Pignoli Cookies

These cookies are one of my favorites. Definitely a treat, these moist, chewy and flavorful cookies are made almost entirely of almond paste. In fact, they could be gluten free if you chose not to use the moderate amount of flour that's suggested in the batter.

These cookies are apparently Sicilian in origin. They are often made around the holidays, but I see no reason to not enjoy them year round.

The recipe is very easy. I used a food processor to make the dough, which made it very easy and quick. Most recipes called for almond paste in a can because it's softer, but I only have access to the tube kind, so my quantities were off by an ounce, but nothing seemed to be ruined because of it.

• 1 (8 oz) Can Almond Paste
• 1/2 C Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 C Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 C Flour*
• 2 Egg Whites (this amount can vary depending on how moist the dough gets. Start with 1 white and only add more if necessary)
• 8 Ounces Pine Nuts
• Extra Powdered Sugar To Finish (I forgot to do that part - woops)

Preheat to 300 F.

In a food processor, pulse the almond paste into small pieces, and add the two sugars and the flour (* recommended, but could make it without). Once those are mixed thoroughly, begin to add the egg whites a little at a time, just until the dough comes together.

I used a small cookie scoop to divvy up the batter. At each spoonful, I tossed it with the pine nuts and placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet. No need to flatten - a sphere of cookie dough will bake into a nicely rounded mound that is super moist and chewy on the inside while crisp outside.

Bake for about 25 minutes until lightly browned. The pine nuts will add such a nice warm and nutty flavor to the already super almondy dough - amazing.

Once they cool, I suppose that's where you're supposed to sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Go for it. I'm sure it's lovely.

I was only able to get about 10 cookies from this recipe, but they are totally worth it.

Black and White Cookie

A true New York specialty, I definitely miss having a good black and white cookie after grabbing a sandwich at the deli. There is a lot of history and culture surrounding the black and white. It is by definition a cookie that is actually cake. Supposedly created when bakers had leftover batter, they just added a little extra flour to thicken it up so it wouldn't spread too far on the pan. Proof that some of the most amazing things are based on very simple ideas.

There is also quite a ritual that goes into eating the cookie. Which side do you like better? Do you eat the black or white first? Do you take a little bit of each? I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode that touched on the process of eating the cookie and it's ability to defy racial barriers. Regardless of which side you like or eat first, the cookie is overall quite delightful. Spongy like cake, with a high cake to frosting ratio, it is the perfect sweet end to any meal.

After an experiment and advice described by smittenkitchen's entry (thanks), I ended up making my cookie dough by varying my basic off-white cake recipe. Yielding only about a dozen large cookies, this recipe can be doubled, halved, made into a bunch of small cookies, made into bigger cookies (not recommended, as the cookies are actually quite fragile and will easily break in half if made too big). They are also best served fresh. Deli's tend to wrap them in plastic wrap to ward off the elements, but I doubt if you brought these cookies to a party there would be any concern for what to do with leftovers. They also don't do so well with stacking because the glaze is tacky and although "hardened" - still pretty moist. putting layers of wax paper in between the cookies seemed to work well enough to keep them separate for transport though.

Ok, so recipe goes:

• 6 tbs butter, room temperature
• 1 C sugar
• 3/4 C flour*
• 3/4 C cake flour*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/8 C milk
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375˚. Line baking sheets with parchment.

Sift together dry ingredients. I usually don't sift, but this time I thought it would be important to keep the cookies light and incorporate both flours evenly. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix milk and extracts together. Beginning with dry ingredients, gently mix into butter, alternating with milk, ending with dry, being careful not to over-mix.

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. *I found that they were hard to make into perfect circles, and might have been easier to work with if I added a little more flour, probably up to 1/2 cup more at most. Depending on the size you make the cookies, bake for 10-15 minutes, but check to make sure you just lightly brown the edges.

As they're cooling, start the glazes.
My proportions are not generous, but the recipe can be easily added to even as you're working, so if you need more you can make it as you go.

White Glaze:

• 2 C powdered sugar
• 1/4 C boiling water

Slowly mix water into sugar, making sure not to put too much water in. You might not need all of it. I like the consistency to be easy to spread and not very drippy.
So, these cookies are actually frosted on their bottom side, covering up the baking brown. Using a frosting or butter knife, spread the white glaze on one half of each cookie. The glaze develops a skin quickly, so make sure to move quickly so your unused frosting doesn't get too crystallized.
You will have about half the frosting left. Place that over a pot of boiling water to make a double boiler and then, add to glaze base:

Chocolate Glaze:

• 1.5 oz dark or unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 tsp corn syrup
• 1 tbs cocoa (optional, but I think it makes the "black" side look richer and darker than without)

Whisk together over the heat until chocolate has melted. This glaze is even more sensitive to thickening and crystallizing while you're working with it, so be sure to have more boiling water handy to thin it out as you work. Spread chocolate along other half of cookie.

Let them set up for a while before diving in, but then enjoy! I was told by a kind lady in my office that these were better than some she's had at Deli's in both New York and LA. My only defense was that I knew mine were very fresh, and that the deli's might not have been as much. Of course I'd love to believe that mine were actually better, but in the interest of keeping the peace, I will "look to the cookie."

Rocky Road Cupcakes

Further inspired by a delicious flavor of ice cream, I have been dreaming up the perfect Rocky Road Cupcake recipe for days. After many debates about how to construct it, I decided to do a simple but delicious chocolate cupcake therefore allowing the frosting to fulfill the role of "Rocky Road."

Marshmallows are pretty amazing and are incorporated into some really awesome desserts out there, but I'm not the kind of person you'll find eating Peeps. I have limits. Rocky Road ice cream might be my favorite way to enjoy marshmallows, but I am always game to snack on a rice crispy treat, gobble down a fireside s'more, or scatter mini marshmallows on top of my sweet potato casserole. So it's with this recipe that I'm trying to find a way to put the marshmallows to good use, without them being an overwhelming flavor.

I used my standard chocolate buttercream frosting as a base. For each half a cup of butter, I use 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and about 1/4 cup cocoa powder. After creaming the frosting with a little bit of vanilla and milk, I added in mini marshmallows and toasted almonds, both chopped up a little. I let it chill in the fridge, unlike when I usually pipe frosting in which case I let it sit out to soften enough to manipulate. After the cupcakes had cooled, I was able to scoop the chilled frosting with a cookie dough scoop which made the perfect sized ice cream-looking toppings.

My only changes would be to not toast the almonds as it changed the flavor a bit, and I think the raw almond taste is more appropriate. As well, the frosting to cupcake ratio was a bit more than I like. Overall though, the flavor did capture the classic combo.

Honeycomb Candy

I first tried this candy while on a trip to Ireland. I had never even heard of it before, which is a shame, because it's quite the addicting little treat.

Knowing that I had never heard of it before, I assumed many of my American compatriots were in the same boat, so wanted to expand their horizons as mine had been. So I whipped up a batch of this relatively easy confection and brought it in to work. I was amazed at the response I got (mind you, my coworkers have all come to expect that there will be sweets of some kind adorning the front desk, unfortunately making my treats somewhat unspecial). But in this case, many people were coming back for 3rds and 4ths, and a number of people even knew what it was (!). One lady said she used to make it every day as a kid in Korea; it was her childhood favorite. So I don't know why American's were denied this experience, but hopefully we can work through that fault and embrace the crunchy, crispy deliciousness that is honeycomb for ever after.

One note of caution: While on the stove, don't let the sugar mix go beyond 300 degrees. Luckily, the recipe is simple, easy, and fast, so failing in my first attempt was not terribly discouraging and continued to try it again. But the first batch was definitely burned and carmelized, which is not the correct texture or taste. Made for an awesome photo though.

So, the recipe is

• 1/4 C water
• 1/4 C corn syrup
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1 tbs baking soda

Prep a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with some parchment paper and set aside. In a medium sauce pan, bring the water, syrup and sugar to a simmer over medium heat and don't stir. Let it bubble its way up to 300 degrees fahrenheit (until the liquid is the color of light straw) and then immediately dump the baking soda into the pot. Whisk rapidly incorporating the soda into the sugar mixture as thoroughly as possible. The mixture will start bubbling up quite violently and turning the mix into a honey color. Pour the mix onto the parchment paper and let it rest for 20 minutes. Any fussing with it and the air bubbles will deflate and you will lose the quintessential "honeycomb" look that is caused by the soda forcing air throughout the toffee-like sugar mixture. The ideal outcome, is a very porous, crispy, sticks to your teeth texture that tastes something like butterfinger/caramel and melts in your mouth. There is a distinct baking soda taste to it too, but not in a disagreeable way. It's quite a delightful way to get your sugar fix.

Once it is set, just chop it roughly with a sharp knife. I like to get sizeable pieces and then the little bites just happen because the candy is too brittle to cut into perfect shaped or sized pieces. You can also cover the pieces with chocolate, which is amazing. In fact, Cadbury has a chocolate covered Honeycomb bar that is commercially sold over there (why not here?!!!).

So from Great Britain (or wherever it originated) to you: enjoy!

Gooey Butter Cake

It is what it sounds like!

The idea was brought to me directly from St. Louis via my boyfriend's parents who were visiting over Memorial Day weekend. Having never heard of it, the name was a quick selling point. Apparently a very St. Louis kind of thing, I figured the west coast needed to be introduced (including myself) so ventured to try it.

Not sure if she was the founder of said Gooey Butter Cake or simply the one who made it popular, but it appears we have Paula Dean to thank for it. So saying, I believe the confection holds up to the Southerner stereotype that if it's going to be good, it's going to be clogging your arteries. Yum. Luckily it's pretty rich, so unlike some of those scorpion-style confections that you find you can eat tons of, but are extremely bad for you, this treat should and really can only be consumed in small portions.*

So the original recipe calls for a box of cake mix. Once we look past that minor indiscretion, we can get excited about the recipe that is the "gooey". I find it's a close relative to that cream cheese filling you can optionally put into brownies, which is also a close relative to cream cheese frosting. Yeah, I said cream cheese frosting. But it's BAKED in. Genius.

For experiment's sake, I made what you would consider half a batch. Please double at your own discretion.

So I started with a variation on yellow cake. My variation went something like this:

sift together and set aside:

• 1 C flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 C sugar

mix together:

• 1/2 C butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk, curdled with a tsp of vinegar (aka buttermilk - I didn't happen to have any, hence the substitute)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg

Add dry ingredients to wet.
Yeah, that's it.

Pour this mix into the bottom of a 9x13 pan (I line mine with parchment to keep things easier to clean/cut). You could also do a 9x9 with the final product being a bit taller (could be good).

Next, make the gooey:

• 1/2 package cream cheese (4 oz.)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 box powdered sugar (approx. 8 oz.) (if I had to guess, which I did have to, I'd say that's somewhere between 2-3 cups)
• 1/4 C melted butter

Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Then add the sugar (I dare you not to make a mess of it) and make sure it's smooth. Then pour in the melted butter.

Pour that mixture over the cake batter evenly. I smoothed mine out and made pretty swirly designs which ended up being visible after baking, so I recommend it (if you care).

Bake for 30-40 minutes (and add more time if you double the recipe). But I guess this is where you just do what you think is best because if you insert a toothpick in the center, well... it's going to be gooey. So I just make sure the cake looked pretty well browned on top (where it was popping through the filling) and made sure it cooled completely before digging in.

Cut, and enjoy!

I also tried one variation with chocolate cake and peanut butter gooey, but we ate it before it cooled so the photos would have been discouraging. They were adored by the consumers, nonetheless.

*That is totally an opinion. I'm sure there are those who would challenge my position. At their own risk, of course.

Mochi Cupcakes

Inspired by a recipe my dear friend kristy linked me to, I could NOT not try making some Mochi cupcakes of my own. Being a pretty die-hard fan of the real Japanese confection, I thought it would be a perfect specimen to indulge my desire to turn everything into a flavor of cupcake.

Now, Americans have already had their way with mochi by filling it with ice cream instead of the traditional sweetened bean pastes and such - a convention I whole heartedly approve of, by the way. *two-thumbs up* So me taking it a step further doesn't seem too outlandish. The difference between an American cupcake and a mochi cupcake lies simply in the choice of flour. Made with a gluten free "sweet rice flour" instead of wheat, the pastry's texture comes out much chewier. It has a distinct rice flavor that even the copious amounts of sugar and eggs can't hide. Traditional mochi is made with just rice flour and water, heated until it becomes a pliable paste which is then wrapped around the choice filling. So as a cupcake, it travels outside it's main purpose as a wrapper and becomes the foundation of the dessert.

For my mochi cupcakes, I made a "plain" cupcake and topped it with red bean paste and red bean buttercream. Inspired by a two-layer frosting technique my boyfriend documented on his month-long vacation *jealous* to Japan *also jealous*, I thought this cupcake flavor was all to appropriate to try it out on. The paste was very easy to make, thankfully, and I even got away with cheating a little bit. Following the instructions pretty much verbatim, I boiled the red beans (acquired at 99 Ranch Market - or is it Ranch 99???) for about an hour and half, drained, mixed with sugar, pureed, then reheated to evaporate the excess moisture and wow - it worked! For those of you not familiar with Red beans... I'm not really either. They're smaller than generic pinto beans, but I couldn't tell you what is distinct about their flavor. And I also can't tell you why the Japanese thought they would be good as a dessert food (beans? for dessert??), it just works. They also use lima beans in the same way, and let me tell you, they simply prove that sugar makes ANYthing taste good.

Anyway, so after the cupcakes were cooled, I made little balls of red bean paste and plopped them on top of the cupcakes and then made a buttercream frosting with the remaining paste (1/ c butter, 2 c powdered sugar + paste and a little water to thin it as necessary). I admit, I wasn't sure if buttercream would be the best with this kind of cupcake. The cake is not "light" but it's not rich either, so I was afraid that the frosting might be too sweet or creamy for the texture of the cake, but all who tasted seemed to be in favor of the combo.

With the remaining cupcakes, I made a green tea buttercream (with macha (Green Tea) powder, acquired for me on previously mentioned month-long vacation - thanks!) which was tasty, but was not nearly as cool and delicious as the double layered red bean mochi flavor. Note: no food coloring was added - all color is from the green tea powder!

But I will be continuing this line of desserts for sure. It is a unique and delicious treat that I want to share with all who either love mochi in it's true form, or have no clue what it is and need to be made aware!

Cinco de Mayo Churros

I know that this holiday is a highly fabricated, American excuse to drink Margaritas and eat chips, but I do embrace most holidays that are food-focused, so I went all out this time. I made desserts for a fund raising event that was being held today in honor of the dubious holiday. And what better excuse to make churros! I love these little treats. I made mine especially bite size - better known in the diminutive as "churritos." It's amazing how many of these little tasty treats you can pack away!

Churros:
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 C milk
• 6 tbs butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 C flour
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• frying oil (i used Canola)

Make cinnamon sugar for the final coating. Set aside in bowl or plate.

Begin heating frying oil over medium heat (looking for a temperature of 325˚).

Bring milk, sugar, butter, salt and 2 tsp sugar to boil over medium heat.
Add flour all at once, cooking and stirring (wooden spoon worked best) until it forms a ball; about 30 seconds. Removed from heat and let cool; 3 minutes is fine. Beat in eggs one at a time making sure to fully incorporate.

Fill pastry bag (or in my case, awesome pastry gun) with the filling. Using the star tip, slowly squeeze out desired length of churro. I did mine no more than 2 inches each, and just scraped the tip to release the batter for each churro. I'm sure there are many ways of doing it like cutting the dough with scissors or bribing someone else to help you, but this worked well for me. I only was able to squeeze 6-8 churros per batch since I was having to rotate them in the oil for even cooking. The recipe says to cook them for 5 minutes, but just use your judgment. I like them golden brown, and a little squishy, not crunchy. But they are incredibly resilient and taste great no matter what you do (aside from burning of course).
Pull each batch out and degrease on paper towels. When they're cooler, toss around in the cinnamon sugar mix until well coated.

Since I had to make mine a day ahead, I waited to put the sugar on and simply reheated the pre-fried tasty morsels on a cookie sheet in the oven for no more than 2 minutes at 425˚; then I gave them a good toss in the sugar.
They really are best warm, but who's picky?

Just a side note, taking photos with one hand while deep frying things in the other is probably a bad idea. I survived this round, but am going to exercise more caution if I ever get the brainy idea again.

Another note. Churros are really good, so they're worth any trouble they might cause in order to make them. My major complaint this time is how much I hate the smell of oil frying filling every crevice of my apartment. It gets stuck in on my clothes and in my hair for days after.

On a related note, I have a shameful admission: If the labor of making Churros sound daunting or time consuming, I can't help but recommend the quick, cheap and amazingly delicious alternative of a Costco Churro. I don't know how they manage it, but I actually have a hard time even driving by Costco without having to fight the urge to go in and get one.

Anyhow, feliz Cinco de Mayo!