Simply Signal Recipes: Pride Edition

People are celebrating Pride month across the country, and one way to join in on the festivities is through baking. Many flags represent the identities and self-expression within the LBGTQ+ community. With their bright colors and unique palettes, they make a great source of inspiration for dessert decoration. Here are some ways to show your support or pride through tasty treats!

Rainbow Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Prep Time: Five minutes

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar 

1/3 cup coconut oil softened like butter, not melted

1/4 cup oat milk can substitute for any non-dairy milk of choice

One teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour sifted

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

One cup chocolate chips of choice

Gel food coloring (red, orange, blue, green, yellow, violet)

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large tray with parchment paper or a cookie sheet.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugars with coconut oil and whisk well until glossy. Add in non-dairy milk of choice and vanilla extract. Mix well.
3. Add in sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix very well until a dough remains. Using a rubber spatula, fold in chocolate chips.
4. Divide the dough into five equal sections and use one to two drops of gel food coloring for each section. Knead the color into the dough.
5. Form 12-15 balls of dough using either a cookie scoop or a large spoon. Place them on the lined tray and top with extra chocolate chips. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges, have gone slightly golden.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray completely.

(Recipe from In Katrina’s Kitchen and The Big Man’s World)

Layered Mini Pride Cakes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooling Time: Two hours

Instructions for the cake:

1. Make the vanilla cake batter. 
2. Divide batter into equal portions depending on the number of colors on the pride flag of choice.
3. Tint portions into any pride flag color combination using gel food coloring. For example, the bisexual pride flag uses pink, blue, and purple to divide batter into three portions and color accordingly. 
4. Bake in separate four-inch mini cake pans and cool cake layers.

Instructions for decorating:

1. Prepare buttercream icing.
2. Place the first layer on a cake circle. Use a spatula to ice the top layer smooth and stack it with the next layer. 
3. Continue icing and adding layers. Use spatula and icing to ice cake smooth. 
4. The finished product will be decorated with white frosting on the outside of the cake with bright, colorful layers on the inside once cut. 

(Recipe from RecipeTin Eats and Wilton)

Pride Macaroons

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Three large eggs (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups almond flour 

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1 cup powdered sugar

One teaspoon vanilla 

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Gel food coloring

Instructions:

1. Sift the confectioner’s sugar and almond flour into a bowl.
2. Add the room temperature egg whites into a spotless bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites. Once they begin to foam, add the cream of tartar and then slowly add the granulated sugar.
4. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Begin folding in 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
6. Be careful to add the remaining dry ingredients and fold gently.
7. The final mixture should look like flowing lava and fall into a figure eight without breaking.
8. Next, separate the mixture into the desired amount of colors to represent any pride flag of your choice. Add the food coloring and vanilla, then mix in.  
9. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium round piping tip, and you’re ready to start piping.
10.  Pipe one-inch dollops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tap on the counter several times to release air bubbles. Allow them to sit for about 40 minutes before placing them in the oven. 
11. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes and rotate the tray after seven minutes. Allow sufficient time to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet. 
12.  Make French buttercream. Pipe your filling onto the back of half the shells. Form a sandwich and repeat. 

(Recipe from Preppy Kitchen)