Bake 2.11: Brandy Snaps

There are some bakes that I am just not sure what to think about, Brandy Snaps being one of those. I am fairly sensitive to heat so rolling them sounded hard and I don't like brandy. The good news is, there is no brandy! You are welcome to add a splash to the whipped cream filling if you would like. The name of these lacy gems came about because of the color of the sugar when it is cooked. I followed Mary Berry's recipe of course - this is a technical! Given the location where I reside, I traded out brown sugar for the demerara and used corn syrup instead of golden syrup. They looked like hers so I like to think they turned out well. 

Ingredients
2 ounces butter
2 ounces brown sugar 
2 ounces corn syrup 

1 3/4 ounce plain flour

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep two cookie sheets with parchment and oil the handle of wooden spoon for rolling after they are baked. I used a stainless steel handled spatula because apparently everything else was dirty. It worked well and didn't require oiling. 

Measure the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup into a heavy bottom pan. If you have a digital scale pop that pan on top and measure right into it. Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, don't let the mixture boil because then it might crystalize. 

Leave the mixture to cool slightly, 2-3 minutes, and then sift in the flour and ginger. Stir in the lemon juice. Drop 4 teaspoonfuls on to the prepared baking trays and make neat (ish) circles. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes. The mixture will look spread out and lacy, browned. Now once baked you have to wait an awkward period of time until they lift with a offset spatula (or as Mary says "a fish slice"). Then quickly roll the circle around the handle until the join us underneath. Slide off the handle and leave it to firm up on a wire rack with the join at underneath.

While I didn't need to use her trick, if they are too firm then pop them back in the oven to warm up slightly so you can roll them.

You can eat them as is, or fill them with lovely whipped cream. I whipped up 1 cup of cream with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla. Then I piped them full, not too full, but as full as they could possibly be. Yum! Enjoy! 

Bonus: Classic Sugar Cookies

Holidays require sugar cookies, and I love them. I like them to be a little thicker so they are chewy in the middle and still crisp on the edges. My very favorite cookie is a good snickerdoodle but sugar cookies are in the running for the top 5. This year we kept our decorations simple with lots of sprinkles. Sprinkles are the glitter of the food world. I am not a master piper just yet. I keep telling myself that if I practice it will get 

Ingredients
Cookie

2 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup salted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large eff

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Whisk flour and baking powder and set aside (let's be honest, I often do this in the bowl when I add the flour to save the extra bowl, but when the kid helps I do a second bowl so he has more scooping/pouring options. 

In the mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until completely smooth and creamy, at least 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, almond, and beat on high 1 additional minute. Scrape at least twice and keep beating to ensure it is well combined. 

Add the flour with the mixer on low low. It will be a soft dough but should not be sticky. If it is sticky add a touch more flour. Divide the dough in half and chill for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep your baking sheets with parchment or silpat. Roll out the cookies and cut with cutters to your hearts desire. If needed use a little flour to keep the rolling pin from sticking, try not to add too much or when you re-roll the scraps the cookies will be tough. 

Arrange on the prepared baking sheets with a little space between, they won't spread much and bake 10-11 minutes until the edges are just barely browned. I rotate halfway through baking too as our oven is not totally even in her baking. If your cutters are all the sizes, bake the larger ones together, medium ones together and so on. If you bake tiny with large then they won't all be done at the same time.

Transfer to a wire rack for the cooling party. While the cookies cool, make the icing.

Icing

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons meringue powder

3/4 cup + room temperature water 

Add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and most of the water to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high (start slow and build up unless you want a sugar storm) for 1-2 minutes. Add more water if needed to adjust the consistency. I am not a consistency master yet, that goes with the piping thing. There are a number of different consistencies used for decorating and I went down a rabbit hole and then talked myself out of trying to make them. We will add it to the list. I went with a normal, drizzles down into the bowl and smooths out by time I count to 10 for these cookies. If you add too much water, then add more sugar to adjust. You can also flavor with a few drops of extract in the water if you prefer.

Pipe or smear or dip as you prefer. They do dry in a few hours so if sprinkling do that in the 30 minutes after piping for best stick. YUM. 

Bake 2.12 Part 3: Egg Nog Macarons

While drinking egg nog is an unpleasant endeavor for me as I don't even like drinking milk but nutmeg is queen in these macarons. They may have been my favorite off all three! 

Ingredients

100 grams egg whites

100 grams granulated sugar

105 grams almond flour

105 grams powdered sugar

Sprinkle of Cinnamon or Nutmeg (to put on top)

6 tablespoons butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup egg nog

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Line two baking sheets with parchment so they are ready to go. Prepare a pastry back with a large round tip and set aside so it is ready to go. Measure all of your ingredients so you are ready to go. Get a drink of water so you are all ready to go. 

Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour. 

Place egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and sugar is completely dissolved. If you aren't sure about the sugar being dissolved, test the mixture by rubbing some between your fingers, you should not feel any granules. Once dissolved transfer to the bowl of the stand mixture. 

With the whisk attachment, start whisking on low, gradually increasing to medium speed. You want the mixture to turn white and fluffy before you raise the speed to high. Continue beating until you reach stiff peaks. Fold in the almond flour and powdered sugar. Continue to fold until you get the perfect macaron consistency. 

Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe onto the prepared baking sheets. Remember you are ready to go! Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and/or nutmeg. I went with nutmeg. Slam the pans on the counter a few times to get out any air bubbles, you can also use a toothpick to pop any large bubbles. Leave to dry about 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake once at a time, about 20 minutes, rotating halfway. 

While they bake, whip up the butter, adding the egg nog, vanilla and nutmeg. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add more egg nog (to thin) or powdered sugar (to thicken) as needed. 

Once the cookies are cool, fill with the buttercream and enjoy!

Bake 2.12 Part 2: Hot Cocoa Macarons

These macarons are a treat, they have a chocolate shell, whipped marshmallow filling, with a spot of chocolate ganache hidden in the center. I decorated them with a stripe of ganache and a dab of marshmallow that I torched for fun. The amounts are in weights, macarons are finicky and do best when measured well and well definitely means measuring by weight. 

Ingredients

215 grams powdered sugar

125 grams ground, blanched almond flour. 

10 grams dark or unsweetened cocoa powder

130 grams egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

105 grams granulated sugar

Ganache

3 ounces dark chocolate
2 ounces heavy cream

Marshmallow

3 large egg whites

2/4 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment and get a pastry bag ready with a large round tip. 

Put half of the powdered sugar in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the almond flour, remaining powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Pulse until no almond flour is visible. Sift the mixture several times, discarding any large bits and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium until frothy. Slowly add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form. 

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, folding gently until everything is mixed together. Scoop the mixture into the pastry bag. 

Pipe the macarons onto the prepared baking sheet. Tap the baking sheet on the counter 3-4 times to ensure any air bubbles are released. Then allow the macarons to sit for 30-45 minutes until they look dull and when you touch them, no batter comes away on your finger. You want the tops to be dry so when they rise in the oven they form the traditional 'foot'. 

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Bake the macarons for 13 minutes, one tray at a time. You will know they are done when they lift easily off the parchment paper. They don't brown like a traditional cookie. 

Allow to cool while you make the fillings.

For the ganache, microwave the heavy cream in 30 second increments until piping hot. pour over the chocolate and whisk until a smooth texture, allow to cool. Then transfer to a pastry bag.

For the marshmallow, add the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt into a clean mixer bowl. Bring a pot of water to a simmer and holding the bowl over the saucepan, whisk until the mixture is opaque, frothy, and the sugar is melted. I am high tech and used the mixing whisk attachment to do that since it is used in the next step anyways! Transfer to the mixer itself and whisk on medium high until stiff peaks. While mixing add vanilla. The finished mixture will be glossy and cool to the touch. Transfer to a piping bag.

To assemble, pipe a ring of marshmallow, fill the center with ganache, and then sandwich. Decorate as you desire. Yum yum yum yum!

Bake 2.12 Part 1: Mocha Macarons

The biscuit episode showstopper was a monster (!), three types of macarons, 120 total, in 5 hours. I decided my macarons would have a winter drinks theme and to kick off the three flavors we have Mocha. In the next few posts you will see Egg Nog and Hot Cocoa. While I was going for delicate lines of ganache to top the macarons, the bag split and ganache came out in many ways so I went with artsy splashes of ganache. If anyone asks I will say I did it entirely on purpose.

Ingredients

120 grams egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

130 grams granulated sugar

140 grams almond flour

110 grams powdered sugar

2 teaspoons espresso powder (or as I used, finely ground fancy coffee from the wife)

Ganache

200 grams dark chocolate

100 grams heavy cream

3 teaspoons espresso powder (again, finely ground fancy coffee for me)

pinch of salt

Line baking sheets with parchment. Prep a piping bag with a large round tip. I am not an expert piper by any means so use the internet and watch some videos of piping macarons, it is super helpful.

Place the almond flour, powdered sugar, and espresso powder in the food processor and process until it is just beginning to clump. Sift a few times and discard any bits left behind.

Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in the mixer until foamy. Slowly stream in the granulated sugar while continuing to whisk. Turn to medium high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. 

Gently fold the flour mixture into the egg whites. Pipe onto the prepared baking sheets, bang on counter to remove air bubbles and allow to dry for 30-45 minutes. When you can tap the top and nothing comes away on your finger and the tops look dull, they are ready for baking! 

Bake at 320 degrees for 13 minutes. They are ready when they lift easily off of the parchment. 

While the cookies cool, make the ganache. Heat the cream in a microwave safe bowl, or on the stovetop if you are fancy. Add the chocolate, espresso powder and salt, whisk until smooth. Allow to cool and transfer to a piping bag. Fill and sandwich the cookies. Decorate as you so desire. Enjoy!

Bake 2.10: Ginger Cookies

This is a holiday classic, my mom makes them most years and they are one that I look forward to many months before it is appropriate. You are thinking pumpkin spice, and I am thinking ginger cookies. The original recipe was from a 1990 edition of Christmas Cookie magazine. They made them with a large cookie scoop (made 24), I use a regular 1 tablespoon size cookie scoop because that is what I have and it makes 36 of that size. A few tips, I add fresh ginger when I have it, this is not necessary so I leave it out if I don't have any on hand but does give them an extra zing. Really don't overbake them, if you do they get crunchy and they are supposed to be a soft cookie. When they are puffed up and just browning on the edges take them out. They will sink while they cool. 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground clove

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 tablespoons sugar (for rolling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep baking sheets with parchment or silpat.

Combine flour, spices, and soda in a large bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until soft and light in color, at least 30 seconds. 

Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Scraping down the bowl as needed.

Add the egg and molasses, beat well. I always crack the egg into the measuring cup that I plan to use for the molasses so that the molasses slides right on out of the measuring cup. 

Gently stir in the dry ingredients until mixed. Allow to chill in the fridge a few minutes.

Shape into balls using a cookie scoop and roll in sugar before placing on the baking sheet. 

Bake about 10 minutes, watch for slight browning on the edges and the middle to still be puffed up.

If you would like a thumbprint cookie, when they just come out of the oven use a metal teaspoon to press in the middle and fill with jam. This is a cranberry jam I made by cooking a large bag of cranberries, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water, the zest and juice of 1 orange, and a few cinnamon sticks until it was a nice jammy consistency. 

 Or a sandwich cookie!

Bake 2.9 Part 3: Herb Rolls

Who doesn't need another roll recipe! This one is soft, buttery, and herby. You can use any combination of herbs that tickle your fancy. I tossed them all in a spice grinder with the salt and gave them a few pulses to break down any larger pieces. If you don't have a spice grinder, use a mortar and pestle or just run a knife through them a few times to ensure no large pieces remain. 

Ingredients
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (between 100-110 degrees)
1 cup milk, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon celery salt (or use celery seed if you are spice grinding)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 large egg
3 1/2 cups flour

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup water. Set aside.

Add the remaining ingredients (reserving 1 1/2 cups flour) to the bowl of a mixer fit with a dough hook. Mix a few rounds then add the yeast mixture and continue mixing. Once smooth, add the remaining flour. Continue to knead until a soft smooth dough forms. 

Butter a tub or large bowl, turn the dough into the tub and turn in the butter until coated. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Allow to prove until doubled in size about 1 hour.

Once doubled, butter a 9x13 inch pan. Divide the dough into 24 portions. Roll into balls and place in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to double in size, about 45 minutes.

Near the end of the second prove, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes, they should be hollow when tapped and register around 190 degrees internally. Brush with butter and enjoy warm!