Christmas Truffles

Sometimes my blogger is weird and won't let me write at the top. Am I just blogger blind and missing what's wrong? I've tried so many times to fix it, but it only works if it decides to work...

Anyway, this year Christi and I made cake truffles to give out at Christmastime. We had... an eventful time, and if you get a box, beware of ugly truffles. :) I didn't want to get out all of the stuff for our normal piping bags, so I just used a ziplock, and it popped twice on me. And then I knocked over the tray of drying truffles, and ruined a bunch of them. I've made them several times before, so it wasn't just first time stuff. It was just a bad truffle day, I think. ;)

We boxed them up and then got them into the freezer so they won't get bad before giving them out. :)

Having Bakerella's Cake Pop Book for these helped a ton. It was nice to have the step by step pictures, even if truffle making is basic.

Bethan

The first snow of the year!

10 Favorites

Alright. I know we're not at the end of the year *quite* yet, but we're getting close, and since I know that I'll get crazy busy for the rest of the year, I thought I'd go ahead and do them now. :D Just so you know, this was HARD. You already know how many pictures I take, so picking ten out of all of the pictures I took in 2010... Ha. Hahahahaha.

My 10 Favorite Pictures from 2010

Two kinds of cookies in the last week.

On Thursday, I spent my day making the dough for sugar cookies then rolling and cutting them out to get in the freezer until we're ready to make them sometime while the college sibs are home.

But I went ahead and made a few to test out an icing idea that I had.

And on Sunday we got enough snow to keep us home from church, so I spent the afternoon making homemade oreos.

Faux Reos

Yield: 30-40 sandwich cookies.

Very thin and crunchy, with an intensely chocolate, not-too-sweet taste, these dark, almost black cookies look nice when pressed with a cookie stamp. Though you'll never duplicate exactly the look of an oreo, this homemade version comes close to matching the taste and texture of those wonderful cookies.

Cookies:

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder*

Filling:

1/2 package unflavored gelatin (1 tsp plus one heaping 1/4 tsp.)**
2 tbsp cold water
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and the butter. Add the salt, egg, water, and vanilla, and beat until very smooth. Beat in the flour and cocoa until well combined; the dough will be very stiff.

Roll the dough into balls about the size of a shooter marble (the big marble. :D ). Place the balls on parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheets, and flatten each ball until it's 1/8 of an inch thick, using the bottom of a glass dipped in cocoa powder. You may also use a cookie stamp, for a more realistic faux reo effect. To get a nice crisp cookie, it's important to press them thin; use a ruler on the first one to see how thick an 1/8 inch is. (If you get them too thin, then you run the risk of burning them.) Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator to chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the cookies for 17-18 minutes. It's important to bake them just the right amount of time: too little and they won't crisp properly; too much and they'll scorch. Watch them closely at the end of the baking time, and at the first sign of darkening edges or first whiff of scorching chocolate, remove them from the oven immediately. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and cool them completely on a wire rack.

To make the filling, soften the gelatin in a cup containing the 2 tbsp of cold water; then place the cup in a larger dish of hot water and leave it there until the gelatin is completely dissolved and the liquid is transparent. Remove the gelatin from the water and let it cool until it's room temperature but hasn't begun to set.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream the shortening then beat in the vanilla and the confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, beating until the mixture is light and creamy. Beat in the gelatin.

Sandwich the cookies, using about 1 1/2 teaspoons for regular faux-reos, more for double stuffed. (You;ll have some filling left over if you fill the cookies moderately.)

*You may use regular cocoa, but Dutch-process will give you a darker, more "chocolaty" cookie.

** Make sure you remember the 1/2 package. I just realized that I did the entire package. It didn't ruin them or anything, but now I understand what was up with my weird filling. :D

These cookies turned out pretty hard for me. Maybe it was just something I did. I know they're supposed to be crunchy, and they are, but they're also fairly hard. They'd go great with coffee or tea, though. :) They're a good dipping cookie, I think.

A very late post on Macarons.

I've been meaning to post on here for quite some time, and it seems like life has been insane since Thanksgiving. I had such a blast doing these cookies. It was exciting, scary, fun, happy, upsetting, and so many other things. Christi was an incredibly huge help to me, and together our macarons grew feet! I think the next time I make these, I'll use real almond flour. Our small food chopper (I didn't want to drag out the big old one...) just didn't get them small enough, it my opinion. I mean, it worked, they got their feet and tasted very yummy, but I think I'd like them to be more smooth. I'm just scared to shop at some good food stores and see the prices. ;)


So here's my last surprise! I'm going to post the recipe! I don't think I've posted recipes, just for the sake of time, and since my blogging is somewhat rare, and then making myself post a recipe along with it is a stretch. But I'm going to do this one for you. :)

P.S. I just watched PW on the Today show, and I saw her mother-in-law and her younger girl. That was fun. And now I'm hungry for cinnamon rolls. :D

French Macaron Sandwich Cookies
Yield: about 20 sandwich cookies.

Note: These nut-flavored meringue cookies are best made with almond flour (sold in natural food stores and specialty stores.). If you can't find almond flour substitute 15 oz. of slivered almonds, processed to a fine flour in a food processor. Be sure to grease the parchment paper or these cookies will stick. For best results, bake the cookies one sheet at a time.

3 3/4 cups almond flour
3 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
5 large egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar
5 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups buttercream frosting (They call for using theirs, America's Test Kitchen, but I did my own buttercream)

1. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and grease the paper. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch plain tip.

2. Pulse half of the almond flour and confectioners' sugar together in a food processor until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a medium bowl and repeat with the remaining almond flour and confections' sugar.

3. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar together with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until they are foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip the whites to soft, billowy mounds, about 1 minute. Continue to whip the whites until they are glossy and form stiff peaks, 1-3 minutes.

4. Gently fold one-quarter of the almond flour mixture into the whites, followed by the vanilla. Gradually fold in the remaining almond mixture until a thick, gloppy batter forms. Fill the pastry bag with the mixture.

5. Pipe the batter unto 2-inch mounds on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 inch apart. Gently tap the baking sheets to level the mounds. Use the back of a spoon or your finger dipped in water to smooth the tops of the cookies. Let the macarons rest at room temperature until the tops are dry and a smooth skin has formed, 1 to 2 hours.

6. Half an hour before baking, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Carefully transfer the hot cookies from the parchment paper onto a wire and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

7. TO FILL THE COOKIES: Before serving, spread a generous tablespoon of the buttercream over the bottom of a cookie, then make a sandwich by pressing the bottom of another cookie onto the buttercream; repeat with remaining cookies and buttercream.

To Make Ahead
The unfilled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 weeks; if frozen, let thaw at room temperature for 2 hours before filling.

For my buttercream, I just used my own family recipe, and then put a little coconut in the food processor to get it smaller. Then I added in the coconut for that extra flavor and tiny bit of crunch. It was really yummy. :)

Enjoy!

Bethan