ScarlettChocolate Cookies
October 27th 2006 02:14
Chocolate Cookies
About Chocolate Cookies
It is hard to tell whether it is the buttery flavour, the crisp texture, or the decorative appearance that makes these chocolate cookies so good.
Thin strips of woods, which can be found in varying sizes in handicraft stores, are a very useful aid. These chocolate cookies need two sizes:
i. ½-inch, for rolling out and cutting the squares.
ii. 1/8-inch, for rolling out the wrapping for the checkerboard and rolls.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 80
1¼ cups butter
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
pinch of salt
scraped contents of ½ vanilla bean
3¼ cups flour
2 heaping tablespoons very dark cocoa powder
1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons milk
1. Place the butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and vanilla bean on a work surface and mix together with a spoon.
2. Sift the flour on top and knead into a dough as quickly as possible. When the flour is half worked in, divide the dough in half.
3. Continue to knead one half briefly until it is smooth, set aside.
4. Sift the cocoa powder over the other half and knead in as quickly as possible.
5. Roll out each dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours
6. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line 3-4 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.
7. Cut both dough in half and shape one dark and one light portion into a rectangles. Reserve the other two halves for the wrapping.
8. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the light-coloured pastry into a rectangle 3/8-inch deep between two strips of wood the same depth.
9. Roll out the dark-coloured pastry in the same way.
10. Using a 3/8-inch wide strip of wood as a ruler, cut both colours of dough into strips of the same width.
11. Brush both types of dough thinly with beaten egg yolk and, using half of each colour, assemble into a checkerboard pattern.
12. Roll out the remaining light-coloured pastry into a rectangle 1/8-inch thick and brush with egg yolk. Place the block of strips on the rectangle and wrap the pastry around.
13. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut the checkered block into ¼-inch slices.
14. Repeat the process using the dark-coloured pastry for the wrapping.
15. Place the prepared slices on an ungreased baking sheet spaced well apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Ensure that the pastry does not brown, to maintain a good contrast between the light and dark-coloured effects.
Tips:
The strips of wood help to produce precise squared that look as good at the back as at the front. However, the rolls of pastry have to be shaped by hand. They should have an internal diameter of 1-inch. When they are cold, roll them up in 1/8-inch thick pastry, slice, and bake as for the squares.
**From “The Chocolate Bible” **
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