My Wilton Portfolio – Chapter #1

Last week, I finished my final Wilton class.  Four Classes in three months.  Sounds exhausting, but I really had a great time and I’m sad it’s over.

Now I have to figure out what to do with my newly acquired skills.  Truth is, I’ve learned a lot, but I’m by no means an expert at decorating cakes, cupcakes and cookies.  I need practice!  So what I’ve decided to do is bake and decorate my way through the lesson books.

To keep from getting bored with one medium, I’m going to alternate between each of the four class books starting with the first one – Decorating Basics.

My first chapter of this undertaking is found on page 16 of the Decorating Basics book and called Party Partners.  (P.S. You can buy the lesson manuals from Joann's Fabrics without taking the class, so if you want to follow along, but don't want to take the class, jump on-line or head over to the nearest store)  Wilton has a lot of their designs on-line, but unfortunately, there’s no picture available for this one so I’ll give you the quick run-down of what the lesson entails.

• Preparing Roll-Out Cookie and Chocolate Roll-Out Cookie Recipes and cut using a round cookie cutter.
• Decorating the Chocolate Cookies with:
• Snowflake Star
• Spiral of Stars
• Baby Carriage
• Large Star
• Daisy Flower
• Decorating the Plain Roll-Out Cookies with:
• Star Flower
• Blue Star
• Heart
• Number 1

Wilton’s Roll-Out Cookies

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – May 19, 2012

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Wilton’s Roll-Out Cookie recipe located on their website.

Since I already used Wilton’s Chocolate Roll-out cookies, I decided to go ahead and make their recipe for the regular roll-out cookie.  I did have a couple of sugar cookie recipes that I have yet to try in my archives, but why mess with a good thing?

© You Want Me to Cook?
Wilton's Roll-Out Cookies

These are your basic cut-out cookie.  Mine are too brown around the edges since I made them larger than normal.  They had to cook a little longer for the center to set and the edges browned first.

I also had the same issue as I did with the chocolate roll-outs – a little uneven on the top and a few bubbles.  They are acceptable for decorating though.

Wilton’s Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – May 19, 2012

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Wilton’s Chocolate Roll-Out Cookie recipe located on their website.

As I am baking and decorating my way through my Wilton Class Books, I needed a good cut out cookie recipe.  Actually, I needed a good CHOCOLATE cut-out cookie recipe.  Oddly enough, I didn’t have any in my archive of recipes, so I took the suggestion of the book (Class #1 – Decorating Basics) and went on their website for their cookie recipe.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

They are basic roll-out cookies. 

Yep, kinda boring without any decorating, but I’ll get to that in a future post.

There is no photo of these cookies on their site, so I can only go based on what I see in the book.  Although my cookies aren’t as “smooth” on top – and I wish I could figure out how to do that – they look very similar.

Just take my word for it.  Please?

My First Cake Decorating Class

If you ever have checked out my “About This Blog and Me” page, you know that I’ve pretty much taught myself how to cook.  Experimentation has been my friend… as is the number to the closest and fastest pizza joint.

The only "training" I've had was when I took a 2 hour class on Knife Skills from Sur la Table.  During this class, I cut myself three times.   

I’m not kidding.  My mother-in-law is my witness. 

That being said, my chopping and slicing skills have greatly improved and the number of times I have cut myself since I can be counted on one hand.  One of those times I cut myself intentionally when I looked at the serrated knife I bought and said, “This doesn’t look very sharp.  Is it?” and then pulled the blade over my index finger.

I never said I was smart.

Chocolate Chip-Pretzel Blondies

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? - February 22, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published in All You, January 2011.

I enjoy baking, but it tends to be last on my cooking list.  If I run out of time, there are plenty of bakeries I can visit to satisfy my sweet tooth.  Also, my husband is a sweet-fiend.  If I bake something, I literally have to hide it from him or he’ll eat the entire dish.

On occasion, I’ll stumble across a great bar cookie recipe.  These tend to get pushed up on the cooking list since it is mix, pour and bake.  I have to admit that the peanut butter/pretzel/chocolate chip combo was very appealing and I was excited to make these.

My finished product:

© You Want Me to Cook?
Chocolate Chip-Pretzel Blondies

One task I have yet to master is having my bar cookies lay flat and not overcook on the edges.  I know there’s a trick to it… I just don’t know what it is.  They still looked good enough to eat though.

Potato Chip Cookies

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – Christmas 2008

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published by Taste of Home.

For those that don’t know me very well, I LOVE LOVE LOVE making Christmas cookies.  At one point, I was making almost 20 different kinds for the holiday season.  When money got tight, I had to seriously pare down that list and this cookie was one of the ones that made the cut.  Of course, you can enjoy this delicious cookie year round.  It is also one of those cookies you can make and bake, refrigerate, or freeze to use at a later date.

See how much fun it is to rhyme?  I do it all the time.  hahahahaha… <clears throat> ahem.

I didn’t change the recipe.  Instead, what I did for this post is give you some help on how to streamline your cookie baking and keep cookies and batter around for future baking dates.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © Taste of Home

Now, baking is not my strong suit.  I’m much better at cooking, so you can see that it isn’t too hard to make a batch of these cookies and have them look pretty.  My cookies may be a little more “golden brown” than theirs, but they still look very pretty and of course they taste great.  Let me tell you, it is a special gift to be able to get cookies that have that perfect look.  Don’t beat yourself up if you get a batch or two that doesn’t turn out as pretty as the others.  In fact, when I bake, I will hand pick out which cookies and baked goods will be given away.  My husband is given a very specific directive to stay away from the freshly baked goodies until I tell him which ones he can eat.

Butterscotch Bars

Recipe modified by Gretchen Wilson – June 22, 2010

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published in Cooking Light, April 2009.

One of the monthly features of the magazine, Cooking Light, is when they take a fat, calorie and generally unhealthy food favorite and make it a light meal/treat.  I’ve tried several of these recipes and have never been disappointed.  I was giddy with excitement when they decided to re-make butterscotch bars.  See, I love bar cookies.  I love butterscotch.  I love streusel.  This recipe has them all.

My finished product:

Picture published with recipe: © Cooking Light

Looking at the two pictures, here’s a couple things I would do different

• I’d run the dry ingredients of my streusel base & topping through a mini-chop or a food processor.
• I’d make sure my butterscotch layer was a little more melted so it would spread easier.
• I’d try to evenly distribute the topping over the top layer.

Now mine isn’t as pretty, but it tasted delicious and ultimately that is what matters most.