Garlic Bread

There is nothing I love to bake more than bread and nothing compares to a warm loaf right out of the oven. This Garlic Bread makes the house smell so good!

Garlic Bread

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 c lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp or 1 pkg yeast
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1/4 c romano cheese

In a small skillet, combine the garlic and olive oil. Heat over medium heat just until the garlic starts to brown. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, combine the water (not over 110 degrees) sugar, salt, and yeast. Let set for 5 minutes or until yeast starts to foam. Add to the cooled oil. Add in 2 1/2 c flour and mix with a wooden spoon until a thick dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth - about 5 minutes. I prefer a slightly sticky, looser dough. You may not need all of the flour.
Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. (I like to turn my oven on to 150 degrees and set my bowl on top of the stove.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once the dough has doubled in bulk, punch down and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Shape into a rectangle and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned.

Baking Up a Storm!

This was a baptism cake. It's an Italian Cream Cake with coconut filling covered in marshmallow fondant. The letters are painted with gold pearl dust. I think it turned out so pretty.


An autumn wreath! It's just sugar cookies pieced together on a cake circle and glued together with royal icing. The bow is made out of fondant. My brother-in-law helped me color the dough of the cookies and cut-out the leaves. He did a really good job. The acorns are chocolate cookies. I dusted it with shimmer powder and sold it at the bake sale!


A birthday cake for the Ambassador. It's a French Vanilla Sour Cream cake with strawberry filling iced in chocolate and vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream (another post...). He's from South Carolina and loves baseball. So I added the palmetto palms to the baseball field. This cake was missing something. I wasn't totally satisfied with it. But it sure did taste good!


For my mother-in-law's 50th birthday I made her a stained glass glass cake. I pieced together fondant and used royal icing painted with silver pearl dust for the leading. It turned out really pretty. The cake itself was chocolate zucchini with chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

I had a tub of ricotta in the fridge and wanted to use it for something sweet. One of the reasons I LOVE ricotta cheese is that it can be used for both sweet and savory. These cookies are light and not too sweet. This is a Giada recipe...

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 15 oz container whole milk ricotta (I used light...)
3 T lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (Very, very important to use the parchment paper! The dough is very soft and will stick to your cookie sheet. Once you're done baking, save the parchment paper to put under your cooling rack to catch all of the glaze that drips off. ) Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.


Lemon Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours.


Okay, so how did I change the recipe? Well, first, I didn't have any lemons, so I replaced the zest with a teaspoon of lemon extract. I don't recommend this. If possible, use the zest - it's much better. But the extract does work in a pinch. Secondly, I used light ricotta. I try to save calories where I can. Thirdly, I used the whisk to drizzle the glaze onto the cookies. It was a good recipe, what can I say?

I really liked these cookies. They were easy to make and not overly sweet. They'd go well with a cup of coffee.

To find more of Giada's recipes visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/giada-de-laurentiis/index.html