Along with creating with paper, I also like to create in the kitchen. Specifically baking. I have instilled this love & joy of baking with my daughter, who now doesn’t let me bake too much because I am infringing in on her territory. But that’s okay, I still manage to bake a few things while she is at school. Recently, I attended a Fall Festival at King Arthur Flour Bakery & Baking School in Vermont. They were having a baking contest and I entered my White Chocolate Chai Spice Biscotti. Yum! One of the judging categories was on presentation. Right up my alley! I put the 6 biscotti in a nice cello bag and tied it with a Fall themed tag I embossed. This is what I wanted to share with you. Make Embossed Tags for your Baked Goods, an easy but WOW technique.
Heat embossing is one of those techniques that always produces a big WOW. Heat embossing is something every paper crafter should know how to do because it looks so impressive. I am currently working on creating an online class – Embossing for Beginners – in case you do not know how to emboss. Stay tuned for the class announcement. You can find my Online Class offerings in the menu section at the top my website, or by clicking here: Online Classes.
The theme of the baking contest was Fall Dessert. I always associate Chai with Fall and knew I had to travel two hours with my dessert, so I wanted it to be something that would travel well. Biscotti’s are perfect. They are durable and delicious, although not all that pretty to look at. This is where my embossed tag came in. I decided to make the packaging beautiful since the biscotti are a little on the plain (but delicious) side.
I used gold embossing powder to emboss a maple leaf onto fall colored card stock: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. The “Baked with Love” is embossed onto Tranquil Tide card stock with gold embossing powder. The ribbon is a beautiful combination of Old Olive, Tranquil Tide and Gold. The little tag was punched with the Delightful Tag Topper Punch, which punches three different widths.
Would you like the recipe? I’m happy to share with you. Be sure to make embossed tags for your baked goods, an easy but WOW technique.
White Chocolate Chai Spice Biscotti
serves: 12 (large)
Biscotti
2 3/4 cups all purpose King Arthur flour
1 cup sugar
3 chai tea bags
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp orange juice
zest of one orange
3 eggs
Preheat oven 350˚
Mix dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, chai tea, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and allspice.
In separate bowl, beat eggs, orange juice, orange zest and vegetable oil.
Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix until well blended.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or baking liners.
Roll dough into a log and place diagonally on baking sheet. (For smaller biscotti, divide into two rolls and bake first bake 30 minutes).
Bake 35 minutes, rotate half way through bake. For harder biscotti, bake 40 minutes.
Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 325˚.
Let dough sit for 10 minutes before slicing. With serrated knife, cut diagonally into 12 – 1 1/2” slices. Place cut side own on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Turn biscotti over and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Glaze
Melt half a bag of white chocolate chips (6 oz.) in microwave on reduced power until creamy. Add 1/2 tsp King Arthur Chai spice. Place melted chocolate into pastry bag and squeeze evenly onto cut sides of biscotti. Smooth out with offset spatula. Cool.
