Fall Season Baking
How time flies… despite a most monumental and eventful year that we couldn’t have anticipated in our wildest dreams, it does not appear to affect the flow of time, the passing of the seasons. Despite a global pandemic, political unrest and a general sentiment of doom and gloom, nature is sensing the end of yet another cycle and proclaims it with a beautiful display of amber and gold. The fact that the world keeps turning seemingly undisturbed by the trauma of 2020 is both comforting and unsettling. Comforting, because the steady forth moving motion of things much bigger than ourselves helps to put our daily worries and problems into perspective, however small or big they may be. Unsettling, because the health and stability of our beautiful planet is hanging by a thread due to our own actions. When soaking up the beauty of seasonally tinted landscapes, our bliss is tinged with the knowledge that all is not well. The things we take comfort in, take for granted, may soon be irrevocably changed.
Incorporating elements of nature into my creations helps me to really pay attention to the small everyday wonders of live. I appreciate them deeply. If we’re lacking connection with something, it’s easy to abuse or neglect it, not necessarily intentionally, but simply by ignorance. This project is not just a baking exercise. To me it is about celebrating the change of seasons by emulating an aspect of it. Makes me happy :-)
If you feel like baking some tasty treats full of seasonal spices and flavors, scroll down for my recipe. Yes, they are a little labor intense, but the end result is worth the effort. I view baking not as a means to an end but a beautiful process in itself. Make sure you have plenty of time to lose yourself in the soothing embrace of flow :-)
Spiced Fall Leaf Sandwich Cookies
List of Ingredients
Butter (salted)
AP Flour
Sugar ((Golden Caster preferred)
Confectioner’s Sugar
Eggs
Vanilla Pod (or Natural Vanilla Essence)
Orange Zest
Cacao Powder (unsweetened)
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Ground Turmeric
Matcha Powder (or Green Food Coloring)
Beetroot Powder (or Red Food Coloring)
Maple Syrup (or Natural Maple Essence)
Natural Orange Essence *optional
A little liquor such as Brandy or Cognac
Tools/Utensils
Large Mixing Bowl
4 Small/Med Bowls
Hand Mixer
Leaf Shaped Cookie Cutter (or any other medium sized shape)
Piping bag with medium steel piping tube (if you don’t have one, a large ziplock bag will also do)
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Cookie cooling rack (practical but not essential)
I’ve made 4 different kinds but of course you can always experiment with flavours to suit your own taste.
YELLOW: Maple Syrup, ORANGE: Spiced Orange, BROWN: Chocolate-Cinnamon-Clove, GREEN: Matcha-Vanilla
Step 1: Basic Dough
250g Salted Butter (softened)
225g Sugar
Beat butter and sugar with a hand mixer or a wooden spatula until smooth.
3 Eggs
1 Lemon (organic)
Add lemon zest, then drop in one egg at the time and mix until well incorporated.
500g AP Flour
Add flour and combine everything into a ball of dough.
Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. You’re ready to add spices/colorants to make up 4 differently colored balls of dough.
Step 2: Coloring
Spiced Cocoa (Brown)
2 Tsp Cacao Powder (unsweetened)
½ Tsp Cinnamon
Matcha (Green)
1 Tsp Matcha Powder (or a few drops of food coloring)
Spiced Orange (Orange)
1 Tsp Orange Zest
½ Tsp Turmeric
½ Tsp Beet Root Powder (or a few drops of food coloring)
½ Tsp Cinnamon
½ Tsp Cloves
Maple (Yellow)
no coloring needed
Make an indent to each dough ball and top with colorants/flavors. Gently knead each dough unit until the color appears completely incorporated and smooth. Flatten each ball slightly, wrap in Plastic Wrap and refrigerate for approx.60 minutes
Note: You can also do this with a hand mixer, but doing it by hand is so much more satisfying and besides you won’t have all these extra bowls and equipment to wash up afterwards.
Step 3: Cutting & baking
Pre-heat the oven to 395ºF/200ºC
Roll out the dough disks thinly (1/4-1/8 in or about 4-5mm) on a floured surface. Cut out shapes with the cutter of your choice and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. If you’re like me and love a bit of detail, you can adorn half of the leaves with ‘veins’ (or other decorations) with a toothpick or the back of a knife.
Bake the cookies in a pre-heated oven for 7-8 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Ideally transfer to a cookie rack to cool.
Step 4: Buttercream Filling
8 Tbsp Butter (at room temperature)
1.5 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
Beat the ingredients with a handmixer or wooden spoon until you end up with a smooth paste.
Note: It’s best to sieve the confectioner’s sugar if you want to avoid pesty little lumps in your buttercream.
Divide the buttercream into 4 separate bowls and mix in the various flavorings:
Maple
1 Tbsp Natural Maple Essence* or Syrup
* The essence will give the cookie a more distinct flavor plus the extra sweetness of the syrup is not really needed. That said, for convenience, use the syrup if you already have it somewhere sitting around in your kitchen. Both essence and syrup are relatively expensive. So whatever works…
Orange
½ Tsp Orange Zest (finely grated)
1 Tsp Orange Juice or Liqueur (i.e. Grand Marnier)
Pinch of Ground Cloves
Optional* A little coloring (whatever you’ve used in the cookie)
Spiced Cacao
2 Tsp Cacao Powder
½ Tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ Tsp Ground Cloves
1-2 Tsp Brandy*
* Use whatever you like and have at hand. Try Rum or maybe a little Baileys. I’ve used Kirschwasser which is frequently used in Swiss baking).
Matcha
1 Tsp Matcha Powder
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence or 1 Vanilla Pod*
*Cut in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a pointy knife
Step 5: Piping the filling
Fill a piping bag with buttercream and pipe a few little dots onto half of the cookies, covering them with the remaining ones. Make sure not to pipe too close to the edge or else you’ll end up with a mess when pressing on the second cookie.
If you don’t have a piping bag and/or tube do not despair. Just fill the buttercream into a large-ish ziplock bag. Squeeze everything into one corner and then cut a small hole into the said corner. Voila! Your makeshift piping bag.
Step 6: Enjoy or give away
These beautiful cookies are a great gift to take along to a Thanksgiving gathering. You could gift them alongside a small note of thanks and gratitude to a special person in your life? Or of course you could also just eat them yourself, because they are d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!
