Sweet! Make Easy & Delicious Red Carpet Desserts For Oscars Night

OSCARS COOKIES

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Oscar shaped cookie cutter (if you don't have an Oscar shaped cookie cutter, you can print out this template: http://www.studiodiy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/oscar-statue-printable.pdf - Simply cut out the template, roll out your sugar cookie dough, place template on top of dough and cut around it with a sharp knife)

circle cookie cutter

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until mixture is pale and blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until egg is fully incorporated into sugar mixture.  Add vanilla extract and beat.  Reduce mixer to low and add flour, a little at a time, until dough is fully combined, taking care not to over mix.

Royal Icing:

Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons meringue powder

6 tablespoons water

Additional Materials:

Edible gold glitter dust

small paint brush

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together for 7 - 10 minutes until icing stiffens.  If icing appears too stiff, add more water one teaspoon at a time.  You want it to be thin enough that you can pipe it easily.

To decorate your cookies:

Put your royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip.  First, outline the outside of the cookie.  Keep the tip about 1/2 inch above the cookie as you ice.  This helps achieve a straighter line. Next, to fill in or “flood” your cookie, add about a teaspoon of water to your remaining royal icing until it becomes more of a liquid consistency.  Fill a squeeze bottle with the “flood” icing and squeeze the icing inside the outline you just created so it almost covers the cookie.  Then take a toothpick and gently move it around to help fill in the cookie completely.  From here, your cookies must dry completely (usually 1-2 hours) Once your cookies have dried, lightly moisten the surface of each cookies with water using a paint brush, then coat in edible gold glitter.

RED VELVET CAKE PUSH POPS RECIPE:

Use your favorite red velvet cake recipe, or a red velvet box cake mix. Prepare batter, but rather than pouring batter into one 9x13 inch pan, use either two 9x13 inch pans or one 12x18 inch half sheet pan, giving you a much thinner cake to work with.  Bake cake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, remove from oven and cool completely in pan.

To Assemble Cake Push Pops you will need

16 push pop containers

A push pop container stand

Cream Cheese Frosting in a piping bag fitted with a star tip

Heart Sprinkles or sanding sugar

Using the push pop container as a cookie cutter, cut out circles of cake.  You will need 3 cake circles for each push pop, which is a total of 48 cake circles. The circle will easily slide out of the pan and into the top of your push pop.  Once circles are cut, push one cake circle into the bottom of each push pop container with your fingers.  Make sure it is pushed all the way to the bottom. Pipe in a dollop of cream cheese icing, enough to cover the perimeter of the cake circle but not too much that you won't have room for the remaining cake and frosting layers. Repeat with additional cake layer and icing until you have a total of three cake layers and three layers of frosting, ending with the frosting on top. Top with sprinkles or sanding sugar and place the push pop cap on top.

Star Sugar Cookie Toppers

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

star shaped cookie cutter

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until mixture is pale and blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until egg is fully incorporated into sugar mixture.  Add vanilla extract and beat.  Reduce mixer to low and add flour, a little at a time, until dough is fully combined, taking care not to over mix.

Divide into two disks and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate dough for at least one hour, or preferably 2 to 3 hours.  Dough can be left in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Remove your dough from the refrigerator, let it sit for a minute or two so it is easier to roll out, then put your dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin to approximately 1/8 of an inch in thickness.  Using your star shaped cookie cutter, cut out stars and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake 10-11 minutes, or until cookies are just starting to become golden in color around the edges.  Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to complete cooling.

Royal Icing:

Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons meringue powder

6 tablespoons water

Additional Materials:

Edible gold glitter dust

small paint brush

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together for 7 - 10 minutes until icing stiffens.  If icing appears too stiff, add more water one teaspoon at a time.  You want it to be thin enough that you can pipe it easily.

To decorate your cookies:

Put your royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip.  First, outline the outside of the cookie.  Keep the tip about 1/2 inch above the cookie as you ice.  This helps achieve a straighter line. Next, to fill in or “flood” your cookie, add about a teaspoon of water to your remaining royal icing until it becomes more of a liquid consistency.  Fill a squeeze bottle with the “flood” icing and squeeze the icing inside the outline you just created so it almost covers the cookie.  Then take a toothpick and gently move it around to help fill in the cookie completely.  From here, your cookies must dry completely (usually 1-2 hours) Once your cookies have dried, lightly moisten the surface of each cookies with water using a paint brush, then coat in edible gold glitter.

"POPCORN" CUPCAKES RECIPE:

Ingredients

3 cups cake flour

1 tablebspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

5 large eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F . Line 2 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter for 3 minutes on medium high speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Add the sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Bake cupcakes for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.

While cupcakes are cooling, make the Popcorn Pastry Cream

Popcorn Pastry Cream

Ingredients

1 bag microwave popcorn, popped

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

1/8 cup cornstarch

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Place popcorn in a medium sized bowl. Bring heavy cream and milt to a boil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once boiling, pour it over the popcorn and let the mixture infuse for an least 20 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor (my mini prep wrks great for this) and blend for 2 minutes until smooth. Strain the mixture to get rid of any remaining lumps and kernels.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk and cornstarch. Combine the popcorn milk mixture and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Once boiling, whisk in the cornstarch egg mixture. Let it return to a boil until it is thick and smooth, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and pour into a heat proof bowl. Whisk in the butter, vanilla extract and sea salt. Pastry cream can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Additional Ingredients:

vanilla icing

1 10 ounce bag mini marshmallows

yellow food coloring

small paint brush

To assemble your cupcakes:

Cut a cone into the center of your cupcakes to hollow out the center, taking care not to cut all the way down through the bottom of the cupcakes. Fill the hollow center with popcorn pastry cream. Cut the base off the cone of cake (feel free to eat that piece!) and place the top back on to the cupcake. Top each cupcake with vanilla icing using an offset spatula. Cut mini marshmallows in half and then smush them together so they resemble pieces of popcorn. place marshmallows on top of cupcakes so they cover the entire top of the cupcakes. Mix one drop of yellow food coloring with a tablespoon of water in a small bowl, then use your paint brush to tab yellow color here and there on marshmallows to enhance the popcorn coloration.

LINCOLN TOP HAT COOKIES

*No Baking Required!

Ingredients:

24 chocolate-striped shortbread cookies

12-ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

24 marshmallows

1 lollipop sticks

Instructions:

Melt the chocolate in a microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring vigorously in between intervals.

One at a time, stick the lollipop stick into a marshmallow, dip the marshmallow into the melted chocolate, and promptly take your cookie and slide it through the bottom of the lollipop stick so that your marshmallow is resting on top of your cookie. Wiggle your lollipop stick gently back and forth until it is released from the marshmallow.

TUXEDO CAKE POPS RECIPE:

Chocolate Cake

11⁄2 cups all-purpose flour

1⁄3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1  cup sugar

2  eggs

To make the cake, preheat the cake to 350 and spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with nonstick spray; set aside. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl; set aside. In a measuring cup, mix together the buttermilk and vanilla extract; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Reduce mixer speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; then add the remaining dry ingredients, beating until well incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.

Chocolate Frosting

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1⁄3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons whole milk

To make the frosting, mix the butter, confectioner’s sugar, and cocoa powder in a bowl; add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting reaches a smooth, creamy consistency.

Note: You can use store-bought chocolate frosting instead of making frosting from scratch.

Assembly

16 ounces white candy melts

8 ounces chopped dark chocolate

50 6-inch lollipop sticks

Break the cake into a large bowl. Using your fingers, crumble up the cake until no large chunks remain.

Stir the chocolate frosting into the bowl of cake crumbs, 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, until the consistency is thick and the mixture can be rolled into balls easily. If it is too dry or too moist, you will not be able to roll the mixture into balls, which is why it’s important to add the frosting slowly.

Form the cake mixture into 1 1⁄2–2 inch balls with your hands. I often weigh the cake balls so they are uniform in size; they should weigh 0.6 to 0.7 ounces. Place balls onto baking sheets. Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Put the white candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring vigorously with a spoon between intervals. It should take two or three 30-second intervals for the candy melts to melt completely.

Remove the cake balls from the refrigerator. Working one at a time, dip the tip of the lollipop stick in the melted white candy melts; then insert it into the cake ball until it’s about halfway through. Holding the stick, dip the cake ball into the white melted candy, rotating to coat evenly. Tap the lollipop stick gently against the side of the bowl to remove any excess candy melt, then place cake pop onto parchment paper to dry, so the lollipop stick is upright. Repeat until all cake pops are complete.

Melt the chopped dark chocolate in the microwave.  Dip just the bottom of each cake pop in the melted dark chocolate, holding the pop in a diagonal direction and dipping it into the coating until half covered.  Remove and dip the other side in the opposite diagonal direction to form  black V-shaped jacket. Place the pop, ball side down, back onto waxed paper.  Use a toothpick to dot three small chocolate buttons into the V to create the effect of buttons on the tuxedo shirt.  Finally, cut  pieces of chocolate into triangles to use as bow tie. Adhere to cake pop with a small amount of melted chocolate. Makes about 50 cake pops.

ZERO DARK THIRT - 30 DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE DONUTS RECIPE:

Ingredients:

for donuts:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tspn baking powder

1/4 tspn salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp sour cream

1/2 tspn vanilla extract

for ganache:

3 oz. dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa), chopped

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

chocolate sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease donut pans. In a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg and sugar.  Then add milk, oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract, whisking until thoroughly combined.  Gently stir in the flour mixture, stirring until there are no lumps. Carefully fill each donut indentation 3/4 full.  Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out clean.  Transfer donuts to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

To make ganache: Place chocolate in a medium-sized heatproof bowl and set aside.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate.  Allow to stand, without stirring, for 60 seconds. Then, stir gently with a spoon until smooth and combined. Ad butter pieces and continue to stir until incorporated. Allow ganache to cool for about 10 minutes, which will thicken it slightly.  Dip the top of each donut into the ganache and top with chocolate sprinkles.

SILVER LINING'S PLAYBOOK MINI CHEESECAKE BITES IN SILVER LINERS RECIPE:

*Use Philadelphia Cream Cheese to pay tribute to where the movie took place!

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 12 sheets; use a mini chopper or food processor)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

Cheesecake:

2 pounds (32 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line mini muffin tins with silver foil liners. Stir together ground graham crackers, butter, and 3 tablespoons sugar. Press 1 tablespoon crust mixture firmly into bottom of each lined cup. Bake until set, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer tins to a wire rack to cool. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With mixer on low speed, add remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar in a steady stream. Add salt and vanilla; mix until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each. Spoon 3 tablespoons filling over crust in each cup. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or out of tins up to 5 days in airtight containers). Remove from tins just before serving.