Happy New Year to one and all... especially the Scots!
This really has been an amazing decade, hasn't it? There's been a lot of change: technological, political, and personal.
This time ten years ago I was 11, in 6th grade. Over the decade I've graduated middle school and high school, gone to college, held a job, had my first drink.
My great-grandparents died, several cousins were born, and we added two dogs to the family.
I saw The Lord of the Rings for the first time, watched House on TV, and read some of my favorite books like The Count of Monte Cristo and Jane Eyre.
I and my family have been a bit battered, some more than others, but we've all come through as stronger people with more understanding and compassion.
So what will this decade bring? I'll be graduating college, and then...who knows? Bring it on, 2010.
See you in 2010!
Well, it's Christmas at last, and from the sound of you all on Twitter your cards are sent, and your presents wrapped. It's been great hearing all your cries of delight recently, as your poor postmen and women have struggled with packages through the snowy weather!
Hope those of you who have time off over the festive season get everything you wish for, and those who are working have more fun than you might be expecting. We've published the dates we're working over the holidays, so if you find yourself in the office, you might well have company here in the UK, or over with the MOO Crew in the US.
We've had a great few weeks spotting unique gifts and ideas created with MOO, here's a few of our favourites:
A tetrabox advent calendar, by Bcome
Also by Bcome, this lovely looking memory game, complete with a great pattern on the back:
This super-cute Mosaic Frame, created by thisiswoly. Filled with 20 Minicards, it features the beautiful baby Sarah.
These wonderful looking alphabet game cards, by taraghb, which look like they were as fun to make as they will be to use!
And last but not least, look at this! another entry into our MiniCard Gift Box competition! Created by emusing-emma, it's really bought an extra flutter of Christmas cheer into MOO Towers. We love his little sledge!
Fancy joining in the fun? Closing date for entries to our competition is midnight PST 28th December 2009. Why not grab some festive paper, and see what you can do! More competition details can be found right here.
And now all that remains for me to say is a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from everyone at MOO!
Do you really hate gingerbread? Even if your name isn't Hansel, or Gretel, or if you're not recovering from some other gingerbread-related revenger/murder pact, you're probably not alone.
For something popular as gingerbread is supposed to be, I honestly think you'd be hard-pressed to even find 10 people in your immediate circle of friends, family and colleagues who would own up to actually liking the stuff. Go ahead! Check… I'll wait right here.
…
So… how did it go? Harder than you thought, wasn't it? And didn't even the people who said they like it have some qualifier to add to their answer? "I only like my mom's, " or "If it isn't crisp like a gingersnap I can't eat it," or "If it's too gingery, it's a deal breaker," or "Not the cookies, but the cake is nice." And those are the people who are supposed to like it! Let's face it, compared to, say, chocolate -- gingerbread has very little in the way of actual fan-base.
I used to be one of you people -- you haters. And maybe I still am; I'm one of those "qualified" gingerbread-likers. I only like this recipe. And of course, once again, it just HAD to be a gingerbread recipe from the virtual Qu'ran, Bible, and Torah of all fully tested American recipes, Cook's Illustrated.
Now, a caveat: while I love food processor doughs, which seem for some reason much easier (maybe it's just a perception thing with me) this is, after all, a Cook's Illustrated recipe, which means it is likely to take you all freaking day. They do like micro-managing the process -- I mean there's a line that says, "cut the butter into 12 pieces." That is SO adorable.
That said, the exhaustive instructions are meant to ensure a faultless outcome each and every time, so you can forgive them a little. So don't be i intimidated by big recipes! If you're anything like me (and if you've bothered to read this far, I think you are), you'll want to read it just to read it. And anyway, a basic familiarity of the steps of a recipe is a great idea, especially when baking.
People nowadays seem to be constantly bemoaning how busy we all are. There's just no time at Christmas to go to the trouble to make your own cookies, or make your own family dinner, or actually throw your friends a real party. I'll admit that the business of everyday life, let alone at Christmas, keeps one tied up enough that the prospect of complicating things more seems foolish at best.
However, I would like to make an argument for going to the trouble. Accomplishments -- whether they are as small as making a home-baked something for someone you love, or as big as organizing to improve your town, state or nation -- accomplishments are worth the trouble. They have a measurable end. They make the world -- YOUR world -- a better, more interesting, and more fulfilling place to live. And it feels good!
The folks at Cook's Illustrated are going to the trouble so that we -- the eager and creative, the hungry and motivated, the starving and geeky -- we'll have something to feed our need. They've gone to the trouble. We should, too.
And besides, it's Christmas. I don't think Hillel would mind me saying, "If not now… then when?"
THICK AND CHEWY GINGERBREAD COOKIES** WITH ROYAL ICING
Listen up, haters: this is the gingerbread cookie that will change your mind. It's soft, it's got taste, and it looks like a zillion bucks on your cookie plate, even with the most rudimentary of decorative touches.
Beyond the somewhat exhaustive (and, let's be honest, a little exhausting) detail in the recipe provided by Cook's Illustrated (including some additional information added by me), I do have some practical advice that came from making these a couple years (and in more than one batch one year) in a row:
- Firstly, my favorite baking trick: to soften cold butter slightly, try zapping it for 1 minute on 10% power. Two minutes would bring it to room temperature. Since the microwaves are acting on the fat and water in the butter, it won't matter much (especially at such low power) if the butter is cut into pieces or not.
- This dough is quite soft and sticky, so keeping it cold is a pretty important part of the process. If you're in the middle of a heat wave, or your kitchen is especially warm, take extra care or you'll have soggy dough that will fight you ever step of the way.
- Along those same lines, if your cookie cutters are especially elaborate (think those fancy brass snowflakes you see on display at cooking stores all the time) , you may want to consider rolling out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper instead of wax paper (like CI recommends). That way when cutting out the shapes (leave about an inch between each), you can pull away the excess dough, leaving the shapes on the pan where they are to bake. This will obviously require using more parchment, but it might be worth it for you; nothing is more frustrating than watching your beautifully elaborate snowflake rip into several, less beautiful snowflakes during the transfer to the baking sheet.
- Finally, if you are an extra big fan of ginger, consider using some candied ginger, too. According to the testing CI did, it adds "a nice urgency without imparting a harsh bite." They say a full half cup (about 2 ½ oz) was needed to really make a noticeable difference. You have to grind it very very fine, or they'll be islands in the dough that will impede your cutting. Slice the chunks into thin flakes and combine with the brown sugar in the recipe in the food processor. Process until the ginger pretty much disappears into the sugar (about 2 minutes). Add the remaining dry ingredients and process to blend. Don't decrease the amount of ground ginger the recipe calls for! You'll still need it to avoid a bland cookie. If all that sounds like too much, just increase the amount of ground ginger in the recipe to a quarter cup (about one oz) and you'll have a very "hot" cookie indeed!
- You can make and chill the dough (tightly wrapped in the fridge… not the freezer!) up to a week before baking, and the cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 10 days.
- 3 cups (15 oz.) all-purpose flour ( CI calls for unbleached, but regular is OK), plus a small amount more for rolling out and the cutters
- ¾ cup (5 ¼ oz.) firmly packed dark brown sugar
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 12 Tbsp (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened slightly
- ¾ cup molasses
- 2 Tbsp whole milk
- Royal Icing (recipe follows)
- Special equipment: standard-sized food processor*, wax paper (or parchment paper, see above)
MAKE AND CHILL THE DOUGH:
Prepare a place in your refrigerator (or freezer if you want to bake that same day) for at least one sheet pan to sit.In a food processor, process flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until combined; about 10 seconds.
Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, and process until the mixture is sandy and resembles a fine meal; about 15 seconds.
With the machine running, gradually add molasses and milk. Process until dough is evenly moistened and forms a soft mass; about 10 seconds.
Scrape dough onto a work surface, and divide in half. Working with one portion of dough at a time (the other half should be in a bowl lightly covered in plastic in the fridge), roll between two large sheets of waxed paper into an even ¼ inch thickness, taking care that it should fit onto your sheet pan for chilling. Leave sandwiched between the wax paper, and place in refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight. Alternately, you can place the dough sheets in the freezer until firm, about 15-20 minutes.
BAKE THE COOKIES:
Heat oven to 350°F. Line two or more baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Prepare work surface and have cutters and a bit of extra flour at the ready.Remove the dough from the fridge or freezer and place on work surface. Peel the top layer of wax paper, very lightly dust the surface with flour, and gently lay it back in place. Flip the dough over, peel off the other layer of wax paper and set it aside. Very lightly dust the second side with flour also.
Cut out shapes, dipping sharp edge of cutters into flour every so often to avoid sticking. Pull away excess dough and set aside. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, placing them just less than an inch apart.
Repeat with the second sheet of dough or until your sheet pan is full. The excess dough can be re-rolled in waxed paper and chilled for cutting again, though the cookies will get progressively tougher the more you work the dough.
Bake the cookies until centers are set and dough barely retains imprint when touched very gently with your fingertip, about 8-11 minutes. Better to have softer cookies than burned ones, so not over bake!
Cool cookies on their baking sheets for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store at room temperature, or decorate with Royal Icing (recipe follows).
Makes about 20 5-inch cookies, 30 3-inch cookies.
*If you want to use a stand or hand mixer, place everything but the butter, molasses and milk into a the mixer bowl and stir to combine. Stop the mixer and add the butter pieces, and mix on medium low until sandy. On low speed, add the molasses and milk and stir until dough is moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix until thoroughly combined. Then proceed as described with division, rollout, and chilling.
**For a Thin and Crispy Gingerbread Cookie that is nice for hanging on the tree (they have a more gingersnappy quality, and so are not as nice to eat without something to drink -- like tea or milk), try this variation from Cook's Illustrated:
Quarter, rather than halving the dough once it is mixed. Roll the dough to a ⅛ inch thickness and chill. When cutting out shapes, use a small straw, as skewer or even a toothpick to cut a small hole near the top (at least ⅛ inch from the edge) for threading a piece of ribbon through. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F, and bake the cookies until slightly darkened and firm in the center when gently pressed, about 15-20 minutes. Decorate after cooling completely, and hang with a ribbon on the tree when dry.
Makes about 2 ½ to 3 dozen 5-inch cookies or 4-5 dozen 3-inch cookies.
ROYAL ICING
Here again is the recipe from the side of the Ateco container of Meringue Powder. I like to use a small piping bag, a plastic bag with a small corner snipped off, or often one of those plastic diner-type catsup/mustard dispensers to decorate the cookies. You can pipe accent icing and hold candy decorations on like cement. It also looks great as a bright white accent on brown gingerbread cookies. Again, you could try a thinned out version for flooding techniques, though I never have. If you have extra icing, it keeps well refrigerated and covered with plastic wrap touching the surface, for up to 5 days.
- ¼ cup meringue powder
- ½ cup water
- 4 to 4 ½ cups sifted confectioner's sugar (use the extra half cup if you want a stiffer icing)
In a large bowl, whip together the meringue powder and water until you get soft peaks.
Gently sift in the confectioner's sugar, starting with just four cups. Beat to desired consistency, and sift in extra 1/2 cup of sugar if necessary.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with your choice of tip or a gallon-size plastic baggie with a small bit of one corner snipped off.
Decorate cookies as desired; place decorative sugars or other decors right away wile icing is still wet.
Allow icing to dry, at least 2 hours at room temperature or overnight. Transfer to an airtight container and store for up to two weeks.
----
Listen while you work!
Merry
Christmas one and all! I'll have a small fare-thee-well tomorrow, but
for now, how about listening to a new Christmas classic by
rock-and-roll royalty, U2.
Radhi decided to organize anyone wanting to give her a final goodbye for a picnic in Dolores Park one Sunday in June, which elsewhere in the country might sound like perfect timing, but in San Francisco, of course, it meant overcast skies, plunging temperatures and fog fog fog.
Because we were essentially providing nothing but the place for the picnic, I figured I'd go to the trouble to use a CI recipe. I have to admit that, while I made some adjustments to accommodate my extracurricular use of these cookies (which I mention in the recipe below), I really should have focused less on this tried and tested recipe and more on... the actual ice cream.
I bought two pints of wonderful ice cream (balsamic strawberry and their famous salted caramel), and I was cleaning up in prep for the guests to arrive on the day of the party, I put the frozen pints in the fridge to loosen them up so they ice cream would be more accommodating.
Seriously, folks. I set an alarm when things go in the oven, right? I set an alarm to wake me up for work in the morning, right? WHY WOULDN'T I SET ONE TO REMIND ME THAT ICE CREAM IS MELTING IN MY FRIDGE? WHY OH WHY?
When I finally made it to the assembly stage, the ice cream was so soft that the cookies (perfectly thick and chewy) were sliding off one another. Even in the freezer they didn't set up. I suppose in my haste, I had forgotten that artisan ice cream (and premium brands like Häagen-Dazs) have so much more butterfat than the run-of-the-mill ice cream that they don't freeze so solidly, and they tend to soften up quickly. VERY quickly.
I pressed on in the face of a platter full of a mess of melting cream and chocolate midnight, determined to make as many as possible and hope for the best. In the end, I did manage to get some of the smaller cookies (I used a smaller cookie scoop for the second batch) to hold together, and the effect was charming when I took them out of the freezer for the gang to savor. Or maybe they were all just too drunk to notice they were falling apart. Maybe it's that second thing.
We bade Radhi a heartfelt farewell, toasted with lovely drinks and indulged her love of that amazing ice cream one last time. In the end, no one minded eating the little leftover ice cream straight from the containers with a few extra cookies as garnish. Nor did they notice the slowly solidifying mass of strawberry, caramel, chocolate and cream in my freezer. It's the traditional purview of the indoor picnic host to hide as many sins as possible behind his stainless steel door. And it's way more convenient than lugging a Frigidaire to Dolores Park.
Do you think I have a lot to say about recipes before I get to the ingredient list? Then I suppose we only have Cook's Illustrated to blame. Every recipe typically comes with a two page article outlining the many steps -- and most importantly the MIS-steps -- taken to work the proportions to a level of ne plus ultra so high as to satisfy Fibonacci himself. When you read through the recipes, they don't leave much room for thinking "Now, couldn't I just try it this way?"
That said, I thought that way anyhow! My first batch went into the oven just as specified... but they came out domed, and even a little dry looking. Because I wanted these a bit flatter so I could make sandwiches of them, and because they were coming out a bit too unwieldy, I did two things: I used a smaller-than-called for cookie scoop, and I used moistened fingers to press the balls out flatter before baking. The results side by side were welcome: the cookies even looked shiner and were a better size and shape, but didn't seem to lose any of their chewy quality. I think if I were to try again at some point I might even consider baking two 9 x 13 pans of the dough gently rolled out flat and then cut into brownie-like squares for assembly.
Or maybe I should just find a recipe actually MEANT for ice cream sandwiches. Hm.
In any case, the cookies, minus any ice cream, were still fabulously chocolaty and were an undisputed hit. Do resist the urge to bake longer than recommended, as it's hard to tell when chocolate cookies are done. They'll be soft, but will firm up out of the oven. If you're using these cookies for ice cream sandwiches like I did, it's even more important to keep them slightly under-baked, so biting into them won't crumble them into messy pieces. Also because of this texture, using parchment paper to get them off the sheet pans in a whole step is extra helpful, so get some if you can.
Interested in making these Triple-Chocolate cookies? Baking Illustrated suggests adding about 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter just after the dry ingredients are incorporated. And who are we to question that advice?
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), softened but still firm
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Melt chocolate in medium heatproof bowl set over pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth; remove from heat. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and vanilla lightly with fork, sprinkle coffee powder over to dissolve, and set aside.
In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or with hand mixer), beat butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds (15 seconds with hand mixer).
Beat in sugars until combined, about 45 seconds (1 1/2 minutes with hand mixer); mixture will look granular.
Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds (1 1/2 minutes with hand mixer).
Add chocolate in steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds (1 minute with hand mixer).
Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula. With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture and mix until combined, about 40 seconds (1 minute with hand mixer). Do not overbeat.
Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Leaving about 1 1/2-inches between each ball, scoop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets with 1 3/4-inch diameter cookie scoop.
Bake cookies until edges have just begun to set but centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, turning cookie sheets from front to back and switching from top to bottom racks halfway through baking.
Cool cookies on sheets about 10 minutes, slide parchment with cookies onto wire rack and cool to room temperature; remove with wide metal spatula.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. Makes about 40 cookies.
Haven't I been a bit non-traditional in my music choices? If it's traditional you want... traditional you're gonna get. Listen as the Robert Shaw Chorale sings a medley of undisputed classics of the season with big bold arrangements that are far too polished and professional to come off as cheesy. Now that's Christmas Caroling... old school style!
You're all ready for Christmas, eh? Well feh! Nuts to you, I say!
Seriously... how could I have gotten so far in our series without a single nut cookie! Every Christmas when I was a kid, my mother made Tassies, little pastry flower shapes tucked into small muffin tins, filled with a cooked sugar and nut concoction. She'd also make a cream-cheese dough thumbprint cookies, rolled in chopped nuts, and topped with a little maraschino cherry. They were very grown up cookies, especially compared to her standard cut-out cookie with icing. As a kid, I was all "No Thanks," but now, I'm all "Yes, please."
I think the change happened when I lived back in Pittsburgh all those years ago. My precious little understated neighborhood (Regent Square) had a great little bakery, and since I had yet to catch the home-baking bug, I would routinely head up there to get delicious sweeties to serve friends for the brunches we seemed to never get tired of having. It was there that I had my first-ever taste of Rugelach.
There were many varieties, all with a flaky perfect pie-crust like pastry wrapped around fillings of fruit, jams, and sugar mixtures. But my favorites were the nut ones. Walnuts, pecans, almonds and almond paste... they were all incredible and way better than I had ever remember Mom's Tassies being. (To be fair, they weren't better... just different. I just couldn't appreciate them.) All of the sudden, my taste had grown up!
Fast forward to years later when I was transitioning from doctoring cake mixes and doing basic drop cookies into more elaborate affairs. It was then I started my fascination with Everyday Food magazine, which came along at the perfect time. Here were real food recipes with no shortcuts... just simple ingredients, clear directions and good tasting dishes. I still prize my collection of 20 plus issue very very much, and when I find myself with some ingredient to work with -- say some ground pork or a pack of chicken thighs or a bunch of parsnips or some candied ginger -- I invariably start leafing through the tables of contents of these little wonders to compile a list of contending recipes.
It was one of those times when, after yet another failed attempt at making candy (remind me to tell you about the Spicy Asian Nut Brittle I tried to make this year -- let's just say no advanced dental work was safe with this stuff around), I found myself with a bag full of lovely walnuts. One brief tour through my beloved Everyday Food collection and voila! Walnut and Brown Sugar Rugelach.
And I know by now what you're thinking... no I did NOT alter this recipe! Generally speaking, the first time I attempt a recipe, I follow it pretty much to the letter. This one has steered me so right that I have never felt the need for alteration.
:: sigh ::
OK OK! I'll admit it. I did add some pearl sugar on top before baking, but only because I had it on hand and didn't have another use for it! There, you caught me. That's all I did or can think to do, though.
Though now that I think about it... some nice dried cranberries, some orange zest in the pastry, and I wonder what that chestnut paste would taste like in these... maybe with some chopped hazelnuts....
Argh! I'm incorrigible.
WALNUT AND BROWN SUGAR RUGELACH
I know the idea of a traditionally Jewish sweet with dairy in the dough is a no no... it means you can't eat it after a meal of meat if you keep kosher. And then there are the size of these -- much smaller than your typical Bubbie's version. But the tenderness of this dough that really compliments the simple ingredients will have you, if not your Rabbi, looking the other way.
I've burned through many a pastry recipe over the last decade or so of baking, and I've seen proportions of wet to dry ingredients, of fats to sugars, of flavorings to lack of same. I can honestly say that this was and is one of the most surprising doughs I've worked with. The amount of butter and cream cheese to flour is pretty insane, and as a result, the dough is very rich, even when baked to the fullest extent of the time.
Still, I do like to take it out a bit earlier than the tested time (usually just after the 25 minute mark), as I prefer a softer texture, as opposed to a crunchier one. In my estimation, you still get a soft munch from the chopped and baked nuts, a crackle from the caramelized sugar, and just to be sure we've got a third hard texture, I like to sprinkle a little pearl sugar on top before baking. That last addition makes everyone look twice at these and think "OK, are those little pretzels? Are they sweet or salty?"
Another note about the fats: if you're using an especially rich butter or cream cheese, or if the dough feels a bit too loose and sticky when you're rolling it out, don't skimp on the flour you add to the board. Dust away moderately as you work, and keep the dough moving and remember that you only really need to get it just a bit bigger than your guide plate, so ragged edges are fine.
Because I love any dough you can do in the food processor, and because even the stand mixer alternative seems like more trouble (especially blending the butter and cream cheese), getting out ye olde Cuisinart is highly recommended. If you opt not to make the dough and freeze it up to 3 months ahead of time (!), you can make the dough 2 or so days ahead and keep very cold and tightly wrapped in the back of the fridge.
When you're ready, set up, roll-out, assembly and bake time won't take more than an hour, though the cookies themselves are great if kept in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or more.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 bar (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp of water
- 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp pearl sugar (optional)
- Special equipment: pizza cutter, small round cap or lid (like one from a spice jar)
In a food processor, blend butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and salt until well combined. Add flour, and pulse just until a dough forms.
Divide dough in half; flatten into disks, and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw before baking).
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees, with racks set in upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, combine egg with 1 teaspoon water to make an egg wash.
Working with one disk at a time, place dough on lightly floured parchment paper, and roll out into an 11-inch circle (about 1/4 inch thick), dusting lightly with flour as needed. Using a large dinner plate as a guide, cut around dough to make a perfect circle; trim off and discard scraps. Brush circles with egg wash.
Place cap in the enter of the circle, open end turned up for easy pickup later. Dividing evenly, sprinkle the dough with walnuts and brown sugar all the way to the outer edge of the dough. Pick up and remove the cap in the center, revealing a circle of uncovered dough in the center. Re-touch briefly with egg wash if necessary.
Using the pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut each circle into 16 equal triangles. Starting from the wide end, roll up each triangle of dough; place on lined baking sheets, seam side down. Brush rolls with egg wash. Sprinkle on pearl sugar if desired.
Bake until golden brown, 30 to 32 minutes. Transfer rugelach to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 32.
-----
Listen while you work!
Since we're making a
traditional Jewish dessert for having with our tea after Shabbat
dinner, let's hear a song about Hanukkah by those Canadian mensches,
The Barenaked Ladies. And maybe it wouldn't kill you to sit down and
call your mother, eh? That's a good boy.
See, the problem with me is that I just can't leave well enough alone.
I wasn't content to use the standard icing on Thelma Pifer Gibson's Christmas Cut-Out Cookies. What is likely Dorie Greenspan's most notable cookie wasn't safe. I saw a cookie called "transcendent" and thought "Maybe I could do better." I mean... a sugar cookie recipe favored by Martha Stewart HERSELF wasn't good enough for me. I mean... just who do I think I am, really?
As it turns out the answer is pretty simple: I'm just a big kid that never stopped asking "What if?" Especially in the kitchen.
I suppose under these circumstances, it's not surprising that -- after my mother-in-law, under pressure to buy something at a Pampered Chef party, got me a cookie press -- I looked at a recipe called "Classic Spritz Cookies" and thought, "Now what damage can I do to this one?"
Now I've got nothing against plain little butter cookies from a cookie press... they are charming, easy, and taste great almost without fail.
::sigh::
OK, so maybe I DO have something against them: THEY ARE BORING. I mean, a lighted Christmas tree is nice, but why have all white lights when you can have full-on color? I want that same variety in my Christmas! I want my friends to be so anxious to try the next cookie, they'll forget to have another of the first one until they've been all over the plate. So after testing that Classic Spritz recipe (it came in the box, so you know it's gonna work!), I figured I just had to spice things up. And I mean that literally.
We're lucky in our neighborhood here in San Francisco to have a business that basically sells three things: Vanilla beans, paella pans, and saffron. I happened by this place while thinking (again!) about cookies, and inspiration struck. Paella pans don't quite make for an improved cookie, and vanilla, regardless of the quality, is fairly standard. So... saffron it was! From these folks down the street, I had a sample of both powdered and thread saffron, and since it was my first attempt to bake with this Very Precious Substance, I thought it best to start with the less-expensive and lower-maintenance powdered saffron.
Knowing how baking can muddy the taste of certain flavorings, I added what I thought may have been much more saffron than necessary to the dough before pressing and baking. The baked cookies did taste of saffron, but not too strongly. They were more saffron-scented, which in retrospect makes perfect sense given the nature of this unique spice. I had decided that, to compliment the exotic taste in the dough, I'd drizzle the cookies with a simple powdered sugar glaze with cardamom, a complimentary Indian spice. Once done, the end results were very interesting tasting. I was happy with them, but wasn't drawn to eating handfuls of them.
My-coworkers, though, who got the test batch all to themselves made quick work of the literally dozens of cookies from the test batch. By the end of the second day they were tasting even better and were gone like my high school waist size. Despite my earlier misgivings, they were a hit.
So when I re-made them again a week or so later, I opted to go for the real deal and use the threads. Knowing that the threads must be steeped in warm liquid before to "activate" their best qualities, I hesitated. I couldn't really steep them in water or milk, as the recipe didn't call for any liquid at all. The spritz dough was already very soft at room temperature so it could be spritzed out of my dough gun, so I didn't want the shapes to melt away before they could bake, or worse, have cookies that would be dull, dry and way too tough. I hit upon the idea of steeping the threads in a tablespoon of the butter from the recipe that I'd melted in the microwave.
I'd love to say that this genius idea was just the ticket, but I'd be lying. The cookies had a saffron "scent" again, but it was MUCH less pronounced. You could barely taste it in the raw dough. Also, the strong coloration you typically get from threaded saffron did not materialize. Durn.
Later I heard from a couple of my go-to advice givers that saffron may not be fully soluble in fat. What little water that was in the butter I was using may not have been enough to get it's full juices going. Another theory was that I hadn't allowed it to steep long enough -- about 10 minutes was all I gave it, and by then the melted butter was no longer warm, but at room temperature. My experimentation had backfired, and I ended up with a cookie that was inferior to my first attempt.
In the end, I still had a formula that worked, so that gives me hope that, with the proportions you see below, you too can surprise your friends with this truly unusual and very delicious cookie. I like them with a nice cup of Darjeeling and a pile of perfectly adequate recipes I can screw up a bit in the name of Christmas.
SAFFRON SPRITZ BUTTER COOKIES WITH CARDAMOM GLAZE
Spritz cookies are perennial favorites for a very good reasons. Despite being an all-butter cookie, the dough is very easy to work with and is nearly impossible to overwork. Plus, the cookie press, a gun-like apparatus that squeezes dough out of one of many specially-shaped nozzles in its barrel, makes gorgeously shaped, precious little bites that look like a lot more trouble than they were.
When I shoot these suckers out, I like to use a silicon mat on my baking sheets instead of my usual choice, parchment paper. Why? Well... the dough can get a little sticky, and it tends to pull up the parchment, potentially screwing things up you've already done and generally making a nuisance. For some reason, this dough sticks better to the mats, and the mats, in turn, don't fly up off the pan. The ones I have do tend to puff up between the cookies a bit during baking, bending the cookies in the process, but that is pretty easy to fix; just give them a gentle flattening after a few minutes out of the oven when you get them off the pans.
Oh, and if you do ruin a couple or five of the designs as you squeeze... fret not. Just ball up the dough and get it back with the rest of the unbaked lump and you can try it again. The dough bounces back well and almost refuses to be over-handled. If you don't have a cookie press, you can use a pastry bag to pipe out shapes, or just make little walnut-sized balls of dough, and flatten with a drinking glass before baking. Rolling this dough out for cut out shapes would probably not work.
I should mention that, minus the saffron in the dough and the cardamom in the glaze, this recipe makes a very respectable butter cookie, so if you don't think you're up for a "taste of India" at Christmas, that's cool. I'd suggest a little food coloring in the dough or the glaze for a nice burst of easy color. Or you could make it really easy on yourself and just sprinkle coarse colored sugar on the cookies before they bake... they come out of the oven baked AND decorated. What could be easier?
For the dough:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1-2 pinches powdered saffron
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup or more confectioner's sugar
- 1 Tbsp water or milk (less or more based on the consistency you want)
- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom, rounded
Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare 2-3 sheet pans with silicon mats or parchment paper, ready the cookie press with your choice of discs out, and set both aside.In a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar, egg, vanilla, salt, and saffron and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add flour about a cup at a time, allowing the previous cup to be mostly incorporated before adding the next.
Fill the barrel of your cookie press about three-fourths full of the dough, following any instructions that came with your equipment. Alternatively, fill a piping bag with a decorative tip with a lump of dough for piping out cookies. Keep remaining dough in cool spot away from sun or the hot oven, but do not refrigerate. Press or pipe dough onto prepared sheet pans about 1 inch apart.
Bake for 11-13 minutes or until firm but not brown. Set sheet pan on a cooling rack and cool for two minutes. Remove the cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely. Set close together on a rack or wax paper for glazing.
Prepare a small piping bag with a small tip, or a plastic baggie with a tiny bit of one corner snipped off, in a drinking glass. Place confectioner's sugar in a medium bowl. Add the cardamom and whisk to combine.
Beginning with 1/2 Tbsp, add water or milk and whisk, then stir to combine, melting sugar into a glaze, stirring well to avoid lumps.
Lift spoon and let glaze fall on a test cookie or a plate to test thickness, adding more liquid or more sugar as necessary. You want the glaze to be a bit free flowing but to hold a basic line pattern; if it is too runny, it will coat the nooks and crannies of the the cookies and not make a pattern. Taste and add more cardamom if you wish, in pinches.
Fill piping bag or plastic baggie with the glaze, and drizzle glaze over the cookies. I like to do big sweeping lines across several cookies at a time, as this makes the process quicker and easier, and has a very nice effect. You can also use a spoon to drizzle on the glaze, or pour out of a spouted bowl or liquid measuring cup, though that method can be hard to manage.
Allow cookies to air dry completely, then stack and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days. Do not store other cookies with these at first, as the saffron and cardamom essences may seep into your other cookies, especially those with a fatty icing, like a buttercream.
Makes about 6-7 dozen cookies.
----
Listen while you work!
These cookies are suffused with such an urban sensibility (the best of the "down home" traditions met with a sort of international flair), how about we hear from Scottish dream-pop band Cocteau Twins, and their fab rendition of "Winter Wonderland."
OK, guys. We know each other well enough now... I think it's time we admitted something to one another. Beyond the relaxation of working with your hands in the kitchen, seeing a project to completion, and pleasing friends and family, one of the things home bakers (and maybe all bakers) like the most are when audiences ooh and ahh over some new presentation. They tsk and insist that it wasn't nearly as much trouble as all that. And the best feeling is when that statement is actually true!
Take meringues for example. There are certainly as many different methods for making them as their are nations with ready access to eggs. However, some of the most basic recipes for meringues are as simple as can be and require not much more than a big bowl, a gigantic whisk and a steady hand with a piping bag. Or... grandma's old stainless steel basin, a $10 hardware store electric mixer, and a gallon plastic bag with the corner cut off.
This recipe takes a nice classic meringue and dresses it up in the simplest and most delicious of ways. And to think we have Tyler Florence (or some Jr. Recipe Tester, most likely) to thank for it: it was featured in Food Network's own "12 Days of Cookies" series last year. Turns out he's not just another pretty face. Well not ONLY another pretty face. And speaking of same, you can see him on video making these cookies here.
When I was looking for another gluten-free cookie idea for the collection, this seemed a no-brainer. In the end they turned out wonderfully well despite my very meager skill with the piping bag set. When I took them to work, the effect was just as I'd hoped. Even C'pher, who generally hates meringues, finds these excellent. And when I insisted they were easy, I meant it.
Most of your friends who'd never dream of attempting a recipe as simple as this one will be incredibly impressed... which is fun! How much better things will be, though, when they try it themselves, realize they can impress others, and get that feeling themselves? A friend is wonderful, but a fellow baker is a companion, fellow-traveller, and compatriot. Encourage the making of one today!
CHOCOLATE-DIPPED MERINGUE "SNOW PEAKS"
Italian meringue relies on the baker to mix dangerously hot sugar syrup into delicate egg whites. It can turn out a lovely end result, but when the results of this MUCH easier method are so tender and melting, it's really hard to justify the tougher method, in my opinion.
Egg whites can be a bit finicky, though, so bear a few things in mind. Be sure you're using a non-reactive bowl (stainless steel or glass are best -- do NOT use plastic) that is absolutely clean and free of any fat or oil residue AT ALL. Those can keep your clouds of marshmallow fluff as flat as a mud puddle. Using superfine sugar is also very important, as the sugar must really dissolve into the whites or else it will "weep" out of the meringues while baking, and the cookie's structure will go with them. Use your most powerful beater, too... a stand mixer with the whisk attachment can make all the difference.
Also remember that, while you want your egg whites at room temperature for maximum successful whippage, eggs are far easier to separate when they are cold, so crack and separate the yolk right out of the fridge, then let the whites warm up while you prep the rest of your equipment and ingredients. When piping these out, make them nice and high -- they will collapse downward a bit when baking, but you still want to have a nice bit of length to lightly grip while dipping into the melted chocolate.
- the whites of 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp superfine granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups chopped dark chocolate
Preheat oven to 225°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Prepare piping bag with a large- or medium-sized tip in a tall glass, and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites on low-medium speed with the whisk attachment until the whites become foamy.
Add the cream of tartar and turn speed up to medium, beating until just fluffy.
Add the sugar gradually, so it incorporates into the whites slowly without collapsing them. Once all the sugar has been added, add the vanilla and increase the speed to high, whisking until the meringue is firm and glossy, about 5 to 7 minutes. A small dab of meringue between under each corner of the parchment paper will hold it in place while you pipe out the cookies.
Place meringue mixture into a piping bag with a medium-sized nozzle attached. Pipe 24 approximately 2 inch wide "kiss"-shaped meringues, about 1 inch apart, onto the trays and place in the oven.
Bake for 1 hour undisturbed then turn off heat and leave in the oven overnight to dry out completely.
Prepare a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Melt chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Allow to cool slightly, so it is not hot, but merely warm to the touch. (I recommend using a double-boiler, as you can re-melt the chocolate more easily if it starts to cool too much and seizes up).
Holding each meringue gently by the peak, dip the bases in chocolate so the bottom half of the meringue is coated. Let any excess chocolate drop off before placing on a the wax paper.
Allow cookies to set at room temperature - do not put in the refrigerator. Once set, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Makes about 24 meringues.
----
Listen while you work!
To
accompany this light and airy confection with a serious undertone,
let's have a musical selection that can be described the same way: JS
Bach's Advent Responsory as performed by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, under the direction of Richard Marlowe.
