At the Colectivo Holiday Party

My cookies were disappearing! :-)

 

Thanks-Giving Us This Bread

Well, I did it. I got it ALL done, and it's even on time. THANK GOD.

 

Thanksgiving Focaccia.

Rolls are for wusses.

 

Play With Your Food

Cheese crackers with eyes. I took a better picture with the camera, but it has flash-glare.

Mmmm. Brownies.

>drool<

Brownies. Triple chocolate brownies. ALL of it dark.

We're not big on milk chocolate in this house.

Yum.

But the big thing to celebrate in this picture is the baking pan. It's a Pampered Chef stone. Right now it's new, but in time, with careful seasoning, it'll be as nonstick as any good old cast iron *anything*.

I'm so pleased to have this because I *used* to have one, but I tripped and dropped it. That was a couple years ago. All the alternatives I've tried in the meantime have been bitterly disappointing.

I'm a perfectionist with my baking. I'm a good artist; my baking, however, is beyond excellent. It's really bothered me to be without this important tool. NOW there's no holding me back.

I won't settle for anything less than perfection, in the case of my tools, unglazed stone bakeware. I expect to serve perfect baked goods; this sets me back on that right road.

Apparently, I'm not alone.

Whip Up had a book review a few days ago that shows me I'm not alone thinking of getting creative with cookies.

Click that whole paragraph if you want to see. It's worth it.

Also? And this is a little scary, so maybe you don't want to keep reading. (Ok, that wasn't fair, was it? He heh heh.)

My Beloved inspired me to check into whether there might be recipes for deep-fried cookie dough. Was I lucky?

Is this not the Home of the Brave? And, apparently, the iron-stomached.

LORDY. According to Google, 70,800 results were found that matched my search criteria (that would be "fried cookie dough recipe"), and said search was executed in 0.35 seconds. I didn't check to see if ALL 70,800 were actually recipes for this specific delicacy. In fact, my gob-smacked mind could barely make it down the page.

I guess I hit the jackpot, if that's what you can call it, though I'll stick to traditional cookies, thank you very much!! It certainly is county fair season!

 

It's hot & humid. My cue to turn on the oven.

cookie stamps
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Yesterday I was invited to join a Flickr group called Stamp Your Sweets & Cookies! because of the above photo. There's a picture of my springerle roll that they liked, too.

I like cookie molds and presses. Cookie cutters I find inspiring, too. There's just something fun about the blank slate, if you will, of a lump of sweet dough. If you can be inspired by a lump of clay or paper pulp or wool fleece, (and heaven help me, I most certainly can!!!) then my goodness, the things I can do with edible medium!!

It starts out with a simple, buff-colored sugar cookie dough. Or gingerbread, shortbread, chocolate, spice, omigoodness! there are so many wonderful flavors of cookie dough.

But why does it have to stay that color? (Ok, chocolate is not the easiest of doughs for a change of color.) Do I not have a multitude of food colors in the pantry? Of course I do. So that's one jumping-off point.

Then, with a variety of technicolor dough, rested, and ready to be shaped, I can cut it free-form. I can cut and stack the cookies, in pre-baked form; or cut them and plan to stack them, Linzer-style (or Oreo style, but Linzer-style, with the lacy cut-outs, is so much more fun!!) post-oven, filled with creme or jam. I can roll some balls of dough and press the little spheres with these lovely cookie presses. I can roll out a large sheet, then re-roll with my springerle roll -- it's another type of cookie press, but in a rolling pin form. Once the images from the springerle roll is impressed, I cut them to separate, and then I have dozens of small rectangular cookies all at once.




After baking, I have some more options!! Decorating options. To frost, or not to frost? Leave it plain? Add nuts? Nonpareils? Sprinkles? Sprinkles come in all shapes and colors (I have some Scooby Doo ones...), as do the many and sugars and edible glitters. There are markers made for food decorating! Amazing. I think that's a wonderful thing.

I've just discovered a neat thing that's been created, and I just don't know how I can live without it. I hope someone can find it, because I really REALLY want this thing.

The German company Stadter (with an umlaut over the "a", but this application won't permit me to use that) has a tool that lets you stamp letters -- actually impress them deeply into the unbaked dough -- into cookies or fondant or Royal icing... whatever your imagination gives you!!! (It's called the Brigitte Cookie Text Stamp.) How amazing is that??? You see why I need this thing?

No?

OK: imagine this, then. Conversation Hearts. But edible. Conversation Hearts are those hard-as-a-rock and tastes-like-barely-flavored-sugar small heart-shaped candies in pastel shades with words and phrases like, "MY MAN", "OH MY", "SWEETIE PIE" "OH YOU"... You get the picture.

And special cookies with special messages. Fun!! It completely appeals to my sense of culinary adventure. Keep your eyes open, and grab it for me if you see it, please! I'd be most grateful.

I'll bake for you!

 

Super Duper...

It's Superbowl Sunday. I look forward to this usually because of the commercials. That's because my team never makes it to the game.

This year I made mascarpone cheesecake with dulce de leche sauce, triple chocolate brownies, and strawberry marshmallows. (Yeah, marshmallows from scratch. That's what I said!) It's going to be a fun Superbowl party, regardless of the game's outcome, or however many political ads take away from the actually entertaining ads.

Play ball!

 

Springerle Recipe

I got a comment from LadybugLove on my January 4 post, where I took pictures of my just-barely-post-Christmas Christmas cookies. I made holly cookies (no picture), the kind with cornflakes and melted marshmallows and little cinnamon candies, and I made Springerles.

Springerles are an old family tradition for my side of the family. They are made with a fairly simple batter. Where it gets fancy is the rolling out: you roll them twice, with 2 different pins. The first is a regular rolling pin, for the regular old reason, to flatten the dough. The second, at least MINE, is a wooden rolling pin, with elaborate designs cut into it at regular intervals. It presses these shapes and patterns into the dough, and then the dough is cut into the rectangular cookies and dried overnight on cookie sheets strewn with anise seeds.

An alternative, if a baker doesn't have a springerle roll, is to use old-fashioned cookie or butter presses. Not a spritz-press! This dough is far too stiff for that type of tool, and these cookies are completely wrong for such a thick cookie shape.

Did you catch that this cookie gets dried before baking? Think of this as the German dunking cookie. It's like their version of the Italian biscotti. It's meant to have a bit of a snap to it. Think also of the types of drinks available 350 years ago. What would they have dunked a cookie in? Probably not hot chocolate. Perhaps a dark beer, very likely hard cider, definitely spiced wine, probably tea. Children would have been given the same options, as drinking the milk of "a different animal" is a fairly modern concept. I wouldn't recommend that now, but it gives you an idea of how things have changed since the advent of food storage! Actually, I think that's a part of the reason for the anise seed, in addition to the very special-ness and exoticness of the flavoring. Anyway, don't be surprised by the very tough nature of this cookie. Please experiment with the beverages you dunk it in. (Milk is not good. Cider, hot chocolate, various teas, coffee, and orange juice are all very good.)

On to the recipe!

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature, between 65 and 78 deg. F.

Prepare the cookie sheets by first greasing them, then spread 1-2 T whole anise seeds across the surface of each cookie sheet.

Combine thoroughly, then set aside:
3 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 t baking powder

Beat until color lightens:
4 large eggs

Add these next ingredients GRADUALLY to the beaten eggs until further lightened in color, and thick, creamy, with a ribbon-like texture:
1 2/3 C granulated sugar
1 t finely grated lemon zest
1 t anise extract

Use a wooden spoon to fold in the flour mixture until completely and smoothly blended. Sprinkle a clean, smooth work surface generously with flour and knead the dough until it is firm and manageable. Do not be surprized if this takes 1/2 C or more!

Once it is of a consistency that feels stiff enough to work with a rolling pin, divide into portions of a size to work with your work space. Store the reserve portions of dough wrapped in plastic or in resealable bags so they don't dry out by the time you are ready to roll them out.

Now you are ready to roll. Keep the flour handy! You will need it regularly, and do use it liberally! Roll the dough to 1/4" thickness. Dust the Springerle carved rolling pin with flour (but make sure there are no large deposits in the recesses of the designs, as it will affect the design of the cookie), and BE FIRM when pressing down this rolling pin! It is important to get a strong impression, and to have even pressure on both sides of the rolling pin.

Cut the designs apart with a very sharp knife, and arrange on your cookie sheets. I like to press very gently as I place them on the cookie sheets, so that there's no doubt the anise seeds will be pressed into the back of the cookie.

If you've ever made cookies that must be rolled out and cut, you will know that it's at this point you have to re-roll the scraps, perhaps add it to some of the as-yet unrolled-out dough. Just keep going until all the dough is rolled, pressed, cut, and placed on the cookie sheets.

Filled all the cookie sheets? Finished all the dough? DON'T BAKE THEM YET! Dry the cookies somewhere cool and dry for at least 8-12 hours. I usually let them go overnight. Do not skip this step.

When it's time to bake them, bring the cookies and cookie sheets up to room temp. Then preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Bake ONE SHEET AT A TIME. Seriously. It's worth it. Even though each sheet takes 18-24 minutes (I usually go for about 20-21 minutes). Peek through the oven window at the cookies as you get close to that near-done stage: what you're watching for is a firm texture, but almost no coloration, perhaps just a very gentle inkling of gold along the very edges. Nothing more than that. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on racks.

I've seen these cookies painted with diluted food coloring (this requires another few hours drying time). There's a suggestion in Joy of Cooking that edible gold leaf would be a great plan, too. Regular frosting would hide the lovely embossed designs and alter the flavor of the cookie. I just leave them as they are. They are a very pretty cookie.

I hope you'll try this! I hope it brings you much enjoyment and becomes a tradition for your family that's as cherished as it is in mine.

 

Running (outta breath) 2 Stand Still

We're running to various urgent tasks: first, to sign car insurance papers at the body shop (yes! Our other little car is being repaired, after all!), then to Rick's parents' house to do laundry, as our washing machine is still broken (though the part arrived yesterday and it will be fixed Thursday). Next, I have to post my edits for this month's issue of The AntiCraft, finish my post of the springerle cookie recipe, write a long note to my friend Dorte, embroider for the challenge I posed in the embroidery forum on theanticraft.com, finish testing the crochet patterns I'm editing, cook the ground beef I thawed, post and label last night's and last week's Iron Chef photos from my camera to Flickr, and finish packing the box for Ria and Art For Cures that should have been sent when I was still feverish. Phew! AND remember to actually EAT. Until last night, I hadn't eaten in 2 days for sheer overwhelmedness. I'll get to everything! Please be patient, if you're waiting for a particular thing!