Orange-Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

Orange-Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies
This recipe comes from Carolyn Weil Fine Cooking Issue 61

Yield: Yields about 3 dozen 2-inch cookies.

If you can’t find blanched hazelnuts, buy them with the skin on, toast them in a 425°F oven until fragrant, and then rub off as much of the skins as possible by rolling them in a damp towel. (I toasted them and skipped rubbing off the skins and it turned out great)

Ingredients

·        8 oz. (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

·        1/2 cup granulated sugar

·        1/2 tsp. table salt

·        10 oz. (2-1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

·        2-1/2 oz. (1/2 cup) blanched hazelnuts, toasted and ground very finely in a food processor

·        2 tsp. (loosely packed) finely grated orange zest (from 1 orange)

Preparation

·        Line two baking sheets with parchment. Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer bowl (use the paddle attachment) or a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until the butter combines with the sugar but isn’t perfectly smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour, ground hazelnuts, and zest; mix on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until the dough has just about pulled together, about 3 minutes; don’t overmix. 

·        On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Aim for a uniform thickness to ensure even baking.

·        Cut the dough into bars or squares with a sharp knife or, using cookie cutters, cut out shapes as close to one another as possible. Press the scraps together, roll them out, and cut out more cookies. If the dough becomes sticky, refrigerate it briefly. Arrange the cookies on two parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate until chilled, at least 20 minutes.

Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat the oven to 300°F. Bake the cookies until golden on the bottom and edges and pale to golden on top, 30 minutes to 1 hour. (After 15 minutes, swap the position of the baking sheets and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking.) If the cookies are done before 30 min., reduce the oven temperature to 275°F for the remaining batches; if they take longer than 1 hour, increase the temperature to 325°F.

Blueberry Streusel Bars with Lemon-Cream Filling

Blueberry Streusel Bars with Lemon-Cream Filling

This recipe comes from Nicole Rees Fine Cooking Issue 93

I don't think I made any changes. These are a lot like lemon bars, and fairly simple to make.

Yield: Yields 24 bars.

Ingredients

·        8 oz. (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened; more for the pan

·        13-1/2 oz. (3 cups) all-purpose flour

·        1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)

·        1-1/3 cups packed light brown sugar

·        1 tsp. table salt

·        1 tsp. baking powder

·        1 large egg, separated

·        14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

·        1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

·        2 tsp. grated lemon zest

·        2-1/2 cups room-temperature blueberries (about 13 oz.), washed and drained on paper towels

Preparation

·        Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the ends. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of the foil.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Using your fingers, blend the butter completely into the flour mixture. Transfer 2 cups of crumb mixture to another bowl and reserve for the topping. Blend the egg white into the remaining crumbs and then press the mixture into the bottom of the pan to form a level crust. You can tamp it with the bottom of a measuring cup to even it out. Bake the crust until it starts to form a dry top, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and egg yolk. Let this mixture stand for 5 minutes; it will begin to thicken.

Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the hot crust and then drop spoonfuls of the lemon mixture over the blueberries. Spread gently with a spatula to distribute a little more evenly, but take care not to crush the berries; it’s fine if the lemon mixture isn’t perfectly even. Bake until the lemon mixture just begins to form a shiny skin, 7 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle the reserved topping over the lemon-blueberry layer, pressing the streusel between your fingers into small lumps as you sprinkle. Bake until the filling is bubbling at the edges and the topping is brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let the bars cool in the pan on a rack until just warm, about an hour. Carefully lift them out of the pan using the foil overhang and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the foil and cut into 24 bars when cool. The bars may be stored at room temperature for a few hours but otherwise should be kept in the refrigerator.

Tip

Be sure to use room-temperature berries. Cold fruit straight from the refrigerator will prevent your dessert from baking evenly.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Smoked Salt

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Smoked Salt

Adapted from a Jacques Torres recipe that I got from a friend.  It calls for the dough to be refrigerated overnight, which does actually make a difference in the shape and texture of the cookies.  I've made this recipe often enough to test that.  The original recipe calls for a mix of cake and bread flour, but although I could tell the difference between the cookies when I compared cookies made that way with cookies made with all-purpose, I didn't necessarily prefer one over the other, and it's just easier to not keep so many kinds of flour around.  I find it very difficult to scoop out the dough when it's been refrigerated overnight, so I usually scoop the cookies into a large flat rectangular pyrex storage container (go ahead and layer them, they can touch) when it's freshly mixed and then refrigerate the dough balls overnight before baking.  I also often freeze half the dough balls to bake another time, since this is a very large recipe.   

17 oz (3 2/3 minus 2 Tbs) all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

10 oz. (1 1/4 cups) light brown sugar

8 oz. (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips

Smoked salt

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop the dough out into balls about one inch in diameter, cover and refrigerate overnight.  Dough can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Place the chilled dough balls onto baking sheet lined with a silicone sheet (it helps the cookies bake more evenly as well as not stick to the baking sheet).  Sprinkle lightly with smoked salt.  Bake until golden brown around the edges, but still soft in the middle, 8 to 10 minutes.  The center should be slightly puffed up, and still look soft, but not raw.  I like these better slightly undercooked rather than slightly overcooked, because they stay nice and chewy.  Let sheet cool about 5 minutes then remove cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Almond Macaroons

Almond Macaroons

These look kind of dry and unappealing, but they have a wonderful soft chew and delicate almond flavor.  I started with a recipe from Epicurious.  I substituted almond flour for the whole blanched almonds because it’s just easier.  I also used sliced almonds to press into the top, rather than whole. A small dough scoop speeds up the shaping and rolling.

Makes 16 Macaroons

INGREDIENTS

·        1 cup almond flour

·        2/3 cup granulated sugar

·        1 large egg white

·        1/4 teaspoon almond extract

·        confectioners' sugar for dusting

·        about 16 almond slices

PREPARATION

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly butter a baking sheet.

2.     Mix together the almond flour, sugar, egg white, almond extract, and a pinch of salt.  Roll mixture into 16 balls, about 1 inch in diameter, and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Slightly flatten balls and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar. Gently press 1 almond into each cookie.

3.     Bake macaroons in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer macaroons to a rack and cool completely. Macaroons keep 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Passionfruit Cake with Coconut Cream

Passionfruit Layer Cake

Adapted heavily from Ruby Tandoh’s recipe, Great British Bakeoff & Fine Cooking’s Vanilla Butter Cake.  

Serves: 10-12, two 9-inch layers,

For the cake:

10.5 oz (2 3/4 c.) cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. table salt

6 oz. (12 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut in 1 Tbs. pieces, room temperature

1/4 c. milk, room temperature

1/2 cup passionfruit pulp (I used the frozen goya product)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

For the coconut cream frosting: 

150 g mascarpone  

75g. cream from chilled can of coconut milk (refrigerated overnight) 

1 Tbsp sugar 

300ml whipping cream 

For the passionfruit curd: 

1 cup sugar

2/3 c. passionfruit pulp  

2 large egg  

2 large egg yolk 

2 1/2 tsp cornstarch

100g unsalted butter  

For the syrup:

1 cup passionfruit pulp 

125 g sugar (to taste)

  

For the cake:

Heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat four 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment. 

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into stand mixer bowl fitted with paddle.  Mix on low until combined. 

Add the softened butter and mix on low (#2) 20-30 seconds.  The mixture should look a little lumpy, with largest lumps about the size of a hazelnut.  Add the milk, passionfruit, and vanilla extract.  Mix on medium (#5) for 1 minute to thoroughly blend and aerate.  Scrape with a spatula.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for 15 seconds after each addition.   Scrape down the bowl after the 2^nd egg. 

Divide the batter equally between the 4 pans.  Spread the batter evenly in each pan.  Bake until golden brown and the tops feel firm but spring back a little when taped lightly with a finger, and a pick comes out clean, 30-35 min.  Set the pans on a rack, run a table knife around the edge of each cake and let cool in the pans for 30 minutes.  Invert onto rack, lift the pans, peel off the parchment and let the cakes cool completely.  Wrap tightly in plastic after cooling. 

For the curd:

Hand whisk the egg and yolk with the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth. Stir over low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the cold butter 3-4 pieces at a time stirring until each pieace is melted and incorporated.    

Turn the heat to low and continue cooking 2-3 minutes until thickened and it coats the back of a spoon.  Strain the curd into a bowl, cover the surface with cling film and leave to cool completely.  

For the syrup:

Place the juice in a small pan with the sugar over a medium heat. Bring the mixture to the boil, boiling for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.  

For the coconut cream:

Place the mascarpone into the clean bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk, and mix to soften.  Measure out 75g of the thick coconut cream at the top of the chilled coconut milk and add this to the mascarpone with the sugar and cream and whisk until thickened.   

To assemble:

Liberally brush the tops with the cooled syrup. Sandwich all 4 cake rounds together in a stack, spreading a generous layer of passionfruit curd between each layer.  Coat the top and sides of the cake with the coconut cream, swirl a little passionfruit curd on top. Chill until ready to serve.  

My Ideal Carrot Cake

My Ideal Carrot Cake

This makes a 9 inch two layer cake

I started with a recipe from Fine Cooking Issue 97, Abigail Johnson Dodge's "Classic Carrot Layer Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting".  I first made it exactly as written, then tweaked it to my taste.  For this version I've omitted the raisins, increased the walnuts and spices, and switched from ground to fresh ginger to give it a little more punch.  I also reduced the proportion of frosting.


For the cake:
1 cup oil
9 oz. (2 c.) all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
3/4 tsp. table salt
4 large eggs
8 3/4 oz. (2 1/2 c.) finely grated carrots
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 c. chopped walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
12 oz cream cheese, softened
9 oz. salted butter, softened
12  oz.  (3 c.) powdered sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla extract

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350.  Line the bottoms of 2 9-inch round pans with parchment, then spray with baking spray.  Wrap the pans in damp cake pan insulating strips, or in folded damp towels pinned around the sides (not the top or bottom).  This helps the cakes bake even and flat.  Also make sure your oven racks are level.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.  In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the oil, eggs, carrots, brown sugar, walnuts, ginger and vanilla on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute.  Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just blended, about 30 seconds.   Divide evenly in the prepared pans. 

Bake  until the tops spring back when lightly pressed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 28-30 minutes (5-10 minutes longer if using the insulating strips or towels).

Let cool in the pans on a rack for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the inside edge of the pans to loosen the cakes, invert them onto the rack, remove the pans, and carefully peel away the parchment.  Set aside to cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with the mixer on medium speed until very smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.  Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on medium high until blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Cover and set aside at room temperature until the layers are completely cool. 

To Assemble:
Carefully set one cake upside down on a large serving plate.  Using a metal spatula, evenly spread about 1 cup of the frosting over the top of the cake.  Top with the remaining cake layer, upside down.  Spread a thin layer (about 1/3 cup) of frosting over the entire cake to seal in any crumbs and fill in any gaps between layers.  Refrigerate until the crumb coat is cold and firm, about 20 minutes.  Spread the entire cake with the remaining frosting.    Refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.  Best served slightly chilled or room temperature.  You can also freeze the entire frosted cake.  Garnish with chopped walnuts. 

Chocolate Orange Cake

Chocolate Orange Cake

I think this is the right amount for a 2 layer 9 inch cake.  I really struggled with the original recipe, which called for you to mix the butter into the flour and stir the hot melted chocolate into the cold milk and eggs.  The chocolate didn't mix in well, and then the lumpy butter flour mixture didn't mix well with the liquids.  I ended up with a dirty food processor, a dirty immersion blender, a mess all over the counter, and lumpy cake batter.  So I've changed the method here.

For the cake:
240 g/8 oz. flour
280g/10 oz. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
80 g/3 oz butter
100 g/4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
250 ml/8 oz. milk

For the syrup
1/4 c. frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 c. orange juice (from the 2 oranges zested for the buttercream)
2 tsp. orange liqueur (like grand marnier or triple sec, optional)
1/4 c. sugar

For the white chocolate and orange buttercream
250 g/9 oz butter, softened
500 g/18 oz. powdered sugar
4-6 Tbs milk
100 g/2 1/2 oz. white chocolate, melted (Lindt is good)
zest of 2 oranges

For the filling:
1 batch of orange chocolate pastry cream, well-chilled

For the chocolate curls:
1 cup chopped semi or bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 325.  Line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper.  Spray bottom and sides with baking spray.  Wrap in damp cake pan insulating strips or fold damp dishtowels and pin them around the sides on the pan (not the top or bottom). This helps the layers bake even and flat because the edges don't bake before the middle.  Another pointer is to make sure your oven racks are level, that the oven itself is level, and that the racks don't sag in the middle (if they do, you can try to correct it by bending them slightly in the other direction if you do it before you turn on the oven).

Sift together the flour, sugar, and baking powder.

Melt the chocolate together with the butter, in a double boiler or in 20 second increments in the microwave, stirring between intervals.  Put in large mixing bowl.

Whisk the egg and milk together in a medium bowl or something with a spout.

Alternately stir the liquid and flour mixtures into the chocolate mixture, starting with the 1/3 of the liquid, then 1/2 the flour, mixing until just combined between each one, and ending with the last 1/3 of the liquid.

Divide the batter between the pans and bake until risen and golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, about  25-30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

Mix the syrup ingredients.  Pour over the warm cakes and set aside to cool completely.

For the buttercream, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy.  Carefully stir in the powdered sugar and continue to beat for 5 minutes.  Beat in the milk, melted chocolate, and orange zest.

It's easiest to frost the cake if it is frozen.  I'd recommend that on the first day you bake the cake, baste it with the syrup, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and freeze the layers.  Make the pastry cream and chill it overnight.  The second day you can make the buttercream, pull the layers out of the freezer, spread the pastry cream between the layers and assemble and frost the cake.  At that point you can serve it (give it a couple hours to finish thawing), or carefully place in a cake box, freeze it solid, then wrap tightly in plastic or layers of foil without tipping it, and then place upright in freezer for up to a month.  (I was careful to keep savory things out of the freezer that I was storing the cakes in to be sure that I wouldn't get weird freezer flavors in the cakes.  You wouldn't need to worry about this if you're not freezing it for long).

For the chocolate curls, melt the chocolate (in microwave in short increments, stirring between, or in double boiler).  Spread in a thin layer on the back of a cookie sheet. Let the chocolate cool, then chill in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes.  Pull it out and drag an orange zesting tool through the chocolate to make lovely curls.  If it all sticks together, the chocolate is too warm and needs to chill more.  If the tool just scratches without cutting into the chocolate, the chocolate is too cold and needs to sit out for a minute before you try again.  It took me a long time to get the temperature right.  It was a hot day and the chocolate kept getting too soft, so I'd have to chill, pull a couple of strips, then chill again until I got a good number of curls.  Then you can scrape up the leftover chocolate and use it to make hot chocolate or something else.

Chocolate Orange Pastry Cream

Chocolate Orange Pastry Cream

I started this recipe with one that claimed it would survive freezing - an essential characteristic when I had 5 cakes to make for 1 event.  It uses gelatin in place of cornstarch or flour as the final thickener, which doesn't break down when frozen, and keeps the pastry cream firm at room temperature.  Then I added chocolate and orange flavor.  And of course I didn't write down exactly what I added, but here's my best guess:

This makes about 1 cup - I think I doubled the recipe, but I had quite a bit left and I had a 4 layer  9-inch cake, so for a two to three layer cake, this should be the right amount.

1 1/2 tsp. gelatin
2 tsp. cold water
1 1/3 c. milk, very hot
4 egg yolks
1/4 - 1/2 c. sugar (50-100 grams, 1.75-3 1/2 oz)
3 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. flour (35 grams, 1 oz)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 Tbs. butter, cut in bits and softened
orange zest from 3 oranges
a few drops of sweet orange essential oil (opt)

Soften the gelatin in the water and set aside.

Add the orange peel to the milk.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in saucepan.  Whisk in the flour and cocoa.  Add the milk slowly, whisking well and scraping the corners of the pan with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is incorporated.  Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.  Tear the dissolved gelatin into small pieces and stir into the hot liquid and stir until blended.  Sir in the chocolate and butter.  Add essential oil if desired.

Strain out the orange zest, pour into a storage container, cover the surface with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight to chill.

(If you want a lighter pastry cream, you can fold in 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream that has been whipped to a medium peak.)

This made a very firm pastry cream.  A little softer might have been nice (maybe increase the milk by 2 Tbs.), but it made for a very sturdy cake.