cookie swap

Home 

Homemade cookies.  Few gifts are as thoughtful or as delicious, and nothing is as much fun to create. 

The holidays are when we make those extra efforts-large and small to bring out the best.
  
When it comes to baking and entertaining we turn to traditional and favorite recipes, made with the very finest ingredients.  Pure and intense, fresh and flavorful, these key ingredients are what make our efforts a delicious success in the kitchen.
  
This recipe is a home run for chocolate lovers, only the best Double-Dutch Cocoa (such a Perngotti or Valrhona) plus the addition of espresso powder makes this cookie a rich indulgence. 

Join in with us on our holiday cookie swap.  Share your favorite family holiday cookie recipe, post a picture or a link so we can all enjoy something new and tasty!

So here it is, one of my favorite chocolate cookie recipes. Talk about in your face, these Double-Dark Chocolate Mocha Drops are spiked with espresso, and loaded with chips. Let’s go!

Enjoy!

Shannon

  

Double-Dark Mocha Drops

1/2 cup melted butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon espresso powder

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa

1 1/4 cups All purpose flour

2 cups chips: cappuccino, cinnamon, chocolate, or a mixture

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment.

Combine the melted butter, sugars, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder in a mixing bowl.

Beat until the mixture is smooth.

Add the egg and vanilla, and again beat until thoroughly combined. The mixture will look a bit grainy; that's OK.  Beat in the cocoa. Add the flour, beating slowly to combine. Add the chips, mixing until they're well-distributed.

Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. A teaspoon scoop works very well here. If the dough begins to stick, simply dip the scoop in cold water. Space the cookies at least 1" apart.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes; the cookies should seem barely done. If you attempt to pick an oven-hot cookie off the baking sheet, it'll fall apart.  Allow the cookies to cool right on the baking sheet.

makes about 4 dozen

and the winner is...

“It’s a pie!”  “No, it’s a cake!”  This was the argument I somehow got in the middle of when I asked the culinary director and her assistant at my workplace for the pumpkin cheesecake recipe that has been such a hit lately.  They were getting into the process, what is in it that makes it a pie or for that matter a cake.  I really don’t know what the final decision was, and honestly, I didn’t really care.  Thankfully though, I did get the recipe and a disgustingly huge slice to take home for snacking on that night after work.  

This pumpkin cheesecake has a gingersnap cookie crust that is so buttery, it just melts in your mouth.  The filling has of course cream cheese (a boat load), pumpkin, some spices and a splash of bourbon, just because it sounds good.  It is so creamy and delicious, and the pumpkin adds a beautiful color as well. The topping, which I think just makes this “pie” is the praline top.  A pecan, brown sugar, butter mixture that is baked until bubbly, hardens as it cools and then is crumbled on top to give an extra texture and flavor bump. It is so good.

This recipe serves twelve, so invite the gang over, and call it whatever you want, they won’t care.  They’ll just think you’re a rock star!

Enjoy!

Shannon

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

from Bon Appetit

For praline
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

For crust
2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 9 ounces)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 large eggs
1 15-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
3 tablespoons bourbon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Make praline:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheet with foil. Stir sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts and mixture comes to boil; boil 1 minute without stirring. Mix in pecans. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet. Bake until sugar syrup bubbles vigorously, about 8 minutes. Cool praline completely. Break into pieces. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight.)

Make crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir cookie crumbs and cinnamon in medium bowl to blend. Add butter; stir until crumbs are moistened. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake crust until set, about 8 minutes. Cool. Double-wrap outside of pan with heavy-duty foil. Place in large roasting pan.

Make filling:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in flour and spices. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in pumpkin, bourbon and vanilla. Transfer to crust.

Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to reach 1 inch up sides of springform pan. Bake cake in water bath until center is just set, adding more water to roasting pan as needed, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Remove cheesecake from water. Cool in pan on rack. Remove foil. Run small sharp knife between cake and pan sides. Chill until cold; then cover and chill overnight.

Release pan sides. Place cake on platter. Sprinkle praline over, leaving 1-inch plain border at edge. Cut cake into wedges.


Serves 12

spread the love

Gift giving is a tangible expression of care and love. For me a homemade food gift packed into tins, jars, boxes or cellophane bags tied with ribbon represents creative energy and time spent in the kitchen-a homemade hug. It’s a personal connection of sharing a homemade gift and wrapping it up in some special way that brings joy and delivers goodness and cheer.

I made a promise to myself after the holidays last year that I was going to get a good jump on my holiday gift giving projects. And to that end I have been canning and preserving quite a bit over that last few weeks.

Figs have been in abundance this season; I’ve made some fig jam laced with cognac, as well as a fig and balsamic conserve. Rainier and Bing cherries have been potted with rum and vanilla and with summer winding down the bargain-priced, end of season green tomatoes at the farmers’ market are so good when preserved and turned into green tomato chutney. Concord grapes have been slowly making their way into the markets lately and I have a recipe for a compote of Concord grapes and walnuts I’ve been wanting to try.

This is also a great time to grab the last of those vine ripened tomatoes and turn them into spicy tomato ketchup, and when preserved into a flask-style bottle paired with a homemade smoky BBQ rub it makes a delightful and incredibly useful gift for those friends who like to grill.

Over the next few weeks I thought I might share with you some of my favorite recipes old and new, as well as some tips, notes and packaging details with the hopes that you will enjoy creating these gifts for those you love. After all, giving a gift, especially a food gift comes from the heart.

Enjoy!
Shannon

turn-key

Well, I made it. But just barely. The challenge for this month's Daring Bakers' was a gingerbread house, made completely from scratch. I used the template and recipes from Martha Stewart’s website for the snow swept gingerbread cottage. I would love to say that I enjoyed every moment of the process, but frankly I cannot. To be able to share that while I was mixing the spicy ginger dough, the lovely sound of classical Christmas music flowed through my ever peaceful home. To be able to share that while the perfectly formed gingerbread framework was cooling on their racks the scent of cinnamon filled the kitchen. And then the joys of seeing it all come together as each piece fit seamlessly, just as I had planned.

Yeah right.

It was more like make the dough one day. Roll out the dough or at least most of it over the next few days when it fit in my schedule. Bake off the pieces only to realize that the website never gave a template or dimensions for the roof. So pull out the ruler and calculator and roll out more dough (thankfully I made extra). More days go by as the finished pieces await their construction. Make the caramel syrup for gluing it together (twice) only to get one section glued before the whole mass turned to rock hard sugar crystals. Another day, make royal icing instead for gluing, which worked much better.

This type of thing for me ranks right up there with knitting (no offense to you knitter's out there) but I just don't have the patience for fine detail work. Plus the fact that I'm a control freak with a type A personality makes for a bad combination. Maybe this is something that needs to be put on my “things to work on in 2010” list.

Hopefully my ranting does not detour you from trying one of these next year. I’m pretty sure it is a “user error” type of situation.

On another note, I am looking forward to getting back to normal baking.

Happy New Years!

Shannon

christmas cake

Okay, I admit it even though I’m calling it a Christmas Cake … it's a fruitcake. And yes I have heard all the jokes told about the poor thing and the uses it should have instead of having a prominent place of honor at the end of the Christmas feast. I believe the list goes something like this:

Use as a doorstop

Use as a paper weight

Use as a boat anchor

Use as bricks in fireplace

Build a house with them

Use it to hold up your Christmas tree

Give it to the cat for a scratching post

Put it in the back yard to feed the birds and squirrels

Hold up your car when changing tires

Use as a replacement for a Dura flame log

Replaces free weights when you work out

Well, I am hoping to change all that…especially since I found this recipe in Nigel Slater’s cookbook Kitchen Diaries.  I was so excited to give it a whirl.  My family doesn’t share in my exuberance yet, but once they taste it I’m sure it will win them over. After all Nigel says in his cookbook that he is “extraordinarily fond” of making Christmas cake and looks forward to it for weeks. Apparently there is nothing as lovely as the heavenly fruity cakey aroma coming from the oven. The sweet tart flavor of the Turkish apricots, to the plump black figs, moist and sweet prunes, mouth watering dates, along with the nutty crunch of the hazelnuts; how can we resist? Then if that is not enough the recipe calls for “feeding” the cake with brandy every week until Christmas Day, so that it is moist and delicious. Before serving the cake, it is covered in Marzipan and then if you desire to “gild the lily” top it off with a beautiful snowdrift of frosting made from unrefined powered sugar and egg whites laced with a touch of lemon juice. He said that this recipe is requested from him more than any other recipe. So it seemed like something I should definitely give some consideration too.

Feel free to change up the dried fruit and nut combo as you like. I actually didn’t add the glacé cherries or the currants and substituted dates instead. And for the brandy, I chose to use Belle de Brillet. It is one of France’s classic and great liqueurs, and is the original blend of Brillet Cognac with the essence of pears. The perfectly matured pears are picked at their peak of ripeness, macerated, and then blended with Fine Brillet Cognac. About twenty pounds of pears for each bottle!

So if you dare, give this cake a try. But just between you and me, you might just want to refer to it as “Christmas Cake”.

Enjoy!

Shannon

Christmas Cake

from Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

Butter- ½ lb. plus 2 tbsp
Light brown sugar ½ cup plus 2 tbsp
Dark brown sugar ½ cup plus 2 tbsp
Dried fruits-prunes, apricots, figs, candied peel, glacé cherries (I used dates instead of cherries)
4 ½ cups total
3 large free range eggs
Ground almonds ½ cup
Shelled hazelnuts 2/3 cup
Raisins, currants, cranberries, 2 1/3 cups in total

Brandy- 4 tbsp. plus extra to feed the cake

The zest and juice of an orange
The zest of a lemon
Baking powder ¾ tsp
All purpose flour 2 ½ cups

You will need a deep 8 in. cake pan with a removable base, fully lined with a double layer of lightly buttered baking parchment which should come at least 2 in about the top of the tin

Set the oven to 325°F. Beat the butter and sugars till light and fluffy. Don’t forget to push the mixture down the sides of the bowl from time to time with a spatula

While the butter and sugars are beating to a cappuccino-colored fluff, cut the dried fruits into small pieces, removing the hard stalks from the figs. Add the eggs to the mixture one a time-it will curdle but don’t worry-then slowly mix in the ground almonds, hazelnuts all the dried fruit, the brandy and the citrus zest and juice. Now mix the baking powder and flour together and fold them lightly into the mix. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing the top gently, and put it in the oven. Leave it for an hour, then, without opening the oven door, turn the heat down to 300°F and continue cooking for one and half hours.

Check whether the cake is done by inserting a skewer into the center. It should come out with just a few crumbs attached but no trace of raw cake mixture. Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool before removing it from the pan.

Fee the cake by pouring brandy into it every week until Christmas. Pierce the cake with a skewer and drizzle in some brandy. Cover tightly and leave in a cake pan till needed. It will keep for several weeks.

Almond paste
To cover a cake of this size you will need 1 ¾ lbs. marzipan. Brush the cake with apricot jam or marmalade to help the almond paste to stick to it.

The icing on the cake
You can ice the cake if you’d like or not. If so, beat the whites of two eggs very lightly with a fork until bubbles start to appear. Then sift in 5 cups golden unrefined confectioners’ sugar in two lots. While beating in the second lot add two teaspoons of lemon juice. I prefer my cake to sport a rough, snowdrift look rather than to have smooth icing, so I simply spread the icing thickly on to the top and sides of the almond paste covered cake with a spatula, then make snow peaks with the end of a spoon.

serves twelve

kicked-up gingerbread

When I was going through Jamie Oliver’s cookbook Cook with Jamie, I came across a recipe for what he calls the “Ultimate Gingerbread”. He said that the when he was visiting Grasmere, in England’s Lake District he stopped into a shop that had the best gingerbread he’d ever eaten. He says that they use a secret recipe which is about 150 years old and, of course, they wouldn’t give the recipe to him. So he decided to have a go at it on his own. The result…it is probably some of the best gingerbread you’ll ever eat! The recipe calls for not only ground ginger but also crystallized ginger as well as some candied citrus peel. These additions give this unusual gingerbread a spicy-citrus kick that is tasty as a cookie, but also works pretty fine sprinkled over ice cream or even used as a cheesecake base.

His recipe also calls for golden syrup (an English export called Lyles), which amazingly I did find at a little gourmet shop in town. But if you cannot find golden syrup a mixture of 2 parts light corn syrup to 1 part molasses will do the trick.

So if you want to add a little something different into your baking plans this holiday, give this one a try.

Enjoy!

Shannon

Ultimate gingerbread
Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s cookbook Cook with Jamie

14 oz. store bought shortbread or homemade
6 oz. raw sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/3 cup mixed candied citrus peel, chopped
1/3 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
7 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
A pinch of baking powder
2 Tbsp. golden syrup
2 Tbsp. molasses
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 325°F and find a baking pan about 8x14 inches. Put the shortbread, sugar, and 2 teaspoons of the ground ginger in a food processor and whiz until you have crumbs. Remove 3 ½ oz. of the mix and keep this to one side. Add the remaining teaspoon of ginger to the processor, along with the mixed peel, crystallized ginger, flour and baking powder, and pulse until well mixed.

Melt the syrup, molasses and butter together in a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients. When melted, add the mixture from the food processor and stir with a wooden spoon until everything is thoroughly mixed together. Tip into the baking pan and spread out evenly. Press the mixture down into the tray, using your fingers or something flat and clean like a potato masher or spatula. When the mix is a flat, dense even layer, pop the tray into the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven and sprinkle the hot gingerbread with the reserved crumbs, pressing them down really well with the potato masher or spatula. Carefully cut into good-sized pieces with a sharp knife, and leave to cool in the pan before eating.

it's that time

photo by Hannah Davidson

When I see chestnuts in the market, I know that it is definitely fall and the holidays are fast approaching. These lovely rich leathery brown beauties are the quintessential holiday treat. They conjure up an image of a roaring log fire on a cold frosty day and have been immortalized in a holiday song.

But admit it, most of you: You've never eaten a freshly roasted chestnut.

These meaty, slightly sweet nuts are wonderful in sweet or savory dishes. Chestnuts are a natural for poultry stuffing. They also can be made into cream of chestnut soup, chestnut bread or chestnut pasta; Roasted, boiled, braised or pureed with meat stock; or stir-fried. Chefs prefer to team them with Brussels sprouts, cabbage, mushrooms, onions, carrots or sweet potatoes.

Gourmets enjoy sweet confections such as maroons glaces (chestnuts that have been preserved in a sweet syrup), chestnut puree, chestnut cream, quiches, chestnut torte and chestnut ice cream. Of course, they can be roasted in a fireplace popcorn basket or special chestnut roaster.

When buying fresh chestnuts for roasting, choose those that are firm and heavy for their size, with smooth, glossy shells. Chestnuts are highly perishable. To keep them fresh, store them in a ventilated plastic bag in the crisper of your refrigerator or freeze them for later use.

The easiest way to roast chestnuts is to roast them in an oven. Rinse the chestnuts, then lay them on a towel and pat dry.

Using a strong, sharp paring knife to cut an “X” in the flat size of the chestnut shells. This prevents them from bursting, allows the steam to escape and makes peeling easier.

Place the prepared chestnuts in a single layer on a shallow baking pan. Roast at 375° for about 20 minutes. The sliced part of the shells will curl back.

Remove the chestnuts from the oven and place them in a towel-lined bowl. Wrap the towel over top to cover and keep them tightly covered for 5-10 minutes before removing the shells. Remove the shells while still hot, but cool enough to handle.

Starting at the slit, pull the shell away from the nutmeat. The inside skin will peel away from the chestnut along with the outer shell. If the inner skins do not come off easily, the chestnut is either undercooked or overcooked.

The best way to serve these is while they are still warm, either plain or dipped in melted butter with a sprinkling of salt or even cinnamon sugar would be yummy.

Enjoy!

Shannon

my submission

I recently heard about a contest that Bon Appétite magazine is having for bloggers. It is the Bon Appétit Blog Envy Bake-Off. Readers will vote for the tastiest-looking treats in each dessert category—cakes, cookies, pies, and more. The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen will bake the top scoring dessert in each category and select an overall winner. The winner will receive a trip for two to New York City and dinner with Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief Barbara Fairchild and Restaurant Editor Andrew Knowlton.

Voting began Sunday, November 1st. Entries are rolling. The contest will end Sunday, December 13th.
If you would like to cast your vote for this entry or another just go to Bon Appétit Bake-Off. 

I have been searching through recipes finally landing on this Baba au rhum. A rum baba or baba au rhum is a small yeast cake saturated in liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings 100ml-capacity dariole moulds, but sometimes can be made in larger forms similar to those used for Bundt cakes.

This particular recipe came from The Brasserie by Philippe Mouchel.  Chef Mouchel’s career has been stellar to say the least. He was raised in Normandy, and began his career at 16 at French Michelin starred restaurants such as Restaurant Roger Verge in Mougins, and it wasn’t long before he was working under the legendary French chef Paul Bocuse at his restaurant in Lyon. He traveled around the world opening one greatly acclaimed restaurant after another, before landing in Melbourne to open his most recent restaurant, The Brasserie by Philippe Mouchel, along the riverside at Crown Casino. Philippe’s fresh take on contemporary French cuisine has established the brasserie as a favorite among Melbourne’s dining set.

This lovely cake with the orange cream and citrus salad to me is a fresh twist on a very traditional holiday dessert.

Even if this doesn’t win the Bon Appétit Bake-Off challenge, it is a winner none the less.

Enjoy!

Shannon

Baba au rhum with Bitter Orange Cream and Citrus Salad

Cooking Time Prep time 35 mins, cook 45 mins (plus proving, soaking)

Ingredients

210 gm.  flour
¾ tsp. dried yeast
3 eggs
2 Tbsp. Butter, softened
1 tsp. honey
1 Tbsp. apricot jam

Citrus salad

300 gm. sugar
600 ml.  fresh orange juice
2 each of orange and grapefruit, peeled and segmented

Bitter orange cream

3 egg yolks
50 gm. Super fine sugar
25 gm. Flour
1 cup milk
125 gm. Fine cut orange marmalade
150 gm. whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

Citrus syrup

250 gm. Sugar
1 orange and 1 lemon, rind removed with a vegetable peeler
1 vanilla bean, split and sees scraped
200 ml. Golden rum (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine flour, yeast and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add eggs, butter and honey and mix until dough is elastic. Divide dough among 4 lightly greased 100ml-capacity dariole moulds, cover with a damp tea towel and stand in a warm place until double in size (30-40 minutes). Bake until golden and babas sound hollow when tapped (15-20 minutes). Remove from moulds and place in a shallow dish. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, for citrus salad, heat sugar in a frying pan over medium heat until dark caramel (10-15 minutes). Add juice (be careful as it will spit), bring to the boil and cook, stirring to dissolve caramel, until reduced by one third (5-10 minutes). Cool, add citrus segments, cover and refrigerate.

For bitter orange cream, whisk together yolks and sugar in a bowl until combined, then add flour and whisk to combine. Bring milk just to the boil over medium heat (5-7 minutes); gradually pour over egg yolk mixture, whisking to combine. Transfer to a clean saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until thick (3-5 minutes). Set aside to cool, then refrigerate until chilled. Stir in marmalade to combine and fold through cream. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Makes 2 cups.

For citrus syrup, combine all ingredients except rum in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and syrup is warm (3-5 minutes). Add rum; pour over warm babas and turn frequently to soak in syrup until almost all is absorbed (10-15 minutes).

Meanwhile, combine jam and 2 tsp water in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until jam dissolves. Brush over babas, and then serve with citrus salad and bitter orange cream.