Archive for March, 2009

“Time flees from my hand like sand in the wind.”
– Victor Hugo -

Time is indeed as sand: when you look ahead it seems as you have a lot, and though it easily flies away you will forever feel the touch of every sand grain in your palm.
I love my life, I love to have the most of it and I love to be surprised by every little thing that happens near me. Every minute has its charm, every minute has its own life, every minute has its own surprise.

This little cakes are like minutes: look at them and they seem plain. Bite into one and you will know you were wrong. Cakes and minutes are never plain, you just need to know how to play with them.

For the graham cookie base
225 g butter, at room temperature
100 g powdered sugar
140 g flour
140 g whole-grain graham flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cream butter and sugar together, about 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the flours, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Mix them until incorporated.
Roll dough on a lightly floured flat surface to 6 mm thick. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack,

For the vanilla mousse

You can use the recipe from here.

For the chocolate ganache
Use the ganache from here, but make sure to reduce the quantities. For an adult version, I usually add Bailey’s Irish cream to the ganache (if adding alcohol, increase also the chocolate quantity – add as much extra chocolate as the quantity of alcohol you use).

To assemble
Temper bitter sweet chocolate, using the tempering method you prefer (I use the seed method as I find it easiest to follow in a home kitchen).
Brush the tempered chocolate on the inside of your molds (I am using silicon molds) – at least 2 layers. When the chocolate is set, pipe vanilla mousse half way up the mold, spoon some ganache and fill with the mousse. Cover the mold with the graham cookie. Refrigerate the cakes to allow the mousse to set. Unmold them carefully and enjoy.

Confession time again: I am guilty of dying for a good cookie. You already knew about the bread , but cookies are there too.
So, I am always looking for a new, promising, sweep you off your feet cookie recipe. And maybe if I were the only cookie muncher around I would have stopped after being introduced to my beloved macaron. But no, C loves cookies and she wants new ones every time. And after tries and passing loves, we met Mr. S, the sandie. We both crowned him as the winner of the quest, even if I love it plain and she loves him coated in chocolate.

I am not sure what makes it so irresistible: the nutty taste, the sandy texture, its cuteness.

For the cookies

280 g flour divided (245+35)
3 g baking powder
100 g very well toasted almonds
225 g soft butter
85 g powdered sugar
5 g vanilla extract
5 g almond extract

Combine 245 g of flour with the baking powder and salt (if using unsalted butter). Set aside.
Toast the almonds at 175 degrees Celsius for 10-12 minutes. Add the almonds and 35 g of flour in the food processor and grind them well. Set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar and beat about 3 minutes until very creamy. Add the extracts and beat well to combine.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix slowly to combine. Add the almond-flour mixture. Form a ball (DO NOT KNEAD OR OVERWORK YOUR DOUGH). Wrap the dough in plastic foil (i usually divide the dough in 3 as it is more comfortable with the rolling and baking) and flatten it (I prefer to shape it as a square). Chill for at least 1 hour (3 is more appropriate or overnight).
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a rectangle (3-4 mm thick). Cut the dough into 2-3 cm squares and pierce every cookie with a fork (I use a wooden skewer). Throw away the scrapes as rerolling them is not recommended. Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined tray.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden (not brown).
Let them cool on a wire rack.

For coating
100 g milk chocolate
50 g bitter sweet chocolate

Temper the chocolates using the method you enjoy best. Dip one side of the cookies in the chocolate and place on parchment paper to set.