TWD: Chocolate-Mint Nightcaps

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Marcel DeSaulniers

Ahh, I was so looking forward to making these!! Chocolate mint ganache, sandwiched between two chocolate cookies, and topped with even more ganache (to resemble a nightcap).

These treats are small, and are meant to be eaten with your fingers. However, a fork may have been better, for the cookies are like a small moist sponge cake, that stick to the tips of your fingers, and are quite messy.

These were a bust for me. The chocolate mint ganache had no mint flavor to it all. I should have went with my instinct to infuse the cream for a longer time - at least an hour, as I do when I make ice cream. It also was too firm to pipe. Well, it was perfect when I pulled it from the fridge, but as it sat out on the counter, while I baked my last set of cookies, it firmed up even more! I had to place the bowl of ganache over a waterbath to soften it back up. Unfortunately, the ganache was not as smooth after doing so.

I felt the cookies were too light for the heavy ganache. I'm thinking maybe brownies would work better, or maybe even meringue cookies for more of a textural difference.

I only made a few for the photo - the rest of the cookies are in the freezer, waiting for a recipe that calls for cake crumbs - they'll probably end up in the trash though. And the extra ganache? Who knows. Would hate to throw out all that good chocolate. Maybe I can make truffles with it, or stir it in to warm milk for hot cocoa. (It would be a lot of cocoa!)

To view how my fellow bakers fared with this recipe, click here to be taken to the TWD blogroll for their links.

TWD | Baking with Julia | Amaretti

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Nick Malgieri

The book states that amaretti means "little bitter things", due to the use of sweet and bitter almonds in the dough; and that bitter almonds cannot be imported into the United States*. 

These not so little cookies of mine, are made from only a few ingredients; four to be exact, and one of them being optional: almond paste, sugar, egg whites, and pine nuts (I used sliced almonds).

The almond paste is mixed with the sugar in two increments until the paste turns into very fine crumbs; next, the egg whites are mixed in. Bam! Done. How easy is that?!! So easy, it felt as though something was missing.

The dough is transferred to a pastry bag and small mounds are placed on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment, about one and a half inches apart. I obviously made mine too large, for I only yielded a baker's dozen, as where the recipe states it makes about three dozen! Oops.

Before baking, the cookies are dabbed with a wet towel to remove the points and ridges made from the pipping tip; this also helps produce the crinkly top. If using the optional nuts, they are applied at this time. I topped a third of my cookies with almonds, another third with powdered sugar, and left the last plain.

They are baked in a 325° oven for about twenty minutes.

The cookies did stick to the parchment, as noted in the book that this could happen. I have a very thin metal spatula that I used to remove them - it worked OK. It is recommended to wet the underside of the parchment, using a pastry brush with hot water, and allowed to sit for a few seconds, until the cookies can be released. I started with this method, but when I lifted the parchment paper, the powdered sugar started falling off my cookies.

The cookies were wonderful the day they were made, but I liked them even more a day or two later. They became a little more crisp on the outside, with a wonderfully chewy center. They do become rather dry and too crispy, after day two. 

Though I enjoyed them all, the powdered sugar ones were my favorite.

These were so easy, so sweet, and so dangerously good (not knowing just how dangerous they could be!)
 
*Of course I had to find out why bitter almonds were not allowed to be imported into the US as mentioned in the book. Did you know, that bitter almonds contain a naturally occurring toxic chemical, hydrogen cyanide? This chemical has serious side effects such as slowing of the nervous system, breathing problems, and death. According to WebMD, they advise not using bitter almond. Ah yeah...

In my research, I ran across this current recall from Whole Foods for said almonds, imported from Italy and Spain??? Hmmm - maybe import restrictions have eased since 1996 - when this book was printed.

Do head over to the TWD website by clicking here to see the results of my fellow bakers.

Book 115: The Pastry Queen | Sugar Saucers

by Rebecca Rather

These are called sugar saucers because they are as large as, you guessed it, a saucer - the plate, not the UFO, that I had imagined.

I was craving something sweet, and wanted something quick and easy. Aside from the hour chill time in the fridge (or fifteen minutes in the freezer) these fit the bill perfectly.

These are basically a sugar cookie. In addition to the normal ingredients of butter, granulated sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking soda and salt, this recipe also includes powdered sugar and canola oil.

After the dough has chilled, using a standard-size ice cream scoop (mine apparently is larger than standard - for I only got six cookies instead of twelve), the dough is dropped onto a cookie sheet about two inches apart. The dough is then flattened to about a quarter inch thick. I covered the ball of dough with a piece of parchment paper and used the bottom of a glass to flatten.

Whoa. Two cookies took up the whole sheet pan. Good thing I started out with the pan that had only two on it.

I had four on the first sheet pan. The dough was too soft to transfer, so I cut the parchment and lifted two of the cookies to another pan.

If you look closely, you can see the edge of the cookie peeking out - they are saucer sized! The finished cookies were six inches in diameter, giving me six cookies; as where the recipe states I should have gotten a dozen of four-inch cookies.

I decided to add some sugar to the tops before baking. I left two plain, two were sprinkled with granulated sugar, and two with demerara sugar. I actually liked them best without any sugar.

These cookies were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect in by book. And they seemed to get better with each passing day. 

Being these were so huge, I cut them up shortbread style. These would be a great addition to a potluck - or better yet, even a sit down dinner - put the cookies in the middle of the table and let your guests just break off a piece; there is just something fun, to eating such a big cookie.

 amazon

TWD: X Cookies

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Nick Malgieri 

Tic-Tac-Dough anyone?

I know it was O's turn, however I only made one O, silly me.

These were time consuming, back breaking and unfortunately a big disappointment (to me).

I was so looking forward to making these. I  l o v e  fig newton cookies, and the book states these are reminiscent of those. Though they have a lot more to them besides figs (one of my favorite fruits) - golden raisins, almonds, chocolate, dark rum, and candied orange peel. Sounds delicious doesn't it?

It's a bit early in the year to find candied orange peel - however, it's abundant during the holidays - just a couple of weeks too early. I did find a specialty store a few cities over that carries it for $12.50 for a half pound. In the end I decided to make a batch myself. It was easier than I thought it would be. There are several recipes out there - some easier than others. The easiest was a recipe by Martha Stewart (interesting, if you Google "candied citrus martha stewart" she has two or three different ways of making it- hmmm); and if you choose to make your own, the leftovers are wonderful coated in dark chocolate. 

I really wish I went with my original thought of making only half the recipe. Really, who needs five dozen cookies around? Well, I thought since we were close to the holidays, I could freeze some of them, send some into work with Andy, take some to our daughter, my sister, you know, share the love. Not to mention, if they turned out anything close to a fig newton, I would have devoured a dozen easily myself (there is a silver lining to everything!).

The cookie part was extremely dry and crumbly - not soft like fig newtons - and as is the norm with recipes in this book, with all that went into these cookies, they were not very flavorful. I did only bake half the recipe (the rest of the dough and filling went into the freezer - not sure why), which I was about to toss into the garbage, but the hubby said he would still take them into work. I hesitated at that - I have my reputation to think of after all. I did let him take them to work - I only hope I can show my face at work tomorrow.

Update: They were a little better the next day - the cookie was not as dry and crumbly, though the flavor did not improve any. I don't think these were worth the time and energy spent, not to mention the cost - dried figs, nuts, rum - not cheap.

Update 2: Hubby came home without my container. I said to him, being you did not bring the container home, it must still be full, nobody liked them. No! Everybody but one guy, loved them! Even a customer, who asked if these cookies were Italian, she herself is Italian, and enjoyed them. Go figure. Must be me.

I'm not sure why the instructions say to roll the dough into a 12-inch rope, only to roll out the dough to a 3x12 rectangle. Any rolling of the dough will stretch it beyond 12 inches. I made the ropes approximately ten inches long before rolling out.

As tedious as these were, there was a fun factor to them. If only they tasted good. I don't mind a little hard work for recipes that turn out downright delicious, such as the Hastskor (horseshoe) cookies I make at Christmas.

How cute is this tray?! I got the idea and instructions from this website, that my niece Shannon  (whom is a fabulous photographer) "liked" and it showed up in my FB newsfeed.

I wish I had taken a picture before I ate most of it! Candied orange peels also taste great covered in dark chocolate - dangerously addicting. Our daughter gifted us some one Christmas and I think of it often. Now that I know it isn't really that hard to make, I will do so again. You can also use it to top desserts, use as a garnish for drinks (spirals would be cute - they are soft to begin with, and dry hard - maybe shape them around a straw?), throw them into bread batter, top your ice cream or yogurt, even add it to your favorite granola recipe, or just eat it plain like I have been. 

To see results of this recipe, or other versions the talented bakers of our group have come up with, visit the Tuesdays with Dorie site and look for the LYL: X Cookies post for links to their sites.

TWD: Madeleines

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia

by Dorie Greenspan

Contributing Baker: Flo Braker

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Madeleines - probably didn't know that did you?

The cookbook mentions that this type of tea cake (or cookie, your choice) is the same that "caused Proust to remember things past". Who the hell is Proust? I had to google the name - and if you google madeleine, several entries mention the two together. I even texted my sister who is an avid reader to ask if she had read any of his work, and if I should know who he is. No she had not, and yes I should, for he is famous.

Well, after researching him on-line, I have to say I don't feel I'm missing much and therefore will not be reading any of his works anytime soon, if ever. (No offense to those who enjoy Proust.)

These little tea cakes are made with a Génoise batter, very much like the Strawberry Cake we made last year. Personally I found the strawberry cake quite boring in taste, though stunning to look at; so to amp up the flavor I added the juice and zest of a couple of lemons and a few limes.

The recipe calls for two whole eggs and four egg yolks. I was short an egg so I only used three yolks. The finished product had a nice citrus flavor, but the texture was too spongy, almost to the point of rubbery. I would have preferred a more cake-like texture. 

Reading the P&Q (pointers & questions) section on the TWD site, a few bakers mentioned their cakes were drier than other madeleine recipes they have tried. I have to say, my little cakes were moist and stayed moist a couple of days later. I'm sure the addition of the juice helped with that, and I'm not sure, but maybe one less egg helped as well?

The lemon and lime lended a bright taste to these little cakes, so I may try my hand at madeleines again, but with a different recipe. Until then, if I need a citrus fix, I'll make these delicious gems made with grapefruit and lime.

Success meter (1-3): 2

Homemade vanilla. A gift from my lovely daughter.

I added about one-half tablespoon lemon zest and one whole tablespoon lime zest. I would have used equal amounts, but I only had two lemons. I also used one tablespoon each of the juice.

As suggested by a few fellow bakers, I used only butter to coat the pan; giving it two coats of butter - chilling between coats.

Perfect looking little cakes! Don't they look like they'll just slip right out of the pan? Not the case - had to pry these puppies out. Not too much damage though.

The second batch I decided to experiment a bit. Instead of butter (too lazy to melt more) I coated the tin with olive oil and to half the pan I dusted with flour (as suggested in the recipe) and the other half I dusted with sugar; I also baked them a bit longer - hence the darker edges - hoping this would help them release from the pan easier. Nope. Still had to be pried. Maybe a non-stick pan would alleviate my sticking issue.

If I do get around to making these again, I would use the butter and flour process, for the cakes turned out the best as appearances go - and bake them less so they are not quite so dark. Using the sugar actually gave the cakes a nice little crunch which I enjoyed, but I would like to have the more noticeable ridges that were achieved with the flour method.

The cookies did not quite develop the prominent hump that madeleines are known for. Some recipes call for a teaspoon of baking powder where others such as this do not. I think the addition of baking powder would have helped with obtaining the signature hump.

Because it's fun to play with your food! (A future post.)

You can find the madeleine recipe on pages 41 and 334 of Baking with Julia, or at our host's site, Counter Dog. To see other wonderful creations of these tea cakes, check out the talented bakers of our virtual cooking group - you can find their links on the LYL: Madeleines link over on the TWD site.

TWD: Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Rick Katz


 



Well, after the croissants anything is easier and quicker! Though not as quick as I had thought - these needed a chill time of several hours to overnight - so the directions read. Not sure if they really do. That's OK. Whip the dough up in the morning and have fresh baked cookies in the evening for dessert. I can work with that.

These cookies have a surprise ingredient added: Dried apricots! I did half the dough with dried cherries on the suggestion of Sandra of Have Apron.... Will Bake from the TWD P&Q link. Sorry Laura. Laura is my sister; she is not a big fan of fruit (or nuts) in salads or savory dishes - something I always seem to incorporate when she comes to dinner on Tuesday nights - our puzzle night. With desserts she is normally OK with it. Not sure if she'll like the idea of them in these cookies though. I won't tell her till after she tries them.

I portioned the dough onto the cookie sheets and placed them in the refrigerator overnight for I wanted to wait for better lighting for taking pictures. When Andy, my husband saw them in the fridge he asked, what are those? Cookies, I replied. Do we get to have them? Tomorrow. Oh.

I let him in on a secret; I still had extra dough in the bowls and could cook up a few for tonight. I did not bother with doubling up the cookie sheets to prevent burning the bottoms of the cookies (as instructed) and the dough was only in the fridge for a couple of hours. These cooked up beautifully. No pics of course. Andy thought he detected a slight burnt taste, I did not; he also stated he prefers regular chocolate chip cookies to these.

The following day I pulled the preportioned dough from the refrigerator and doubled the cookie sheets as instructed; they did not bake up as plump as the first ones I made the previous evening. I'm thinking the extra insulation of the doubled cookie sheets allowed them to spread more, and resulting in a thinner cookie. Still, they were very good.

As for my sister - I offered her the plate of cookies and she went for the chocolate cherry one. I asked if she would like one of the others and she said "no, they have fruit in them - I can see it."

However, my sister knows me all too well. She looked at the plain looking cookie she chose and said "these have fruit in them too, don't they?" All I could do was grin. Well, she liked them! Another "Hey Mikey!' moment. She took three of each kind home with her.

As with all baked goods, these taste best the day they are made. However, two days later I am still enjoying them.

Success meter (1-3): 3

These are my all-time favorite chocolate chips. Until now, I could not say how they fared in baked goods, for they never made it farther than from my hand to my mouth; even with the new batch I bought; hence the added bar of Ghirardelli.

 Delicious cookie dough speckled with espresso powder.

 I soaked the dried cherries in orange juice to plump them up a bit.

We all know chocolate and cherry go together like blogs and comments. However I was pleasantly pleased more with the chocolate and apricot. The apricot lends a tartness to offset the sweetness of all that chocolate - a whole pound of chocolate.

Our lovely host for this week is Peggy of Galettista; she has the recipe if you would like to make these yourself. To see more you can check out the results from all our fabulous bakers over on the TWD site - just look for the Mocha Chocolate Chip LYL link.

TWD: Hazelnut Biscotti

Baking thru Baking With Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Recipe contributed by Alice Medrich


            Hazelnut Biscotti and Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti


I know, I know... TWD bakers are thinking what negative comment does she have this week? Well I really, really, wanted to say these were GREAT! Does it count if I really, really, liked the dough?

And to mention the fact that I love Alice Medrich. I have made several of her recipes from my first ever baking cookbook, given to me by my wonderful husband over 20+ years ago, Cocolat, with fabulous results.

I mentioned in my last TWD post that I would give a few more recipes from this book a try. We still have two more to go this month and I have high hopes, for I know I'm going to like the Blueberry Nectarine Pie - how can you not? That's the third and last recipe for this month and three times is a charm, yes?

I would not say that I am a big fan of the biscotto in general, but I will have it on occasion and I have liked it in the past - especially crumbled on top of poached pears - yummm.

I divided the recipe in two to make half as written and the other half chocolate flavored. The one thing with baking, it's a science; a subject I have to admit I was/am not interested in. If I only knew...

To change the recipe to make the chocolate flavor it depends on several factors which you can read about here. The type of cocoa (natural vs Dutch process) you use makes a difference, along with adjusting the amount of flour, sugar, and liquid. Also depending on the type of cocoa as to whether you use baking soda and/or baking powder. Too confusing for me. I just went on the advice of a fellow baker's "guess" and replaced the flour with cocoa 2-1 ratio (2 cocoa/1 flour). I also added some instant espresso (in place of the liqueur) hoping to bring out the chocolate flavor and added extra water, for I read that cocoa powder acts like a sponge.

Did you know that biscotti is the plural form of biscotto? Not I.

Again a BWJ recipe failed to impress. The flavor quotient is just not there in these recipes. Why? The recipes are not all from one pastry chef; recipes are contributed from several bakers. Maybe the reason is what a fellow blogger commented on one of my posts; maybe our tastes have changed over time. This book was written back in 1996 and I have noticed that one of my favorite pastry chefs has updated her recipes on-line from her books to reflect our tastes today.

On to the next recipe! Keeping my fingers crossed.

Success meter (1-3): 1

I skinned my hazelnuts the old fashioned way and saved

time and clean-up in the process. She has you boil them

(which I am reading is quite messy) to remove the skins,

then roast them. May as well just roast them and rub them

in a towel to remove the skins.

I split the recipe in two.

On the left: ingredients for chocolate hazelnut biscotti

On the right: ingredients for hazelnut biscotti

After the first baking.

Biscotti are a twice-baked cookie.

Ready for the second baking.

Ingenious idea to bake them on a rack.

No need to turn them over half-way

thru the baking time.

Our hosts for this week are Jodi of Homemade and Wholesome and Katrina of Baking and Boys, you can find the recipe on their blogs.

To see other Tuesdays with Dorie baker's results and spins on the recipe, you can find their links here.