April Birthday Lunch Part 2

We had 2 birthdays in April and since one was a milestone birthday we celebrated them seperately. I've been dying to try royal icing on sugar cookies, so I made baseball cookies since the birthday person is a Cardinals fan. When I went to make the sugar cookies I realized I did not own a circle cookie cutter. I stopped by my mom's house later that day figuring she had one. Little did I know my mom has decided to store all her cookie cutters in the decorative cookie jars she has scattered across the top of her cabinets. After emptying the 4th cookie jar I decided it would be much easier to just use a drinking glass. :)

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and the title does not lie, these cookies are outstanding. The recipe also makes a ton of dough, so I generally make a batch and use half of it and freeze the other half.


1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

The icing I used is royal icing. You can buy it in a bag and add water, but it is pretty tempermental and you have to work quickly. This dries as a hard coating on the cookie. Before I was introduced to royal icing I used this recipe for a glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush. Make sure you let them dry completely before stacking them.


Rocky Road Cake

I saw this in a Taste of Home magazine and just had to make it. I posted a picture of it on a cake website and it has received tons of comments. It was pretty easy to make, but I ended up with peanuts, marshmallows & chocolate all over my floor!


1 package (18-1/4 ounces) chocolate cake mix
1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
1-3/4 cups dry roasted peanuts
1-1/2 cups miniature milk chocolate kisses
1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake.

In a large bowl, combine peanuts, chocolate kisses and marshmallows. Lightly press chocolate mixture over sides and top of cake.