State Fair 2018: Scottish Empire Biscuits and Candied Cherries

Several years ago I submitted a Scottish Dundee cake to the Minnesota State Fair in the Ethnic Baking: Cake category.  I was a bit miffed that the winners were all these towers of cookies that people in Norway call cakes.  (They aren't. Norwegians: you need to get real cake.)  This year I decided to submit in the Ethnic Baking: Cookie category, again with a Scottish treat: empire biscuits.

Empire biscuits are a type of shortbread-like cookie, usually cut as a fluted round and sandwiched with raspberry jam.  They have a water glaze on top and are decorated with (traditionally) half of a candied cherry or (more recently) a gummy fruit candy or another type of colorful decoration.  I spent a lot of time on candied cherries, only to realize that they tend to bleed into the glaze on the top.  Sometimes it takes a day, but it makes them look less than perfect.  This wouldn't be a problem for regular cookie-making, but for the Fair I wanted them to look amazing.  Also, the fair has a rule about nothing being topped with fruit.  Candied fruit isn't like regular fruit, but I didn't want to be disqualified.  Thus, I swapped the cherry for a half of a Dot gummy candy.  Not traditional, but tasty and it looked pretty nice!   

I made...let's say A LOT...of these leading up to the Fair.  I really think they are a good cookie.  Not too sweet, so it is good for a dessert or snacktime.  It is also a bit bulky so that one can be satisfying.  Finally, it is a "simple" cookie that is also "fancy."  Let's be honest: the sandwiching, glazing, and topping is a fussy process.  But worth it!  

Ultimately I won a 4th premium--essentially 4th place.  This level of prize in Creative Activities comes with a check!  For $2.  A virtual fortune! 

Also, I was interested in my direct competition.  They never put the names or descriptions of the cookies with them, so I have to guess what the others are (see photo below).  1st place looked like a nut or spice filled cookie.  2nd place was definitely a cherry mini-biscotti of some kind and 3rd was a krumkakke or another type of cookie made with an iron and then rolled.  5th place was a nut-filled roll-up cookie (maybe nut kolaches?).        

Perhaps the best part of the story--well, besides the pretty pink ribbon and its accompanying prize--is that this was the year that the judges didn't pick a stupid cookie tower to win in the cake category.  There was nary a cookie-tower in sight!  But there was a crazy cookie-basket in the cookie category (shown in the background of the photo below). Which...huh...that's a bit weird, right?  How do you even eat this thing?  And also, doesn't it look strangely like an upside-down cookie tower with a handle? Yeah.  I'm with you: the Minnesotan fans of Norwegian baked goods definitely need to dial it back a bit with the cookie-towers/baskets.  Just...let it go, guys.    

Ingredients: 

Cookies:

• 225 grams butter (Yep, you kinda need to use a food scale.  Annoying, right?  But this is 2 sticks of butter, more or less)
• 130 grams superfine granulated sugar (I know, using a food scale *and* specialty ingredients.  I suck.  But it really does make a difference.  And I found this at Byerly's/Lunds, so you don't have to go to a special baking store, just a rich-people grocery store)  
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used double-strength, because I love me some vanilla)
• 450 grams all-purpose flour

Glaze: 

• 110 grams powdered sugar
• 4 ½ teaspoons water

Filling:

• Raspberry jam, seedless (Did you expect me to make my own jam? Ha! No time!) I used a black raspberry all fruit-style jam. 

Decoration:

• Candied cherries (see ingredients and instructions below) or other decoration
  
  Note: Traditionally empire biscuits are topped with half of a candied cherry, but more modern versions are often topped with a jelly candy (often Jelly Tots) or some other decoration.  Since the MN State Fair rules do not allow fruit on entries, these are topped with Dots jelly candies.  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F 
2. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper
3. Cream butter and sugar together until light & fluffy
4. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix until combined
5. Add flour and mix to form a dough.
6. Roll the dough on a floured surface to around 1cm thick. 
7. Cut cookies with a round cutter and transfer to cookie sheet 
8. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the biscuit are just golden.
9. When cool, spread underside of one biscuit with jam and sandwich with another.
10. Make water-icing by mixing powdered sugar and water.  
11. Spoon icing onto the top of each sandwich and spread to cover (but do not let it drip down the sides)
12. Before icing dries, place decoration on top.  

I looked at a bunch of different recipes and tried several versions until I settled on/came up with this one.  The recipe makes 17 sandwiched biscuits with the cutter I used, but it could make more or less, depending on the cutter shape/size. 

For Candied Cherries:

• 12-ounce jar maraschino cherries
• 3/4 cup superfine granulated sugar

Directions:   Drain the cherries, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice.  Combine juice and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan, and cook over medium heat until sugar is mostly dissolved. Add the cherries to the pot, and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering.  Simmer for 45 to 55 minutes, checking on the cherries and stirring them gently every 10 minutes or so. When they are firm when you touch them with a spoon (the syrup should be about 235°F), remove the cherries from the pot with a slotted spoon or strainer to a parchment-lined plate. Allow to cool completely before using. 

This is from a practice batch.  Note that I used different flavors of Dots here, but for the final version I used only the dark red ones (cherry, I think?)

Notice that the top halves of Dots look much nicer than the bottom halves as decorations.

I'm such a proud cookie-Momma!  Look at my little awesome cookies, winning an award and everything!

People definitely thought I was weird with the interest I was showing this particular case.  But I'm so proud of them!

Overhead shot, through the glass of the display case

Healthy Cashew Chicken in the Oven

I haven't written any entries for my projects or recipes since springtime, and with so many recipes and projects completed, that's a real shame!  So today I'm sitting down to write up a few of my recent successes.  

This recipe is based on one from Hungry Girl.  Mine actually made a bigger recipe and because it uses frozen, steam-in-bag sugar snap peas (instead of fresh snow peas) it can be made any time of year, as well as for a bit less money.  

I liked this recipe: healthy, made enough for leftovers, made my house smell awesome, and relatively fast to make (aside from all the chopping).  However, I do think the leftovers were improved with a bit of extra soy sauce and a few extra cashews on top.  You could probably also swap out peanuts, if cashews were unavailable or too pricey at the moment.        

Ingredients:

• 1 package of fresh mushrooms, quartered (Note: my mushrooms were huge, so I cut them in 1/8ths, instead.  Thanks, Sam's Club!) 
• 1 chopped onion (Yellow or white)
• 1 package of raw boneless, skinless breast, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used a 14 oz. package of chicken tenders, because that is literally all that was in the store.  I had a choice of 3 packages, but all the other chicken in the entire store had sold.  Moral of this story: don't grocery shop at 5:45 on a Sunday afternoon!)
• 1 package frozen sugar snap snow peas
• 2 tbsp. reduced-sodium/lite soy sauce, divided
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. each salt and black pepper
• 1 oz. (about 1/4 cup) unsalted roasted cashews, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or water.  I forgot to get the broth from the store and water honestly worked OK)
• 1 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Place a large piece of foil on a baking sheet and fold up the edges of the foil.  Spray with nonstick spray.
3. Place mushrooms, onion, and chicken in a large bowl. Add 1 tbsp. soy sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. 
4. Put mixture on prepped baking sheet and spread out evenly.
   
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Flip/rearrange chicken, onion, and mushrooms and sprinkle with cashews and scallions. 
7. Bake until chicken is cooked through and veggies have softened and lightly browned, about 5 to 7 more minutes.
   
8. Meanwhile...Make the sauce: 
1. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine remaining 1 Tbsp. soy sauce with broth/water, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, and ginger. 
2. Mix well. 
3. Microwave sauce for 1 minute. 
4. Stir, and microwave for 45 seconds, or until mixture is hot and has thickened.
   
9. And...Heat the frozen veggies in the microwave according to the package directions. 
10. Mix all the chicken and veggies together
11. Serve with sauce, over rice.  

 Makes 3 servings of chicken and veggies with sauce