to the wind and dropped them into place and hoped for the best. (Success!)

I added adorable button noses and some little accents to their pointy ears, but at this point, it was time to let my tiny masterpieces dry. I needed them to be smooth and hard so that I could draw the faces! Overnight usually works in my experience, but it is always best not to rush it.

These little elves fill my heart with so much joy! I used edible ink (fine tip) markers to sketch the faces, and I added a little luster dust to add the rosy chill from the North Pole.

Autumn | Baked Goods | Cookies | Holiday | Thanksgiving

It’s High Time for Pie Time

By Julia on 20 November, 2019

Gobble Gobble! I am amazed that Turkey-Time is upon us. This year, I tried to practice daily thankfulness moments. I have an adorable Turkey-on-the-Table (which benefits Feed More) where I add a feather and something I’m thankful for daily. It may seem a little silly, but in my extremely formal office, I really enjoy adding a little decoration for the season.

Naked Turkey before his thankful feathers were added

In my opinion, the most iconic Thanksgiving dessert is clearly Pumpkin Pie. It’s autumnal and comforting. I was asked to make an order of decorated cookies for our office Thanksgiving luncheon and decided to turn the iconic dessert into a sugar cookie!

I love perusing Pinterest for ideas and inspiration, but I ended up taking my own spin on the Mini Cookie Pies. I love the simplicity of the sugar cookie with one later of frosting and the crimpled crust versus piping on a faux crust. I happened to have a hand pie cutter with a plunger that was the perfect tool for the job!

I’m a little bit of a perfectionist, so I searched and searched for something to help me evenly divide my pie into 6 slices with minimal effort. As luck has it, my strainers are PERFECT!!!!

Once the crust was marked, I could easily slice through it with my rotary cutter, aka a pizza cutter). My slices aren’t all 100% perfect, but as long as I keep each pie together, the pies fit and look 100% adorable.

It’s crucial to chill the dough if it has been stamped. It helps the cookies retain their impressions. I tried to take a shortcut as the evening progressed, and it didn’t turn out favorably. (As a bonus, it meant I had some cookies for tasting!)

I added a quick layer of frosting and let the crimpled crust show through. Before the frosting set, I added a quick sprinkle of Nutmeg. You could just as easily use a pumpkin pie spice mix (Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, and Allspice) or any of the other spices individually. I personally favor Nutmeg, and I like the thicker grain of it (I grate whole Nutmeg at home).

I spent some time thinking of cute simple sayings to add to my pies (and a bonus cookie) as I stumbled through my designs in my Silhouette Library; I found the most adorable Owl dressed as a Pilgrim.

*Side Story, my Great Gram LOVED birds. All Birds. She always kept a collection of bird feeders filled outside our kitchen windows so she could watch the birds ~~and yell at the squirrels~~. On one occasion, she was given an owl, and of course, loved and appreciated it, but it started a trend of people gifting her things with owls. (Pro Tip: Unless you want to be gifted with ALL the animal things… pick an obscure animal, like an Ocelot). I grew up with owls (and elephants) all over the house, so it warms my heart to see owls.

I wanted simple phrases that could also be added to the pie slices letter-by-letter. (6 slices, 6 letter words) “Gather” and “Gobble”. I’m also a lady who likes her options, so I’m still noodling on additional ideas.

I was glad this order was so successful on my first attempt on making these adorable little treats. It was my first attempt at layering royal icing transfers, and I confirmed my thought that I needed to chill my dough. My shortcut of pressing and baking resulted in plain triangle cookies. (Or as I like to call them, delicious mistakes).

I couldn’t wait to try out my hexagon cutter ahead of a December order! I think it turned out precious!

All the ~~cookies~~ pies are boxed and ready for delivery. I can’t wait to share!

Baked Goods | Birthdays | Cake | Cookies | Holiday

Young, Wild, and Three!

By Julia on 12 August, 2017

This week was my youngest nephew’s third birthday! He asked me to make him a chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting! He is a little man after my own heart. I LOVE chocolate.

This week was my youngest nephew’s third birthday! He asked me to make him a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! He is a little man after my own heart. I LOVE chocolate.

His birthday is also a few days before his dad, my brother-in-law Charles, so sometimes I like to add a nod to him as well. In years past, I heard about this cake they order for Charles. A chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache filling, the middle layer of the cake is a chocolate chip cookie, topped with a chocolate ganache frosting. I thought the little man would love his daddy’s favorite cake too!

So I set out to work. I baked my favorite chocolate cake recipe that has a little coffee in it to deepen the chocolate flavor. Then I used the same 9-inch springform pan to bake my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I molded it into the greased pan and baked it at 325 F for 20 minutes, and then I checked it every 5 minutes.

There are TWO essential keys to baking wonderful chocolate chip cookies. First, use high-quality chocolate. I like Ghirardelli because I can find them at most of the local grocery stores, and I can buy them in bulk at Sam’s Club. Second, when the recipe says to cream the butter and sugar, don’t just mix until it is combined. Use your stand mixer or hand mixer and truly whip it. The color will change! It makes a dramatic difference in the cookie!

For my filling, I made a lovely ganache. It is a simple 2-ingredient recipe. Warm the cream, pour it over the chocolate chips. Mix and whip until fluffy. (It can take some time because it needs to cool).

I stack and fill the cake, and as I was doing this, I realized I would leave it “naked,” and I didn’t frost the sides of the cake.

To top the cake, I made some more ganache, but I didn’t whip it. When it isn’t whipped, there isn’t as much air incorporated, which makes it less fluffy, and it is a darker color. I also made an adorable cake topper out of melted chocolate.

To make the topper, print out an image you want to pipe and tape it down. Lay a piece of wax paper over it and tape it down. Pipe the chocolate over the image and voila! A custom cake topper. I filled my topper because I wanted to place it on the cake in once piece. I probably could have gone over the white chocolate layer a second time after filling to bring out the lettering, but I ran out of white chocolate.

I added a #3 candle, and some fun chopped colorful candy melts around the edge as a more playful garnish. My youngest nephew is a wild-spirit. He is full of adventure and completely fearless! I think this cake sincerely captures his personality.

Update: Since making this cake, it has a new name. This cake will forever be known as “The Charles” in our family.

I couldn’t resist making some lego candies too!

Baked Goods | Cookies

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

By Julia on 20 May, 2017

Since we were going to the Jimmy Buffet Concert, I figured I needed to figure out a way to have “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.” We planned on making BBQ (aka pulled-pork for those that aren’t east coast southerners) and warming it on the Grill. So instead of an entrée, I fashioned our “burgers” into a dessert!

I love to make sugar cookies. Sometimes I bake my Great-Great Aunt Ina’s from scratch; other times when I am in a pinch for time or ingredients, I use to roll out the dough from the grocery store. Today that is what I decided to do.

To make the cookies:

1 roll of Cookie Dough or a batch of your favorite Sugar Cookie Dough

Cocoa (or brown food coloring)

Flour for rolling

Small round cookie cutter

First, divide the batter into thirds, add about 1/4 of a cup of Cocoa to one-third. The cocoa-flavored dough will serve as the “hamburger patty.” The vanilla dough will be your “buns.” Roll out the dough as usual and cut out cookies. When cutting the cookies, if you twist the cookie-cutter as you cut, this will seal the edges, which helps your cookie bake more dome-shaped. Try not to with the Hamburger patty to keep it flat! (This will be dependent on the type of dough. The more the dough naturally rises the more prominent this will be, whether baking biscuits, donuts, or cookies). * I advise to use a cookie-cutter about the size of a sandwich cookie; otherwise, when these cookies are layered, they will be HUGE.

Add a dab of icing to secure patty to the bottom bun

If you would like the cookies to look even more like an authentic burger bun, you can sprinkle a few sesame seeds on top of HALF of the vanilla cookies before they go into the oven.

Once the cookies cool, it is time to assemble the tiny masterpieces!!

Time to Decorate

I love a good buttercream. With a combination of butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla, what’s not to like?!!

I colored the frosting Red (ketchup), Yellow (mustard), and Green (lettuce). You may notice that these Cheeseburgers are lacking a key ingredient, cheese! I crossed my fingers and hoped the cheese would go unnoticed on my tiny burgers. You could very easily cut slices of “cheese” out of fondant or candy clay.

First, with the flat side of a “bun” up, add a dab of frosting (any color will do) and top with your “patty.” This is to “glue” the layers together. Next pipe on as you would your burger toppings. A drizzle of “ketchup” and a drizzle of “mustard” using a round piping tip, making sure to overlap so you can see both when you add the top. Change your tip to a different texture (I used a star) for the lettuce and dab some on and seal with your top “bun!”

Voila! The burgers are finished! Enjoy your petite treats!