Simple Measure

I realized recently that though I’ve made two kinds of shortbread cookies for this blog, I haven’t written about the classic good ol’ chocolate chip variety.

Though I enjoy flirting with fancy cookie baking, my heart has always been with the humble chocolate chip. This cookie does not put on airs. It is what it is, and that’s why I love it.

Despite its simplicity, the chocolate chip cookie can be made badly. I know, because I’ve done it. I’ve baked them for too long, so that they come out hard and crispy. I’ve been impatient and used melted butter instead of softened butter at room temperature.

Let me tell you, if you think that doesn’t make a difference, you’re wrong. The point of using softened butter is so that when you cream it with the sugar, the sugar crystals aerate the butter to create volume. Melted butter results in flat, greasy cookies. Your friends will still eat them, but you’ll be disappointed, to say the least.

For me, the best chocolate chip cookie is soft and chewy, with as many chocolate chips packed in as the dough can hold. Fortunately, by now I’ve learned from my mistakes and can make a cookie that’s pretty near perfect.

I’ve adapted this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens 75th Anniversary Cookbook (thanks, Mom!), but really there are only two tricks to good cookies, no matter what recipe you use.

First, chill the dough for at least an hour before baking. This keeps spreading (and flat cookies) to a minimum.

Second, don’t over-bake the cookies. Seriously, soft, chewy cookies only take eight minutes, maybe ten at the most in the oven.

Basic chocolate chip cookies

I love making these cookies because they respond so well to any additions you’re in the mood for. This time I added dried cherries instead of my usual espresso or peanut butter. They added a nice tart contrast to the chocolate.

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups dried cherries, or any dried fruit or nut that you prefer

1. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Add the flour in batches and beat until combined.

4. Stir in the chocolate and cherries until evenly distributed.

5. Place the dough into the fridge for at least one hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

7. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Drop about a tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the baking sheet. Keep about two inches between each cookie.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are slightly brown on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This makes about 40 cookies.

It was Jared’s birthday last week, and I owed him a cake. Not just because he’s my future brother-in-law and a great friend, but the last two birthday cakes I made him were, well, more conversation pieces than dessert.

For his twenty-seventh birthday, I attempted my first layer cake. It was the real deal – two whole yellow cakes stuck together with a ton of chocolate frosting and decked with chocolate-covered almonds.

It was right out of Betty Crocker… and it sat there untouched all night. Was everyone intimidated? Just not hungry? It doesn’t matter, nobody ate the thing.

Last year I thought I would be cute and make Jared a chocolate whiskey cake. I had successfully baked with alcohol before, so I thought this cake would be a hit, too.

Everyone said they liked it, but come on – it was spongey, sunken, and it didn’t taste anything like chocolate.

This year, I wasn’t taking any chances. I went straight to the man himself and got his request: chocolate and peanut butter cake. Perfect.

Now I just needed to find the right recipe. I wanted a peanut butter mousse filling, but everything I found online suggested using cream cheese, which sounded too rich to me.

At www.foodandwine.com, I stumbled upon a recipe for dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter filling. I just needed to add butter and confectioner’s sugar to the creamy peanut butter to make the mousse.

I ended up with a moist cake, the dark chocolate flavor boosted by the rich ganache poured on top.

And the peanut butter filling inside? Really light and creamy, just like I hoped it would be. These cupcakes were a big hit at Jared’s dinner and really easy to make. They definitely pulled me out of the birthday cake slump!

I didn’t alter any part of this recipe, but I organized the ingredient list and steps so that they reflect how I put everything together.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling

Makes 24 cupcakes

Cake
3/4 cup plus two Tbs cocoa powder (not dutch process)

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup buttermilk

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 and 1/4 Tsp baking soda

1/4 Tsp baking powder

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 Tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 cup creamy peanut butter

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

3 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature

Ganache
1 cup heavy cream

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Sharffen-Berger 62%)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place two racks in the lower and middle third of the oven. Line two 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners.

2. To make the batter, put the cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until it creates a smooth paste. Whisk in the buttermilk until combined. Set aside.

3. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the 1 1/2 sticks of butter with the granulated sugar until it’s light and fluffy. This takes about three minutes. Beat in the eggs until just combined. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Beat in half of the flour mixture, and then beat in half of the cocoa mixture. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Fill them 2/3 of the way through. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean and the tops are springy to the touch. Let the cupcakes cool on wire racks.

5. To make the mousse, beat the peanut butter with 3 Tbs of butter until creamy. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar a bit at a time and beat until creamy. To fill the cupcakes, you have a choice between piping the mousse directly into the center of each cake, or cutting a cone out of the middle of each cake, spooning in the filling, and replacing the top. Since I don’t have a pastry bag, I just waited for the cupcakes to cool and then cut the cone out of the center of each cake. I spooned about a tablespoon of mouse into each depression. Next, trim the bottom off the cone you removed from each cupcake. Gently press just the top of the cupcakes back over the filling.
6. To make the ganache, bring the heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Take the pan off the heat and add the chocolate. Let this stand for 5 minutes and then whisk until the chocolate and cream have combined into a smooth, shiny ganache. Pour the desired amount of chocolate onto the top of each cupcake. Place a dot of remaining mousse on each cupcake for decoration.

When it comes to cookies, I’m usually a chocolate chip kind of person. Nothing fancy required, though sometimes I like to throw in some peanut butter or espresso to jazz things up. I guess I just know what I like, and no one seems to complain when I bring another batch of good ol’ chocolate chip to work.

Yet after my foray into shortbread with Earl Grey tea cookies, I was inspired to try something just a little more decadent. And nothing’s swankier than a cookie made for royalty, right?

I chose to make Ischler Toertchen, a cookie created at the Café Zauner in Austria. Emperor Franz Josef always summered at the baths of Bad Ischl, and the Café was one of his favorite places to get world-class pastry.

The Ischler Toertchen is the kind of cookie that can live up to imperial standards: take two rich walnut butter cookies drizzled with chocolate and sandwich them together around raspberry preserves and you’ve got one serious treat. Perfect for royalty — and for friends who deserve something a little special.

Ischler Toertchen

From A Baker’s Tour by Nick Malgieri

I love this book because it has all kinds of recipes from around the world for bread, cake, cookies and pastry. It gives you so many options it’s hard to decide on what to make, because everything looks fantastic.

The buttery walnut flavor of the cookies really was rich and delicious. I’m tempted to think that they might do fine all on their own, without the sweet accompaniments. But who can argue with a classic combination like raspberry and chocolate?

Cookie
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 cup (4 ounces) walnut pieces, finely ground

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup raspberry preserves

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup sugar

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

2. To make the dough, put the butter and confectioner’s sugar into the bowl of your electric mixer. Use the paddle attachment and beat on medium until everything is soft and fluffy. This will take 2-3 minutes. Beat in the ground walnuts.

3. Stir the flour in by hand until it is completely incorporated. Divide the dough into three parts.

4. On a lightly floured surface roll out one section of dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 2 or 2 1/2 inch cookies. Mine were 2 1/2 inches, but I think next time I’ll make them smaller. These cookies are rich enough so that I’d rather have them bite-sized.

5. Continue with the remaining sections of dough. Push any remaining scraps left together and roll them out to cut out the last cookies.

6. Place the cookies on the baking sheets one inch apart. Bake until light golden, about 15 – 20 minutes. Cool on racks.

7.Take half of the cookies and turn them upside down. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of jam on these cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

8. To make the glaze, put the water, corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan and stir together. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has melted. Let the glaze stand for 3 minutes.

9. Remove the cookies from the racks and place closely together on a piece of parchment paper. To glaze the cookies, pour the chocolate into a plastic bag and cut off the end. Drizzle the tops of the cookies with lines of chocolate.

Makes about 24 sandwich cookies.

I have a special place in my heart for Earl Grey tea. In Canterbury I drank three or four cups of the stuff every day, which is no small feat for an American who had never tried tea before.

I should have seen what was coming when I discovered that the only “extra” my bare apartment came equipped with was an electric kettle. But no, like a true American, I used the microwave that my roommates and I bought to heat my water instead. Back then I thought the microwave was a faster method than actually plugging in the kettle, but now I think it was just more familiar.

Tea drinking was a big part of my life for awhile — and the British do it really well. At little shops you can be treated to clotted cream, jam, or maybe lemon curd served with scones and biscuits. If you’re craving something savory, a rich pastry, roll, or sandwich is equally welcome.

To me it seemed indulgent but fascinating. Of course, that kind of tea wasn’t an everyday affair. My usual tea time called for Earl Grey and a biscuit, hopefully my favorite ginger cookie covered in chocolate. There was something so relaxing about the mid-afternoon ritual. If my roommates were there we would chat, if not, I’d read a book and enjoy the bergamot scenting up the kitchen.

When I came back to the States I still drank tea, but I never thought of baking with it until I read about a local bakery that sells Earl Grey cookies. The idea instantly took hold of me — what were they made of?

After a little internet digging I came up with an answer: shortbread. It seemed like the perfect tea time accompaniment — a rich buttery cookie to offset the slightly bitter taste of the drink.

These cookies are ideal for a person who doesn’t have a large sweet tooth because the flavor centers on butter, not sugar. With that in mind, always use fresh, unopened butter to make shortbread. If you have butter sitting in your fridge that is a darker yellow on the outside when you cut into it, then don’t use it. While that butter may be suitable for, say, a boyfriend’s mashed potatoes, you’ll definitely want to avoid adding refrigerator flavor to your cookies.

The tea gives the shortbread an earthy taste, while the orange zest highlights the bergamot and lightens up the flavor. Using confectioner’s sugar instead of granulated allows the cookie to almost melt in your mouth.

These cookies were certainly unlike any I had made before; enough so that Jereme and I went on an after dinner mission to Erin’s house to get a little taste testing done. I was relieved when Jared, who ordinarily doesn’t care for sweets, ate one after the other. Phew!

I think these cookies would complement any type of tea that you brew, but I recommend trying it with a cup of Earl Grey. It’s definitely a treat!

Earl Grey Cookies
From www.MarthaStewart.com

Makes 8 dozen

These really couldn’t be easier to make. I love that there are no eggs in shortbread because it’s almost guaranteed that I’ll have the four ingredients on hand whenever I want to make a batch. The flavor improves after a day or two, so it’s well worth saving some for later.

A note on the tea: I used Twinings Earl Grey. I just ripped open the bags and that was that. I didn’t see the sense in using any of my organic, artisanal tea. I’ll save that for drinking, and good ol’ Twinings for baking.

2 cups flour

2 Tbs finely ground Earl Grey (about 8 bags)

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 Tbs finely grated orange zest

1.Whisk together the flour, tea, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside,

2. Put butter, sugar, and zest in the bowl of your mixer. Mix on medium until light and fluffy, which would be about 3 minutes.

3. Divide dough in half. Transfer each piece to parchment paper and shape into logs about 12 inches long and 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Roll up tightly in the parchment, making sure to press out air at each turn. Tuck in the ends of the paper and freeze logs for at least one hour. At this point I ended up with square logs, not round ones, so if you’re particular about the shape of your cookies pay attention to the shape of the dough while you’re rolling.

4. Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut logs into 1/4 inch thick slices. Space one inch apart on pans.

5. Bake 13-15 minutes, or until golden colored. Cool completely before eating.

Erin and I didn’t eat much cornbread when we were kids. At some point we must have had the Jiffy brand mix, because when I started cooking on my own I knew what to expect from that neat little box. A little egg, some milk, and you had a slightly sweet and very cakey cornbread that I still find delicious.

So when I went to a breakfast place called Penny Cluse in Burlington for the first time, it was natural for me to order corn muffins to go with my eggs. I’ll never forget how surprised I was when I took my first bite. Crunchy, earthy, and well, extra corn-ey, they were completely unlike the sweet stuff I had made at home. After that I’d still open up a box of Jiffy once in a while, but I’d dream of the real thing.

I’ve tried a few times to replicate the “Cluse” version, and this time around when Erin wanted cornbread to go with the delicious seitan chili she was making, I jumped at the chance to try again.

This time I added a tablespoon of polenta for added crunch and flavor, and they didn’t last long once they hit the dinner table. I must admit that though I like this version, the recipe I followed still doesn’t match up to my Penny Cluse memories. Which is a great reason to whip up another test batch soon.

Corn Muffins

Adapted from the Vegetarian Times Cookbook

Serves 12

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 Tbs polenta

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 450F. Line one 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups.

Whisk together the flours, cornmeal, polenta, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the milk, oil and egg. Stir together with a fork until just blended. Little lumps are okay, just don’t overmix. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and serve at once.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making a new bread ever since my Thanksgiving dinner rolls. Instead a deluge of Christmas and birthday baking has kept my KitchenAid humming and me too scattered to invest half a day in baking bread. But the results are totally worth the effort, as I remembered last night when I pulled a freshly made loaf out of the oven.

I had wanted to make a lean, chewy, crusty bread like ciabatta. Or maybe a thin Neapolitan style pizza. Something that would easily incorporate cheese because Erin and I have been craving that kind of bread lately. But during a perusal of my recipes it seemed like my kitchen was lacking a few items necessary to that kind of bread’s success, such as a pizza stone or even a good pan I could use for steaming up the oven. Back in Vermont I had those things, but so much of my kitchen gear was jettisoned to get ready for our move to Chicago that I was lucky to end up with even one box of stuff. So I filed those recipes away, and instead decided on one that could easily be created in my kitchen.

I chose a bread called Casatiello, which is a savory Italian version of brioche. The original recipe calls for salami and a good melting cheese like cheddar or gouda. I had no problem choosing the right cheese for the job. I decided on a 2 year Grafton cheddar that was mellow and creamy. But finding the right substitute for salami gave me a pause. I wanted the savory contrast in flavor and texture that the salami gives to this bread, yet I didn’t want to use any of the soy substitutes that were suggested in the recipe. Though smoked tofu is lovely on its own, I don’t want to find nuggets of it in my bread.

Jereme was the one who suggested that I use sundried tomatoes, and I must say that sometimes you need someone around who doesn’t think about food all the time to give you that little nudge in the right direction. Sundried tomatoes are an excellent choice for this bread because the bright and earthy flavor is distinctive enough to provide just the right savory note.

The resulting bread was soft and buttery with a moist crumb. The cheese incorporated evenly into the whole loaf except around the crust, where it formed kind of a flaky pocket that was absolutely delicious. Considering the addition of sundried tomatoes, this bread might benefit from an herb thrown into the mix, like rosemary or basil — something to try next time.

Casatiello is a rich bread, so I served it with a simple soup and salad. I think it might do best at a holiday table or a potluck where you want to knock everyone’s socks off.

Casatiello
From the “Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart

One note on the sundried tomatoes: I used the kind that are ready to use and sealed in a plastic bag. I chose not to use the kind packaged in oil because then I would have to reduce the amount of butter in order to keep the correct fat ratio.

This bread is made using a wet pre-ferment called a sponge, which is dough that has “been fermented in advance and added to another dough as part of a building process.” Thank you, Mr. Reinhart. This improves the flavor and texture of the final product. I look at it as kind of a flavor kick-start for the bread.

Sponge:

1/2 cup (2.25 oz) unbleached bread flour

1 Tbs (.33 oz) instant yeast

1 cup whole milk, lukewarm (90 to 100 F)

Dough:

3.5 oz sundried tomatoes, diced

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour

1 tsp (.25 oz) salt

1 Tbs (.5 oz) sugar

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup (6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup (6 oz) coarsely grated cheddar cheese

1. To make the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast. Whisk in milk to make a pancake-like batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. This will ferment the sponge.

2. To make the dough, stir together the flour, salt, and sugar with a spoon in your electric mixer’s bowl. Add eggs and the sponge. Mix with your mixer’s paddle attachment on low speed until the ingredients form a coarse ball. Mix for one more minute. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. This will allow the gluten to develop. Divide the butter into 4 pieces,then work the butter into the dough one piece at a time at medium speed. The dough will be soft, but not a batter. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula, and continue mixing for 4 minutes. Then switch to the dough hook. The dough will change from sticky to tacky, and should clear the sides of the bowl.

3. Add sundried tomatoes, and mix until they are incorporated evenly. Mix in the cheese. The dough will be soft, stretchy, and tacky — but not sticky. Thinly coat a large bowl in oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, being sure to roll it around so it gets coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

4. Leave the bowl at room temperature to ferment. This should take about 90 minutes, or until the dough increases in size by at least 1 and 1/2 times.

5. This dough will make either one large 9 by 5 loaf or two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 loaves depending on what pans you have. I made a mistake and put all of the dough into a pan that I thought was 9 by 5, but it must have been smaller because it definitely filled it up. I baked it like that, and the bread came out fine, but next time I will try dividing the dough into two loaves and see how that comes out.

Mist the pan with spray oil. Lightly dust your hands and the dough with flour and shape into a loaf. Stretch and flatten the dough until it forms a rough 5 by 8 rectangle. Roll up the short end and pinch the seam closed. Continue rolling and closing the seam until the dough is completely rolled up. Place into the prepared pan seam side down. Mist the top of the dough with oil and cover the pans with plastic wrap.

6. Proof for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough rises just above the sides of the pan.

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set the rack to the lower third of the oven.

8. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Then rotate the pan 180 degrees. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes — or until the dough is golden brown on top.

9. Remove bread from the oven. Carefully take it out of its the bread pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Let the bread cool for a minimum of one hour.