March ABC challenge: Ukrainian Snowcap Cookies

 

This month's challenge is Ukrainian desserts.  To be honest, I'm not sure this is Ukrainian -- or if it is, I think it's been Americanized.  Whatever, it was yummy!  I thought these were cookies with a meringue "frosting", but they're more like macaroons with a cookie base.  At least that's how mine turned out.  

The recipe called for a "small" cookie cutter.  I used a 1.25" fluted cutter.  That worked fine, but in hindsight I think a 1.75" cutter would be a better size (although it might alter the bake time.)  I think I also rolled them slightly less than 1/4".

To get 4½ dozen small cookies, here's what I used:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (not necessary but recommended)
1/2 cup salted butter
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cream

Topping
3 egg whites
1¼ cups confectioners' sugar
1½ cups chopped walnuts
1 cup flaked coconut (see note)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and beat in egg yolks one at a time. Stir in cream, and then mix in the dry ingredients to form a light dough. If necessary, cover dough and chill for 30 minutes for easier handling. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into small circles. Place the circles about an inch apart onto baking sheets. 

In a clean glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add confectioners' sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. Fold in walnuts and coconut. Mound a generous spoonful of the meringue mixture onto the top of each cookie. (Any excess meringue can be baked off without the cookie base.) Bake for 12 minutes, or until delicately browned. Remove to a rack to cool.

Note
For mildly sweet cookies, use unsweetened coconut.

These were really tasty! It was hard to stop eating at a reasonable number. The recipe was pretty easy too, except for one hiccough: I can't make meringue. The whites whip up fine at first, but once I start adding sugar they collapse and I end up with a sticky, runny "sauce". (I think the whites aren't stiff enough when I start adding sugar.) This time was no different, but I persevered. It turned out there was enough nuts and coconut to stick everything together pretty solidly, so it worked out.

The cookie base has perhaps a bit too much butter. (They were very rich!) The recipe called for greased baking sheets, which at first I ignored because I knew this sort of cookie didn't require it. But I changed my mind because I was afraid the meringue might contact the pan and stick. As it was, there was so much oil oozing from the cookies that they slid around independently like pucks on an air hockey table!

These were fairly mild flavored, which was fine, although I think a little vanilla in the cookie base would be nice. I had been concerned that the cookies would burn on the bottom because of the high butter content, but they were fine. In fact, they might have been a wee bit too pale, especially in the middles. I recommend pressing the cookies down gently on the sheet to ensure there's good surface contact, which should promote browning.

Conclusion:  I really liked these, perhaps a little too much. Easy enough to make that I'll probably do them again. They went on my "favorites" list!

Recipe:  Ukrainian Snow Cap Cookies via RedCipes

Rum raisin shortbread

Normally I find Martha Stewart recipes to be unnecessarily complicated and then don't even taste that good, but this one was an exception.  I'm in the process of moving, so baking hasn't been on my agenda AT ALL.  But I've been trying to use up ingredients, and this one took care of some of the more expensive items:  currants, coconut, and butter.  I'd already packed my measuring cups and spoons, and all my baking pans, so I had to improvise and all measurements are approximate.  I also cut the recipe in half, and I reduced the sugar.

Here's what I used, resulting in 1 dozen bars:

1/4 cup Myers's Rum
1/2 cup currants
1 stick (8 ounces) salted butter
3/8 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
about 8 drops orange extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
3/8 cup unsweetened coconut powder (see note)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Soak the currants in the rum overnight, or cheat and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then allow to cool.  They should be plump.  Drain and reserve 1 tablespoon of the rum.  Drink the rest.

Heat the oven to 325 F.  Cream the butter and the sugar, then add the extracts and the reserved rum, blending in between additions.  Add the flour in three portions, blending between additions.  Stir in the currants and the coconut.  Spread into a 8" x 6" baking pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes until the top is slightly firm and the edges have started to brown.  Cool in pan.

Reading the comments in the original recipe, a lot of people had trouble with this recipe, and in particular they said it needed more flour.  (Perhaps this is why the recipe is no longer-- in 2024-- available on her website.)  Admittedly, I ended up with a sort of batter; it was a good thing I had already intended to bake these in a pan rather than as cookies on a sheet, so it wasn't a problem.  But the bars were fairly soft, so I can see something needs to be done about the texture if you wanted to make cookies.  Adding flour would dilute the rich flavor, but the only other option really is to reduce the liquid, which also reduces the flavor.  Perhaps a combination.  Or perhaps chill the batter slightly to make it more manageable and THEN roll it into a log.  It's worth figuring out how to make these work, because the flavor was terrific.


Conclusion:  Delicious!  These tasted like Christmas pudding.  The edges were especially tasty because they had that browned-butter flavor.  Individually cut cookies would provide more of that than the bar form.

Recipe:  Rum-Raisin Shortbread Cookies via Martha Stewart

January ABC challenge: Rondos (Dutch almond pastries)

 
The new year starts the Avid Baker's Challenge with a new challenge source:  The Weekend Bakery.  This blog is created by two folks from the Netherlands, so their recipes are originally in Dutch but also posted in English.  They are primarily artisan bread bakers, but do a lot of other baked items as well. 

So we're off on our first Dutch pastry, and just like Brittany, oops, I did it again:  I made the frangipane for this recipe, but didn't measure out what was called for when assembling the rondos. (I'm so used to recipes giving exact amounts, not leaving you with extra.)  So, I don't know if my final rondos have too much or not enough.  I used about 2/3 of the quantity made, and thought I was putting in a generous dollop.  (I mean, my rondos ended up domed instead of flat.)  I really need to pay better attention.  I'm getting cocky.

I made one quarter the recipe called for, but otherwise stuck pretty much to the directions.  The only significant change was that I considerably reduced the quantity of sugar in the dough to less than half the amount called for.

Here's what I used (yield 2):

For frangipane filling:

13g butter
13g (1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
¼ egg (13-14g)
zest of 1/8 a lemon
17.5g finely ground almonds

For the pastry:
50g pastry flour (of which 1 teaspoon was corn starch)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
37.5g cold salted butter, in cubes
25 g 9g (2 teaspoons) soft white or light brown granulated sugar 

For assemply:
35g to 50g frangipane
2 almonds
egg wash for brushing tops (beaten with some water or cream)
  

Slowly melt the butter over low heat and then let it cool. In a small bowl, beat together with a whisk the sugar, egg, and lemon zest until creamy. Slowly add the melted butter while continuing to beat. Add the almond flour and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the butter cubes and rub it into the flour. Add the sugar and quickly combine to form a smooth dough. Divide the dough into four equal balls and pat down to make a slight disc. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Roll out each of the dough discs to a small circle, about 1/8th inch thick, or to the approximate diameter of whatever baking ring or tin you're using.  (I used 2.75" and 3" round cookie cutters.)  Cut the dough to fit, two for each tin.  Place the rings (I lightly greased the inside of them) on parchment paper on a baking sheet, and fit one round of dough in the bottom of each.  Dab a generous blob of the frangipane on top of the dough rounds inside the rings (you will not likely use all of it), then carefully top with the second rounds. Softly press the tops and bottoms together, keeping the tops flat.  Brush each rondo with the egg wash. Place an almond in the middle of each rondo and press in lightly. Give the tops a second brush with the egg wash.  Bake the rondos for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately remove the baking rings.  Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

The original recipe contains an option for filling with almond paste.  These could also be made in a muffin tin or tart tins.  Here is a video that shows how that would work.

I found the original directions for these rather tedious and in that sense difficult to follow.  She goes so far as to tell us to remove the frangipane from the refrigerator before using.  I like to be able to skim a recipe and quickly and easily see what I need to do next without having to read through a lot of text like it's a novel.  These really aren't difficult at all, but they seemed so while making them.

One concern I had was that the frangipane might stick to the rings and the pastries would then be difficult to remove.  That's why I greased the rings, and also pressed the top dough down along the edges to try to prevent any leakage.  It probably wasn't necessary -- no one seemed to have a problem with that, though when making these in a muffin tin, one is directed to fully encase and seal in the filling.

Conclusion:  These were extremely tasty, like a good shortbread, and very rich (over 2 tablespoons of butter each.)  I expected them to be more cake-like, based on the original photos, and considerably less dense.  I would have liked a stronger almond flavor and less lemon.  It seems these often have almond extract added to the filling, which I would do in the future, and perhaps eliminate the zest (just for my own taste preference.)  Cardamom would also be a nice addition.

Original recipe:  Homemade Rondos via Weekend Bakery

Cardamom-Semolina Shortbread Cookies

I so wanted to like these.  Shortbread is my favorite cookie, and cardamom my favorite spice.  But alas, it wasn't to be.  I didn't think it was possible to have too much butter in a cookie, but these have it.  Not only was the dough (call it more of a batter) extremely soft and sticky, the cookies themselves tasted downright cheesy.  You can't even taste the cardamom or orange-flower water due to the overpowering butter taste. It lingers on the fingers long after the cookie is gone.

Speaking of orange-flower water, I take great exception to anyone who suggests orange extract or orange liqueur as a suitable substitute.  Obviously these people are just making stuff up.  Sure, you could substitute those other items, but you might as well be substituting cinnamon, or anise extract, or black pepper for that matter.  Orange extract has a concentrated orange oil flavor; orange liqueur has a sweet, less-concentrated orange oil flavor.  Orange-flower water tastes NOTHING like orange oil!!  The best substitution to retain the flavor profile would be another flower water or flower extract.  Another clue that this author didn't know what he was putting together was the quantity.  I suspected that a measly 1/2 teaspoon wasn't going to have an effect.  I even doubled it, and it is still undetectable.  (I hate it when people just make stuff up.)

So the butter quantity was off, the flavoring quantities were off....  What went right?  Well, I liked the addition of semolina flour.  It gave a grainy, sandy texture and helped (along with all that butter) to create a very delicate cookie that melts in your mouth.  However, I recommend finding a happy medium and reducing the butter to about 1½ cups.  (If you choose to use salted butter, as I did, that will also help to balance the salt quantity.  A cup of salted butter has too much salt for this recipe, so stick with unsalted if you use the full amount.)  These cookies also lend themselves nicely to the use of cookie stamps, so if you have a pretty one, use it!

I should mention that I also greatly reduced the sugar, just for personal preference.  After making these delicious Brazilian guava cookies that used only a tablespoon of sugar per cup of flour, I will seriously rethink sugar quantities from now on.

Here's what I used:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup semolina flour (pasta flour)
1¼ teaspoons ground cardamom, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon orange-flower water, orange extract, or orange liqueur (such as Cointreau)

Whisk all-purpose flour, semolina flour, and 1 teaspoon cardamom in a large bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, salt, and 3/4 cup 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add egg yolks and orange flower water and beat to blend. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients and mix just to blend.  (It will be sticky.)  Place dough on a large sheet of parchment paper. Using paper as an aid, roll up dough into a 1 1/2-inch diameter log. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. cardamom in a small bowl. Slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. (If using a stamp, cut slightly thicker so that the cookies are about 1/4" thick after pressing.)  Dip 1 side of each round in cardamom sugar and arrange, sugar side up, on 2 large baking sheets. Bake until golden brown and firm, 20-25 minutes.  (The thinner cookies I made baked for only 13 minutes.)  Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.



Conclusion:  There are lots of delicious shortbread cookie recipes out there, and lots of delicious cardamom recipes as well. I recommended a pass on this one.


Recipe:  Cardamom-Semolina Shortbread Cookies via Bon Appétit





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Goiabinha (Brazilian guava cookies)

A bit behind my time, but in celebration of the World Cup I thought I'd make something Brazilian.  They do a lot with guava paste and butter cookie dough, and after looking through LOTS of recipes I finally settled on this one.  I like that the dough isn't very sweet -- sort of like a butter pie crust -- which I thought would be a nice contrast to the sweet guava jelly.

These cookies are also called beliscão, or "pinch", for obvious reasons. Seems a little... I dunno... aggressive, for a cookie.  How about "hugs"?  Or "wraps"?  Anyway...

I couldn't find a pre-packaged guava paste such as this one:

or this one:

I ended up buying it in bulk from the fresh serve counter in a Mexican grocery store, but it still contained the seeds and some skins.  (It even still had one whole fruit in it.)  So I melted it down and sieved out the seeds as best I could -- a few got past me -- then let it firm up again in a dish.  A very sticky and messy procedure, I might add. And it ended up a little TOO firm -- even after baking, it still has crisp, clean edges.  (It's supposed to soften and ooze into the space prettily.)

The recipe had to be translated from Portuguese -- although the ingredients seem straightforward, the directions were a little scant.  Therefore I made an executive decision and revised the directions to provide clarification, and in the process changed the sugar types.  (I think sprinkling granulated sugar on cooled cookies will result in a lot of sugar all over the counter and not much else.)

Here's what I used:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated or powdered sugar*
150g (10½ tablespoons) cold butter
3+ tablespoons of cool water
150g (a little less than 1 cup) of firm guava paste
powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Cut the guava paste into 36 strips (about 0.4" x 0.25", and about 2.25" long.) In a food processor, pulse the flour with the butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar until evenly crumbly. Sprinkle on the water and pulse again until it forms a smooth dough, adding a little more water if necessary.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough thinly, to about 1/8".  (If it's too soft to work with, shape into disks, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for an hour.)  Cut out discs with a 2¾" round cutter, gathering the scraps and repeating until you use all the dough. Arrange a strip of guava in the center of each disc and cover by folding the sides over the guava and pinching together slightly to close.  (Or simply overlap the edges.  Either way, you might need to moisten the edge with a little water if the dough has dried.)  Arrange the cookies on a greased baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the sheets midway.  Let cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Makes 36 cookies.

*The recipe on the Claudia web site now (as of October 2023) shows 1 cup of sugar, which would give the dough a sweetness level more like a regular cookie and less like pie crust.



Conclusion:  Delicious!  A buttery shortbread cookie wrapped around sweet, floral guava.  This is the kind of cookie that you could eat one right after the other.  To make them truly pretty, it would take some practice and more familiarity with the characteristics of the guava paste under heat.  These could have used more visible guava filling (it's such a pretty color), perhaps slightly more quantity.  But too much and it would melt out of the crust! This is a keeper.

Recipe:  Biscoito goiabinha via MdeMulher Culinária (now Claudia)