Rolling in Dough

Cinnamon & Aleppo Chile Mole' Cookies

The Savory Spice Shop is one of my favorite tour destinations. Kate and Cory welcome us in and wax poetically about Himalayan Pink Salt, Tahitian vanilla pods and the differences between true cinnamon and cassia (what we think is cinnamon, but it's really not). The aroma of freshly ground spices greets you at the door and one trip through the store is enough to make you rush home and clean out your spice cabinet (I'm looking at you, vat of paprika).  It is a gourmet stop that engages all of your senses, with brilliant aromas, exotic flavors, and gorgeous colors and textures.

I've been serving Mole' cookies during this stop, especially on the Chocolate Tour. It's a great way to demonstrate how well chocolate plays with cinnamon and chiles. I've used the mild Aleppo chiles from Syria in this recipe, but you could substitute a hotter chile or up the amount if you wanted more warmth. 

For the best results, mix up the dough and leave it tightly covered in the fridge, baking them as you need them. Fresh, they are a small, moist, spicy cake, a few days later, they are hard, crunchy, bland mounds. Also, pull them out a minute or two before you think they are done. 

Enjoy!

Mole’ Cookies

Adapted from The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon Kahlua
6 ounces 70 percent cacao bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (3 ounces) Almond meal
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½-1 teaspoon Aleppo chiles

For Rolling:

3/4 cup (3 ounces) confectioners' sugar

½ cup sugar

Directions:

1. Bring 2 inches of water to a gentle boil in the bottom of the double boiler. Place the butter, liqueur, and chocolate in the top of the double boiler, reducing heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally with a spatula until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove and let cool slightly while you whip the eggs.

2. Place the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of the mixer and whip on high speed until very light in color and thick, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs and whip until blended, about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

3. Add the flour, almond meal, cinnamon, baking powder, and Aleppo chiles to the egg mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Stir gently a few times with the spatula to ensure all of the flour is incorporated. Cover the dough with plastic and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until firm.

4. Preheat the oven to 325°F and position an oven rack in the center. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

5. Scoop the chilled dough into tablespoon-size balls (12 grams). Pour the granulated sugar and confectioner’s sugar into small bowls. Roll each dough ball in the granulated sugar and then in the confectioners' sugar, being sure to coat the ball completely. Space the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

6. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking time, for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and cracked. If you nudge a cookie, it should slide on the sheet rather than stick. It is better to under bake these cookies, when they are over baked they are dry and crunchy. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

- makes about 45 cookies -
Storing tips: These cookies are best the same day they are baked. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

Bittersweet - Mmmmm.... Chocolate

I'm happy to announce my new project - Bittersweet, a site dedicated to searching out and critiquing the very best in artisanal, gourmet chocolate.

So many fantastic chocolatiers are now making confection delicacies that are capable of producing goosebumps and inducing proclamations of love. Artisanal chocolate is an industry 3,000 years in the making, whose time has truly come. And rather than laboring away in obscurity, to have their sweets loved and lusted over by only those lucky few who live in the surrounding area, Bittersweet aims to give those sultry candy-makers an international stage.  

Drop by, check it out and sign up for the newsletter, so you'll be in the loop for all of the delicious chocolate reviews, tidbits and news to come.

Also, follow me on http://twitter.com/ChocTruff to get 140 yummy bits delivered throughout the day.

Thanks and I hope to see you there! Chelly

Frangelico Bostini Cream Pie

It is a sad state of affairs when this is the only post I’ve managed to get done this month. Because you know that if I’m not posting, it can only mean that I’m also not cooking. Alas, it’s true. I’ve been so wrapped up in a project that my poor family is subsisting on cereal and sandwiches, the latter being made with store bought bread. (At least I’ve been buying nice bread, it’s not like we are eating Wonder Bread. I may be busy, but I’ve still got standards.) But thanks to my friends, the Daring Bakers, I was lured back into the kitchen this weekend to tackle the monthly challenge, Bostini Cream Pie. I had read the recipe early in the month, a mouth wateringly elegant and delicious take on Boston Cream Pie – a pretty great dessert in its own right, and have spent many hours anticipating its creamy wonderfulness. I’m happy to tell you that when I finally set aside some time to make it for myself, it is as wonderful as it sounds.

For starters, anything that involves pastry cream is a winner in my book and this is a  particularly tasty one. It’s heavy on the heavy cream, but has none of the usual mouth coating heaviness that often accompanies cream. The vanilla bean gives it a soft, complex and fragrant flavor that melts in your mouth. But the real winner here is the chiffon cake. I took the opportunity to elaborate on the cake recipe, eliminating the orange juice and zest and replacing it with Frangelico liquor. Frangelico is one of my favorite flavors, and pairing it with chocolate is always a wonderful idea. Adding the pastry cream was a concept that seemed too delicious not to try. The batter was a little scary, the alcohol in the Frangelico was overwhelming, but after it was baked, it mellowed into a wonderfully moist and hazelnutty sponge, a perfect base to play off the cream and ganache.

Oh and the ganache! I had never made one that was simply equal parts butter and bittersweet chocolate. The most usual thing about it was when I took my first bite of the Bostini, I got such a nice whiff of butter, it almost made my mouth water.

I was enjoying my second helping of Bostini with tea Sunday afternoon, when Lovie trooped several of the neighborhood kids into my kitchen. When she saw what I was indulging in, she promptly sat down and began asking me to provide Bostinis for what seemed like the entire block. By the way, I am a generous soul, I love to cook for people and it warms my heart when I can watch someone enjoying something I’ve baked, but it’s not like I was eating animal crackers and I was not about to part with my treasured Bostini Cream Pie for a bunch of 5 year olds who could never appreciate the complexity of the flavor combination, the richness of the pastry cream or the subtle flavor of the chiffon cake. I mumbled something about peanut allergies and hustled them all out the door. Wicked witch I may be, but I did again get to enjoy Bostini Cream Pie with tea today and didn’t feel even a little bit guilty about it.

This wonderful confection was suggested by Mary of Alpineberry. Thanks so much for this month’s contribution to the Daring Bakers, a fun and intrepid group of adventurous cooks. Please check out the blogroll and discover a few new inspired variations on the Bostini Cream Pie.

Daring Bakers Challenge - Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart

I had heard they existed. I saw bits about them on other blogs that I admired. A collection of the coolest food bloggers on the web gathering together to bake something that you would not typically undertake on a rainy Saturday afternoon at home. They even have a patron saint, St. Honore, keeper of bakers and pastry chefs. I aspired to join them, to bake as I have never baked before. But I was apprehensive. Would my baking measure up? What if there was a secret handshake? I persevered and decided to undertake the first monthly challenge, the Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart. This is a daunting recipe that includes a crisp chocolate shortbread crust topped by a smooth caramely base, followed by a layer of milk chocolate mousse and finished with crunchy caramel candy bits.

I was leery about starting this. It sounded really sweet and I am not super confident about my caramel making skills. But after three weeks of procrastination, I finally got to work and discovered that my unease was mostly for naught. As I ground nuts and assembled my mise-en-place for the crust, Lovie commented that my set-up looked just "like Alton Brown's". Fortified by this wonderful compliment, I forged ahead. The crust went together easily and while it chilled overnight, I dreamed of the masterpiece I would create come morning.

Ever notice how reality always steps in to make sure that you don't get too cocky? Well, Reality paid me a visit early the next morning. Remember the kitchen gadget that was all the rage a couple of Christmases ago? That cookie sheet-like piece of metal that could thaw frozen meat in 10 minutes flat by magically sucking the cold out of it? Well, this same law of thermodynamics exists in my kitchen. The top of my island baking center is powder coated sheet metal. Great for kneading bread, not so great for pie crusts, sugar cookies or in this case, Chocolate Shortbread Tart Crust. The crust went from chilled to squishy in about three minutes. The more I rolled, the softer it got. I even scraped it off and rechilled it, but to no avail. In the end, after all of the patching, my crust looked more like a puzzle than a tart. But once it was finally in the oven, things began looking up. My caramel melted and darken up beautifully, even using the tricky dry method. I added warm Cream Fraiche, eggs and some flour and my caramel layer was done. The mousse layer went well too, with melted milk chocolate and whipped egg whites. I finished up by making hard caramel candy bits to sprinkle over the top. Finally assembled, I was pretty proud of my tart. It looked great and the tastes I had indulged in during the process were fabulous. I had made a small tart for Lovie and a larger one that was going to be my contribution at a pot luck that evening. I cut Lovie's tart open and had a bite, and another, and another and another. She almost didn't get to try it. It was so good. 

Later at the pot-luck, my tart was a raving success! Set right next to the Velveeta-green bean casserole and the Stouffer's Lasagna, everybody loved it. I got nearly as many compliments as the gal who brought the Velveeta casserole, although no one asked for my recipe. Good thing they didn't - not everybody can  be a DARING BAKER! Bwahahahahahah.....   

And so now that I can proudly claim to be a member of the loving and talented baking community known as the Daring Bakers, I would like to encourage you to check out the blogroll on the sidebar and visit some of my comrades de cuisine. I think you will find some fun and creative cooks to brighten your day and enlighten your cooking.

I shall close with this famous fraternal quote -

"Thank you Sir, may I have another?

Hazelnut-Raspberry Tortlets

I love cake, but I wish people would either bake their own, or buy one from a nice bakery, rather than getting one of those store bought sheet cakes with whippy mystery frosting that appear at so many gatherings. It always seems to be served as sort of an afterthought, like they got a cake just because they thought they should have one, but didn't want to put too much effort into it. My mom is hosting a baby shower tomorrow, one of those occasions when the whippy sheet cake afterthought typically makes an appearance. Given my stance on sheet cake and since she is serving lunch, we opted instead for something small, like petit fours. Just a bite or two of something sweet and delicious to finish the lunch with. I volunteered to take on the project. 

I came home and dug out the cookbooks. The only recipe I could find for petit fours was in the Martha Stewart Baking Book. Accompanying the recipe was a picture of her petit fours - spectacular and brilliantly done, and her directions made it all seem so easy (this is, of course, the problem with Martha Stewart. She makes everything look so simple and easy to accomplish, but somehow that never turns out to be the case). I showed Mike the picture. He laughed and wished me well. Hmmm.... Back to the cookbooks.

I came upon a recipe for a hazelnut-raspberry torte in the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Dessert book. This sounded delicious, looked like something I actually had a shot at duplicating, and would be easy to make into individual servings. I got to work. The cake has a ground hazelnut base, lightened with egg whites. I baked this in a jelly roll pan to create lots of surface area and when it was cooled, I cut out small rounds with a cookie cutter. Early this morning, the kitchen was quiet except for the soothing sound of a cat purring nearby while I sugared raspberries, melted chocolate for the glaze and assembled the tiny cakes. I left them on the counter so the glaze could harden while I took a shower. When I came back to the kitchen, to my horror, one of the other cats was standing in the middle of my tortlets. I lunged for her and she took off across the pan, leaving a trail of smashed cake, raspberries and chocolaty cat prints through the kitchen. I managed to catch the pan before it hit the floor, but the tortlets on it were a total loss - an unkempt pile of chocolate and cake carnage. Unbelievable. Well, I'll take what's left of them. They taste elegant and amazing - moist, light nutty cake topped with a dark chocolate glaze hiding a subtle raspberry flavor and fragrance, finished with a sugared fresh raspberry. Thankfully, there's not even a hint of the trauma their friends suffered, and more importantly, they aren't sporting even a bit of cat hair.

Hazelnut-Raspberry Tortlets

10 oz. Hazelnuts, toasted and skinned, cooled

13 oz. sugar

2 oz.  flour

6 eggs, separated, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 oz. butter, melted and kept warm

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar   

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-15 jelly roll pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a food processor, combine the hazelnuts, 5 oz of the sugar, flour and salt. Process to grind finely. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until blended. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggg whites and cream of tartar on the high speed of a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Whisk one-third of the nut mixture into the yolks, then fold in one-third of the egg whites. Repeat in two batches. Do not overmix. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake about 20 minuutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack in the pan until completely cool.

Invert on a work surface and peel the parchment paper. Using a cookie cutter, cut out small rounds about 1 1/2 in diameter.

Sugared Raspberries

1 egg white

Superfine sugar

I made these by putting a raspberry on the eraser end of a pencil, and painting it with the egg yolk. I ground sugar in the coffee grinder to make it superfine, sprinkled it on the raspberries and let them dry on a wire rack.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Raspberry Glaze

4 oz. heavy cream

3 oz. seedless raspberry jam

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and jam. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let stand about 10 minutes, until glaze is thick but pourable. 

Assemble your torlets, pouring some glaze over each one and smoothing it out with a offset spatula so it drips down the sides. Finish each one with a sugared raspberry. Let the tortlets sit for about an hour to let the glaze harden. These can be stored in the fridge in hot weather, but the cool air may dull the glaze. If so, hit them with a blast from a blow dryer just before serving. Keep the cats out of the kitchen.    

English Toffee Inspiration Sundae

There are few flavors I love more than toffee. Elegant, creamy, warm and tasting of both vanilla and butterscotch, I love toffee in all of its forms, from the Hersey's Skor bar and Werther's hard candy to the coup' de grace of candy goodness, English Toffee. Crunchy and buttery with an interesting texture that sort of melts into your teeth, a delicious layer of chocolate sprinkled with salty nuts, English Toffee is truly a candy to fall in love with.

I attribute my love of toffee to my Grammie. As a kid, I spent a couple of weeks at her house in Iowa each summer. These were glorious times when indulgences like drinking RC Cola out of glass bottle on the front porch and cooking Totino's Pizzas in the basement because it was too hot to use the kitchen oven became special treats. We spent our days watching Grammie's soaps and The Price is Right and ended each night with a bowl of cereal during Johnny Carson. These were my first true vacations, where none of the rules from home applied and we got to eat things my Mom would never buy.

My Grammie's candy bowl was always full of Brach's mix, including those striped pink, brown and white coconut things (what are those, anyway?), Starlight mints, chewy toffees with flavored middles and my favorite, butterscotch disks wrapped in yellow cellophane. I also developed a taste for butterscotch pudding, it was Grammie's favorite. Never one for instant pudding, Grammie always made the stove kind, using the most unusual whisk I've ever seen. It was sort of a spring on a handle, not at all like the basket whisks I have today. Butterscotch became my flavor and back at home I remember trying to force this lovely brownish yellow dessert on my chocolate loving family, with mixed results. So out of summers spent at Grammie's, grew my love of toffee. But I don’t have it very often, so it's still special when someone offers me an irregularly shaped piece of English Toffee heaven. 

I was perusing the too-narrow aisles of the liquor mega mart, known to all in the area as Applejack, when I came across a colorful bottle of something called Dooley’s. A German toffee liqueur, made with vodka, toffee caramel and other “natural ingredients”. Although I had never heard of German toffee or vodka, it sounded delicious. An idea began to take shape as I rushed home to work on my masterpiece.

Starting with vanilla ice cream, I used the Dooley’s liqueur as a sauce, and finished my sundae with some shaved dark chocolate pieces and chopped pecans. What a great combination! Smooth, creamy and buttery, a perfect mix of vanilla-y toffee flavor simplicity and intriguing bits of chocolate and nut crunch. A perfect summer way to enjoy the buttery toffee flavors I love!

English Toffee Inspiration Sundae

Premium Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Dooley's Toffee Liqueur

Shaved Dark Chocolate

Chopped Pecans

Get out a beautiful dish and add two (or more) scoops of ice cream. Drizzle the Dooley's decoratively over the top. Sprinkle the chocolate and pecans on. Serve to toffee loving friends and family often.

Cheers!

This is my contribution to Yum Sugar's celebration of National Candy Month - dishes made of or inspired by the candy we love.  

 

Nutella Baci Cookies

In honor of the solemn and delicious day that Sara at Ms.Adventures in Italy and Shelley of At Home in Rome have declared World Nutella Day, I would like to add my own contribution to the festivities, Nutella Baci cookies. My favorite restaurant is Parisi's here in Northwest Denver. In addition to a savory array of Italian favorites, they boast a small market full of European chocolates, olive oil, fine cheeses, artisanal pastas and a gelato bar. Lovie and I discovered the revelation that is gelato last summer and now stop there several times a week for a fix. During one of these visits, I saw a plate of little Baci cookies that looked like small hamburgers, and simply had to take a few home. They were terrific, a soft espresso flavored cookie on each side, filled with a bit of espresso icing. Just right to accompany a cup of coffee, or to gobble up in the car on the long ride home (it's at least eight blocks). I began to dream of the Baci, and wondered how I could make them my own. When I saw that World Nutella Day was right around the corner, I knew that I had my answer. My beloved Baci cookies could only be made more delicious by adding the hazelnutty goodness that is Nutella. I went right to work, bringing out the Nutella jar and thoughtfully licking spoonfuls of it while I pondered my attack. The Baci could be frosted with Nutella, but the cookie would need a bit of flavor to pump it up. Frangelico to the rescue - the hazelnut flavor would play off of the chocolately Nutella beautifully, coming together to create cookie perfection!