SPOOKY BAKES, A FAREWELL

Posted in Cake, Cookies, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Halloween is such a nice theme for baking! Unfortunately, it is coming to an end, so I will share my last round up of all things spooky for 2020, the spookiest year ever. Cookies, cakes, eclairs, all frightfully delicious.

I will start with a very special recipe that reconnected me with a food blogger from my past, Helen Rennie. I used to read her food blog, called “Beyond Salmon” long before I considered starting my own site. The other day I was discussing eclairs with my tent-baker friend Carlos, and he told me his default recipe comes from a chef called Helen with a very popular youtube channel. That Helen is the same Helen from Beyond Salmon! She quit blogging years ago and now concentrates on her tutorials on youtube and her cooking school in Boston. She is a wonderful person, and her videos on all things cooking from baking to sous-vide are a fantastic source of information. I followed her recipe for eclairs to make my mummies. Quite an odd statement, I admit. But aren’t they cute? I particularly love the wonky-eyed.

MUMMY ECLAIRS
(recipe and method from Helen Rennie)

for the pate a choux:
120g water
120g whole milk
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp sugar
113g butter at room temp, cut into 8 pieces
142g bread flour, sifted
230g eggs beaten with a fork

for diplomat cream:
(best made the day before)
100g eggs
32g cornstarch
242 g whole milk
242 g heavy cream
100g granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
pinch of salt
40 g unsalted butter, cut in pieces
whipped cream, amount to taste

for icing decoration:
250 g Icing Sugar
15-25 ml water
candy eyes

Make pate a choux: Mix water, milk, salt and butter in a saucepan with a heavy bottom. Heat until the butter melts completely and the mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once. Mix until the flour is all incorporated, put it back into the heat, and set your timer for 5 minutes. Cook moving the dough constantly. At the end of 5 minutes you should see a film forming in the bottom of the pan.

Transfer the dough to a food processor, blitz for 10 seconds to allow steam to escape. With the process running, add the eggs in a stream, and process for 30 more seconds. The dough will be ready to use, but it’s best to place it in a piping bag and wait until it cools to around 80F, then it will be very easy to pipe in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pipe lines with the size you like. Spray the surface with a little water and bake in a 375F oven, but reduce the temperature to 350F as soon as you place the sheet in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes, do not open the oven door during baking. Eclairs should be fully firm and golden brown. Cut small holes in the bottom to fill them later.

Make diplomat cream. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with cornstarch until fully combined. Place milk and heavy cream in a saucepan. Remove 1/4 cup of this mixture and add to the eggs (this helps the cornstarch dissolve).

Add vanilla, sugar and pinch of salt to the saucepan with the milk/cream mixture. Bring to a full boil, add a few tablespoons to the egg mixture to temper it, whisking it well. Place the saucepan back in the stove, then add the tempered egg mixture to the saucepan. It should thicken very quickly. Make sure it is at full boil, then cook for 30 seconds longer. You need that to deactivate amylases present in the egg yolks, that would thin the sauce once it’s refrigerated.

Pass the cream through a sieve into a bowl, add the butter, and allow it to cool completely. To make diplomat cream, simply fold whipped cream, very cold, into the cold pastry cream and use it to fill the eclairs. You can vary the amount, I like around 25% whipped cream, but you can go 50:50 if you prefer. Fill the eclairs.

Make the icing decoration: sift the icing sugar into a bowl wide enough to allow you to dunk the eclairs. Add the water gradually until you have a thick consistency, you might not need all of the water, you don’t want it too thin. Dip the tops of the eclairs, place them in a rack and immediately add the eyes. Wait for 30 minutes or so before drizzling with the icing (place in a piping bag, no need for an icing tip, simply cut a small opening).

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Helen’s video is very detailed, so if you’ve never baked eclairs (or choux pastry in general) and would like to give it a go, sit down with a cup of tea and you will soon be baking perfect examples of this classic French delicacy. You don’t need a star shaped piping tip, but I like the ridges they generate. I also followed her tutorial for pastry cream, which deals with two of the main issues when making it: grainy texture and thinning after refrigeration. When I had to prepare choux buns for the Great American Show, my worst fear was to see Paul or Sherry bite into one and have pastry cream dripping down the chin. But I was eliminated before that stressful situation ever materialized. Silver linings… (wink, wink).

SPOOKY SPICED SUGAR COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

360g unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150g granulated sugar
50g brown sugar
226g unsalted butter cup, cold & cut into pieces
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Mix the flour with salt, baking powder and all the spices and reserve. Cream the butter with both sugars in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid type mixer. Add the egg slowly and mix until incorporated. Add the flour and mix until a dough starts to form.

Remove from the mixer, pat into a disc and roll out to your desired thickness, depending on the type of cookie you intend to bake. Cut the cookies and freeze them for 10 minutes (or several hours) before baking.

Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes, until edges start to brown. Cool on a rack before decorating.

Make Royal Icing in black and orange colors. My favorite recipe can be found at Tanya’s site with a click here.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

To make the stenciled cookie, I flooded the whole cookie with orange Royal Icing, and allowed it to fully set for a couple of hours. I don’t have one of those magnetic gadgets to hold the stencil firmly on top of the cookie, so I improvised. I placed a cookie cutter on top of the stencil, and that was enough to get a sharp design with the air-brush, using black dye. Allow the design to dry for a couple of hours and you’ll be ready to enjoy your spooky cookie!

All other designs were made with regular flooding and piping with small size tips.

Moving on…. CUPCAKES!

SPOOKY CARROT CUPCAKES
(adapted from several sources)

225g carrots, peeled and finely grated
2 eggs, room temperature
50g buttermilk
300g sugar
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla paste
200g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves

to decorate:
very small amount of buttercream (store-bought or home-made)
fondant
stencil of your choice + airbrushing (optional)

Heat oven to 325°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together carrots, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil, and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes then invert them out to cool completely.

Roll out fondant, decorate with the stencil of your choice, or generate a pattern with a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter to make circles large enough to coat the top of each cake. Spread a very thin coating of buttercream on the top of each cupcake, then place the circle of fondant on top.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Two details matter in using marzipan on top of cupcakes. First, you must roll it thin, so that it won’t be a heavy layer on top. Second, you must cut it large enough to wrap all the way to the edges. I had never attempted to air-brush marzipan, and ran into some problems. It was hard to place the stencil firmly on top without it glueing on the surface and making a mess when lifting it. I probably should have allowed the marzipan to dry a little more before decorating it, but I was afraid it would then crack when I tried to top the cake with it. That led me to switch to plan B: I gathered the messed up marzipan discs, re-rolled them and used a patterned rolling pin to decorate. I like the way it turned out, the little bit of orange dye from the air-brushing ended up as a marbled effect. As you can see in the photo above, I managed to get one cupcake with the stencil in reasonable good shape.

SPIDER WEB BROWNIE CUPCAKE
(adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

120g all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
120g unsalted butter
113g (4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
250g granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla paste

for the icing:
50g whole milk
zest from one orange
½ teaspoon orange extract (I use Olive Nation)
175g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
drop of orange food color (optional)

tempered dark chocolate to decorate

Heat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter and chocolate over a pan of simmering water; stir until smooth. You can also use a microwave at 50% power. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat chocolate mixture and sugar until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, then add the vanilla paste. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Make the icing: Bring milk and orange zest to a simmer in a saucepan. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let milk infuse for 10 minutes with the zest. Add orange extract, and pass the milk through a sieve into a bowl. Add the powdered sugar to get a thick enough consistency to cover each cupcake with a thin layer, and a drop of orange color if you so desire. Let it set completely for a couple of hours, then add a spider web made in tempered chocolate on top. Alternatively, you can use Royal Icing to draw a web, or simplify it and add just some sprinkles, orange and black.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These brownie cupcakes are extremely versatile, in fact I am planning a full post about them. They bake flat, which makes it easy to decorate with this type of simple icing that you can take in several directions. You can infuse flavors into the milk such as tea, lavender, or other extracts. Tempering chocolate is a bit involved, so if you prefer to simplify, just add halloween sprinkles. It will be totally fine.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

FRIENDLY GHOST PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE MARBLED CAKE
(adapted from Recipe Girl)

for the pumpkin batter:
85g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g granulated white sugar
1 large egg
80g canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon all purpose flour

for the chocolate batter:
150g semisweet chocolate, chopped
170g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs, at room temperature
250g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
170g all-purpose flour

to decorate:
fondant
1/4 cup powdered sugar
warm water, just enough to make a thick paste with the sugar

Heat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13×9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and coat with parchment paper.

Make the pumpkin batter: In a small bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese with the butter until smooth. Beat in the sugar until well incorporated. Beat in the egg, and then add the pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. Stir in the flour. Reserve.

Prepare the chocolate butter: In a medium bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan with 1-inch of simmering water and stir occasionally until melted. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat at low speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Fold in the melted chocolate. Sift the flour over the batter and fold it in just until combined.

Spread the chocolate batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Using a tablespoon, drop dollops of the pumpkin batter all over the top. Using chopsticks, wirl the pumpkin batter slightly into the chocolate. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the brownies cool completely, then cut into squares.

To decorate, roll out fondant very thinly. Cut ghost shapes with a cookie cutter, then draw eyes with a black food pen, or royal icing. Make a little paste with powdered sugar and water, then use it to glue the decoration on each piece of cake.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Fondant is not a crowd-pleaser, but I wanted something as white as possible, so marzipan was not the best option. I decided that fondant haters could always peel the decoration off and enjoy the cake without it. The cake is very delicious, moist and tender, quite simple to prepare.

That’s all for now, my friends… I really had a lot of fun with Halloween-baking this year, and it’s a bit sad to see it end. Let’s hope 2021 will bring a bit of normalcy to our lives, with in-person trick or treating, Halloween parties, and a certain virus as a scare of the past.

ONE YEAR AGO: Fall-Inspired Baking

TWO YEAR AGO: On a Halloween Roll

THREE YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Macarons

FOUR YEARS AGO: Zucchini, Lemon & Walnut Cake

FIVE YEARS AGO: Paleo Energy Bars

SIX YEARS AGO: Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Honey Mustard Dressing

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Burgers

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

NINE YEARS AGO: Clay-pot Pork Roast

TEN YEARS AGO: Panmarino

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: A Classic Roast Chicken

8Oct2020

LET’S GET SPOOKY!

Posted in Cookies, macarons by sallybr

I realize Halloween will not be the same this year, and that makes me sad. But it is impossible to resist baking all kinds of spooky things, and with this post I share six options for your socially-distant Halloween celebration.

All macarons were filled with a chocolate ganache, but in the Devil and Mummy macs the ganache was made by steeping the cream with smoked tea. Bat Cookies are a hazelnut-almond dough, and the others are regular sugar cookies.

DEVIL MACARONS

I used my default recipe which you can find here (and also a video tutorial in case you’d like to bake along with me). The idea of the decoration came from a brand new cookbook (The Wicked Baker) by one of the most fascinating contestants of the Great British Bake Off, the one and only Helena Garcia. She used a similar decoration for donuts, but I adapted it for macarons. The ears were made with Royal Icing dyed black, and piped on parchment paper in the appropriate format. Make more ears than you’ll need, as they break easily. The same Royal Icing was used to pipe the devilish tail. Once you assemble the shells with the filling, quickly add the ears, while the ganache is still soft.

Recipe for the smoked chocolate ganache:
150g heavy cream (you won’t use the full amount in the ganache)
1 bag smoked black tea (Lapsang Souchong)
2 tsp corn syrup
230g semi-sweet chocolate in pieces

Start by making the filling, as it must cool down before using. Bring the heavy cream to a gentle boil, add the tea bag. Turn the heat off, close the pan and leave the tea infusing for 30 minutes. Squeeze the tea bag and remove it. Bring the cream to a gentle boil again, then pour 115g of it over the chocolate. Leave it for 5 minutes, gently whisk until smooth, add the corn syrup. Cool it until it gets to a good consistency for piping on the shells.

MUMMY MACARONS

Also made with my default recipe, and filled with Smoked Chocolate Ganache. Once the shells are assembled, simply use white Candy Melts to make a random drizzle on the surface, and quickly add store-bought candy eyes (from Wilton).

Those were made in fact two years ago, and I totally forgot to blog about them. Back then, there was a thing called “Halloween Party” with guests and all (sigh). Bogey approved the macs, but was a bit spooked by a special version I made at the time.

Isn’t that pup the most adorable being in the universe? Noticed the paw?

SPIDER MACARONS

The shells were made with a new (to me) recipe. I used the Swiss meringue method, in a version that is super easy to memorize: 100g of every ingredient. All details in this recent post from Broma Bakery. I really like the way the shells baked with tall feet, and I did not even passed the almond flour + powdered sugar through the food processor, which made the whole process even simpler.

I loved making the spider decorations. I used marzipan dyed black, and then formed the head and the body of the little spiders, glueing them to the shells with candy melts. A little food-safe black pen to make the spider legs, and that was it! If you prefer less marzipan on the shells, roll the marzipan thin, and cut circles, one bigger for the body, one smaller for the head. It will have a similar look, but for those who are not wild about marzipan, even better to enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache Filling

100 g heavy cream
220g dark chocolate, chopped finely (I used Lindt 70%)
15 g butter
15 g honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Gently melt the chocolate with the butter in a double-boiler or microwave at 50% power. Set aside.

Pour the cream together with the honey and vanilla into a small saucepan and place over medium heat until it reaches almost boiling point. Pour slowly over the chocolate-butter mixture, mix until homogenized. Keep at room temperature for about 3 hours before using to fill the shells. You can make also make it the day before.

BAT COOKIES

Another decoration idea from The Wicked Baker, Helena’s cookbook. She used sugar cookies, I went with a slightly different recipe for the cookie base.

HAZELNUT-ALMOND CUT-OUT COOKIES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

188g butter at room temperature, cut in small cubes
78g powdered sugar
63g eggs
250g all-purpose flour
42g ground hazelnuts
42g ground almonds
1/4 tsp salt

In a Kitchen Aid type mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter with powdered sugar until soft and smooth. Gradually add the eggs, and keep beating until fully emulsified.

Add the flour, hazelnuts, almonds and salt, mixing gently to a homogeneous mixture. Transfer the dough to a floured surface, pat as a disc and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Roll out and cut in any shape you like. Freeze the cut cookies for 10 minutes before baking at 350F for about 12 minutes, until edges start to get a little color. Decorate with Royal Icing or serve plain, they are delicious even without decorations.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

A little Royal Icing, sprinkles, and food pen to finalize the bat-look… Very simple to decorate, and the hazelnut-almond base really adds a lot to the cookie.

SPOOKY SUGAR COOKIES

I love using these cookie cutters that make the design for you, because I’m not that good at piping fancy designs (I am working on it, but well, you know how it goes). For the houses, I wanted a “granite” look, and it was easy to do with food gel diluted with a bit of vodka (or lemon extract). You need to eye-ball the dilution factor, so that the color is a little faded and does not cover the surface of the cookie completely. I used purple and dark blue from Artisan Accents, and completed the decoration with Royal Icing dyed orange or black.

For the sugar cookie basic recipe, I followed Bakeat350 to a T. I love that you don’t need to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out. All recipes I’ve tried from that site worked wonderfully, and I’ve tried plenty, as every week I include a small batch of sugar cookies in my donations to Common Table.

FRIENDLY GHOST MACARONS

I used my default recipe for these, and the same chocolate ganache used for the Spider Macs, posted above. All you need is a template to pipe your little ghosts, and to make sure the macaron batter is not too thin, stop shorter in the macaronage, so that when you pipe the design it stays as it is. There are many templates available in the net, I used this one. The only issue I had with these macs is the slight browning in the oven. It is pretty tricky to keep the white color unchanged. In a batch I made earlier, I painted some pearl dust all over the surface, but it used up so much pearl dust, I am not sure it was worth it.

For more recipes to inspire you, click on this link from last year. Amazing how we had no idea how much our world would be changed 365 days later.

ONE YEAR AGO: Miso and Sesame Roast Chicken with Revelation Quinoa

TWO YEAR AGO: Incredibly Simple Times Four

THREE YEARS AGO: Parsnip, Coconut and Lemongrass Soup

FOUR YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2016

FIVE YEARS AGO: Paleo Moussaka

SIX YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2014

SEVEN YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, October 2013

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Bourbon and Molasses Glazed Pork Tenderloin

NINE YEARS AGO: Crimson and Cream Turkey Chili

TEN YEARS AGO: Taking a break from the nano-kitchen

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate Chip Cookies

13Sep2020

SPRINGERLE COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

My love for macarons should be quite obvious, but there’s something about Springerle Cookies that speaks straight to my soul. These cookies, not unlike macarons, have been around for centuries. In terms of flavor, they are a lot more strict, as there is no filling to play with. But they are so elegant, so magical, and the anise oil makes them unique. Oddly enough I don’t like licorice but find the anise flavor of Springerle quite enticing. I share with you one authentic recipe for these cookies that is a bit of a labor of love, and also time-consuming, as the cookies have to dry for a couple of days before baking. But, if you want to just use those beautiful molds in a simpler recipe, I’ll share my favorite also. A special thank you to my friend Margie, who sent me two beautiful molds, and perhaps not intentionally, turned me into a Springerle-mold-addict.

SPRINGERLE COOKIES
(traditional recipe, based on The House on the Hill)

for the cookies:
1/4 teaspoon baker’s ammonia (Hartshorn)
1 tablespoons milk
3 large eggs, room temperature
360g powdered sugar
57g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened but not melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon of anise oil
454g sifted cake flour (I used Softasilk)
grated rind of orange

for the glaze (optional):
240g powdered sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon flavoring of your choice (I used vanilla)
pearl dust colors and lemon extract

Make the cookies: Dissolve baker’s ammonia in milk and set aside (avoid the temptation to take a sniff, you will regret it). Beat eggs until very thick, this will take from 10 to 15 minutes. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, then the softened butter. Add the the mixture of baker’s ammonia and milk, salt, anise oil and orange zest.

Gradually beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, then stir in the remainder of the flour to make a stiff dough. Turn onto floured surface and knead in enough flour to make a good print without sticking. Refrigerate for one hour, but keep in mind the dough can be refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days.

On a floured surface, roll dough depending on the depth of the carving in the cookie press you are using. Shallow carvings will need to be thinner while deeper carvings will need to be thicker. Flour your cookie mold for each and every pressing. Press the mold firmly and straight down into the dough, then lift, cut with the cookie cutter of your choice, and place the formed cookie onto a flat surface to dry.

Do not cover the cookies while they dry. The goal of drying is to set the design. Let the cookies dry at least for 24 hours. It is better to leave them alone for a couple of days, so the design will be better retained during baking.

On baking day, heat the oven to 255F to 325F (depending on the size of your cookie and how white you like to have them), for 10 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool and glaze or paint, if you so desire.

Make the optional glaze: Combine all ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth.
Add more water if necessary. Brush glaze on each cookie after baking. Paint with pearl dust alone or with the powder dissolved in a little lemon extract.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The molds on the top left corner of the composite picture were a gift from Margie. Aren’t they gorgeous? I love them!

If you visit The House on the Hill you can watch a very detailed video in which Connie, the author of the recipe, goes over all the minor details. Her recipe is for a really big batch, and I decided to make just half. I actually baked these back in December and took them to a departmental holiday party, but a full batch would be way too much. Keep in mind these cookies last forever, and although they can get a bit tough after a couple of weeks, the flavor keeps getting better (that’s what I heard).

Now, if you prefer to make a quicker version, and take it in different directions as far as flavor is concerned, I highly recommend King Arthur’s recipe.

SHORTBREAD SPRINGERLE-LIKE COOKIES
(slightly modified from King Arthur Flour)

227g butter, room temperature
106g brown sugar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 tsp anise oil
360g all-purpose flour

Beat together the butter, sugars, and salt until light and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, and fold in the flour. Divide the dough in half, shape both halves as disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 350F. Line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Working with one disk at a time, flour your work surface and roll the dough 1/4″ thick. To shape cookies using a springerle mold: Brush a very light coating of flour onto the dough and your springerle mold. Press the mold firmly into the dough, then remove and cut around the design with a cookie cutter.

Transfer the cut cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Freeze for 10 minutes. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool before painting, if so desired.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: It takes a little bit of patience to get these cookies right, and each mold is a slightly different universe. You need to get the thickness of the dough and the pressure you use with the mold just right, so that the full pattern is transferred. The main thing to keep in mind is that you need a cookie recipe with a very small amount of leavening agent, or even without any at all. Be careful with baking powder, and make sure you use a recipe that someone had success with before. You can use the basic recipe from King Arthur and change the flavors, as they suggest in the site. I really like using Fiori di Sicilia, and added it to the heart-shaped batch.

I hope you’ll consider baking a batch of these cookies during the upcoming holiday season. I am sharing the recipes early enough, so you can browse the many wonderful sites that sell Springerle molds (like this one) and keep me company in my latest addiction.

ONE YEAR AGO: Chickpeas and Zucchini with Tahini Sauce

TWO YEAR AGO: Mokonut’s Rye Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

THREE YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple Times Four

FOUR YEARS AGO: Going naked, and my husband loved it

FIVE YEARS AGO: Cream Cheese Mini-Pancakes with Smoked Salmon

SIX YEARS AGO: Star-Shaped Chocolate Brioche Bread

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Blueberry-Banana Bread

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Into the Light Again

NINE YEARS AGO: Five Grain Sourdough Bread

TEN YEARS AGO: The Nano-Kitchen

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Kaiser Rolls

26Aug2020

MARBLED TAHINI COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

These are the perfect cookies for grown-ups. Not too sweet, with a nice tahini flavor. They look stylish in their black and white nature, with the added bling of black sparkling sugar around the edges. I saw this recipe on the New York Times and made it the following day. But, guess what? I was not very happy with the outcome, because the cookies ended up too big. In their recipe, the full block is sliced to form the cookies. I changed things around a bit, and cut the block in half first. They turned out quite a bit more delicate. This version I am happy with, so I share it with you…

MARBLED TAHINI COOKIES
(adapted from The New York Times)

385 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
Cooking spray
225 grams unsalted butter, softened
125 grams confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature, plus 1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup plain tahini
3 tablespoons black tahini
coarse black sanding sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, salt and baking powder; set aside. Coat a loaf pan (9 x 5) with cooking spray, then line with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of overhang. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla; beat on medium-high until combined, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined; then increase speed to medium and beat until dough starts to clump together.

Remove dough from bowl, knead lightly and form into a fat log. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut into two pieces, one about 1/3 of the dough, and the other 2/3 of the dough. Return the larger piece to the bowl, add the plain tahini, and beat on medium speed until fully combined. Remove from bowl and set aside. Add the smaller piece and the black tahini to the bowl and beat on medium speed until fully combined.

On a floured surface, using a bench scraper or a knife, cut the white dough in half. Pat half the white dough into a 5-inch square. Cut the black dough in half, then pat half the black dough on top of the flattened white dough to match dimensions. Repeat with remaining white dough, then black dough, so you have four alternating layers of white dough and black dough. Cut in half crosswise, and gently knead and roll one piece to marble the two colors together. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Stack both pieces of dough together and briefly knead the pieces together to form one dough. The idea is to marble the colors, so do as much or as little as you like.

Press dough into prepared pan, and fold the plastic wrap over the top to seal. Gently press down to even out the surface as much as possible. Chill until firm, at least a few hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water to thin it out. Spread the sanding sugar out on a small baking sheet. Remove the block of dough from the loaf pan and unwrap it. Trim the slanted sides and the top if you want them really square. Cut it in half lengthwise, so that you’ll have two equal blocks of cookie dough. Very lightly brush the outside of each block with the egg white mixture. Press firmly to coat all sides (except the ends) with the sugar, sprinkling and pressing it on to cover any bare spots.

Cut each block into thin slices (less than 1/4 inch) and lay them out 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 10 minutes. Bake until cookies are golden underneath, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These are quite likely my favorite cookie of this crazy year. Well, you know I am partial to macarons, but macarons are pretty sweet. Truth is, I like to dream about designs and flavors, bake them, but once I eat one, I’m satisfied. These cookies are quite a bit more dangerous… They have that savory-sweet quality that I find hard to resist. The black sparkling sugar is a nice touch, but you can skip that step with no major harm done. Halloween is approaching. I see no parties, no get-togethers, but I definitely see a batch of these babies, in orange and black. What do you think?

On the picture above you can see the first batch, slicing the full block of cookie dough to make the cookies. Maybe you would prefer them that way, but I definitely like the smaller better.

Each one, so unique!

ONE YEAR AGO: Twice-Baked Goat Cheese Souffle

TWO YEARS AGO: Strawberry-Mango Entremet Cake

THREE YEARS AGO: Hommage to the Sun

FOUR YEARS AGO: Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Almond Vinaigrette

FIVE YEARS AGO: Eggplant Tomato Stacks

SIX YEARS AGO: The Couscous that Wasn’t

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Apple-Cinnamon Bread

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Blueberry Galette

NINE YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, August 2011

TEN YEARS AGO: Journey to a New Home

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Friday Night Dinner

24Jul2020

BROWN SUGAR COOKIES WITH BUTTERCREAM ICING

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

Since lockdown, Sugar Cookies became a weekly baking activity. I make a batch of dough, divide it in three portions, cut, bake and decorate one-third of it, save the leftover dough in the freezer to use on the following two weeks. By doing so, I can easily include some in every Friday Common Table spread, concentrating just on how to decorate them (although they are very tasty even plain). In this version, I used a crusting buttercream instead of the usual Royal Icing.

BROWN SUGAR COOKIES WITH BUTTERCREAM ICING
(adapted from many sources)

for the cookies:
360 g all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice (I used this one, see comment at the end of the post)
100 g granulated sugar
100g brown sugar
226 g butter, cut into chunks
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla paste

for the icing:
60 g butter
60 g vegetable shortening (I used Spectrum)
360 g powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla (clear, if available)
2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
pinch of salt
gel food color (pink and purple)
sprinkles
gold powder
lemon extract or vodka

Heat oven to 350. Whisk the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, set aside.

Add the butter (cold is fine) to the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and cream with both sugars. Add the egg, vanilla and salt, and mix until everything is incorporated nicely.

Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Make sure to scrape the bowl, so that no dried bits of flour stay unincorporated. If you want to divide the dough, do it now, freeze amounts for later and work with half or one third of it right away. Roll on a floured surface to about 1/4″ and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets, freeze for 5 to 10 minutes, and bake for about 12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. The edges should start to get golden, but do not allow the full cookie to get too much color. Transfer to a cooling rack and decorate as you desire, or leave them plain.

Make the frosting. Combine butter and shortening (both at room temperature) in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid type mixer using the whisk attachment. When they are well incorporated, add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk, whisking in low speed at first. Increase the speed to medium-high and whisk for a couple of minutes. Adjust consistency with heavy cream or more powdered sugar, if needed.

Divide in three portions. Dye one portion pink, one portion purple, and leave the third portion white. Place in piping bags fitted with 1M icing tip. I left the pink as a solid color, and mixed the purple and white together, adding more purple than white to the bag. Pipe rosettes on top of the fully cold cookies, decorate with sprinkles. Once the frosting is solid enough on the surface, decorate the pink rosettes with gold powder mixed with vodka or lemon extract.

Allow the cookies to sit at room temperature for 24 hours before wrapping or placing in a box.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Buttercream icing might seem like a lot of extra work, but I find it more forgiving because it is easier to get the consistency right. Royal Icing requires a lot more precision, and I’ve had situations in which I had to empty the piping bag, adjust the consistency, fill it again… and REPEAT the process… Not fun. The buttercream will start to crust within one hour, and after 2 hours you can paint the edges with gold if you like. Leave the cookies at room temperature for 24 hours before packing them, so that the frosting is nice and firm. It will be soft as you bite into it.

For the rosettes, I think that mixing white buttercream with the dyed gives a more subtle and elegant effect. I did that for the purple decoration. The pink was piped as a solid color, but then the gold detail did the job of softening the overall look, or at least that’s what I was trying to go for.

Another third of the dough was decorated with Royal Icing the following week. I used the small-batch that I blogged about in the past, you can see it here. Some got a painted icing decoration as described by Helen in this post.

The addition of brown sugar and spices changes quite a bit the flavor of the cookie itself. I liked it so much that it made me think if I could go back in time I would use this recipe instead of the one I had planned to use in a certain tent: a plain sugar cookie perfumed with Fiori di Sicilia and cardamon. But, since I never made it to the cookie episode, going back in time would be a moot point.

About Mixed Spice, here is the composition: ground cinnamon (40%) + ground coriander (40%), complete the other 20% amount with ground caraway, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves adjusting them to taste