*12 medium to large Strawberries, (room temperature) rinsed and paper towel dried (best to let dry 6 hours if possible or overnight) leave the strawberry leafy stems on (If possible pick strawberries with nice leafy stems.
Instructions:
*Double Boiler or Sauce pan filled with 2 inches of water or so… and add to the top a glass bowl that fits to the top of the sauce pan (make sure the glass bowl doesn’t touch the water). Add the wafers, coconut oil to glass bowl and on medium-low heat, melt wafers stirring as needed until they all almost melted. Then remove from the heat and stir the almost melted wafers until smooth and melted.
Start by holding on to the leafy part of the strawberry and dip the strawberries into orange melting chocolate, using a spoon to help with dipping and getting the top part of the red strawberry trying not to get it on the leafy part. Place the dipped strawberries on a Silpat baking mat preferably or parchment paper. Set aside to set. Then melt the last 15 wafers and drizzle on the strawberries, making carrot lines like carrot, drizzle side to side/back and forth down the dipped strawberry.
Dipped strawberries are best served the day needed.
*1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream, Sour Cream or Cream Cheese (I’ve used each one of these variation each gives the cookie a slightly different taste and they’re all yummy!) Note: If you use cream cheese use only 3 cups of flour
*3 and 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour, more if needed (Dough should be slightly sticky)
*1 teaspoon Soda
*1/2 teaspoon Salt
*Carrot Cookie Cutter, the number of cookies this recipe makes will depend on the size of cookie cutter you use
* In a stand mixer on medium-low speed cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the vanilla, egg and cream of your choice and mix just until combined.
* Using Sifter, sift together in a bowl the flour soda and salt and slowly add to the creamed mixture, mixing on low just until barely combined. Dough should be slightly sticky. Do Not Over Mix!
* Then divide the dough into 3 dough balls, flatten dough balls making disk shapes. Now wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or more.
* Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and rollout disk on a floured surface with rolling-pin or use 2 pieces of plastic wrap, placing the dough disk in the center of 1 of the pieces of plastic wrap and the second piece on top of the dough disk, use rolling-pin and roll out the cookie dough about 1/2 inch thick.
* Use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out shapes in the rolled out dough. Repeat for each dough disk. Then add to the next dough disk the scraps from the first disk or (discard scraps of dough), continue this technic until all the dough is used. Place cookies on a Silpat covered half baking sheet, 12 cookies per sheet. For best results refrigerate the cut cookies on baking sheet before baking 5-10 minutes.
* Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 425* F. oven for 8-12 minutes or barely starting to turn golden on the bottom; baking time depends on the size of cookie cutter used. Do Not Over Bake! If you do over bake they will become to hard. Cool on baking sheet.
Recipe from Tested Recipes Cookbook, Central Milling Company third edition, now out of print an old family cookbook
Fluffy Buttercream Frosting
*1 cup Butter, room temperature
*3 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
*1 to 2 tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
*1 tablespoon, Vanilla Extract
*Pinch of Sea Salt, literally
Cream together in a stand mixer on medium-low speed, the butter and powdered sugar adding the powdered sugar in thirds. Mix until mixture is a pale yellow 2 to 3 minutes.
Add to the creamed mixture the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and sea salt. Mix for 6 minutes or until light and fluffy on medium high speed.
This recipe makes around 3 cups of frosting, color 2/3 cup of the frosting for the Green leafy tops and the rest of the frosting copper for the carrots.
Mix in desired food coloring.
*2 Pastry Bags with round or star tips or I just clip off the end of the pastry bag tip, cut the size you wish to pipe on the fluffy lines on the cookies. I piped up and down for the green leafy tops and side to side/back and forth to get the look of a real carrot.
For Carrots add 1 small drop size of Copper Gel Paste, like Wiltons and small amount Leaf Green or Moss Green, like Wiltons for the leafy tops. Start with very small amounts of food color gel paste until desired colors are achieved.
