Sesame - Orange Almond Tuiles (Eggless)

Sesame - Orange Almond Tuiles (Eggless) . Honestly, I was not much of an online shopper until they started selling bake ware and cook books online. Not that I go crazy buying things, but it’s so good to browse through these written by excellent authors, especially those books with the Look Inside feature.

Of course, I want them all! The Baking Bible by Rose Levy, Dorie Greenspan’s Baking Chez Moi, Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apperentice, Michel Roux’s Pastry the list goes on and on! David Lebovitz is one another author I love and keep going back to again and again. His book Ready For Dessert came to my doorstep a few days (OK long ago!) and it’s a great one to have in your collection! Humor, great recipes and lots of eye-catching pictures. I would have loved to bake one of those custard based recipes by default but time just seems to fly!

In the meantime, it was so easy to decide on the super easy, convenient recipe for Sesame Orange Almond Tuiles. I always fall for tuiles so quickly, almonds, sesame and orange together made it even easier to decide on them. An egg free recipe, you can make the batter (a delicious one!) ahead and refrigerate for upto a week. I was a tad skeptical, having found these versions yielding rather tough, chewy cookies in my previous attempts.

I need not have been as the tuiles baked up quite crisp and very flavorful.   

Undoubtedly, they will taste even better filled with some vanilla ice cream! 

Ingredients

Soft unsalted butter – 45 grams

Oil (toasted sesame oil if you have) – 15 ml / 1 tablespoon

Fresh squeezed orange juice – 45 ml / 3 tablespoons

Zest of almost one whole orange

Vanilla Sugar – 135 grams

Flour  - 35 grams

Flaked almonds – 60 grams

White sesame seeds – 2 tablespoons

Black sesame seeds – 1 ½ teaspoons (or more white sesame seeds)

Method :

• In a medium sized saucepan, over low heat, heat the butter, sugar, oil, orange juice and zest until melted and smooth. 
• Take off the heat, stir in the flour, almonds and sesame seeds. Let the batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature. If planning to make the tuiles later, refrigerate batter airtight for up to a week. 
• Pre-heat oven to 190 C/ 375 F. Line two cookie sheets with baking parchment. David doesn’t recommend using silicon mats for this recipe. 
• Set a rolling pin for shaping the tuiles on a folded dish towel, and have ready a wire rack to cool the cookies.  
• Drop level tablespoons of batter spaced 3 inches apart (the cookies will spread a lot). Flatten the dough slightly with a dampened finger. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or till the cookies  are evenly browned rotating the sheet in between. Be careful not to burn them. The subsequent batches make take even lesser time. Do make one test cookie to determine the baking time. The cookies will feel soft after the come out of the oven, but will harden as they cool.
• Bake the cookies in batches. Keep the oven on. 
• Once you have baked all the cookies, place one baked cookie at a time on the baking sheet. Pop into the oven for 20-30 seconds or till soft. Drape over the rolling pin, press gently, hold for a few seconds till firm again. Slide off the rolling pin, store airtight. You could also shape them into cigars or little cups. Serve filled with vanilla ice cream.

 So if you have been looking for an egg free version of these lacy cookies, here is a recipe you could try.

Important : You can make the batter ahead, but be very sure, you serve the tuiles within hours of baking them. 

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Easiest Dark Chocolate Brownies - Easy Baking For Beginners

Watch the video here. You can also subscribe to my channel on YouTube. Click to subscribe now!

Wish you a very happy new year! Hope this year brings some much needed harmony and peace to the world.  Progress, growth and everything else can come next.  Hope the worst is over and we get a better and safer world to live in.  Makes me think, it is now more important than ever to reinforce and instill values, tolerance, broad mindedness and humanity in our children.  And of course, live and love each day, count the blessings.  As these thoughts rule my mind today, I can't help but think how insignificant the next post or some bad pictures are while there are much bigger victories to be won!

Here are some easy, rich, creamy, moist and extremely chocolaty brownies with a truffle like texture.  This is no snack with a glass of milk nor are these for the faint hearted.  This is dessert best enjoyed with some coffee or orange whipped cream.  With barely any flour here, these brownies vaguely reminded me of the Chocolate Idiot Cake , only these are even more idiot proof!  Just the kind of thing you can throw together at the last minute for a weekend dessert or party.  This is the easiest recipe for chocolate brownies a beginner can attempt as there is no risk of scorching or seizing the chocolate.  Enough said,  why not let these be your first batch?  I promise, if you adore chocolate, you won't regret! 

If you are an absolute beginner, please do drop by here before you begin.

Helene's Brownies - Adapted from David Lebovitz. 

• 
  
• Ingredients : Please weigh all ingredients. 
• 
  
• Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped - 200 grams / 7 ounces 
• Water - 60 ml / 1/4 cup 
• Instant coffee - 1.5 teaspoons (optional, but recommended especially if  using local brands of chocolate)
• Soft unsalted butter, cut into small pieces - 115 grams / 4 oz
• Sugar, powdered - 150 grams  
• Flour/ Maida - 16 grams / 2 tablespoons
• Almond meal / ground almonds - 2 tablespoons 
• Eggs - 192 grams / 4 large
• Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
• 
  
• Method 
• 1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350ºF . Mise en place. 

• 2. Line an eight (8) inch square baking tin with baking parchment, leave an overhang.  (David uses a 9'' round spring form tin) 

3. Take the chocolate, water, coffee and butter in a heavy medium-sized saucepan. Put it on low heat (on your gas stove is fine), stir constantly till the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

4. Remove from heat and gently whisk in the sugar.  Then the vanilla, almond flour and the flour.

5. Whisk in the eggs in 4 additions, making sure the egg is well combined each time. Remember you want to be gentle here, whisk just enough to combine. There is no need to work up a volume. The batter will be quite thin, almost pourable.

6 . Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18 - 20 minutes, until the center feels just about set. (this was at 20 minutes for me) . You won't see any wet batter on top and a toothpick inserted in the center must come out with a few moist crumbs attached to it. Let the pan remain in the oven as your check for doneness. Bake a minute or two more if the center looks wet.  The baking time depends on the pan size and your oven too. Err on the side of underbaked a little if you want a creamy center. 

5. Let cool completely, lift the brownies out of the tin (parchment and all) and cut into squares. 

Serve as is at room temperature or with a dollop of whipped cream. I liked these best the day I baked them. They turn more fudgy the next day, more like biting into a creamy bar of rich, buttery chocolate. 

Please Note :
Baking time : This probably will be the only slight glitch if you are a beginner.  As mentioned above, err on the side of under baking (by two minutes at the most), it may be gooey, but still good! Do note down the baking time so that you can adjust by a minute or two next time. 

David's note on Storage: The brownies can be frozen for up to two months, if well wrapped. Because they are quite moist, they’re somewhat fragile so pack them carefully if you freeze them.  If frozen, I would  prefer to simply bring them to room temperature rather than heating them in the microwave. 

I have not added nuts or chocolate chips as I wanted the texture smooth. Do add some if you wish.

Please do not go by the color you see in the pictures here, I am just plain terrible at taking pictures of anything chocolate. If you do try these, please take a moment to tell me how you liked them! 

Orange Poppy Seed Financiers

For once, financiers I would like to talk about! Trust me, I wouldn't even mention yawn-inspiring folks in dreary grey business suits, but I must when the financiers here are delicious little French cookie-cakes. Apparently these were created by a pastry chef in France whose shop was near the Paris stock exchange. Rich, elegant cookie cakes made with ground almonds, egg whites and browned butter - just right for his wealthy discerning customers. Cakes made in small rectangular molds resembling bars of gold probably gave them the name financiers. These are similar to Australian friands which are normally baked in muffin tins or friand pans (they make pretty cakes!). These are made with melted butter and are often topped with fresh fruit. 

With some almond meal in the freezer threatening to go rancid, financiers had to happen! Decided on this recipe from David Lebovitz as it is less richer than most recipes I came across. A touch of baking powder here makes for lighter cakes. So with black poppy seeds and a generous amount of orange zest thrown in, Orange Poppy Seed Financiers were out of the oven in no time at all. I love recipes like this! Top them with fresh fruit or chocolate chips or drizzle some citrus glaze on the warm cakes, you will like them all! Crusty edges, moist nutty interiors, these tender cakes are delightful freshly baked. 

The batter is ridiculously easy to put together - a matter of whisking in melted butter and egg whites into flour, sugar and almonds. Conveniently, the batter  can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days. 

Recipe from hereIngredients : To make about 12-15 mini cakes. Double the recipe if using a larger muffin tray. 

Ground almonds - 28 grams
Sugar - 50 grams ( I used powdered sugar, sifted)
All-purpose flour - 22 grams
Baking powder - 1/8 tsp
Black poppy seeds - 2 teaspoons
Orange zest - Freshly grated from one large orange, Microplane Zester* is the best tool for this.

Pure vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Egg whites -  62 grams
Unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (please read note) - 42 grams

Method: 

1.  Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).  I used a black mini muffin tray, so baked at 180 C / 350 F.  Spray the tin with with baking spray or grease and flour lightly but thoroughly.  

2.   Sift together the sugar, ground almonds, baking powder, salt and flour into a medium sized bowl.  Whisk in the poppy seeds. 

3.  Using a small whisk, whisk together the egg whites,  vanilla , zest and melted butter to incorporate well.  Whisk the whites mixture into the almond mixture in 2-3 additions.  Whisk gently but thoroughly.  This step is important as otherwise the butter may not get mixed properly making the cakes greasy.  The batter will be thinnish and of pouring consistency.  If not using the batter immediately, you can store it in the fridge for 3 days.

4.  Fill each cavity of the muffin tray 3/4 full.  Rap the muffin tin  on the counter once or twice to release any air pockets and level the batter.  

5.  Bake for 10-12 minutes  or until the financiers  feel firm when gently pressed with a finger (I did a tooth pick test too)  

6. Cool completely, then remove from the tin.  Please do eat some as soon as they cool.  Can be stored airtight for a couple of days, but the crusts will soften.

Please note :  I made 3 batches of these.  I used melted and cooled butter for one batch and melted and butter cooled slightly (about 125 F) for another batch wondering if that would make a difference.  I could not see a great deal of difference between the two . Either ways, the cakes taste great when really fresh. Only when they are kept for more than an hour or more, they taste a tiny bit too rich. Better to play safe, use butter cooled slightly,  serve the cakes fresh off the rack.

If you do have left over cakes, it may be a good idea to warm them for a 2-3 minutes at 180 C before serving. 

Variations : Omit the poppy seeds.  Use mini chocolate chips.  Do not stir the chips into the batter as they will sink and stick to the pan.  Top the batter with a few chips after you rap and bake.

Fresh fruit : If you like fresh fruit in your bakes, do absolutely use some. Most berries (not strawberries though), plums and cherries seem to work. 

Glaze : Make these plain with either orange or lime zest.  Drizzle some glaze over the cakes when they are still warm.

Am happy about this recipe as a start for me to get know these much loved cakes.  Looking forward to try more recipes and variations, fresh fruit, browned butter and more.  The things you need to do as a baker-blogger! 

Microplane Zester
Buy in India
Buy in the USA

Cinnamon Cornmeal Biscotti

Biscotti, the twice baked Italian cookies, are made with fat and without. For me, ones with less fat are the everyday kind and the more luxurious, considerably higher fat ones would make a lovely make ahead weekend indulgence. Biscotti with no added fat are loud, noisy and crunchy, great for dipping in wine I gather. The addition of butter or oil, makes them a little tender, less loud but still crunchy, crispy depending on the recipe.

After trying out a few recipes, realization dawns that I like biscotti with fat in them. These tender crisp kind are what I like to dunk in my tea/coffee when I feel like eating something light, but don't exactly know what. The kind of healthier cookies I like in my cookie jar for the kids to dip in their glass of milk. The bonus - these are really easy compared to the regular cookies, more substantial and keep well for days. You could  bake them at leisure and rest assured you have something not-too-sweet or fat loaded to nibble on over the next few days.

Looking for a new biscotti  recipe, I baked David Lebovitz's cornmeal biscotti . The gritty cornmeal in the biscotti , gives them a slightly different texture. Since the butter doesn't need to be creamed, you could get away making a really small batch easily. Made a couple of batches of these, one with cinnamon and some with citrus zest. Biscotti with cinnamon and butter taste great when really fresh, you must try these if cinnamon is your spice. Baked a batch with oil in place of the butter. Since using butter or oil did not make a great deal of difference, I think I shall stick to using oil.

I have made small batches (a fourth of the below recipe) just to play around. Have sneaked in a tiny bit of baking powder as well.

Ingredients:

• All purpose  flour -  210 grams / 1 1/2 cups

• Cornmeal, preferably stone-ground - 70 grams / 1/2 cup
• Sugar- 200 grams / 1 cup ( I have powdered after weighing)
• Baking soda- 1 teaspoon
• Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon (I have added this)
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Eggs- 2 large / 98 grams
• Butter (salted or unsalted), melted - 55 grams / 4 tablespoons (weigh and melt) OR 60 ml / 1/4 cup oil
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 heaping teaspoon 
• Vanilla - 1 teaspoon 

       OR

• zest of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Walnuts (or almonds) toasted and coarsely chopped - 1 cup (100g)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the beaten eggs. Add the butter, then mix until the dough is wet and crumbly. Add the nuts and stir to get them mixed well into the dough. The dough will feel dry but will come together. Its not as wet as the usual biscotti dough, the dough with oil felt a bit dry, but worked just fine.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times until smooth. Divide the dough in two, and roll each portion into a 13-inch (33cm) long or according to the size of your batch and baking tray (these spread, so leave at least around 2'' space all around the log to be safe) , then transfer them to the baking sheet. Leave ample space between the two logs as the dough will spread a bit during baking.

5. Bake the logs for 20 minutes, or until they feel firm but springs back when you press the top. Remove them from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. You could, at this point, leave the baked log covered and come back to it even the next day ! Reduce the heat of the oven to 150 degree / 300 F.  (250ºF /120ºC in the original recipe)

6. Using a sharp bread knife, slice the longs crosswise into individual cookies, each about 1/3-inch (1cm.) Place the biscotti on the baking sheet, standing them up on their back (imagine slicing the log and separating the slices) and bake for 20-25 minutes. The cookies will feel soft when hot, will crisp as they cool. Vary the baking time to your preference, baking longer dries them out further, making them crunchier.

Let cookies cool completely, then store in an airtight container. The biscotti will keep for at least two weeks.

Tender-crunchy, I liked these as a change from the normal textured biscotti. Do make yourself a small batch of these with cinnamon and butter. If eating immediately, brush the warm baked slices with a tiny bit of butter and cinnamon as the baker's treat. Storing biscotti brushed with butter is not a great idea, the butter kind of solidifies later. Just happen to know.

Oven-baked Ice Cream Cones

Summer is here and how! And a I-can't-believe-this-is-Bangalore summer at that!  A slight rise in the mercury levels and I will be squirmish, so not surprisingly just staying put in Bangalore is my idea of a summer vacation. We are boring folks, I told you! While the kids are enjoying at their summer camps, I thought I must at least try and build some excitement around making ice cream, ice-pops and fro-yos at home. And some fun homemade ice cream cones too! No, I am not lucky enough to own a waffle iron but I actually quite enjoy eating ice creams from the waffle cones made in front of ice-cream outlets. Don't tell anyone, but if my daughter has second thoughts about finishing her cone, my son and I invariably kind of (note, only kind of) compete with each other to help her finish! 

Now that a waffle iron is not one of my prized possessions, I was glad to find a recipe for oven-baked ice-cream cones from the master of frozen desserts, David Lebovitz. Though not exactly easy to shape unless you have asbestos hands, making these is still fun! Cones in chocolate, vanilla and chocolate,  zesty orange and chocolate, lemon and sesame /poppy seeds, coconut and cardamom flavors, or chocolate dipped cones. Miniature ones for kids' parties, sporting the creative designs you can think of.  Spread the batter on your cookie sheets and let your kids do a spot of  'cone designing'. ( If they look clumsy like mine, you can always say the kids did it) Something you must surely do this summer as a fun project, then fill your own ice cream or with some out of a tub.

The batter and method for these cones is very similar to that of tuiles, but this one has more flour for more sturdiness. Tuiles are really really fragile, but a tad more forgiving when you shape. The ice cream cones harden even before you can yelp 'ouch' and mine had a few cracks here and there when I tried to give them better shape. You can pop the cones in the oven again for a minute or more and they do soften again, but still a bit tricky to shape. Keep your counter-top free, have your metal cone right next to the oven, wear heat-proof, food safe gloves (if you have them) which are thin enough to allow you to shape the cones. Or use 2 thin, short kitchen towels to help you shape by partially draping the towel (just enough to protect your fingers and give you a grip) over the hot cones.  Whew! I know, this sounds more like a complex surgical procedure than making some simple cones, but I am telling you all this just so that I can say, don't tell me I did not warn you!

I made one recipe of the vanilla batter and 1 recipe of chocolate. Having both helps use the batters for contrasting flavors and colors in one cone. Recipe from Epicurious

Vanilla cones (see variations below)

Ingredients:

• Egg whites, 2 large  - 60 grams
• Sugar - 7 tablespoons (85 g)
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/8 teaspoon
• Flour - 90 grams
• Unsalted butter, melted  - 30 grams / 2 tablespoons (weighed and then melted)

Chocolate Variation:

• Egg whites, 2 large  - 60 grams
• Sugar - 100 grams / 1/2 cup 
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/8 teaspoon
• Flour - 60 grams
• Cocoa - 20 grams / 3 tablespoons
• Unsalted butter, melted  - 30 grams / 2 tablespoons (weighed and then melted)

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350°F. Mise en place.

• In a small mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the salt and half of the flour (or the flour and cocoa sifted together for chocolate cones), then mix in the melted butter. Beat in the rest of the flour until smooth.A tiny whisk works well here. At this point you can use the batter immediately or refrigerate it for up to 4 days. Let the batter come to room temperature before using.

• Line a baking sheet (or the back of a 8''/9'' square or round tin) with parchment paper and use a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread 2 level tablespoons of the batter into a circle 6 inches across (I used 1 1/2 tablespoons to make about 51/2'' circles, baked for 13 minutes). Try to get the circles as even and smooth as possible. I found it easier to start off in the middle of the circle and move the back of the spoon in concentric circles (like dosa) moving outward. You will have to rotate the pan as you go, holding the parchment between your left thumb and the middle finger as the parchment tends to come away from the pan with the viscous batter.
  

• Put the baking sheet in the oven and begin checking the cones after about 10 minutes. Depending on your oven, they’ll take between 10 and 15 minutes to bake. The circles should be a deep golden brown (for vanilla) throughout (some lighter and darker spots are inevitable, so don’t worry). Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Use a thin metal spatula to loosen the edge of one disk. Slide the spatula under the disk, quickly flip it over, and immediately roll it around the cone-rolling form, pressing the seam firmly on the counter to close the cone and pinching the point at the bottom securely closed. ( I did a really clumsy job as the cones were really hot!)
• Let the cone cool slightly on the mold until it feels firm, then slide it off and stand it upright in a tall glass to cool. Roll the other cone the same way. (If it’s too firm, return the baking sheet to the oven for a minute or so until it’s pliable again.)
• Repeat, using the remaining batter. You’ll find it easier to spread the batter if you slide the reusable parchment paper off the baking sheet; any heat from the baking sheet will make the batter fussy to spread.

Variations

• For Sesame or Poppy Seed Ice Cream Cones, stir 3 tablespoons (35 g) toasted sesame or poppy seeds and a bit of grated lemon zest into the batter.
• For Gingersnap Ice Cream Cones, add 1 tablespoon mild molasses and 1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg to the batter. Increase the sugar to 1/2 cup (100 g).
• For Honey-Cornmeal Ice Cream Cones, substitute 1 large egg and 1 egg white for the 1/4 cup (60 ml) egg whites. Melt 2 teaspoons of strongly flavored honey with the butter, and substitute 1/2 cup (70 g) of flour and 1/4 cup (35 g) of stone-ground cornmeal for the 2/3 cup (90 g) flour.
• For Rosemary Ice Cream Cones, add 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary to the Honey-Cornmeal Ice Cream Cone batter.

Storage
The batter can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Let the batter come to room temperature before using. Once baked and cooled, store the cones in an airtight container until ready to serve. They’re best eaten the same day they’re baked.