Basic Frosting

2 large egg whites

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Start beating egg whites in heat-safe bowl with hand mixer until frothy.  Place over pan of simmering water on stove, keep heat low.  Continue beating while adding other ingredients, touch bowl to make sure that temperature stays just warm.  After 5 minutes frosting should begin to come together and get fluffy.  Or, in my case, this will happen on the fourth try.  

Sugar Cookies

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• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and more if needed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3-4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Icing:

2 egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

OR 

1 c powder sugar
2 tsp milk
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
- first stir sugar and milk until smooth, then add corn syrup until smooth and glossy

Directions

1. Make the cookies: Sift flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Let dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out each disk on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out cookies, transferring to parchment-lined baking sheets as you work. Roll out scraps, and repeat once. Freeze cookies until very firm, about 15 minutes.
3. Bake cookies at 325, switching positions of sheets and rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 17 to 19 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Best Chocolate Cake

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (ideally, sift to remove clumps)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes 36+ cupcakes, bake for about 20 minutes then check.

Buttercream Frosting 

3.5c powdered sugar

2 sticks butter

1 tbsp vanilla

3 tbsp milk

Set butter out until just under room temp. Whip butter well with whisk (stand mixer is best). Add other ingredients, whip until fluffy and freakin delicious. Add some cocoa powder to taste if desired. Or if you can't decide do half and half. 

Lemon Poppyseed Buttermilk Pancakes

These are unreal!  Planning to make these for James' birthday brunch on Sunday.

2 cups unbleached ap (all-purpose) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup poppy seeds
zest of 4 lemons
tbsp or so of lemon juice
2 cups buttermilk (substitute - fill 1c with 1tbsp white vinegar, then fill with milk to 1c line, repeat)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
serve with butter and syrup

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a large bowl. In another bowl the buttermilk, eggs, butter, lemon zest and poppy seeds. Add the wet to the dry. Stir all the ingredients until they are just combined. Don't worry if the batter is a bit lumpy, you don't want to over mix.  Grill on medium-high heat in lightly oiled pan. 

(stolen from pickycook.com)