Category: cookies

Mojito Cookies for Sugar Cookie Competition

Last year I entered the Pastry Chicago Sugar Cookie Competition. Of course this year I vowed to compete again. One day I will place and win. The theme of this years competition is citrus. Naturally lime or lemon curds came to mind. But Brainstorming one day while having a mojito, I thought how can incorporate this into a cookie? I traded some ideas with my Twitter sis Kayce and the basis for the Mojito cookie was conceived. The secret is the Mojito gelee.

The gelee recipe makes a large quantity but you can use the leftovers served in cubes and rolled in sugar like pate de fruit.

Mojito Cookies

Mojito Gelee
2/3 cups of key lime juice (approx 1 lb of key limes)
2 1/2 cups sugar , reserve 1/2 cup for later
2 cups water
3/4 oz fresh mint (1 package)
1 package Pomona’s Universal Pectin
1/3 cup Rum
Combine key lime juice, 2 cups of the sugar, and water into a heavy bottomed sauce pan.Bring to boil. Turn off heat. Add fresh mint and allow to steep and infuse for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, strain liquid from mint. Add back to saucepan. Bring to boil. While waiting to boil, prep Pomana’s Universal Pectin according to package( you will use the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar to mix with dry Pectin). Add the Pectin and calcium water(activates Pectin) from package,to the boiling lime sugar mixture, stirring constantly until dissolved and well mixed. The mix will be very thick due to the ratios .Cook for a few minutes and remove from heat. Stir in Rum.Pour into a baking sheet or cake pan. Let cool until room temperature, and place in the refrigerator to chill until solid.
Cookie
1/2 lb Plugra European style butter or 16 tbsp
2/3 cup Confectioners sugar
1 tsp Nielson Massey Vanilla Powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
Zest of 2 Key Limes
1 1/4 cups All Purpose King Arthur Flour flour
*green food coloring gel optional
*green sugar optional
In a stand mixer beat butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, zest and granulated sugar until fluffy. Gradually add flour. The dough will be crumbly but soft and buttery. With your hands finish mixing, forming into a solid ball. At this point with a wooden skewer you can spot the dough with green gel color and marbleize the dough. Do not over knead.You can either chill dough for 1 hour at this point to make rounds, or pipe straight away for star shaped cookies.
Preheat oven to 350F.
On a parchment lined baking sheet take a walnut sized piece of rounded dough or pipe, and indent with your thumb to create a well. You can then flatten the edges with a fork to refine shape. Repeat and space cookies apart by 1 inch. Take your Mojito Gelee and add approx 1/8-1/2 tsp of gelee into indentation. Sprinkle green sugar over the gelee pat of cookie. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden and gelee starts to bubble.
Announcements:
Be sure to visit the new photo blog of Certain Someone and myself,Cocos Eye. Just visual and not much words from all over the world.
I have a winner for the Un Constipated Gourmet Giveaway! Anne of Annes Food. Send me you address and its yours!

Adzuki and Sesame Cookies …My Legume Love Affair 10

Anybody that knows me well enough knows that I love to stray from the normal. I probably could have been way more popular or understood if I didn’t try to be so different . I guess that’s the artist in me always trying to recreate and interpret. This month I have the fortune to host the fabulous Susan’s of the Well Seasoned Cook, My Legume Love Affair 10. I chose to place a theme on this popular event for Starters and Desserts. I know that may stump some regular participants, but that’s what I view what events are for, challenges.

This year I have been fascinated with the Adzuki bean. I used in a Daring Bakers Challenge as an ice cream flavor. In most of Asia, particularly Japan you will find Adzuki beans boiled to a a paste, sweetened with sugar, and used in all types of desserts and sweets. I decided to use the starchy and moist Adzuki paste I made from scratch,
you can but it ready made, with rice flour and rolled in Sesame seeds, This is a grown folks cookie. Not overly sweet , and a nice shortbread like texture with the nuttiness of toasted sesame . Enjoy with a cup of tea and relax.

Adzuki and Sesame Cookies
makes about 40 cookies
recipe can be divided in half
3 cups Rice Flour
1 cup sweetened red bean paste * can be purchased ready made in Asian food stores.
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
12 tablespoons butter or 1 1/2 sticks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
sesame seeds to roll
In a mixing bowl cream brown sugar,butter, vanilla, and egg. Add red bean paste to creamed mixture. Gradually add in increments the dry ingredients( rice flour, baking powder, baking soda). Mix until well incorporated but not do over beat as you don’t want to much air in the dough. Take mixture and roll into two logs. Take a sheet of wax paper and sprinkle sesame seeds. Roll the cookie dough logs on the wax paper until well covered with the Sesame seeds. Wrap securely in wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F . Line cookie sheets with parchment or a Silpat. Slice cookies about 1/2 inch thick. Place on cookie sheet. These don’t spread so much in baking but still leave space between cookies. Bake fr 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cookies sit on pan for about 2 minutes. Carefully remove and let them cool on wire rack.
* Red Bean Paste
I made my own Adzuki Paste.
Soak a small bag of small red beans ( Adzuki) in water overnight. Drain and rinse. Boil beans for about 1 hour or more if needed until soft enough to mash. About the last half hour of boiling add brown sugar to taste ( about 1 cup) and more water if necessary. If water goes down add more as needed . Cook down until beans are soft and water is low. Take an immersion blender and puree. Add about 1/2 cup vegetable oil to keep mixture moist. Store in airtight container.

You still have time to submit you enteries for My Legume Love Affair 10… Starters and Desserts. My Legume Love Affairs Deadline is April 30.Enter to win the great book !

Spring is Here…Lemon Springerle


In Germany this past Christmas, I irritated the hell out of Certain Someone looking for Springerle molds. Surely the Christmas market in Cologne would have some. His mother and other woman I asked laughed and said no one makes Springerle anymore. It was outdated. If anything they used them as wall decorations. I though how sad it was the art was fading. Staring at my edition of Martha Stewart Living didn’t help. She had a section devoted to cookies and crafts made with Springerle molds from a company called House On The Hill. Come to find out House on the Hill is a local one for me, and Springerle isn’t just for Christmas. I received the catalogue and there are so many mold in so many sizes for all occasions. They can be very pricey too for just replicas. A lot of intricate detail goes into these molds which manage to convey a story for every occasion.I settled on a minimum investment of a Easter egg at around $21. The irony is I had to come back home to find these!
One could use it for marzipan or cookies. I am really eyeing those cake toppers. Springerle requires Anise oil , lemon, or orange oils and Bakers Ammonia. You could use a sturdy sugar cookie recipe, but I decided to keep it authentic. A little recipe book came with my order of the Springerle stater kit. What I though would be easy is a little more complex. I began to see why the art is dying off. But if your are patient, beautiful cookies can be had. The key is to letting your dough , after molding dry for about 24 hours.
Even after following that, some of my impressions faded( cookie was to thick in width perhaps) and some of the dough seeped out of the dried crust and ruined the shape. The recipe yields a lot and could easily be cut in half. Although these cookies keep for months in airtight containers. I even saved the duds in freezer to use for a cheese cake crust. House on the Hill had recipes for chocolate cookies as well. Maybe one day I can take a class up there. The Springerle molds can be used for paper crafts as well. So the investment pays off. Here is the link to recipe. Be sure to put aside a day before you bake these.

I wanted to create Faberge style Springerle.
My ambition was greater than my technique. I mixed my colors with vodka and brushed them on the finished Springerle. I also used metallic luster’s. There was to much imperfections with the finished product to make it as perfect as I wanted. Cracks and such. But I’m always learning and they did not go to waste. I’m also seeing details vary by molds as well. Not one to give up I will be revisiting this with marzipan’s and cake decorating.

12 Days Of Cookies A Gourmet Cookie Extravaganza…Brandy Snaps

On the 12th Day of Cookies( and the last) Glamah baked for me Brandy Snaps! I was drawn to the photo in Gourmet immediately. They looked so elegant, and for some odd reason I assumed they had alcohol in them.I remedied that by adding to Cointreau to the cooked batter.This batter is entirely cooked on top of the stove and then baked . Several of my Cookie Pals tried this recipe and had some issues with it. But from what I saw of their results , I was undeterred. They all looked so good still. Published in July 1949, this recipe reminded me more of a confection than a cookie.I love molasses and ginger, so those strong flavors didn’t put me off. I can see this cookie being a nice digestive after dinner with tea. Molasses and ginger have wonderful healthful properties. So on this last day of cookies , weary from a crappy day at work, I attempted this. And you know, I didn’t have much issues. I used parchment so buttering the cookie sheet was unnecessary. After a few torn snaps, I let them cool a bit before using my nimble fingers and the wooden spoon to form while warm but pliable. I really love the presentation of these . I can see them served up with ice cream, sorbets, tea, coffees, and even holiday cheese and fruit trays.
Thank you all for reading these 12 Days Of Cookies posts. I haven’t blogged consecutively like that before, and it was a challenge. Certain Someone is relieved that all this cookie madness is over.But I don’t regret doing this. I made some new friends and learned a lot. If anything it reinforced that I love to bake. And for 12 days I was able to spread some holiday cheer with the fruits of my labor. Certain Someone and I leave for Germany next week and I wont be blogging for the last two weeks of December, but I will squeeze maybe one or two post before then. A big thanks to my Cookie gang and Andrea for inviting me. I know we screamed about these recipes and Gourmet but it was all in good fun. Nothing was wasted as it can all be salvaged and put to use later.I would suggest the folks at Gourmet give their editors test kitchen notes if they decide to publish vintage recipes in the future. We realize there was a disclaimer, but some insight into how they adapted these recipes to modern kitchens would be welcome.
Be sure to visit my other baking friends and see what they chose to bake for the holidays from Gourmet.com.
Jerry – http://www.cookingbytheseatofmypants.com/
Judy – http://www.nofearentertaining.blogspot.com/
Sandy – http://www.bakersbench.blogspot.com/
Kelly – http://sassandveracity.typepad.com/
Claire – http://www.thebarefootkitchen.com/
Andrea – http://www.andreasrecipes.com/

12 Days Of Cookies A Gourmet Cookie Extravaganza…Galettes De Noel(Deep Fried Wafers)

On the 11th day of Cookies Glamah baked (Fried)for me Galettes De Noel( Deep Fried Wafers).Gourmet published this recipe in 1969. The editors summarize this sweet by saying every country has a version of a fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. They found this version more appealing as they discovered it in the South of France. I’m trying to imagine a young Bridget Bardot nibbling on these back then.

I really had high hopes for these. They didn’t disappoint, but they didn’t come out as crispy as I would have liked. The Galettes had more texture than a funnel cake, but didn’t crack apart throughout as the picture on the recipe. I halved the recipe,rolled the dough out paper thin between sheets of wax paper, and dropped in sizzling vegetable oil. I didn’t want them to burn and I removed them when they got really brown. Then the galettes were dredged in confectioners sugar.Gourmet suggest serving them drizzled in hot honey.That just sounded so sexy to me, and really made this recipe. So I would recommend you give it try.I only fried up a few, and put the rest of the dough balls in the freezer to take out. I am perplexed as to why they would categorize this as a cookie (a Galette technically is a flat round cake),but it is a nice treat nevertheless.

Be sure to visit my other baking friends and see what they chose to bake for the holidays from Gourmet.com.