More Cookies!

The orange cookies in the previous post were delicious and the recipe is a new one from King Arthur Baking, but sometimes I find recipes in old magazines or in cookbooks that have sat on the shelf for a while. Today's cookies are from just such a book, butter, sugar, flour eggs by Gale Gand from 1999.  I love bar cookies because they usually go together quickly and don't require a lot of fussy decorating. This one is fun because you make the shortbread style dough, freeze it, and then grate it to create the bottom and top crusts. In the middle is a layer of raspberry jam, although I suspect that you could use any flavor and it would still be wonderful. I tried to grate the dough on a box grater, but found that using the large hole disc on my food processor worked just as well and went far more quickly. Frozen dough requires a lot of muscle power to grate on a manual grater!

I used the plain version of this dough, but you can also sub in some cocoa powder for some of the flour to have a chocolate-raspberry combo. Do try this one...so easy and so delicious! You probably have all of the ingredients on hand already.

Austrian Raspberry Shortbread Cookies
From butter sugar flour eggs, by Gale Gand, Rick Tramonto and Julia Moskin, 1999

This rich, ladylike cookie goes well with tea, particularly a flowery tea like rose hip.

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
4 egg yolks
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer) until soft and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and mix well.

Mix the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add to the butter/egg yolk mixture and mix just until incorporated and the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form into two balls.

Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze at least two (2) hours or overnight (or as long as a month for later baking).

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove one ball of dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it by hand or with the grating disk in a food processor into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan or a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the surface is covered evenly with shreds of dough.

With the back of a spoon, or a flexible spatula, spread the jam over the surface, to within 1/2-inch of the edge all the way around.

Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it over the entire surface. (If using the food processor, grate the first ball of frozen dough and spread that over the bottom, spread the jam,  then grate the second ball of frozen dough and spread that shredded dough evenly over the jam, all the way to the pan edges.)

Bake until light golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. As soon as the shortbread comes out of the oven, dust with the confectioners' sugar.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into bars with a serrated knife.

I lined the pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two ends to help removed the baked and cooled cookies from the pan, then used a long, serrated bread knife to cut the cookies into squares.

NOTE:
To make this a chocolate shortbread cookie, substitute 1 cup cocoa for 1 cup of the flour.

Short and Sweet Orange Cranberry Shortbread

There are cookbooks that are on my shelf which go unused for a long time and then I suddenly notice them and decide to make a recipe from them. That happened this week with a great little book Short and Sweet, by Melanie Barnard. I was looking for something else and spotted it, then fell in love with the shortbread cookie recipe.

The recipes are all pretty quick and many also have limited ingredients. The one I chose, Cranberry Orange Shortbread, met both of those criteria. Because you met the butter you can decide to make this at a moments notice...no softened, room temperature butter needed.  I melted the butter in a large microwave safe bowl and finished making the batter in that bowl, but the recipe actually calls for melting the butter in a saucepan and finishing the batter in that. Either way you have quick clean up as well as the quick recipe.

Freshly grated orange zest is aromatic so these cookies smelled nice even before they baked. I was worried that it would be difficult to remove them from the pan because it's un-greased and the cookies are fairly thin, but they came out in one piece and I used a long bread knife to cut them into squares.

These cookies are not too sweet, perfect by themselves, with coffee or tea, or even on the side of a dish of ice cream. The texture is crisp and a bit sandy as a shortbread should be. The total time from start to finish is less than an hour. Hard to do better than that for a nice fruity cookie, right?

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Bars
Makes 16 cookies

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large microwave safe bowl (or in a medium sauce pan over medium heat if you prefer) melt the butter. Remove pan from microwave (or heat) and stir in the orange peel, cranberries, and powdered sugar. Then stir in the flour to make a stiff dough.

Spread and pat the dough into an uncreased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake unti the bars are golden and firm at the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool the pan on a rack for 2 minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut into 16 squares. (After cookie had cooled 10 minutes with pan on a cooling rack, I used a small sharp knife run around the outer edge to loosen the whole mass of cookie, then turned it out, turned it right side up on a cutting board and then cut the bars with a long knife.) Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing them with a small spatula.

The bars can be stored, tightly covered, for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Daring Bakers Orange Dessert Delight

Once upon a time in the Land of St. Honore' March came in like a lion, with rain and cold. It was a good time to gather in the living room as a family, basking in the glow of the television set. Maman put a frilly apron on over her sleek black outfit, then put the coffee pot on. As she set the dessert delight she had made onto pretty little plates and added the caramel orange sauce she thought back to the fun she had had creating these light and citrus-rich morsels.

Although she had cooked and baked for years she had never segmented oranges as this recipe required. As the juice dripped off her hands into the bowl, she cradled the peeled orange in one hand and sliced next to each membrane to release the segments. The remaining membranes reminded her of a fan somehow.

Oranges add such a bright look and flavor, so welcome in winter!

She has also never made fresh marmalade, even though she loved it on toast. It was pretty easy to do and the taste so much fresher and lovely than the store bought kind. It was interesting that the whole orange was used and that the blanching removed a lot of the bitterness usually found when the pith is included in recipes. Here's the slices being blanched:

Soon she was layering the caramel covered orange segments,

a lovely whipped cream based band of white, and fresh marmalade on a sweet, crisp cookie.

Once chilled and put on the plate it looked like a dessert you would see at a fine restaurant. The sauce added just the right touch of extra elegance.

As her family gathered to watch the Academy Awards ceremony and to see if they had guessed correctly on Best Picture, she served them the Orange Tians and freshly brewed coffee. The perfect dessert for a festive evening!

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Thanks to Jennifer for choosing such a delightful, delectable dessert! It was fun to make and even more fun to eat!

You can find the recipe here at Jennifer's blog. Do check out other Daring Baker's versions of this treat by using the Blogroll.

Thanks for joining me for the March 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge. Sweetie says orange you glad you did?

Mocha Cookies with Nibs

A while back I made the Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread cookies found in Dorie Greenspan's wonderful baking book called Baking: from my home to yours. They were delicious but I wanted to make them with some Scharferberger chocolate (called Nibby on the package) that has little cocoa nibs in it to see if that added some extra texture and flavor.

Finally got around to baking the recipe that way and it was good, although not as nibby as I had expected. I added some cocoa to the dough and that part was great...made it more mocha than espresso.

The great thing about this recipe is that you put the dough into a gallon zip close bag and flatten it out, then chill it. Once you cut the bag away from the chilled dough, it is a snap to cut the dough into squares (well if you can actually cut squares it is a snap...mine varied from squares to strangely shaped rectangles) and bake 'em up for a great cookie to enjoy with tea or coffee or ice cream...or by themselves. I shipped some off to friends and my daughter to share the treats. Sweetie is trying to "be good" so we didn't want too much temptation around, plus I enjoy sharing goodies.

Make sure you allow time to chill the dough when you make these. Beyond that they are easy and very tasty, although not very sweet (which is sometimes just right). These are also great if you want to make the dough a day or two in advance of the day you bake them. I bet the dough would freeze unbaked, too, but haven't tried that.

Nibby Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread (Mocha) Cookies
a variation on a recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon boiling water
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup high quality unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate with nibs, finely chopped, or ¾ cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.

Sift the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa together in a small bowl.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar-cocoa mixture together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough.

Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped nibby chocolate with a sturdy rubber or silicone spatula.

Using the spatula, transfer the dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. The dough will be soft and sticky. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a roughly 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that is about ¼ inch thick. Turn the bag occasionally as you roll and lift the plastic from the dough. When the dough has been rolled to the correct size (about the size of the bag! ) and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out extra air. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or with silicone mats.

Put the plastic bag with the chilled dough inside on a cutting board. Slit the bag open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board & discard the bag. Using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 ½ inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. When baked, transfer the cookies to a rack.

Cool to room temperature before serving. Makes 32 cookies

Daring Bakers June Tarts

Imagine having a strong memory of a treat that you had once, many, many years ago, but not having any idea what it was called or how to make it. That's why this challenge is a personal favorite...my remembered treat turns out to be a Bakewell Tart...er pudding...although it was called something Italian when I first had it.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

The combination of textures is awesome! Crisp but tender buttery shortbread on the bottom, sweet tart strawberry-raspberry jam (in my version) giving just a bit of oozyness, and a light baked topping which is enriched with the finely ground almonds so it has a delightful almond flavor in a moist dense cake. All in all a delightful summer treat.

I followed the recipe given HERE, using a purchased jam. It is called A Red Duet and made by Mountain Fruit Company in Chico, CA. It is like the essence of summer with tangy strawberry and bright raspberry flavors in 'a natural fruit spread'. It went so well with the almond flavors.

Of all the Daring Bakers challenges, this one seemed to be one of the easier...the pastry was easy to make and held its shape well and baked up crisp but tender and the frangipane was simple to mix together and easy to spread over the jam, plus there was no trouble with the baking or removing it from the tart pan. It is perhaps my favorite because I have longed for this tart for such a long time...never suspecting that it was a Bakewell Tart...er pudding. Thank you Jasmine and Annemarie for choosing this memorable tart.

Bakewell Tart…er…pudding
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability (here's the strawberry jam I used)
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.
The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

For those few of you who enjoy the tales from the Land of St. Honore', return there with me now...

Sitting in a cafe on a little side street, she sipped her tea and used her fork to pick up the last crumbs of the dessert. There was something special about the combination of a red, fruity jam and an almondy topping all inside a short, sweet crust. She was just about to ask the server what it was called when she realized that she was late for her bus, so she quickly gathered her things and sprinted down the block to the bus stop.

Many years passed and her life did, too. She became a busy professional and had no time to sit in cafes drinking tea.

Eventually she decided that she needed a creative outlet...pushing papers all day is a very low form of creativity...so she started painting still life compositions. Her favorites included some food in the arrangements. Seasonal fruits in a painting seemed to bring an extra depth to the works.

One day she was passing a bakery and she saw a golden brown tart scattered on top with sliced almonds. It was so beautiful that she decided to paint it. She bought a small one and a larger seven inch one. She tried an arrangement with just the small tart, one with a few berries added, and one with some ice cream.too. Eventually she finished her painting and sat down to eat a piece of the tart. Imagine her astonishment to find that it was the same dessert she had enjoyed all those years ago!

The next day she left on a business trip and when she returned, the bakery selling the tart had gone out of business, another victim of the recession. It may be a while before she has another tart like that one, but the sweet memory will carry her far.

As is often the case, there are many, many talented and gutsy Daring Bakers who have baked dozens and dozens and dozens of creative and beautiful Bakewell Tarts...er puddings. You can find them using the Blogroll.