Red Carpet Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and beat on low until incorporated.
• Divide the dough in half. (This recipe relies on precision, so use a scale if you have one.)
• Return half of the dough to the bowl and add about 8 drops food coloring and the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add more food coloring until the dough is a true, bright red, beating well to fully distribute the color. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until just firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put the remaining dough in the bowl and add the cocoa powder. Beat until evenly distributed. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until just firm, about 30 minutes.
• Use a ruler to draw a 7-inch square on 2 pieces of parchment. Invert one piece of parchment and put one piece of dough in the square. Cover with another, unmarked parchment and pat and roll the dough to the dimensions of the square, making sure it is an even thickness. Trim the edges of the square if necessary. Carefully transfer the dough on the parchment to the refrigerator and chill until firm.
• Meanwhile, repeat with the other piece of dough and chill.
• Take out one square of dough and use a ruler to carefully cut it into 9 3/4-inch-thick strips (there may be extra dough). Carefully return the dough to the refrigerator until firm and repeat with the other square of dough. Refrigerate until firm.
• Lay out a clean piece of parchment paper. Carefully arrange three strips of dough directly next to each other on the parchment, alternating colors (i.e. red, black, red). Top each strip with a strip of the opposite color to make a second layer. Continue to layer, again alternating colors, to make a cookie brick; it will be 3-by-6 inches. Use a ruler or the side of a bench scraper to straighten the edges of the brick. Wrap the brick in the parchment paper, gently turning and pressing against the work surface to flatten out all the sides. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Slice the brick crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick cookies, arranging them about 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies, switching the positions of the baking sheets halfway through, until slightly puffed and just set, 12 to 13 minutes.
• Cool on the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• Simmer 3/4 cup pomegranate juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small skillet until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in a dash of orange-flower water; let cool to room temperature. Pour 1 to 2 teaspoons of the syrup into each of 6 flutes. Add a splash of gin and top with champagne; stir gently.

Steps:

• Other Special Equipment You'll Need:.
• 1-2 wooden skewers, paintbrushes, gel food coloring; set of nine round cookie cutters in graduated sizes; piping bag; any small or medium petal-shaped piping tip; extra-tall cake scraper (10" at least-you can also use a quilting ruler!); a candy thermometer.
• Make the Topper:.
• Roll a small amount of gum paste out to 1/8th inch thickness.
• Use an exacto knife to cut out a shape inspired by the Oscars trophy, plus a smaller shape for the little cake it's holding. Allow to dry at least overnight.
• When dry, paint with edible gold paint and outline and detail your shapes with an edible ink pen in black, or with a thin paintbrush dipped in black edible paint.
• Using a bit of melted white chocolate (or water or piping gel), attach the cake to the figurine and draw in hands.
• Use a skewer or popsicle stick dipped in white chocolate to give the figurine something to stick into the cake so it can stand up on top.
• Bake Your Red Velvet Cake:.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Prep four 3" deep 6" round pans by greasing and flouring, using a parchment round at the base of each if you want to be sure the cakes don't stick.
• In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients together to combine. Set aside.
• Place the oil and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium for about one minute to combine. Add the dry ingredients, sour cream, and milk and mix on low until the mixture is moistened throughout. Raise to medium speed and beat 1-2 minutes to help build up the structure of the cake.
• Add the egg whites in two additions, beating on medium for 30 seconds after each addition. Finally, add the food coloring and vanilla and beat on medium until completely combined.
• Divide the batter between your prepped pans and bake for 30 minutes, at which point you should check every three minutes or so until the cake springs back when you poke it right in the middle. Allow to cool to room temperature, wrap in plastic, and cool in the refrigerator for at least a couple hours before de-panning.
• Bake Your Black Chocolate Buttermilk Cake:.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Prep four 3" deep 6" round pans by greasing and flouring, using a parchment round at the base of each if you want to be sure the cakes don't stick.
• In a medium bowl, whisk dry ingredients together to combine. Set aside.
• Slowly melt your chocolate in the microwave, stirring often and stopping when there are still a few small chunks of chocolate left. Stir until the chunks disappear, and set aside to come to room temperature.
• Place your butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and cream at medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
• On low speed, alternate adding your dry mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix in the cooled chocolate, vanilla, and black gel color, adjusting the amount of coloring to create a black batter.
• Divide the batter between your prepped pans and bake for 40-45 minutes, at which point you should check every three minutes or so until the cake springs back when you poke it right in the middle. Allow to cool to room temperature, wrap in plastic, and cool in the refrigerator for at least a couple hours before de-panning.
• Mix Your Buttercreams:.
• Add your melted and cooled chocolate to most of your buttercream, being sure to set aside 1 cup of white buttercream for your red piped swags. Take about 1/4 cup of your chocolate buttercream and melt it in the microwave. Squeeze in about a tablespoon of black gel coloring, and mix it inches Combine your soupy black buttercream with the rest of the chocolate buttercream, and adjust further if more black coloring is needed.
• Mix that reserved 1 cup of buttercream with red food coloring gel using the same melting technique listed above.
• Prepare Your Cake Layers:.
• Trim your cakes into layers as thin as you can get them using a serrated knife.
• Use concentric round cookie cutters to cut out the centers of your black cake layers and replace them with red rounds of the same size. Each cutter should be used to create one two-toned layer, so that by the time you're finished, you have as many layers as you do cutters (I had nine total) and each has a different sized red circle in the middle.
• Pro tip: rather than cutting out your red circles from the middle of 9 red layers, you can fit up to three cutters on a layer since we only need the circles, not the full layer like we do with the black cakes. Use as few red layers as possible, saving the whole ones that are left over to stack at the bottom of the cake to give more height!
• Stack Your Cake:.
• Start with the full red velvet layers left over from cutting out circles earlier. Keep your buttercream layers super thin, to help give the staircase illusion.
• Now begin to stack your two-toned cake layers, starting with the largest red velvet circle and working your way down to the smallest.
• Trim, crumb coat, and ice your cake in leftover black chocolate buttercream.
• Decorate:.
• Using your petal tip, pipe layers of ruffles along the top of the cake to give the look of a luxe red curtain. Insert your topper into the top of the cake to finish.
• Grab some snacks, dim the lights, and slice to reveal your glamorous red carpet!

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugars together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and food colouring until you have a bright red batter. Sieve over the flour, cocoa and bicarb. Fold everything together to make a stiff evenly-coloured dough, then fold in the chocolate chips.
• Put the dough on a sheet of baking parchment, fold the parchment over the dough and mould into a sausage shape about 6cm wide. Chill until ready to bake. Will keep for a week in the fridge or one month in the freezer.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cut the cookie dough into 1cm thick slices using a sharp knife and arrange on two large baking sheets lined with baking parchment well-spaced apart so they have room to spread in the oven. Bake in batches, keeping the unbaked cookies on the sheet in the fridge while the rest are baking.
• Bake in the middle of the oven for 13-15 mins until the cookies are crisp at the edges, but still soft in the centre. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Beat the soft cheese in a small bowl to a loose consistency, then stir in the icing sugar. Use a piping bag or spoon to drizzle the icing over the cookies. Un-iced cookies keep for five days in an airtight container, or two days iced.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F Mix butter, sugar, egg and flavoring until creamy. Measure flour by sifting. Mix dry ingredients. Blend into butter mixture.
• Divide dough in half, reserve for trim. Roll remaining dough in 2 (12x6-inch) rectangles on a well-floured or cloth covered board. Cut each rectangle lengthwise in 3 equal strips. With a spatula, carefully lift each strip to a parchment lined baking sheet, placing 1 inch apart.
• Spoon reserved dough into a cookie press. Work in 2 teaspoons cream if it is too dry. Using the smallest star design, press out long ropes on each side of strip, and also 1 down center, pressing down slightly to seal. If you do not have a cookie press, you can roll long, thin ropes instead. Bake about 10 minutes, or until edges are delicately browned.
• Cool. Fill in the rows of trim with jelly or icing. Carefully cut 1-inch diagonal pieces with a sharp knife.