The Break Up Cookie

Seriously, Party People, was it really February that I last posted something on here? Mah, gawd, what have I been DOING all this time? I know I've been baking because, well, hardly a week or so goes by that I don't. I just haven't been posting.

Well, now, let's just break the dry spell with a cookie, shall we? I know, I know, it's a summer cookie, but I also know there are those among my readership who live in perpetual summer, and those for whom cold weather is rapidly approaching like a dog running down a rabbit, which means you're probably needing a little bit o' the islands in your life right about now.

This cookie comes straight out of Nancy Baggett's award-winning The All-American Cookie Book, which is not only a great baking book but also a great overview of the cookie's genesis in the U.S. This is one of several citrus glazed, shortbread-style cookies in the book, and it's simply melt-in-your-mouth irresistible.



A cautionary note: A couple summers ago, I put a platter of them out at happy hour, at which a good friend and her brand new beau were in attendance.

"No, no," the beau said, waving me away. "I'm not much of a sweets person."

"Oh, you'll eat these," said S.B. knowingly.

Sure enough, the beau proceeded to shovel about a dozen of these down his gullet over the course of an hour, as a result suffering one heck of a tummy ache later on that evening, no doubt putting a damper on whatever romantic plans the newly blissed-out couple had in store for each other.

Regardless. My friend eventually Dear Johned him. Most likely a good choice, because not 24 hours had passed after the break up and he called me in tears, begging me to explain what he could have possibly done wrong. I politely begged off, stating it was quite simply none of my business. But before hanging up, he said something that did endear me slightly to his plight: "And I'll never get to eat those cookies again!"

KEY LIME FROSTIES:

For the cookie dough:
2-1/2 cups all purpose white flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and slightly softened
1/4 cup flavorless vegetable oil
1 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest (colored part only)
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (colored part only)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (Key limes preferred)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (or 1 teaspoon lemon juice)

For the glaze:
1-1/3 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest (colored part only)
1-1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tiny drop of green liquid food coloring
1 tiny drop of yellow liquid food coloring

(Note about lemons and limes: I have discovered that all total, you'll need one lemon and 3-4 regular sized limes or 5-6 key limes for the recipe.)

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer, beat together butter, oil, and powdered sugar until well blended, about a minute. Scrape down bowl, increase speed to high, and beat until very well blended, about another minute. Add the egg, lime and lemon zests, lime juice, vanilla, and lemon extract (or juice) and beat until very light and smooth. Turn mixer to low and beat in flour mixture until evenly incorporated. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours or until firm enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease several baking sheets or line with Silpat mats.

Shape portions of the dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Place on baking sheets about 1-1/2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time in upper third of the oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly tinged with brown at the edges. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Once cookies are thoroughly cooled, stir together all the ingredients for the glaze, including the food coloring, until mixture is completely smooth and satiny. Adjust texture as necessary with drops of water or small bits of powdered sugar to produce a fluid glaze that isn't runny.

Set wire racks with cookies over sheets of plastic wrap or newspaper to catch drips. Gently dip the tops of each cookies into the glaze, swirl briefly to coat and set back down on rack to set completely, at least one hour. Or, drip glaze over each cookie with a small spoon, being careful to coat completely.

These will keep their freshest for about a week and freeze nicely for up to two months.

Love in My Tummy

Valentine's Day can either be a day of romantic anticipation or a day of romantic disappointment. For me, it's a day to bake. Food is love, folks. Food is love. Unless it's a big ol' chubby ass diamond something-or-other, in which case, stick the bling inside the cake and just tell me to be careful.

This year I decided to follow the heart-felt theme and make red velvet cupcakes. Actually, I made them two weeks ago for a party with my wine group and as an homage to Elvis's birthday, but I did stow a half dozen in the freezer for this weekend. Since I'm too lazy at this point to pull them out and frost for a true blue photo, I copped this one off the Web instead. So, shoot me. But then believe me when I tell you, they look EXACTLY the same.



The thing about Red Velvet Cupcakes is, they're fun. Okay, despite the slightly freakish color, they can actually taste good – there's enough cocoa in them to give them a chocolaty kick (which comes in handy in case your Valentine's Day starts heading towards the Kleenex), and who in their right mind doesn't love a luscious cream cheese icing? But most importantly, they look cool and you can decorate them with all kinds of fun chocolate or candy heart thingees or little plastic bow and arrows. Or, if your mood is swinging the other way, little plastic devil horns.

And, of course, the absolute BEST thing about cupcakes is they're already pre-portion controlled, clocking in at about, oh, I dunno, 300 calories each, frosting and all. Unless you decide to have two, in which case I can't help you there. But I do understand.

The cake portion of this recipe comes straight out of an interesting little book by Linda West Eckhardt called Cakes from Scratch in Half the Time. I've made a lot of things out of here, and mostly the recipes – and the advice to bake at 400 degrees for half the normal time – come out great.  

So come on, put a little love in your heart:

For 24 cupcakes or two 9-inch round regular cakes:

2-1/4 cups of cake flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 one-ounce bottle of red food coloring (2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400º F and line two twelve-cupcake cupcake pans with cupcake liners. 

Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Set aside. In mixing bowl, cream sugar and vegetable shortening at high speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping bowl at least once. Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping bowl after each addition. 

Stir together the vanilla, buttermilk, and food coloring in a glass measuring cup. Add to the batter in thirds, alternating with the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder mixture, scraping down bowl after each addition. Turn off mixer. Stir together the vinegar and the baking soda – it will foam – in a glass bowl and fold into the batter using a spatula or wooden spoon.

Quickly fill each cupcake tin 2/3 full and bake in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle of a cupcake comes out clean. You can start checking at 8 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove. Cool completely and frost with the following:

Yummy Cream Cheese Icing:

1 pound (16 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners sugar

Cream sugar, butter, and vanilla together until smooth, scraping down bowl at least once. Sift the confectioner's sugar into the mix and beat until incorporated. Turn mixer on high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Sweet Overload

Aunty Belle has requested my recipe for the Mexican hot chocolate I mention as a fitting accompaniment to the biscochito recipe I posted below.

Look out, though. This is seriously sweet stuff. Pair it with the biscochito or any other sugary delight and you could enter the Sweet Overload Zone, a state of sugar induced euphoria that is not, I repeat NOT, for amateurs.

Moi's Mega (Nuevo) Mexican Hot Chocolate
Makes 4 servings. Recipe can easily be doubled.

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate – don't skimp; get the good stuff like Valrhona – grated or finely chopped
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream (Your arteries are groaning, you say? Ignore them. They'll shut up.)
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon New Mexico ground red chile powder, preferably Chimayo

In a heavy saucepan over low heat, combine chocolate, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, and chile powder and heat until steaming hot, stirring constantly with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. DO NOT let mixture come to a boil.

Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, beat egg and vanilla with a wire whisk until frothy. Very, very slowly, add a half cup of the chocolate/milk mixture in a thin stream to the egg/vanilla mixture, stirring the entire time with a wire whisk. Then place the chocolate/milk mixture back on the stove add the egg/vanilla mixture slowly in a thin stream, stirring with a wire whisk. The point here is to do this slowly and carefully, so you don't end up with scrambled eggs. That would be yucky.

Cook mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until once again hot but not boiling.

Remove from heat and with a wire whisk or rotary beater, beat the mixture until frothy. You should see a definite foam form, as in the photo above. Immediately pour into mugs, making sure each is topped with foam.

The Cookie Comes on Little Pig Feet

What the buffalo was to the Plains Indians and other Native Americans, I believe the pig is to modern humankind. Or, at least, it should be. For its gifts are prodigious and worthy of worship. From the pig we get not only an unbelievably tasty, moist, and healthful meat, but also ham, bacon, proscuitto, chorizo, Italian sausage, and cracklins. Not to mention the hands down best cooking fat in existence: Lard.

It's incredible stuff and you can read all about it by logging onto www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lard.

Here, I want to sing its praises as the main ingredient in the biscochito, a cookie that is near and dear to my heart, not only for its flavor (a fragrant mixture of anise, cinnamon, and sherry), but also for its famous texture, which resides somewhere between a sugar cookie and shortbread. Irresistible.


Okay, so I'm probably prejudiced. After all, biscochitos ARE the New Mexico state cookie, as much a part of our holiday celebrations as tamales and midnight mass, and I've been sucking on the things since infancy. You can, of course, eat them year round, but to me their spiciness is a little too heady for July. Best saved for this time of year, served after dinner with a glass of port or a mug of Mexican hot chocolate. And you can't ask for a better cookie to pair with coffee in the mornings.

Probably the best thing about biscochitos is that they are super easy to make. The dough is pliable without being sticky, and it can take multiple handlings and rollings out without affecting the final cookie's texture. They freeze beautifully, too. In fact I always store mine in the freezer and pull out one or two – or an entire batch – as I need them. Just give them a couple minutes to warm back up and they're good to go. If you don't freeze them, make sure you store them in a super airtight bin away from any humidity. You want them to keep their crunch.

So, here you go. Moi's Family Recipe.

What:
1 cup Snow Cap lard, at room temperature*
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons coarsely crushed anise seed (make sure seed is fresh)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sherry, preferably Harvey's Bristol Creme (you may also substitute bourbon, brandy, or red wine)
3 cups white all purpose baking flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

How:
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.

Cream lard, sugar, and anise seed on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the lightly beaten egg and continue to mix on high speed until incorporated. Alternate the quarter cup of sherry with the dry ingredients until dough begins to form. Stop mixer and scrape out contents onto a lightly floured work surface and work dough quickly into a uniform mass. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. If too sticky, work in some more flour. Pat out to about an inch thick and place on a platter, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon in a small bowl.

Once dough is refrigerated, roll out onto a lightly floured work surface to 1/4" thickness. Cut dough into desired shapes and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. In my experience, the dough is soft enough to remain attached to the cookie cutter, which makes the shapes easy to pop out onto the sheet. If they stick to your work surface, use a thin metal spatula to release.

Sprinkle the top of each cookie with the sugar/cinnamon mixture.


Bake in oven for 10-13 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned at the edges.

Once out of the oven, they are extremely delicate. Let them sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to firm up slightly. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 36 cookies. Recipe may be doubled.

* I know people who make these cookies with butter and to me the texture is NOT the same. So unless you are a vegetarian (in which case you'll want to use vegetable shortening), please, use lard. Your cookie will be better for it.

Life Itself is the Proper Binge

In Moi's Pantheon of Heroes from which I draw daily (if not hourly, depending on how the day is going) inspiration, Julia Child resides most certainly at the top tier of the dais. While it was my mother who taught me the basics of cooking and baking – and to not be ashamed of deriving joy from their practice and those of the other domestic arts – it was Julia who took that satisfaction and showed me its possibilities for the sublime.

Especially when it comes to baked goods. And when it comes to baked goods, you can't get any better in your instruction than Baking With Julia (the companion book to the television series). While I am as certain as death and taxes that I will never again make puff pastry or fig-filled X Cookies (at least not sober), when it comes to almost every other recipe, this is most definitely my go-to baking book.

It also contains what Julia herself declares with her usual inimitable assurance as the best brownie recipe ever.

Thus speaks Julia:

Those who are passionate about brownies argue in defense of their favorite type, cakey or fudgey. If you're a cakey fan, go on to another recipe. These are the epitome of soft, dark, baked-just-until-barely-set brownies. Their creamy texture makes them seem wildly luxurious and very much a treat to be meted out in small servings.

Except for the small serving part, I agree wholeheartedly. I've made these brownies a bazillion times, in summer and in the dead of winter, early in the morning and late at night, and they are perfection every time.

So in case you have not just run out and bought the book (what, what are you waiting for?), I present to you the recipe in its entirety, with a couple of small tweaks that you can adopt – or not – as you wish.

SERVES 18 (uh, well, maybe)

• 1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces unsalted butter
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons New Mexico red chile powder – optional
• 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon – optional
  

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° (To me, 350 is never hot enough for baking, AND I live at 7,000 feet – so I bake these at 365. You should be fine doing so as well, but check on the texture after 25 minutes to be sure.)
   
2. Sift the flour and salt together and set aside (if using chile and cinnamon, sift in as well).
   
3. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pot to make certain the chocolate doesn’t scorch (Alternatively, you can melt the ingredients in the top of a double boiler over, not touching, simmering water. Or, if you're an experienced microwave chocolate melter, go for it.) Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
5. Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into a bowl and mix or whisk by hand just to combine.
6. Little by little, pour half of the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don’t set from the heat.
7. Fit the whisk attachment to the mixer and whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are thick, pale, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
8. Using the rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.
9. When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.
10. Pour and scrape the batter in to an unbuttered 9-inch square pan.
11. Bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry. (I'm not sure if it's a high altitude thing or not, but at 28 minutes, the batter is still liquidy – I bake 35-40 minutes. Follow Julia's instructions and then up the amount of baking time if necessary).
    
12. Cut into the center at about the 23-minute mark to see how the brownies are progressing: they’ll be perfect if they’re just barely set and still pretty gooey. (This is true, but again, see above.)
    
13. They’re still awfully good on the other side of set, so don’t worry if you miss the moment on your first try.
14. Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.

A word about nuts: Never in a brownie, as far as I'm concerned, but if you insist, a cup of your favorite chopped and folded in gently after the dry ingredients will do ya.

And lookie, the texture is to die for. (Clicky photo for much larger, more mouthwatering, view.)


What I like best is the little crust that forms on the top – lovely texture contrast.

The Word I Hate To Speak

But love to eat. Which is why I continue to struggle to make m-u-f-f-i-n-s. Because the ones you buy in the store? I dunno. They always taste either way overloaded with sugar and chemicals or like something you'd get if a troop of hippies spent all morning stoned to the gills on really, really good whatever it is stoners like to smoke, listening to "Suite for Judy Blue Eyes" over and over on the stereo, and then decided to bake. Dude.

Anyway. Emma, I didn't forget about you. I've just been really, really busy. And I made these back in, oh, God, May I think. Two recipes. Both from my handy dandy Williams and Sonoma Muffins cookbook. The first recipe, for carrot-nut muffins, is all earth mother crunchy. About the only thing they're good for is hiking, 'cause if you're seven miles into a trek up the side of a mountain and the last meal you had was four hours ago, you'll eat just about anything. The second, however, I think approaches near muffin perfection in terms of texture and taste. The first is made with oil. The second with butter. Proving, once again, my theory that nothing on God's great green earth despite the Mojave, beats butterfat.

See what you think.

Carrot-Nut Muffins

What:
4 large eggs
1 cup canola or walnut oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
12 ounces shredded carrots
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (or any nut of choice, really)

How:
Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray 24 standard muffin or 16 large muffin cups (will give you larger muffins) with non-stick spray.

Sift all dry ingredients, minus carrots and nuts, together in large bowl. Set aside.

In bowl of electric stand mixer, combine the eggs, oil, and sugar and beat for one minute on medium speed. Add sifted dry ingredients and beat on low speed until smooth. If you're pretty burly, do this by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon.

Then, using a large spatula, fold in the carrots and nuts until combined.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full with batter.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes before un-molding.

See, even the batter looks crunchy:



And the end result. See that weird texture? That's what you get with oil.



Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

What:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coarse raw sugar

How:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray 10 standard muffin cups with non-stick spray.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, lemon zest, and salt. Set aside.

In bowl of electric stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well after each addition until fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk, then the lemon juice and vanilla. Beat just until smooth.

In another large bowl, beat the two egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the batter until just blended.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle the top of each with some raw sugar.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes before un-molding.

See? Pretttttyyyyy.

Birthday Pie

In response to Da Troll’s challenge to come up with a pie to celebrate Secretariat’s birthday on this Sunday, March 30th, I thought I would present to you one of my all-time favorite pies. Y’all most likely know this one. It’s scandalously easy, and oh-so-cheesy and I mean that figuratively, like, in a very 1970s way.

Lately, I've been on this 1970s kick. The fashion, the décor. Trans Ams. Famolares. Farrah Fawcett hair. Those little round, bright yellow radios on chains – remember those? – playing Terry Jacks' "Season in the Sun" over and over and over. AND, Secretariat was born in 1970. So there you have it. The ‘70s were simply fab.

Anyway, I was introduced to the weird deliciousness of Pistachio Pineapple Pie by one of my Aunts, my father’s youngest sister, a woman of exceptional patience and humor who each summer for several years had the dubious honor of hosting me, my brother, my father, and my bazillion cousins at her house in Massachusetts. How this woman put up with all our happy asses for two whole months, camped out as we were on her back lawn, running savage through the neighborhood, eating her out of house and home, I’ll never know. I should ask her one day. I wouldn’t be surprised if her answer was: “Percoset.” She did, after all, work for a dentist for a while.

At any rate, one of her favorite things to do with us was bake. Seriously. Five bazillion of us kids in her kitchen at one time, only two of us girls, making, among other things, this pie. And when it was finished, she’d mock-screech at us: “Now out of my hair and my kitchen, you little horrors [it always came out hah-ruhs – she may have been living in suburban New England bliss, but she was NYC born ‘n’ raised]. No pie for you until after dinner.”

And although I am posting this recipe in honor of a birth, I must also tell you one other association I have with this dessert. It was the pie we ate in silent solemnity the night my uncle came home, eyes rimmed red, his face slack, to tell us that Elvis Presley had just died.

Enjoy.

What:
1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 four person-serving package of instant pistachio-flavored Jell-O pudding
1 16 oz. tub Cool Whip
1 graham cracker crust, preferably homemade, but whatever, for 9" round pie pan
1 cup whipped cream, whipped up until stiff and fluffy, with two tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup chopped pistachios, unsalted

How:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together pineapple with juice and Cool Whip. Sprinkle in pudding, a little at a time, and whip well to avoid lumps. Poor into crust. Put in refrigerator and let set until firm, 2-3 hours. Top with the whipped cream and chopped pistachios.