Chinese Almond Cookies

The next chapter in TSOB is cookies.  Nothing difficult there, right?  Well, I did learn that you want cold butter for creaming, which was surprising.  This helps keep the cookie from getting thin.  I hate thin chocolate chip cookies.

As you know if you've read my other posts, I love the chocolate/hazelnut combination.  My next favorite flavor has got to be almond.  At work we make these almond scones and I just get so happy smelling the almond extract.  So when I started flipping through the cookie recipes, I settled on the almond ones. These cookies have almond paste, Disaronno (an "Italian liqueur flavored with herbs and fruits soaked in apricot kernel oil" that tastes of almond), and whole almonds on top.  

I'm not sure what makes them Chinese.  In TSOB, Yard shares that apricots are in the same family as almonds.  Their pits are often marketed as "Chinese almonds" and are used in traditional Chinese dishes.  I don't eat much Chinese food, instead I prefer Italian.  And to me, these cookies are a great almond shortbread made with an Italian liqueur.

Before I go on to the next TSOB chapter, pies and tarts, I think I'll revisit the financier chapter.

Baking Final

I got a perfect score for my plated dessert; I'm so happy.  I wasn't anxious during the test at all; we got to get our ingredients ready a day in advance.  I also practiced on my in-laws during Thanksgiving, so I'd done it once before.  In fact, the spice cake recipe comes from an old Fanny Farmer cookbook my mother-in-law had.  To go with the spice cake, I made cinnamon ice cream, caramel sauce, and sauteed apples.  We also had to temper chocolate and make a tuile.  I wish I had done something cuter with my chocolate, like piping it into a shape.  I was going to make chocolate curls or shavings, but I had to go with something larger because I didn't have too many tuiles I could use.  This is still a good start to making pretty desserts though.  Just a few tweaks, and I could be a pastry chef at a restaurant!

Eclairs

Oh, what to do with leftover pastry cream from gourmet class?  Make eclairs of course.  It's been awhile since I've made pâte à choux dough at home, using TSOB.  I've been making it at school, using a slightly different recipe and cooking method.  These ones turned out a little bit soggier than the ones at school, because the TSOB way is to put a pan of hot water in the oven with the dough.  I prefer a crunchy bite instead, so in the future I'll just bake it without the pot of water.

Hazelnut Brown Butter Brownies

I had a big craving for brownies the other day and knew I'd saved a brownie recipe from Food and Wine magazine to make "someday."  The picture in the magazine is incredible, mine not so much.  They are gluten-free; flour is replaced with ground-up hazelnuts.  They were wonderfully rich and gooey and perfect with vanilla ice cream!

Chocolate Financier Cake

I've finally moved on to another chapter in TSOB, the financier cakes!  I don't remember much about how this tasted (other than good of course) because I did it awhile ago.  The book says it's moister than other cakes because only egg whites are used (no foaming the egg whites) and melted butter is added (instead of creaming butter and sugar.)  I'll have to make a gingerbread one for Christmas or a carrot cake for my husband just because to remind me of how good it is!

Torta Sabbiosa

Torta sabbiosa means "sand cake" in Italian.  It's quite dry, like sand, but it's light and airy like angel food cake and melts in the mouth.  It's made with potato flour and I think that's what makes it dry.  The last time I made an Italian cake, I used almond meal and it was also dry.  Wonder if there's something to that?

Since I had two layers, I had to come up with a filling, and what's better than Nutella?  It still needed something for the dryness; in TSOB, Ms. Yard suggests serving it with sweetened mascarpone.  I decided to buy coffee gelato.  It was good, but the gelato almost overpowered the cake.  Next time, I think I'll try the suggestion of the queen of Italian-American cooking, Lidia Bastianich, and douse the cake with amaretto or limoncello and a topping of cream and/or fruit and berries! 

Lemon Cake

This cake is the second thing I've made for friends and gotten paid for!  This person wanted cake with a lemon curd filling and lemon italian meringue buttercream frosting.  I've done the lemon curd before, but have never made the italian meringue frosting.  And, like all things lately, I had to take a second shot at the frosting.  Meringue is very temperamental, and when I added the butter the first time around, it broke the perfect peaks I had going on the meringue.  I'm told that if I would have kept the mixer going, it would have come back together, but I wanted to start over and get it right the first time.