Every year, I roll out my rolling pin to make a special batch of cookies as a sweet treat to my nearest and dearest. My all-time favorite recipe is the raspberry Linzer cookie. Its charming “windowpane” cutout design and wintry sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar make this the perfect gift to share with neighbors and friends.

Linzer Cookies with Raspberry Jam

This version features the flavors of vanilla and cinnamon, while whole-wheat flour adds depth. But linzer cookies are perfect for a bit of customizing to enhance your favorite flavors. Feel free to add some finely chopped almond bits or swap in almond flour for a nuttier flavor. Not a fan of raspberry? Use your favorite jam! Make sure you have a Linzer cookie cutter set to create the cutouts.

Recipe by Margie Monin Dombrowski

Makes about 20 cookies

You will need:

2 cups all-purpose whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

parchment paper

raspberry jam for filling

confectioner’s sugar for dusting

You will do:

1. Spoon flour into measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl.
2. Using a an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat at a low speed until well blended, being careful not to over-beat.
3. Add the mixture of dry ingredients to the bowl until just combined and it forms a dough.
4. Divide the dough in half and wrap both in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
6. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper to ensure non-stick and even baking.
7. Roll out each portion of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness with a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.
8. Use your large cookie cutters to cut out the cookie shapes, then use the small cookie cutters for the “windowpane” cutout on half of the cutouts. These “windowpane” shapes can be fragile, so carefully transfer these shapes to your parchment paper.
9. If your cookies fall apart after the cutout, try cutting out the smaller shapes while on the cookie sheet.
10. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow cookies to completely cool.
11. Spread raspberry jam over the cookies without the cutout shape. Add the cutout cookie on top to create a sandwich with the raspberry jam peeking through. Dust the top of each cookie with confectioner’s sugar. Serve and enjoy!

Waffles are more than a breakfast treat. Put down the box you found in in the grocery freezer aisle and pick up your whisk, cause we’re making cake!

Waffle-and-Mascarpone-Cream Cake

To make this cake, start with the waffles.

Waffle ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ cups milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the waffle iron.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl with a hand beater until fluffy. Beat in the flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder and vanilla until a smooth texture is achieved.
3. Spray the preheated waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the mix onto the hot waffle iron.
4. Cook until golden brown.

Next make the cream.

Cream ingredients:

• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• Vanilla extract (to taste)
• Icing sugar (to taste)

1. Beat one cup of mascarpone cheese with the vanilla extract and add icing sugar to taste.

For the cake, you’ll need the waffles, mascarpone cream and fruit of your choice.

1. 1. Cover the first waffle with the cream and fruit.
   2. Then add another waffle on top and cover it with cream and fruit. Repeat five or six times.
   3. Finish the cake with another thin layer of cream, fruit and peppermint leaves.

This waffle cake is the perfect compliment to these berry tarts. 

Seen around pretty much every holiday, royal iced cookies are particularly popular at Christmastime. From delicate intricacies to creative versatility, the art of royal icing is easy to pick up and rather difficult to perfect. This hard-drying icing is one recipe used in two different stages to create amazing and delicious edible cookie art.

Basic Royal Icing

Prep: 2 minutes
Makes 1 cup

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon water
Food coloring (optional)

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until icing is thick and smooth.
2. Stir in food coloring, adding small amounts at a time to make your perfect shade.
3. Adjust the consistency with small amounts of water to thin or powdered sugar to thicken.

To Decorate Baked Cookies

1. Mix up a thick batch of icing (recipe follows), making an easily piped icing to outline the design of your cookie. Let it set completely.

2. Gradually add water to the thick icing until it is a more liquid consistency. Using a spoon, “flood” the inside of the outline with the icing.

3. From here, you can add swirls of color to the wet icing, or let the icing set completely before piping designs on top with colored thick icing.

4. Royal icing works well with sprinkles of all types as well, so get creative and let your cookies shine!

It’s pumpkin season! As you savor your pumpkin spice latte and make your pumpkin soup, don’t forget to top things off with the quintessential fall dessert: pumpkin pie. We could have kept it unadorned for a classic look, but instead, we opted for decadence with bourbon caramel topping. Even better? You’ve got options! This sauce is only one of four recipes for elevating a store-bought pie with home-made flavor!

Pumpkin Pie with Bourbon Caramel Topping

What You’ll Need:

• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
• ¼–½ teaspoon Kosher salt (depending on salt preference)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup bourbon (optional)
• Pumpkin pie, homemade or store bought
• Gold dragées, for decoration or roasted pepitas

What You’ll Do:

1. In a large saucepan over medium, heat the sugar, butter and salt until the butter melts and the sugar darkens around the edges, 3–4 minutes.
2. Whisking constantly, slowly stream in the cream until well combined (some sugar will seize at first). Let the mixture simmer until it begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
3. Whisk in the bourbon and simmer until the mixture is just below the soft-ball stage (200–225°F) on a candy thermometer, another 10 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it rest for 1 minute before pouring it on top of the pie, tilting to spread the caramel to the crust.
4. Let the caramel set for 5 minutes; then sprinkle on gold dragées or pepitas. Let pie chill for 1 hour before serving.

Pumpkin Soup with Molasses and Feta

Savory, creamy and full of flavor, this tasty pumpkin soup gets a dash of sweetness from a drizzle of molasses and a salty punch from crumbled feta.

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30-35 minutes

Serves 6

What you’ll need:

1½ tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
4 cups ½-inch cubes peeled and seeded pumpkin (or substitute 3 cups pumpkin purée)
1½ teaspoons sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
5-6 cups chicken broth
Blackstrap molasses, to serve
Sage sprigs, to serve
Feta cheese, crumbled, to serve

What you’ll do:

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add onions, carrots, celery and sage and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add pumpkin cubes and sea salt and sauté until pumpkin is softened and onions are golden, about 6 minutes. (If using pumpkin purée, just add the sea salt at this stage.)
3. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 5 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. (Add in purée, if using.)
4. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the pumpkin very soft, about 25 minutes. (For purée, cook for only 15 minutes.) Let cool slightly.
5. Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a standard blender, purée the soup until mostly smooth texture. If consistency is too thick, add in another cup of chicken broth. Season soup with salt and pepper.
6. To serve, ladle out soup into bowls. Using a spoon, drizzle or swirl some molasses on top of the soup. Finish with a sprig of fresh sage and a sprinkling of feta cheese.

With the temperature rising and gardens coming to life, the summer sunshine beckons us to come outdoors.

Quality time with family and friends moves from the living room to the backyard for barbecues, water balloon fights and all manner of outdoor fun that can only be had in the warmer months.

An icy drink is essential to beat the heat and stay cool while enjoying the weather and what better way to hydrate than a glass of fresh made lemonade?

Here’s a recipe for a lemonade with a pretty floral twist, plus three ideas for decorating with flowers as you prepare to entertain this summer!

Sourced from: The Cookie Rookie

Ingredients

• 6 cups water, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp dried lavender
• 2 cups lemon juice
• Lemon slices and lavender sprigs for garnish
• Blue or purple food coloring (optional)

Directions

1. Over medium heat, combine two cups of water and sugar, bringing to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Turn off of the heat and stir in agave nectar and lavender.
2. Allow mixture to steep for 2 hours (less if you want less of a lavender taste). Strain the liquid, pressing the lavender down to make sure you get all of those juices into your mixture!
3. In a large pitcher, combine freshly squeezed lemon juice, lavender mixture and water.
4. Feel free to add a couple drops of blue or purple food coloring if you want more color than the lavender provides. Serve over ice.

Now that you’ve made a pretty beverage for your guests, read on to learn how to create an inviting setting to go along with it.

Decorate napkins with twine and flowers

Give your table a rustic look using twine to wrap napkins and small sprigs of fresh flowers.

Twine like this can be found at craft stores while the flowers can be gathered from the wild, your own garden or picked up at the grocery store.

For extra floral flair, create a small bouquet to adorn the back of each chair.

Use edible flowers to garnish sweets

Make your favorite sweet treats or simply grab pre-made baked goodies from your local grocery store.

Most grocers have some selection of edible flowers in stock, but for a wider variety, check health food or speciality stores like Whole Foods, or order from online retailers such as Gourmet Sweet Botanicals.

Tie it all together with a grand sunflower centerpiece

Sunflowers are at their peak in beauty during summer and every table needs an eye-catching centerpiece to anchor the look.

Place your sunflowers in a pretty pitcher to accent the rustic feel created by the napkin holders and flowers.

If it’s just too hot outside, the party can be easily relocated indoors.

Save

Save

Save

Save