Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Holidays in London are always festive and busy. The high street shopping seems to be mainly for the brave, as the stores become elbow to cheek with holiday cheer. Saturday my friend Robert and I took a walk to Harrods department store for a yearly ritual to see the window displays. They have gotten away from anything religious as the diversity of the city has grown. This year Harrods is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. Just a few blocks away from Harrods, I noticed this doorstep and couldn't help but wonder....hmmm....not quite a Ruby Slipper, but there must be a story here. London had a rare snow a few days ago adding a little holiday atmosphere. Wizard of Oz music is pumped out onto the sidewalks and inside the store. "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high..." In this rendition, Harrods dropped full force onto the witch. You can only imagine what this young man was thinking. And Dorothy got a little gussied up as well as a few other characters. The witch never looked more beautiful, and not wicked at all.There is just a little drama and opulence in this version. The scarecrow,the tinman, the cowardly lion, and the monkeys all had an extreme makeover. Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore! Going inside, the store and mainly the food halls were jammed with shoppers with full wallets. There were many chocolatiers displaying exotic chocolates and goods to sit beside them.And there was no shortage of the ubiquitous Harrods green shopping bags. I managed to get away only with photos and no green bags. The next stop was the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is just down the road. Another magical vision appeared before us as a stunning bride was leaving the Brompton Oratory from what looked like a storybook wedding. Best wishes to them! Later on in the evening as I looked out of my hotel window, the streets of London were lit up like a Christmas tree as the holiday traffic filled the streets. If you look closely, you'll see the Emerald City of Harrods lit up in green....a slight movement of my camera gave a vision of candy canes Happy Holidays from London!

Visions Of Sweetness...Rolled Sugar Cookies

While finishing my shopping this week, I stopped in the Williams Sonoma store. Oh what fun! I have a collection of copper cookie cutters and was drawn to their new trio of holiday cutters. The catalog really doesn't do them justice. The curvy, swirly shape of the candy cane just begs to be picked up. Then it cajoled me to the cash register as visions of sweetness danced in my head....OK, I'm easy;-) Another new addition this year is a Brigitte type cutter with holiday images. It's from my one of my favorite cookie cutter ebay sellers, Harsefeld-online-shop. My kitchen was well stocked with butter, sugar and flour, so I went about making sugar cookie dough to chill. I substituted the lemon zest for 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract for a change. I pulled out my other cutters along with sprinkles, pearls, and dragees. I've collected these decorations from as close as my local grocery store and as far away as Paris and London. So, the holiday music went on, the oven fired up and I rolled, cut and decorated. Fa-la-la-la-la.

For more holiday inspiration click here for Food With Style, it's a great collection of food bloggers posts. Thanks Jain!
Rolled Sugar Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In large bowl or food processor, cream sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract until well blended. Add the flour and salt and mix until it begins to form a ball, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of water. Scrape dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press together to form a thick flat disc. Wrap well and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking sheet.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick (1/4 inch, if using Brigitte cutter), or desired thickness. The dough needs to be just the right temperature to roll and cut properly. If it is too cold, it is hard to roll, and if it is too soft it becomes difficult to cut and pick up. Roll any scraps back into a ball and chill again. Use as little flour as possible to roll out, so they don't get tough. After cutting, place on a baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes or until just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. I use an insulated baking sheet to prevent the edges from getting too brown.

Makes 4 dozen, 3 inch (1/8 inch thick) cookies.

My tips: Keep dough chilled just enough so it is easy to roll and cut, but not so cold that it is hard and cracks. I like to roll between 2 layers of plastic wrap. This keeps the dough from sticking without extra flour that makes the dough tough. I even roll it to desired thickness, between 2 layers of plastic wrap before chilling. Then when it comes out of the refrigerator, you won't have to roll and you'll be ready to cut. If the dough warms up too much while working with it, you can slide the whole layer onto a cookie sheet and chill, without disturbing what you've already done. Also, bake sugar cookies in insulated pans for even browning. Happy baking!

Rolled Sugar Cookie recipe (pdf)
Links:
Suber Winter Cookie Cutter
Brigitte Cookie Cutter
Williams-Sonoma Candy Cane Cookie Cutter

Truffles, Dipped And Sprinkled

After making my Penguin Truffles last week, I had some ganache leftover to experiment with other chocolate combinations. I had just gotten a fascinating book in London, called "Adventures With Chocolate", by Paul A. Young. Wild Strawberry and Pink Peppercorn Truffles, Basil and Lemon Thyme Ganache and Maple Macadamia Ganache, are just a few of his interesting concoctions. He inspired me to try some of my own. I dipped some truffles in white chocolate and topped them with pink peppercorns. Next I sprinkled some bittersweet chocolate dipped truffles with lavender sugar. The last ones were just rolled in cocoa since they are delicious in their purity of simple flavors. This book will keep me busy for a while as I try his exotic flavors and play around with a few of my own. His photos are artful and and enticing as chocolate methods are explained.I prefer my truffle recipe since he adds sugar to his, but his unique flavor combinations are inspiring. It now sits among my current cookbook reads before it takes up residency with my 100 plus cookbooks.

Chocolate Truffles

For the ganache:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

For the rolling, dipping, coating and sprinkling:
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (for rolling)
8 ounces good quality white chocolate* (for dipping)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate* (for dipping)
1/2 cup cocoa (for coating)
1 tablespoon pink peppercorns (for sprinkling)**
1 tablespoon lavender sugar (for sprinkling)**
1/4 cup shredded coconut (for sprinkling)**
*Use couverture chocolate or tempered chocolate. Click here for video on tempering chocolate.
** Alternatively use any combination of flavors you desire to sprinkle on top.

To make the ganache: Break 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate into small pieces and process in a food processor until very fine. Heat the cream until just boiling and pour through the food processor feed tube in a steady stream, with the motor running. Process just a few seconds, until smooth. Transfer to a bowl to firm. This should take a few hours at room temperature. You may also put it in the refrigerator. Once firm, using a 1 inch melon baller, scoop out balls of ganache and place on a parchment lined tray. Place in refrigerator to firm, about 30 minutes. Dust hands with powdered sugar and roll ball between your hands to smooth into a round ball.

To coat in cocoa: For the truffles you plan to coat in cocoa, place the cocoa in a large zip lock bag and add truffles a few at a time to toss and coat. If you want to dip them in chocolate as well as cocoa, dip into melted chocolate, let excess drip off and the place in a pan of cocoa. Roll them around to coat in the cocoa. Remove from the pan and let harden on a parchment lined baking sheet.

To coat in white chocolate: Melt 8 ounces white chocolate by breaking it into a medium bowl placed over a pot of hot water. The bowl must not touch the water and the water must not simmer, but just remain hot. Stir until melted and then take off of heat and cool until it is about 84 degrees or dab a small amount on your upper lip. It should feel slightly cool. Using a spoon, dip truffle into chocolate to coat and let let excess drip off before placing on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with pink peppercorns, lavender sugar, coconut or other flavor of choice at this point, if desired. Let harden at room temperature.

To coat with bittersweet chocolate: Melt 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate by breaking it into a medium bowl placed over a pot of hot water. The bowl must not touch the water and the water must not simmer, but just remain hot. Stir until melted and then take off of heat and cool until it is about 84 degrees or dab a small amount on your upper lip. It should feel slightly cool. Using a spoon, dip truffle into chocolate to coat and let let excess drip off before placing on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with pink peppercorns, lavender sugar, coconut or other flavor of choice at this point, if desired. Let harden at room temperature.

Makes 60 truffles. Store at cool room temperature for 2 weeks in an airtight container. May also be frozen for up to 3 months, and thawed overnight in the refrigerator.Chocolate Truffle recipe (pdf)

Penguin Truffles

Sitting in a waiting room last week, I was thumbing through a magazine...in the food section, of course! I saw the most adorable Penguin Truffles that came packaged all neatly in a box of 9 for $32. O-O-K...maybe not this year, it's too much of a folly in this recession. I could make them, couldn't I? It couldn't be that hard. I mean, making truffles is just about as easy as anything gets. Mix hot heavy cream into top quality bittersweet chocolate and voilà, perfection. Dipping truffles into chocolate is also a no brainer, but these little cuties had form...and flippers! I had to give it a try. I made my truffle recipe, let it firm up and then shaped them into what looked like a Hershey's Kiss with a drooped-over top. Then I tucked a slivered almond into each side for the flippers, and dipped them into white chocolate. Now came the tricky part. Resting (balancing) on a fork, I spooned rich dark chocolate down the penguin's top, back and sides, with a little drip on the "beak". Only one took a dunk in the pool ;-)....and one fell in the "snow". Other than that they came out pretty well. My intention was to make the whole batch into penguins, but it was a little labor intensive, so I decided that I'd only make 10, and they'd be a single feature on my holiday gift plates. I made a variety of truffles with the rest of the ganache and was very happy with my sweet afternoon.
Chocolate Penguins

For the ganache:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Break the chocolate into small pieces and process in a food processor until very fine. Heat the cream until just boiling and pour through the food processor feed tube in a steady stream, with the motor running. Process until smooth, just a few seconds. Transfer to a bowl to firm. This should take a few hours at room temperature. You may also put it in the refrigerator.
For the rolling and dipping:
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (for rolling)
12 ounces good quality white chocolate* (for dipping)
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate* (for dipping)
*Use couverture chocolate or tempered chocolate. Click here for video on tempering chocolate.

For the flippers:
1/4 cup slivered almonds (or about 60 unbroken)

Using a 1 1/2 inch melon baller, scoop out balls of ganache and place on a parchment lined tray. Place in refrigerator to firm, about 30 minutes. Once firm, dust hands with powdered sugar and roll ball between your hands to smooth. Then continue rolling while pulling and shaping the top to resemble a small head with a drooped, thin pointy end (the beak). To insert the slivered almonds for the flippers, take a knife and insert it about 1/2 inch deep at the placement and angle you want the flippers. Gently insert a slivered almond into the slit, rounded end facing out. You should have about 25-30 penguins. Return to tray and put in refrigerator to chill.

In the meantime, melt the white chocolate by breaking it into a medium bowl placed over a pot of hot water. The bowl must not touch the water and the water must not simmer, but just remain hot. Stir until melted and then take off of heat and cool until it is about 84 degrees or dab a small amount on your upper lip. It should feel slightly cool. Resting a penguin on a forks tines and holding over bowl of melted white chocolate, spoon the chocolate over the penguin to coat. Let excess drip off. Place on parchment to cool and harden. Continue coating all penguins.Break the bittersweet chocolate into a medium bowl and place over hot water to melt in the same manner as the white chocolate. Once cool to 84 degrees, pick up penguins in the back behind the flippers, so as not to touch the tummy, and place on the tines of a fork. Holding over the bowl of bittersweet chocolate, gently spoon the chocolate down the back top and sides of the penguin. Carefully spoon a little down over the beak to form a point. Keep the tummy white and don't touch it or you'll get fingerprints on it. Let excess chocolate drip off and place on clean parchment to harden.

Makes 25-30 Penguin Truffles. Lasts up to 2 weeks at cool room temperature.
Penguin Truffle recipe (pdf)