Adi's Cookies

Yesterday, I was just chilling out, literally, in my friend Adi's awesomelly air-conditioned dorm room when we were discussing moving and getting rid of things. She told me she had all this Belgian bittersweet baking chocolate left over from a baking course that she didn't know what to do with. So of course I generously offered to take it off her hands and bake her something super chocolatey. She, the lover of all cookies and things baked, was naturally delighted. So I set to work. Of course I immediately began research and in consulting the KAF Cookie Companion (what else, right?) found this recipe for Midnights. Using a whopping whole pound of chocolate, these cookies are not for the faint of heart. Needless to say these were a home run for Adi, after whom I have renamed these cookies. Deep, dark, moist, soft, tender.. the adjectives could keep coming. Their scent wafted all the way down the hallway and lingered for a while after. They yielded a nice amount as well, so she'll be having cookies every day for the next couple of days or so. Just the way she likes it. I used Dutch process cocoa, which makes things more chocolatey but you could use natural cocoa as well. Bake these cookies for nine minutes only or else theyll bake. They will firm as they cool. Take care not to transfer them right away or else they will break on you. I had a few casualties myself. Be patient. You will be rewarded with lovely cookies.

Adi's Cookies
1 pound bittersweet chocolate
1 cup butter or margarine
1 2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp espresso powder
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 2/3 cups white chocolate or regular chocolate chips

Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Slowly melt in the microwave until not completely melted. Remove and stir to finish the melting. Set aside.Place the butter or margarine in a bowl,and add the sugar (I added a bit of white sugar as I was lacking some brown).Cream well.Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until smooth after each addition.
Add the vanilla and espresso powder and stir until combined.Add the melted chocolate,and mix thoroughly.Add all of the dry ingredients and stir. Yup, lots of stirring going on here.

This is the final batter. Add chips if desired and blend. Refrigerate the batter for one hour or until firm. Here's what it looks like. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Scoop the batter onto parchment lined sheets or just grease your sheets. Bake cookies for nine minutes. Let the cookies sit on a rack for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely.

Enjoy with a glass of milk or alone in all their chocolate decadence.

Golden Pumpkin Pie

I know, I know. The season is totally wrong for pumpkin pie. But when you have a stash of canned pumpkin and are being hosted for lunch by a pie loving Texan, the natural thing to do was make pumpkin pie. Besides, pumpkins are in season here in Israel and who doesn't love the comforting flavors of cinnamon and spice any time of year? I mean, do I need to justify my decision anymore? Good. Because it was very well received. And picture perfect, too. Please don't burst my bubble. This recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book. I chose it because of it's whole grain crust. Using a combination of oats, whole wheat and regular flours, the crust came together pretty easily, although it does require an overnight rest in the refrigerator. Due to the heat of my kitchen, the dough softened making it difficult to roll, it kept sticking and cracking. I just patched the dough into the pie shell and no one was the wiser. The filling was as simple as whisking all the ingredients together. I substituted parve milk for the half and half, oil for butter/margarine, and used a combination of honey, brown sugar, and white sugar instead of all honey because I ran out of honey and then brown sugar :). Next time, I'd like to try it with just honey. I also omitted the rum because I don't generally keep alcohol on hand. The pie, when it cooled, was beautiful except for some burned crust at the top. Be sure to be smarter than I was and put a pie shield on top to avoid this issue. To store short term, just cover with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. I suppose for longer storage, you should refrigerate. But I dont think it will last that long. Who can resist a slice of homemade pumpkin pie? See if you cant control yourselves from second helpings. The original recipe can be found here.

Golden Pumpkin Pie
my way
Crust:
2 1/4 ounces oat flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup white flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp margarine
3-4 tbsp milk or half and half-- I used non dairy cream

Filling:
1 can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup non dairy milk or cream
3/4 cup mix of honey, sugar and brown sugar, or all honey
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl, whisk until well combined. Add the fat, and cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some big pieces also. I used my hands. Drizzle in the milk a bit at a time.

When the mixture clumps together easily when squeezed, you know you've added enough liquid.

Turn out onto a clean surface and round. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

This is my dough all rested. Let it take the chill off for a bit before rolling.
Roll out into a large enough circle to fit your pan.

Place the crust into the pan. Or if you have trouble as I did, just patch it in. No one will be the wiser. Refrigerate until ready to fill. Preheat the oven to 425.

In a bowl, place all of the filling ingredients.

Blend until completely smooth. Pour the filling into the chilled crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Dont forget to shield the crust! Turn the oven down to 350 and bake another 35 minutes.

Here is what it looked like straight out of the oven. Set it on a rack to cool. As it cools, you are rewarded with a picturesque pie. Dont forget to trim the burned parts! Enjoy this little bit of autumn in the summer time!

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am so late in posting these it's not even funny. The cookies, posted in the NY Times and on blogs everywhere, are truly the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. They will be the only ones I ever make. The recipe calls for an overnight rest or an up to 36 hour rest which allows for a deep, developed, caramelly flavor. Although the highest in fat and sugar that I've seen in a while, the batch can yield lots of cookies to reduce the guilt factor. But who can reject a chocolate chip cookie anyway? These are sooo soft and remarkably chewy. They are also great cookies for ice cream sandwiches. I've tried it and let me say that especially in the dead hot Israeli summer they were winners. But if the dough never makes it to the oven, that's ok too-- the cookie dough is sublime all on its own. I wont post the recipe here because it can be found all around the blogosphere-- but do try these out if you havent already! Ive been afraid to try adding fleur de sel but will probably try it soon on a few individual cookies. Following is a step by step picture guide-- with the recipe in front of you, it's pretty self explanatory.

A Birthday and Chocolate Marquise

AHHH! Im twenty two! A whole year older. Sadly, it doesnt yet feel much different than twenty one but I just felt like sharing. Anyway, on to dessert. For Friday night dinner, I opted to make a simple chocolate dessert, the Chocolate Marquise. Rich, decadent, fudgy, silky.... too many adjectives to name but this dessert was a winner. It's amazing how just a few simple ingredients meld together to form something brilliant. Eaten in small portions, this dessert received rave reviews. And that was without any whipped cream on the side! That would be gilding the lily and trust me this lily definitely doesn't need any gilding. This recipe comes from Regan Daley's In the Sweet Kitchen, a comprehensive encyclopedia and cookbook of all things sweet. The batter is poured into a loaf pan and baked in a water bath to ensure smooth, even baking. It collapses a bit as it cools to form a dense and yummy cake. Don't worry if that strikes you as unattractive; to serve you'll invert the cake and peel off the foil revealing a picture-perfect top. Be sure to try it, but be forewarned: a little goes a verrry long way!

Chocolate Marquise
adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen

9 oz chocolate- I used a combo of 70% and bittersweet
200 grams butter or margarine
1 tbsp espresso powder dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup minus 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a loaf pan with foil.In a large bowl, place the chocolate, margarine and espresso.Melt in the microwave and stir until smooth.Add the sugar,and blend.Add the beaten egg and vanilla, and gently fold it in. You dont want to incorporate too much air.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the pan in a larger pan and pour hot water into it to come up a couple inches up the sides, creating a bain marie, or water bath.

Bake 70 minutes. This is how it should look. Refrigerate four hours. This is very important as it contributes to that dense fudgy texture. I couldnt photograph the result, or the happy faces, because it was Shabbat. But rest assured, there were delighted faces.

100% Whole Wheat Challah

For the latest installation of the Challah Chronicles, I decided to make a whole wheat Challah. I know, this doesnt jive with everyone's perception of Challah. It's supposed to be sweet, eggy, everything this Challah isn't. In fact, the truth is that this is a whole wheat bread masquerading as Challah. Why on earth would I do such a thing, you ask? It's the dreaded four letter word-- that's right... Diet. It's time to get in shape and to eat right. That means that I've been off carbs-- don't ask me where the will power comes from- for about a week. The only exception is Shabbat where washing on bread is required at the meals. Well, I wasnt going to pass that up! But I decided that if I were going to eat bread, it would be the healthiest kind. And you know what? It was actually good! I used only whole wheat flour, instant yeast, salt, oil and water. One could add an egg for better texture but it's not wholly necessary. The dough kneaded and rose beautifully. It also braided easily- especially when cold, and kept its shape nicely. This dough made really attractive braids. The only thing Id warn you about is that due to the color of the flour, the lack of sugar and egg in the dough, it's hard to tell when the breads are done. They won't caramelize and develop a more golden crust like other breads. Overbaking will result in dry breads-- I did that to one of my trays and could definitely tell the difference. These challot are excellent with hummus or any other dip that may grace your table. Check out this weeks Yeastspotting!