Poker Chip Cookies - Part 1

Every year, our neighborhood has a poker tournament to raise money for our summer block party.  About three years ago, I had the idea to make some cookies that looked like poker chips for the event.  I did a little brainstorming and designing, found a sugar cookie recipe online that looked like it would work and baked up three different colors of poker chips.  They looked like this:

So they were cute, but spread too much so they didn’t actually look like poker chips and worst of all they tasted terrible.  I learned two lessons: 1, never bake a ton of cookies with a recipe you’ve never actually baked up and 2, I needed some better food colors – part of why the cookies tasted off was the large quantity of food coloring in the dough.

This year, I found a better recipe – one I made at Christmas – and decided to try again.  I picked this recipe for its minimal ingredients, its versatility, and the fact that the spread of the dough during baking is almost undetectable.  I also decided to do a different flavor with each color chip this time.  Below are the recipes for the flavors I made, but you can try different varieties.  I made two recipes of the white dough and one recipe of each colored dough.

French Butter Cookies – Plain Dough (for the white dough) *

Ingredients

1              large egg

10 T        (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

 1/3 c      plus 1 T granulated sugar (2 ¾ oz)
¼ t          salt
1 t           vanilla extract
1 ½ c      unbleached all-purpose flour (7 ½ oz)

Instructions

1.       Place egg in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch water, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Turn heat to low, cover, and let sit 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fill a small bowl with ice water.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer egg to ice water and let stand 5 minutes.  Crack the egg and peel off the shell.  Separate the yolk from the white; discard (or eat) white.  Press yolk through a fine mesh strainer into small bowl.

 

2.       In bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater as needed.  Turn the mixer down to low, add vanilla, and mix until incorporated.  Stop mixer, add flour, and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.  Using a rubber spatula, press dough into a cohesive mass.

 

French Butter Cookies – Vanilla Dough (for the blue dough)  Same as plain, but increase vanilla to 1 T and add blue gel food coloring with the vanilla.

French Butter Cookies – Mint Dough (for the green dough)  Same as plain, but add 1 T peppermint extract and green gel food coloring with the vanilla.

French Butter Cookies – Chocolate Hazelnut Dough (for the black dough)

Ingredients
1              large egg
10 T        (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c      plus 1 T granulated sugar (2 ¾ oz)
¼ t          salt
1 t           vanilla extract
2 t           hazelnut extract
2-3          drops black gel food color (optional)
1 1/3 c   unbleached all-purpose flour (6 2/3 oz)
¼ c          Dutch-processed cocoa (1 oz)
1/3 c      finely ground toasted hazelnuts

Instructions

1.       Place egg in small saucepan, cover with 1 inch water, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Turn heat to low, cover, and let sit 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, fill a small bowl with ice water.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer egg to ice water and let stand 5 minutes.  Crack the egg and peel off the shell.  Separate the yolk from the white; discard (or eat) white.  Press yolk through a fine mesh strainer into small bowl.

2.       Whisk flour, cocoa, and hazelnuts together in a small bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, salt, and cooked egg yolk on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl and beater as needed.  Turn the mixer down to low, add vanilla and food coloring, and mix until incorporated.  Stop mixer, add flour mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.  Using a rubber spatula, press dough into a cohesive mass.

For Assembly Instructions, Click Here

*Original Recipe Source: Cook’s Illustrated November 2008

Homemade Croutons

Last week, we tried out a yummy skillet mac & cheese recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  Everyone's favorite part of the recipe was the homemade croutons that were sprinkled on top of the dish.  I'm of the opinion that most everything tastes better with garlic, so I altered the recipe a tiny bit and came up with some of the best croutons ever.  Here's how:

Ingredients:
3          slices sandwich bread
2-3 T    unsalted butter

garlic powder

            salt & pepper

Directions:

1.      Remove crusts from bread and cut into ½-inch cubes.

2.      Melt butter in a large skillet over medium –high heat.

3.      Toss bread cubes in butter and season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.

      4.      Toast until lovely brown and fragrant.
      5.      Devour.

Strawberry Shortcakes

This Saturday, we went shopping and stopped by a very dangerous local kitchen shop.  While avoiding spending my entire paycheck, I did find one item I've been looking for: the ultimate angel food cake pan (according to America's Test Kitchen). It's a Chicago Metallic Pan with a removable bottom and feet on top so you don't have to stick it on a wine bottle to cool.

I was so excited I brought it straight home and set about making my first-ever angel food cake. I whipped and mixed and poured and popped it in the oven. I waited patiently for it to bake and then for it to cool, upside down, for two hours per the instructions. When I finally cut the cake out of the pan - disaster. In fear of over-mixing, I hadn't mixed well enough and a bunch of unmixed sugar and flour had coagulated and sunk to the bottom of the cake. I was left with a slightly soggy, eggy cake with hard sugary lumps on top. Oh well, it still tasted alright, it just looked terrible.

I'll share the recipe and method when I get it right, but for today, here's a foolproof summer recipe that I make several times a year (it's my dad's favorite), as requested by my sister-in-law:

Strawberry Shortcakes

Fruit

2              quarts strawberries, hulled
6 T          sugar

Shortcakes

2 c           all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
5 T          sugar, divided
1 T          baking powder
½ t          salt
8 T          (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
2/3 c      half-and-half
1 lg         egg, lightly beaten
1 lg         egg white, lightly beaten

Whipped Cream

1 c           heavy cream, chilled
1 T          sugar
1 T          amaretto or vanilla extract

1.       Make the Fruit: Crush 3 cups of the strawberries with a potato masher.  Slice the remaining 5 cups of berries and stir into the crushed berries along with the sugar.  Let sit at room temperature until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are juicy, about 30 minutes.

2.       Make the Shortcakes: While the berries are macerating, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 425⁰.  Pulse together the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, and the salt in a food processor until combined.  Scatter the butter pieces over the top and process until the mixer resembles coarse cornmeal, about 15 pulses.  Transfer to a bowl.

3.       Blend the half-and-half with the beaten egg and pour into the bowl with the flour mixture.  Stir with a rubber spatula until large clumps form.  Turn the mixture onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly until the dough comes together.

4.       Use your fingertips to pat the dough into a 9 by 6-inch rectangle about 1 inch thick.  Cut out 6 dough rounds using a floured 2 ¾ -inch biscuit cutter. Reform the remaining dough and cut 2 more rounds.  Place the rounds 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the tops with the beaten egg white, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

5.       Bake the shortcakes until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.  Let the shortcakes cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.

6.       Make the Whipped Cream: Meanwhile, mix the cream, sugar, and amaretto or vanilla in a chilled bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until frothy and the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute.  Increase the speed to high and continue to whip until doubled in volume and soft peaks form, about 1 to 3 minutes.

7.       Assemble the Cakes:  Split each biscuit in half, laying the biscuit bottoms on individual plates.  Spoon a portion of the fruit over each bottom, then top with a dollop of whipped cream.  Cap with the biscuit tops and dig in!



Source: America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Put the Lime in the Coconut...Cake!

My dad hosted Easter dinner this year and, as usual, asked me to make dessert. I wanted to come up with something new. My mother in law sent me a great set of tropical extracts for my birthday which included coconut extract. Steve and I brainstormed different pairings with coconut and came up with this recipe, adapted from a couple Cook's Illustrated recipes:

Lime in the Coconut Cake

Lime Curd Filling

1 c          fresh lime juice

1 tsp      unflavored gelatin

1 ½ c      (10 ½ oz) sugar

¹/₈ tsp     salt

6 lg         egg yolks

4 lg         eggs

8 T          (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and frozen

2 drops   blue gel food color (if desired)

Cake

¾ c          cream of coconut

5 lg         egg whites, room temperature

¼ c          water

1 lg         egg, room temperature

1 tsp       coconut extract

1 tsp       vanilla

2 ¼ c      (9 oz) cake flour

1 c          (7 oz) granulated sugar

1 T          baking powder

¾ tsp      salt

12 T        (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened

Buttercream

2 T          heavy cream

1 t           coconut extract

1 t           vanilla extract

Pinch      salt

16 T        (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks and softened

¼ c          cream of coconut

3 c          (12 oz) confectioners’ sugar

2 c          (8 oz) sweetened shredded coconut

1.   Make the Lime Curd: Measure 1 tablespoon of the lime juice into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top.  Cook the remaining lime juice, sugar, and salt together in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot (do not boil), about 1 minute.

2.   In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and eggs together until combined, then slowly whisk in the hot lemon mixture to temper.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened and a spatula scraped along the bottom of the pan leaves a trail (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), 4 to 6 minutes.

3.   Off the heat, stir in the gelatin mixture until dissolved.  Stir in the frozen butter until melted and incorporated.  Stir in gel food color until desired lime color is achieved.  Strain the curd into a medium bowl and press plastic wrap directly on the surface.  Refrigerate the curd until it is firm and spreadable, about 4 hours.

4.   Make the Cake:  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans, then line the bottom with parchment rounds.  Whisk the cream of coconut, egg whites, water, egg, and extracts together in a medium bowl

5.   In a large bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt together.  Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat the butter into the flour mixture, one piece at a time, about 30 seconds.  Continue to beat the mixture until it resembles moist crumbs, 1 to 3 minutes.

6.   Beat in all but ½ cup of the cream of coconut mixture, then increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the batter until smooth, light, and fluffy, 1 to 3 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly beat in the remaining cream of coconut mixture until the batter is combined, about 30 seconds.

7.   Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, smooth the tops, and gently tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter.  Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Do not turn off the oven.

8.   Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Run a small knife around the edge of the cakes, then flip them out onto a wire rack.  Peel off the parchment paper, flip the cakes right side up, and let cool completely before filling and frosting, about 2 hours.

9.   While cakes are cooling, spread shredded coconut on rimmed baking sheet; toast in the oven until shreds are a mix of golden brown and white, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times. Cool to room temperature.

10. Assemble:  Line the edges of a cake platter with strips of parchment paper to keep the platter clean.  Level and slice each cake into two even layers using a long, serrated knife or a wire cake cutter.  Place the bottom layer carefully on the platter.  Spread 1 cup of the lime filling over the top, leaving a ½-inch border at the edge.  Repeat with two more cake layers and the remaining two cups of filling.  Place the final layer on top and press lightly to adhere.  Smooth out any filling that has leaked out of the sides.  Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate while making the buttercream.

11. For the Buttercream:  In a small bowl, stir the cream, extracts, and salt together.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream of coconut together with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.  Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar, then continue to beat until smooth, 2 to 5 minutes.  Beat in the cream mixture.  Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, 4 to 8 minutes.  Ice the cake, then sprinkle the top of the cake with the toasted coconut. Then press teh coconut into the sides, letting the excess fall back onto the platter. Clean up the coconut and then pull the parchment out before serving.