National Dessert Day + Florentine Chocolate Bars

Last Thursday, October 14th, was National Dessert Day.  To celebrate the day, I baked several things:

Chocolate Pecan Biscotti • Carole Bloom - intensely chocolate

Florentine Shortbread bars • Fine Cooking Magazine

Lemon Drop Cookies • my recipe

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes • my recipes

The Florentine Shortbread Bar were "sick".  These bars are so good, that I couldn't decide it they were a cookie, a candy or a pastry.  They were  all that, wrapped into one.  I love a good Florentine cookies and have been known to make Rose Levy Beranbaum's from time to time.  I think it is the caramel aspect of it all.  Caramel is my 5th food group.  So, if I see caramel anything on a menu I am sure to order it.  Finding a recipe with a caramel element, is no different.

In honor of National Dessert Day, I salute all of you chefs, bakers, home cooks, cookbook authors, and fellow food bloggers who continue to inspire me and motivate me to get into my kitchen pretty much seven days a week!

Chocolate Drizzled Florentines
adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine
yield: about 60 pieces (depending upon how you cut them)

ingredients:
for the dough
14 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups ( 1lb. 5oz.) all-purpose flour

for the topping
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 Tbls. light corn syrup
7 oz. unsalted butter
3/4 cup honey
1 cup heavy cream
17 oz. sliced blanched almonds, lightly toasted
1/2 cup chopped dried apricot
3 oz. each semisweet chocolate + bittersweet chocolate

instructions:
make the dough:
• in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, zest, sugar, and salt and beat until light and fluffy.  add the egg, scraping down the side of the bowl after mixing.
• add the flour, in three batches, mix until well blended.
• form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.  chill for 1 hour.
• preheat oven to 350*.
• line a jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil.  butter the foil and set aside.
• between two pieces of parchment, roll the dough to 1/4" thick.  remove the top layer of the parchment from the dough and flip it into your prepared pan.  once in the pan, remove the second sheet of parchment and with your fingers or with the palm of your hand, spread dough so it evenly rests inside the sheet pan.  make sure to get it into the corners of the pan.
• chill until firm.
• lay a piece of parchment on top of the chilled dough.  set a second jelly roll pan on top of the parchment lined dough (this is a better method than using pie weights) and press gently.  the second sheet pan acts as a weight, creating a very even crust when baked.
• bake for 20 minutes and then remove the foil and the sheet pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
• cool completely on a wire rack.

for the topping:
• in a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil.  cook until the mixture becomes amber in color.
• the recipe in the magazine says 350* on your candy thermometer.  yet, I found that cooking it until about 315-320* was perfectly amber in color.  my was starting to smell "burnt" at this point, so I removed it from the heat.
• carefully add the butter and the honey, return to heat and stir until dissolved.
• bring the mixture back to a boil and carefully add the heavy cream ( it will bubble and this is very hot sugar, so be careful not to burn yourself).
• boil the mixture until it reaches 250* on a candy thermometer.
• remove from the heat and stir in the almonds and dried apricots.
• quickly pour the hot caramel over the cooked baked sugar cookie crust.  spread mixture evenly with a greased, off set spatula.
• bake until the top begins to bubble, about 20-25 minutes.
• let cool completely. once cool remove from pan and cut into desired size pieces.
• set cut Florentine bars on 2 parchment lined cookie sheets.
• melt both chocolates on top of a double boiler.  once melted add about a tablespoon of corn syrup.
• fill a pastry bag fitted with a very small tip, with the warm chocolate.  pipe chocolate onto cookies in whatever pattern you desire.
• set on wire racks so chocolate can set ( you may have to stick in the fridge for a bit).

Enjoy these bars!

Cakes, Cookies, Caramel Corn, OH MY!

It's the end of another school year.  Next year my kids will be a year older, I will be a year older and life goes on.

This year is no different than any other year, I over did it.  I baked and baked and baked until I couldn't stand any longer, thus, indulged in an hour and half massage.  The weeks will go on and in time I will forget about how tight my shoulders are and how swollen my feet were.  Next, year at this time, I will forget all about the aches and pains and do it all over again!

I bought these great baking pans at Bed Bath & Beyond.  This year, rather than packing in boxes, I wrapped everything up in exactly what I baked in.  The presentation, if I do say so myself, was lovely.

Cherry Almond Bars

adapted from rustic fruit desserts

yield 12 bars

ingredients

fruit filling

3 cups (18 oz ) cherries

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbls. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. fine salt

zest and juice of one lemon

crust and topping

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 tsp. fine salt

3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350*.  butter a 9" square baking pan

• fruit filling: quarter cherries, put in saucepan with sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon zest, + lemon juice over medium high heat.  bring to a boil, boil for 1-2 minutes until thickened

• crust + topping: combine flour, brown sugar, almonds, + salt in the bowl of a food processor + pulse. add the butter until crumbly.  add the egg and vanilla and pulse until mixture comes together.

• press two-thirds of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, then pour in the cherry filling. press the remaining crust on top.

• bake 30-35 minutes or until light golden brown and bubbling.  cool for 1 hour before cutting.

• the bars will keep at room temperature for 4 days.

2 blueberry coffee cakes

2 marble pound cakes

2 banana nut loaves

1 cherry almond bars (shown)

48 triple chocolate triangles

8 dozen milk chocolate cookies

4 pounds cashew-almond caramel corn

6 1/2 pounds flour

4 pounds butter

1 1/4 pound brown sugar

5 pounds sugar

2 pounds good chocolate

9 cups fruit

21 eggs

2 pounds nuts

was it worth it?  heck yeah!

Orange Macaroons w/White Chocolate Ganache

I have an over abundance of egg whites at this very moment.  I made a bunch of ice box doughs and the recipes called for yolks, thus left over egg whites.

Earlier this week I used a few to make Eli a Spanish omelet for breakfast.  I had some left over potatoes + onions from the previous nights roasted chicken.  The chicken was infused with a whole lemon, sage leaves, rosemary leaves and garlic.  Plus, the onions/potatoes were covered with the left over fat from the pan.  The smell was intoxicating.  I quickly sauteed the veggies then added  3 egg whites to one whole egg, scrambled it up and poured it over the veggies.  I made this before my 7:30 a.m. yoga class so I didn't taste it.  Yet I knew it would be delicious.

I aged a few of these egg whites to make macaroons.  I wasn't really sure what flavor I was going to make until I realized I had a bunch of citrus zest in the freezer.  I settled on an orange flavored macaroon with a white chocolate ganache.

I used  Helene's original macaroon recipe from our macaroon cooking class ( recipe here).  That was a fun night.  I added about a teaspoon of grated orange zest to the sugar mixture.  I rubbed it together with my fingers and after about 30 seconds the smell of the zest was oh-so fragrant.

I know that orange and bittersweet chocolate is the obvious combo, but I went for the white chocolate ganache.  This is a very delicious filling and I use it quite a bit as a cream filling for cookie sandwiches.  The longer it stays in the fridge, the better it is.

These were delicious and well received.  I am going to prep some more egg whites for some hazelnut/espresso macaroons with espresso butter cream!

White Chocolate Ganache
adapted from Gourmet Magazine 

ingredients:
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 Tbls. light corn syrup
6 oz good white chocolate
1 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp. vanilla

instructions:
• put heavy cream and corn syrup in a small sauce pan.  warm to just before the boiling point
• add white chocolate, stir to blend
• add butter and vanilla, mix completely
• cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for at least an hour
• remove from fridge and mix with a hand mixer until fluffy and thick.

to assemble: put 1 tsp. of ganache in the center of one macaroon.  place second mac on top and press gently.  let macaroons rest in the fridge over night.

packed a bunch up for teachers and friends...