Category Archives: Shortbread

Raspberry Swirl Shortbread Cookies

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I saw this recipe online and as they are shortbread and raspberry I couldn’t resist. As expected they are delicious.

They are fairly easy to make and after my first attempt I made several notes on how to change the METHOD next time, and there will be a next time.

Raspberry Swirl Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 227 (1 c or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (not melted)
• 150g (¾ c) sugar
• 1 large RT egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 310 (2½ c) AP flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup raspberry jam
• 1 Tbl cornstarch

METHOD

  1. In a stand mixer bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the egg and vanilla; beat until combined.
  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
  3. Gradually add to the wet mixture by hand or mix on low speed only until a soft dough forms.
  4. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half between two sheets of parchment paper into a rectangle (about ¼-inch thick).
  5. In a small bowl, whisk the raspberry jam with the cornstarch.
  6. Remove the top layer of parchment paper and spread a thin, even layer of the jam mixture over the dough rectangles, leaving a small border at the edges.
  7. Starting from the long side, tightly roll the dough into a log. See note below on rolling the dough.
  8. Wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or freeze for 30 minutes). See note below for additional info on firming up the logs before slicing.
  9. Preheat oven to 350°F. Use a sharp knife to slice the cold log into ½-inch thick rounds.
  10. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies so you will likely need two cookie sheets.
  11. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets after 7 minutes. Start checking for browning after 10 minutes. The edges should be barely golden. Let cool completely on the baking sheet.

NOTES:

  1. If the dough is too wet and sticky, refrigerate for 5 minutes before tying to roll up. 10 minutes was too long and the initial roll cracked.
  2. The dough sticks to the wax paper. I used a clean offset spatula to slide under the dough to separate it from the wax paper.
  3. The jam ran out while rolling when logs were frozen for 30 minutes
    a. Next time I will freeze for 1 hour to freeze the jam
    b. Also, cut both frozen logs in half and slice one while leaving the others in the freezer
  4. The cookies spread and lost definition. Next time I will freeze for 30 minutes after slicing and arranging on the parchment lined cookie sheets

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

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Sally rides again, (as opposed to astronaut Sally Ride.) I make a great shortbread cookie (although currently with some chocolate drizzle issues,) but Sally published a Brown Sugar Shortbread cookie, and of course, I couldn’t resist.

These cookies have a slightly higher (brown) sugar and flour content and as slice and baked coolies are rolled into logs rather than flat disks before chilling, but otherwise the methods are similar.

QC commented how good they smelled while baking, and when sampling, said they taste just like they smell. They’re sweeter than my usual shortbread cookie, no surprise and definitely will be added to the cookie wheel of fortune. (I really should invent one of those someday.)

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies
INGREDIENTS
• 170g (¾ cup ;12 Tbl) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 200g (1 c) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 281g (2¼ c) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
For Rolling
• 100g ( ½ c) coarse sugar (such as Sparkling or Sugar in the Raw)
METHOD

  1. In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
  2. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the dough comes together. If the dough is too crumbly and won’t come together after a couple minutes of beating, stop the mixer, pour the dough crumbles on a work surface, and use your hands to bring it together. You can also try sprinkling the dough with a few drops of water and then beat again; or get your hands wet, then press the dough clumps together tightly until it forms one large clump of thick dough.
  3. With lightly floured hands, divide the dough in two. (If you want to be precise, the dough should weigh about 650g, so each half will be about 325g.) Roll and shape each piece of dough into an 8-inch log.
  4. For Rolling: Pour coarse sugar onto a large plate. One at a time, roll the logs in the sugar until the exterior is fully coated.
  5. Tightly wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 5 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough. I always chill mine overnight.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
  7. Remove logs from the refrigerator. Slice each log into 12 equally thick cookies and place cookies on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 14–16 minutes, or until set and lightly browned around the edges. Do not over-bake. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
  8. Cover and store leftover cookies at room temperature for up to 1 week. After day 1, the cookies will taste crunchier.

Notes
Make Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. You can make/assemble the cookie dough logs and chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (see step 5). Cookie dough logs freeze well too, up to 3 months. Allow the logs to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6. See if you’d like to see a video tutorial for freezing various types of doughs.

Artisan Bread and Shortbread Cookie Bake

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On Wednesday this week I spent the morning replenishing our artisan bread supply and making some nibbling cookies. This bread may be the best I make, and QC said the pistachio/cranberry shortbread cookies may be the best of anything I bake.

To mix things up a little this time I shaped the bread as a boule while the previous bread was a batard. The shortbread cookies were the same as the past bake.

2-Way Shortbread Cookies

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Our neighbor, and QC Cadre member, gave us mandarin oranges off her tree, so once again I “processed” and returned to her in a different form. I thought the chocolate dipped orange shortbread cookies were really good, until I sampled the cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies.

Both are easy to make and take little hands-on time, and both are well worth the effort.

Pistachio and Cranberry
Chocolate and Orange

Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 1 c unsalted butter, softened
• ½ c powdered sugar
• 2 tsp orange zest (from 1 orange)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ c dark or semi-sweet chocolate, melted
• finely chopped candy orange or zest for garnish

METHOD

  1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Mix in the orange zest and vanilla extract until evenly combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Gradually add this to the wet ingredients, mixing until the dough just comes together.
  4. Roll the dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm.
  5. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  6. Slice the chilled dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking often after 12, until the edges are lightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.
  8. Once cooled, dip half of each cookie into the melted chocolate and place them on parchment paper to set. Sprinkle with finely chopped candied orange or additional orange zest if desired.
  9. Let the chocolate set fully before serving or storing in an airtight container.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies Recipe

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

METHOD

  1. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  2. Add the Flour and Salt:
  3. Gradually add the flour and salt to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
  4. Fold in the Cranberries and Pistachios:
  5. Gently fold in the chopped dried cranberries and pistachios until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  6. Divide the dough in half and shape each portion into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until firm.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough logs from the refrigerator and slice them into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.
  8. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking often after 12, until the edges are lightly golden.
  9. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Demerara Encrusted Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

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SallysBakingAddiction strikes again! Once again I need refreshments for QCs Mah Jongg ladies tomorrow so, of course, I made these Demerara encrusted brown sugar cookies today to be sure they were worthy of this esteemed group.

I baked these in two batches. Both of them were baked 2-4 minutes too long. The cookies should still be a little soft and not firm in the last few minutes in the oven. REALLY good though. We will cut these in half to prevent any dental distress when eating them.

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
For Rolling
• 1/2 cup (100g) Demerara sugar or Turbinado (Sugar in the Raw)

METHOD

  1. In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
  2. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the dough comes together. If the dough is too crumbly and won’t come together after a couple minutes of beating, stop the mixer, pour the dough crumbles on a work surface, and use your hands to bring it together. (I often have to do this, so don’t worry.) You can also try sprinkling the dough with a few drops of water and then beat again; or get your hands wet, then press the dough clumps together tightly until it forms one large clump of thick dough.
  3. With lightly floured hands, divide the dough in two. (If you want to be precise, the dough should weigh about 650g, so each half will be about 325g.) Roll and shape each piece of dough into an 8-inch log.
  4. For Rolling: Pour coarse sugar onto a large plate. One at a time, roll the logs in the sugar until the exterior is fully coated.
  5. Tightly wrap the logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 5 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough. I always chill mine overnight.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
  7. Remove logs from the refrigerator. Slice each log into 16 equally thick cookies and place cookies on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 14–16 minutes, or until set and lightly browned around the edges. Do not over-bake. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
  8. Cover and store leftover cookies at room temperature for up to 1 week. After day 1, the cookies will taste crunchier.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. You can make/assemble the cookie dough logs and chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (see step 5). Cookie dough logs freeze well too, up to 3 months. Allow the logs to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6. See How to Freeze Cookie Dough if you’d like to see a video tutorial for freezing various types of doughs.
  2. Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Coarse Sparkling Sugar | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
  3. Old Version: The old recipe called for: 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 cup (2 sticks; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature; 1 cup (200g) packed light brown sugar; 1/3 cup (67g) packed dark brown sugar; 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; optional: 2/3 cup (135g) coarse sugar, for rolling. Same baking instructions. The cookies usually over-spread, so I updated the amounts of ingredients.
  4. Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
  5. Find it online: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/brown-sugar-shortbread/

Memorial Day Bake

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Dede’s bakery opened early this morning. QC (Fran) loves the smell of fresh bread when she wakes. It had been a while since I made the hi-hydration honey bread, so… I also made some shortbread cookies which will be part of the decorations for a cake this weekend

I need to flood the cookies to finish them, but I have lots of time. I also need to practices some Italian buttercream as I had major issues the last time I made some.

I made two loaves in a steam oven without a Dutch oven
These are traditional shortbread cookies w/o chocolate.

Both bakes were excellent and a good treat for elevensies.

Pinball Wizard

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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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Add any color the beat until uniform. (Gel food coloring only.)
  9. Your Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, creamy, and silky smooth.

Notes
Too Thick or Too Thin:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

4th of July Cookies 2023

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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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Preheat oven to 300°F and remove dough from refrigerator.
  4. Cut the cookies using a star cookie cutter. Re-roll the scraps and use as much as possible.
  5. Place the stars onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover, and chill for 30 minutes.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes until edges begin to brown.
  7. 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

  1. Pour confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large bowl.
  2. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for ~2 minutes.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

  1. Pipe a thin bead of white royal icing around the edges of the cookies and let dry.
  2. 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.
  3. Pipe a ring of red royal icing around the blue and white drops, then pipe a blue ring outside the red circle.
  4. Use a toothpick to draw a line through the icing from the center to the tip of each star then leave to dry.

Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies

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Recently I invited our new neighbors, John and Amy, to join my small cadre of baked goods tasters. As it turns our they have several orange trees (not that that had any influence on my asking them to join the group) and they offered me as many oranges as I liked. That is the very good news.

Here is the other side of the coin. QC’s Mah Jongg group (who I made the key lime tarts in the previous post for) cancelled Tuesday’s game, so I gave away most of the tarts I made for them. Then, they changed their minds and decided to play (with 6 tartlets and some of one of the 6” pies left.)

Then, they decided they would try to gather enough players for another game on Wednesday. As it turns out, for some reason, I had some extra oranges in my possession and no plans other than juicing, so… chocolate orange shortbread cookies for Wednesday’ game, and more samples for my tasting cadre.

Cutting the rolled cookie dough
Dust with sugar before baking
Sous Vide for keeping chocolate in temper at 90 F
Tempered dark chocolate with wiggly line white chocolate

I like to melt the chocolate in the microwave using short bursts (first is 1 minute, each other 30 seconds) while stirring between each burst. The white chocolate wasn’t tempered, nor was it quite fluid enough to pipe nicely. I made a second batch and it was much better.

I used my bench knife to act as an end block, lined up six cookies and spread dark chocolate over them all. While the dark chocolate was still liquid I piped the white in thin (occasionally straight) lines and ran a tooth pick across the top of the cookie to make the feathering.

The orange flavor comes through, but isn’t too strong. Next time, I may add some essence as the chocolate nearly overpowers the orange.

Orange Shortbread Cookies

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Zest from 2 large oranges
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces finely chopped, dark or semisweet chocolate, your choice

METHOD

  1. Combine the sugar and zest, blending with a fork until thoroughly mixed and fragrant.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar/zest mixture until they are just combined. Add the vanilla.
  3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter and sugar/zest mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted
    with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  5. Roll the dough ¼ inch thick and cut to 3 by 1-inch with a pizza cutter. Place the cookies on an parchment paper lined baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (rotate pans after 10 minutes), until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  6. When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

TEMPERING DARK CHOCOLATE.
Weigh 1% of the mycryo butter so it’s ready to add.
To calculate:
• 100g/3.5oz chocolate + 1/2 teaspoon (1g) mycryo cocoa butter
• 200g/7oz chocolate + 1 teaspoon (2g) mycryo cocoa butter
• 1kg/35.27oz chocolate + 5 tsp (10g) mycryo cocoa butter.

METHOD

Melt the chocolate on a bain-marie (or use a microwave, melting in 30 second bursts, stirring well between each burst and checking the temperature, reducing to 3 or 5 second bursts when almost ready).

Make sure the chocolate reaches a temperature of 122º F (a few degrees higher is OK). Take it off the bain-marie as soon as it gets near and give it a good stir then if necessary return 5 seconds or so at a time, stir and check the temperature.

Once off the heat (and off the bain-marie) let the chocolate cool to 94ºF. Sprinkle on the mycryo cocoa butter and wait a few seconds as it melts then stir in to combine. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the chocolate off the sides and fold into the middle. Stir well and continue to stir well
fairly frequently. Keep the tempered chocolate in the sous vide, or Bain-marie at 90 F.

‘Spearminting’ with Shortbread

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Actually, I was ‘experimenting” with vegetarian mirror glaze today. Previously, I made a mirror glaze that was too rubbery so I thought I would give it another try. Anyway, I wanted to try making some chocolate mousse domes. The recipe I found for the domes was good. It uses Agar Agar rather than gelatin sheets so it remained vegetarian.

As I only needed six shortbread cookies for the bases of the domes, I decided to make a few (24) shortbread cookies with the balance of the recipe. And, as long as I was also using chocolate for the domes I figured I might as well dip one side of the cookie to make a nice chocolate crescent accent

L: Baked 2.5” Diameter Cookies – C: Cookies and Dipping Chocolate – R: Final

To make the domes, I filled my 2.5” diameter silicone mold with mousse to within 1/4” of the top. This provided room to fit a 2.5” trimmed cookie in the base. As the cookies spread a little while baking, the thinnest were trimmed with a cutter and placed on the still soft mousse, then put in the freezer until solid.

Top: L: Mousse and Cookie in Mold – C: Trimming Cookie – R and Bottom: Finished Domes.

Even the thinnest shortbread cookies were too thick (about 1/4”.) The problem is the unbaked cookies are too fragile to move if they are any thinner. Next time I will roll the dough out thinner on the cookie sheet then remove the excess from between the round cookies. Wish me luck.

The results were promising. The glaze was too thick to pour. Spreading the glaze ruins the effect of a smooth. Coating. I found another recipe for the glaze, but using gelatin sheets. I will substitute Agar powder using one third the amount of Agar to gelatin. The ratio of cocoa powder to liquids seems right to allow it to pour. Time will tell.

Chocolate Mouse Domes with Agar Agar

Mousse

INGREDIENTS:
• 60 g Dark Chocolate (melted)
• 50 ml (1/4 cup) Heavy Cream
• 175 ml (3/4 cup) Whipping Cream ( whipped into soft Peaks)
• 1 tbl Agar Agar
• 6 short bread biscuits

METHOD:

  1. Add Agar Agar to heavy cream and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate
  2. Let rest for five minutes, then mix chocolate and heavy cream into a smooth mixture.
  3. Fold in Whipped Cream to the above mixture

Assembling

  1. Pour the mousse mixture into semi dome silicone molds or any medium sized round bowls.
  2. Place one biscuit over each dome
  3. Freeze the mousse until solid.

White Chocolate Glaze

INGREDIENTS
• 50 g White Chocolate
• 50 ml Heavy Cream
• 2 tsp Agar Agar
• 1 tbl Butter

METHOD

  1. Mix in the above mixture and bring it to boil once.
  2. Mix everything into homogenous smooth glaze.
  3. Sieve it once

Dark Chocolate Glaze – Option 2 (not yet used)
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/chef-dominique-ansels-recipe-for-dark-chocolate-mirror-glaze#chef-dominique-ansels-dark-chocolate-mirror-glaze-recipe

INGREDIENTS
• 206g, or 1 cup sugar
• 142g, or 1⁄2 cup, plus 11⁄2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 ½ tsp Agar Powder (originally 12g, or 4 tsp gelatin, powdered)
• 60g, or 1⁄4 cup water, cold
• 148g, or 2/3 cups water, room temperature
• 71g, or 1⁄2 cup, plus 5 tsp cocoa powder

METHOD

  1. In a medium pot, bring sugar and heavy cream to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Add the Agar powder and heat while stirring until mixture starts to thicken (1-2 min, medium low heat.)
  3. In a bowl, combine the 148g (2/3 cups) room temperature water with the cocoa powder, stirring with a spatula until it becomes a uniform paste.
  4. Stir cream-sugar-Agar mixture into cocoa powder paste until combined.
  5. Remove the pot from the heat, and strain the glaze mixture through a mesh strainer over a heatproof bowl to remove any clumps of undissolved cocoa powder.
  6. Emulsify the mixture with a hand blender (immersion blender) to remove any lumps, until smooth.
  7. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight to set, until ready to use. Should be 90 deg to pour.
  8. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

OPTION PUBLISHED WITH THIS RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
• 50 ml Water
• 50 ml Heavy Cream
• 50 ml Sugar
• 80 gm Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp Agar Agar

METHOD:

  1. Bring all the ingredients to boil in a medium saucepan.
  2. Whisk to cool to room temperature
  3. Sieve once to remove lumps

ASSEMBLING AND DECORATION:

  1. After 8 hours remove mousse from freezer and remove from the moulds
  2. Place mousse domes on cooling rack.
  3. Pour Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate Glaze over the dome and place the dome in freezer for 5 mins.
  4. I sprinkled some freeze dried raspberry powder on the domes to add a little bitterness to the sweetness of the mouse and glaze.