Upon Ascension to the Next Level?

I have a friend; let’s call him Tiger.

Now Tiger and I aren’t very close. We were in the same club in high school (along with Fatteh!), but I didn’t talk to him too much. We also have a number of mutual friends, which is how we find ourselves in each other’s company now. While we get along pretty well, I don’t know too much about him. The basis of my knowledge about him is that he’s obsessed with Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts.

Yesterday was Tiger’s birthday, and he invited me along for the ride. This put me in a very awkward position in terms of finding him a suitable gift.  Particularly since this week I have had very limited time, and the one place that sells geeky Asian stuff I know he likes is a mission and 50 halves to get to (Pacific Mall, anyone?).  Add to that the fact that I wasn’t actually able to find anything at said mall, well…

I believe that the best thing I can do for anyone is make them food. Who doesn’t love to eat? You can put all sorts of emotions into what you cook, expressing all feelings for the person you’re cooking for. The time and dedication required to make someone food is something I consider priceless. If you’ve ever watched the movie The Ramen Girl, the scene in which everyone starts crying after eating Brittany Murphy’s character’s ramen is exactly what I’m talking about. So it seemed obvious to me that at least part of Tiger’s gift should be food.

So here’s to our friendship, Tiger.  May it flourish like all the Final Fantasy spin-offs being made.

Lime Sugar Cookies (with Marshmallow Fondant)

For cookies (slightly modified from Joy of Baking):

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup margarine/butter

3/4 to 1 cup sugar*

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp grated lime zest**

1. In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring until well-blended.

2. Using an electric mixing device, cream together the sugar and margarine until sugar is fully incorporated. Use a large bowl. Mixture will become very, very pale in colour. Blend in the eggs, vanilla, and lime juice.

(I’m not entirely sure how, but the mixer is standing of its own accord here :O)

3. Add the dry mix and lime zest to the wet ingredients. Part of me has romantic ideas about how baked goods like cookies should be made using at least some rustic methodology, so I gently folded 1/3 of the flour mix into the wet ingredients at a time. Since the dough is ultimately rolled out though, I suppose this doesn’t make too much difference by way of how airy and light the cookies are.

4. Divide dough into two. Pat each half into a round, and wrap with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour to stiffen, though I would recommend overnight if possible. Ignore any colour change in the dough, I think this is because of the lime.

5. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C.

6. Roll out the dough between two pieces of floured plastic wrap, and use a cookie cutter to make shapes. I prefer to work with max. 1/4 of the dough at a time, rolled mine out to about half a pinky’s width (~0.5 cm).

7. Carefully excavate around your shapes using your fingers and a toothpick for finer spaces in between shapes. If your shapes seem flimsy, gently slide the bottom piece of plastic wrap onto a plate and stick in the freezer for a couple of minutes.

8. Place shapes about 1 cm apart on a greased baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes, until sides of cookies have browned. Let cool on baking sheet.

9.  Now it’s time for the marshmallow fondant, if using.  I used the recipe over at the decorated cookie, only quartered.  For whatever reason my fondant was really dry, so I just kept on melting marshmallows with margarine, and adding them to the confectioner’s sugar until it became a workable texture.

I rolled it out between two pieces of plastic wrap, dusted with confectioner’s sugar and greased with margarine.  The circles were easily made using the same cookie cutter I used to shape the actual cookies.  The crowns however I formed individually using a butter knife and a toothpick.  I recommend letting your rolled out fondant chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes, to make it easier to work with.

This was my first time working with marshmallow fondant, and I must say it is the most lovable decorating thing I have used yet.  It’s so compliant and sets well, drying rather quickly.  The only drawback was that after I had covered a bunch of cookies I noticed some imperfections, but couldn’t completely fix them because the fondant had already mostly set.

Notes:

*I used 3/4 cup because the fondant covering would add sweetness to the cookies, and I didn’t want to induce a sugar coma in anyone. If you don’t plan on decorating with marshmallow fondant, feel free to use the whole cup.

**I used ~1/2 a teaspoon because grating the zest proved to be very frustrating with the tools at hand, but recommend 1-2 teaspoons.