I was given a dozen miniature lemons from a friend. I decided to return them to her after some “processing.” She is also off processed sugar, so I substituted honey for the granulated sugar.
This morning’s batch was good, but slightly over-baked. The tops didn’t look quite brown enough, but after removing them from the pan I discovered they were indeed over-baked. This recipe was adapted from Ricardo Cuisine.
I reduced the baking time by 2 minutes for this evening’s batch (a different recipe from this morning. This recipe was adapted from Baker By Nature.) For the final batch tomorrow I’ll reduce the time by another minute. I would like the fluted side to be a nice golden brown. If you try this recipe I would suggest adding a few tablespoons of lemon juice.
Some needed to be “naked” as they were destined for someone who was off processed sugar.
INGREDIENTS • 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned • 2 tsp vanilla extract • 3 tsp lemon zest, finely grated. • 1 c all-purpose flour • 1 ¼ tsp baking powder • ¼ tsp salt • 3 large eggs, at room temperature • 3/4 c granulated sugar (optional 125 g honey) • ½ c confectioners sugar, sifted, (optional)
METHOD
Cut the butter in tablespoons and place them in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, until the solids sink to the bottom of the pan and turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the browned butter into a small bowl. Stir the vanilla and lemon zest into the butter, then set aside to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside until needed.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed while gradually adding the sugar. Once all of the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and continue whipping the mixture until it’s very thick and pale in color, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the mixer off and, using a silicon spatula, fold in the flour mixture in three additions, stirring just until combined. Fold in the butter mixture.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
30 minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Generously brush the molds of your madeleine pan (even if they are non-stick) with butter.
Spoon teaspoons full of the batter into the center of each mold. You don’t need to spread the batter.
Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the “bellies” have risen and their tops are a very light golden.
Cool madeleines in the pan placed on a cooling rack for a minute or two, then gently loosen them from the molds. If they stick, carefully run a small knife around the edge of the cakes until they release.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm, with coffee or tea.
I received a personalized email from King Arthur Baking (along with probably a million other customers) proclaiming their selection of the recipe of the year for 2024. How could I resist.?
There were two interesting techniques that I never used in cookies. The first was making brown butter. This adds a rich caramel taste. The other was tangzhong, which is used in many Japanese breads to provide a soft, fluffy texture.
I never made brown butter before (but will again) and was an unsure when it was “done.” The recipe states it will foam near the end, but it also foams near the beginning. The second foam is very fine and if you stir the butter and you can see the browned butter with some bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
I also formed the dough into balls before refrigerating overnight. It seemed like s sensible step.
All the ingredients are readySecond “fine” foamIt looks lumpy bit thats okAn ice cream scoop was about right to make 90g balls of dough. They can be close together until ready to bake.Balls need to be well spaced or they will meld together.Well, they were not spaced out enough!Soft and chewy as claimed, great flavor with hints of caramel.
Chocolate Chip Cookies – Supersized, Super Soft from KAB
PREP-45 mins: BAKE-15 to 22 mins: TOTAL-1 day 1 hr: YIELD-16 to 17 large (4″) cookies or 28 medium (3″) cookies
INGREDIENTS • 2 cups (426g) light brown sugar, packed • 2 teaspoons table salt • 16 tablespoons (226g) unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces • 1/2 cup (113g) milk, whole preferred • 2 3/4 cups (330g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour, divided • 2 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator • 1 tablespoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda • 2 cups (340g) semisweet chocolate, preferably 60% to 65% cocoa content* *Use chopped wafers or bars for best results; if using chocolate chips, chop them roughly before incorporating. (My chocolate chips were small so I didn’t chop them.)
METHOD
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar and salt. Set aside.
To brown the butter: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. After several minutes, the butter will sizzle and may spatter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan regularly, for about 5 to 7 minutes, until it’s a dark golden brown color and brown bits start collecting at the bottom of the pan; the butter will have stopped sizzling and may also have a layer of foam on the surface.
Once the butter is browned, immediately pour it over the sugar mixture (be sure to scrape out the brown bits at the bottom) and whisk vigorously to combine; this helps dissolve the sugar slightly and creates the shiny surface of the baked cookies. (The mixture will stay lumpy and won’t become smooth at this point.) Set the empty saucepan aside to cool slightly.
To make the tangzhong: In the same saucepan used to brown the butter, combine the milk with 3 tablespoons (23g) of the bread flour and whisk until no lumps remain.
Place the saucepan over low heat and cook the mixture, stirring regularly with a whisk and then a flexible spatula, until it’s thickened, paste-like, and starts to come together into one mass, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and transfer directly to the bowl with the butter and sugar. Whisk until mostly smooth; some lumps of the tangzhong mixture are OK.
Add the eggs and vanilla and continue whisking until smooth.
Weigh or measure the remaining 2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (307g) bread flour by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Add the bread flour to the bowl with the butter and sugar, then add the baking powder and baking soda. Using a whisk or flexible spatula, stir until well combined and no dry spots remain.
Place the bowl, uncovered, in the refrigerator and allow it to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
While the batter is cooling, use a serrated knife to roughly chop the chocolate into coarse pieces. Avoid chopping the chocolate too fine, as small pieces will melt when mixed into the dough.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and fold in the chopped chocolate. (Dough weighs 1440g. This will make sixteen 90g cookies before baking.)
Return the dough to the refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form the dough into 85g to 90g balls, (50g for small cookies,) flatten slightly with the palm of your hand to about 3” diameter circles, cover and return to the refrigerator for 24 to 72 hours to allow the flavors to intensify.
To bake the cookies: When you’re ready to bake, remove the chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow it to warm up slightly. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center.
Arrange the cookie dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, them 3″ to 4″ apart. (Five dough balls fit perfectly on a half-sheet pan. The 90g cookies can be arranged in a 2-1-2 pattern; the 50g cookies can be arranged in a slightly staggered 4 x 2 pattern.) For consistently shaped cookies, roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball before baking.
Bake the large (90g) chocolate chip cookies for 18 to 22 minutes or the smaller (50g) cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, until the edges are set and the cookies are browned, rotating the pan halfway through baking to ensure even browning. (For best results, bake one pan of cookies at a time.) Remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest on the baking sheets until cool enough to handle, at least 15 minutes.
Storage information: Store leftover chocolate chip cookies, covered, for up to 5 days; their slightly crispy edges will soften and the cookies will maintain a soft texture. Freeze baked cookies for longer storage.
This week was our son, Neil’s, birthday. He is a coffee Q Grader, cat owner and competitive pin ball player. This cake was in honor of one of his many accomplishments?
It’s based on my extreme chocolate cake, shortbread cookies and added a new meringue buttercream frosting. It was a relatively small cake so the decorations were somewhat oversized, but overall it was acceptable.
The red and white is royal icing. The black and yellow is fondant.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream – From Sally’s Baking Addiction
INGREDIENTS • 6 large egg whites (approximately 230g) • 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar • 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks; 350g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool (60°F and firm) and cut into Tbsp size pieces • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract • 1/8 teaspoon salt
METHOD
Make sure all the tools you are using are completely cleaned, dried, and grease-free. A quick wipe with a little lemon juice or white vinegar is very helpful.
Separate the eggs 1 at a time into a small bowl, then transfer to the metal stand mixer bowl. Repeat with the remaining egg whites. This way, if a yolk breaks in one of them, you don’t waste the whole batch.
Whisk sugar into the egg whites, then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with two inches of simmering water over medium heat assuring the bottom of the egg whites bowl don’t touch the water.
Whisk the whites and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thinned out, about 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and tacky at first, then thin out and be frothy white on top. To test that it’s ready, you can use your finger, or an instant read thermometer. Lightly and quickly dip your finger (it’s very hot, be careful) and rub the mixture between your thumb and finger. You shouldn’t feel any sugar granules. If using a thermometer, the temperature should read 160°F (71°C).
Don’t let it cool down to start this next step– it’s important to begin mixing while it is still warm. On medium-high speed, beat the mixture until stiff glossy peaks form and the meringue is no longer warm to the touch, at least 10-15 minutes. On particularly humid days, this has taken me up to 17-18 minutes. If it’s still not reaching stiff peaks, stop the mixer, place the bowl–uncovered–in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, then return to the mixer and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
If the bowl and meringue still feel warm, wait until both cool to room temperature (around 70°F (21°C)) before adding the butter in the next step. Feel free to place it in the refrigerator. A warm bowl and meringue will melt the butter.
Switch the stand mixer to the paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, add the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. Wait for the butter to fully mix in before adding the next Tablespoon. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer down to medium speed and fully beat in the vanilla and salt, about 30 seconds.
Add any color the beat until uniform. (Gel food coloring only.)
Your Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, creamy, and silky smooth.
Notes Too Thick or Too Thin:
If your meringue has separated, curdled, or is too thick at any point after you mix in all of the butter, place the mixture in your heat-proof bowl back over a pot of 2 inches of simmering water.
Without stirring, let the edges of the meringue warm up and become liquid (the center of the meringue will still be solid), about 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and return to the mixer. Beat meringue on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to medium-high speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Works every time.
If your mixture has become too thin and soupy after you add the butter, place the entire bowl in the refrigerator (covered or uncovered, doesn’t matter) for 20 minutes to cool down, then return it to the mixer and beat on medium-high speed until thickened. Any longer than this will solidify the butter, so only refrigerate in 20 minute spurts. If it’s still soupy, place back in the refrigerator for longer before re-whipping again.
The second day of Mah Jongg at our house provided the opportunity to bake these black chocolate cookies again. (Follow the link for recipe and method.)
These are delicious cookies with the bitterness of the Dutch process cocoa offset by the sparkling sugar sprinkled on the top. Previously I flooded them with royal icing, (but this coarse sugar is easier.)
Thanks to my friend Beth here is a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. I can’t even tell you how long Beth and I have been friends. Our parents were life long friends before us and we simply continued the relationship.
This recipe has slightly different ingredient ratios than my “go-to” recipe. Plus it doesn’t use light brown sugar but substitutes turbinado sugar for the white granulated sugar, which adds a light caramel flavor. The author did not specify what kind of sugar to use, but the video showed a non-white sugar. The turbinado would add some of he flavor removed by not using the light brown sugar. (Full disclosure, I didn’t have any turbinado but did have some demarara which is similar to turbinado but a little darker and coarser.)
This author (Emojoie) only made 4 cookies (mine were 123g each) whereas next time I will make a dozen (~40g each) or so.
Chocolate Chip Cookies Best Ever from YouTube
INGREDIENTS • 100g butter, softened. • 80g Demerara or turbinado sugar • 1g salt • 50 g (1 large egg) • ½ tsp vanilla extract • 160g all-purpose flour • 3g baking soda • 100 g (3/4 c) chocolate chips • 50g hazelnuts (optional)
METHOD
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Beat by hand: butter, sugar and salt in large bowl until creamy. (Don’t over beat.)
Fork whip the egg and add in two additions mixing to incorporate after each addition
Add vanilla and mix well
Gradually add flour mixture mixing by hand. (Again, don’t over beat.) it should form one large ball between wet and dry dough.
Stir in morsels and optional hazelnuts and mix by hand.
Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 135 g portions
Form into balls with hands and add more chocolate to the top
Bake for 13 – 14 minutes or until golden brown. Do NOT overbake!
Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
I saw this cookie design online and as the timing was perfect, how could I resist? I used my Macadamia Nut Shortbread and a basic royal icing recipe. The cookies are delicious, timely and fun to make.
Oddly, I tried piping the blue circle inside the red one (center cookie) but they just didn’t look as good. I could only frost a couple cookies at a time or the flood/fill would dry before I could feather the colors.
I used these small squeeze bottles to pipe the required small amounts of icing. I find I have better control than if I use a piping bag.
4th of July Cookies 2023
Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies
INGREDIENTS • 1 cup butter, room temperature • 3/4 cup powdered sugar • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 2 cups flour • 1 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
METHOD
Beat the butter until smooth and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Gradually add flour then mix in the 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts.
Transfer the batter to a sheet of parchment paper. Lay a second sheet over top and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Place it onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate until firm.
Preheat oven to 300°F and remove dough from refrigerator.
Cut the cookies using a star cookie cutter. Re-roll the scraps and use as much as possible.
Place the stars onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover, and chill for 30 minutes.
Bake for 20 minutes until edges begin to brown.
Cool the cookies completely.
Royal Icing
INGREDIENTS • 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted • 3 Tablespoons meringue powder (not plain egg white powder) • 9–10 Tablespoons room temperature water
METHOD
Pour confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large bowl.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for ~2 minutes.
When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time.
The longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more confectioners’ sugar.
Assembly
Pipe a thin bead of white royal icing around the edges of the cookies and let dry.
Flood/fill 2 or 3 cookies and while still wet pipe a drop of red and a drop of blue in the center of the cookie.
Pipe a ring of red royal icing around the blue and white drops, then pipe a blue ring outside the red circle.
Use a toothpick to draw a line through the icing from the center to the tip of each star then leave to dry.
I made Millionaires Bars once before and decided it was time to make another batch. They are just as good the second time around! Follow the link for the recipe etc.
A sheet of cookies, or one BIG one?Sensible portion control
Last night I made a clone of the macadamia nut cookies we had in Kauai. Basically, they are a shortbread cookie with fine ground macadamia nuts in the batter, and a dark chocolate coating.
Roll the dough into an approximation of a rectangle to minimize waste and chill for two hours. Cut the chilled dough into 1”x2” rectangles and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. They do not spread so they can be placed fairly close together (like 1/4” – 1/2” apart.)
Once baked and completely cooled melt ~200g of dark chocolate and 1 Tbl corn syrup and dip one corner in the mix. Transfer the remainder to a piping bag. Sprinkle some coarse crushed macadamia nuts on the still wet chocolate and let the piping bag of chocolate cool and thicken slightly. Snip the end off the bag and pipe a chocolate swirl across the cookie. Leave to dry at room temperature or in the fridge.
QC said these may be the best cookies Dede’s Bakery and Confectionery ever made! High praise indeed.
Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies
INGREDIENTS • 1 cup butter, room temperature • 3/4 cup powdered sugar • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 2 cups flour • 1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped • 8 oz. dark chocolate • 1 Tbl corn syrup • 1/4 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped
METHOD
Beat the butter until smooth and add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Gradually add flour then mix in the 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts.
Transfer the batter to a sheet of parchment paper. Lay a second sheet over top and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Try to shape into a rectangle as much as possible. Place it onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300°F and remove dough from refrigerator.
Slice the cookie batter into 1×2 inch rectangles. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. The edges should be slightly browned.
Cool the cookies completely.
Melt and mix the chocolate and corn syrup then dip the corner of the cookies in the chocolate. Gently remove any excess chocolate, lay it out on a sheet of parchment and sprinkle with some finely chopped macadamia nuts.
Place into the fridge to set the chocolate and then serve.
While traveling last week I saw a recipe for 3 ingredient sugar cookies. QC loves sugar cookies so they moved to the top of DeDe’s Bakery and Confectionery ToDo list.
The original recipe called for just three ingredients, butter, powdered sugar and AP flour. After following the recipe I determined it was not nearly slack enough to pipe into swirls, so I added a fourth ingredient, milk.
I used the first attempted recipe to judge if, with modification, the batter could be modified to allow it to pipe. The second go round (below) I actually measured the amount of milk required to produce a very, very, firm peak, pipeable batter.
I used an Mi piping tip on the first attempt. The piped cookies were very nice, much like roses, but as expected they lost definition after baking. Typical of this type of cookie the butter melts out during baking.
For the second attempt, I used a B4 tip and expected the same result, but perhaps due to the less pronounced ridges it held its shape a bit better. Lucky guess in piping tips. Also, I froze the second attempt rather than just refrigerating.
Light, fluffy whipped cream-like butter and sugarB4 on the left, Mi on the rightM1 piped batterB4 piped batterB4 in the foreground, M1 behind
Swirled Butter Cookies
INGREDIENTS • 227g (1 c) Unsalted butter • 118g (1 c) Powdered Sugar • 256g (2 c) AP Flour • ¾ c + 2 Tbl milk to thin to piping consistency
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F Convection.) Line 2 large baking sheets with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and sugar. Cream at highest speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. The mixture should turn from yellow to white and look like whipped cream when you are done. Make sure to stop and scrape the sides of your bowl a few times with a spatula so that all the butter gets creamed.
Add in the flour ½ cup at a time. Mix in at low speed and then gradually increase speed once flour is incorporated. The mixture will be crumbly at first but then should form a thick, soft dough, almost like a thick paste.
Add milk sparingly until the dough achieves a firm piping consistency. (Think very firm peaks.)
Transfer the dough to a piping bag. Using a large open star tip (an M1 or B4 with a 1/2 inch opening), pipe swirls or whatever design you prefer. Space cookies 1 inch apart. Place piped cookies into freezer for 30 minutes so the dough is chilled. This will prevent them from spreading as much when they bake.
Place the cookie sheets into the middle of your oven. Bake for ~20 minutes or until edges and surface start to turn a light brown. (Rotate cookie sheet after 10 minutes). The fine detail of the piping will flow out as the butter melts, but the swirl should remain.
Let cookies cool on cookie sheet before removing. Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container.
Our synagogue’s fundraiser is tonight and the administrator asked me to provide some of the deserts and something for the auction. To identify my goods I asked Dan to create a logo for me. For those who do not know, DeDe is my granddaughters name for me because they couldn’t pronounce Zayde (Yiddish for grandfather) when they were younger and it just stuck.
Over the last week or so I made and froze choux pastry for the eclairs and shells for the tarts. I made all the fillings yesterday and assembled everything this morning except the pain au chocolat which I made in its entirety this morning. (They don’t take very long.)
aBatteredOldSuitcase 