¼ tsp vanilla bean seeds, or 1 tsp vanilla sugar
Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using a handheld mixer, whip the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and vanilla seeds or sugar. With the mixer on low speed, beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined.
For each cookie, take around 1½ Tbsp of dough and form it into a sausage shape, the thickness of your finger. Flatten slightly onto the prepared baking sheet. The cookies should be around ⅛ inch thick (3 to 5 mm). Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Decoration
3.5 oz (100 g) bittersweet baking chocolate
1 egg white
1½ cups (190 g) icing sugar
2 Oreo cookies
Follow the instructions for the decorations on page 39.
Remove the white filling from the Oreo cookies, put the cookies in a plastic bag, and crush them with a rolling pin.
1. Temper the chocolate (see page 187). 2. Spread the chocolate on the vanilla cookies. 3. In a bowl, combine the icing sugar with the egg white. When the chocolate on the cookies has hardened, spread a layer of the icing on top of each cookie, reserving a little icing. 4. With a toothpick, randomly scrape away some of the icing from each cookie. 5. Apply some more icing where you want the Oreo crumbs to stick, maybe around the edge of the scrapes you made in the previous step. Use toothpicks, or put the icing in a piping bag. 6. Immediately sprinkle the crushed Oreo cookies over the icing. Shake gently to remove the crumbs that don’t stick. 7. Make short transverse lines by dragging a sharp knife across the white icing. 8. Now the cookies are ready to be eaten or to be stored in an airtight container.
Variation: A simpler alternative to the decoration is to spread icing on the cookies first, then put the tempered chocolate in a piping bag and draw stripes on the cookies.
CHOCOLATE ROCKS WITH FRUIT AND NUT FILLING
makes 100 chocolate rocks
Stones that have been rocked back and forth by waves at the water’s edge become smooth, and feel soft to the touch. These chocolate rocks, filled with nuts and dried fruit, look just like the real thing, but are much tastier!
Chocolate shells
2 Oreo cookies
7 oz (200 g) white chocolate, chopped
6 Tbsp (90 ml) sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt
⅛ tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Crush the Oreo cookies by removing the white filling, placing the cookies in a plastic bag, and using a rolling pin.
In a saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate, condensed milk, and salt, stirring constantly. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as the mixture is smooth. Stir in half of the crushed Oreo cookies.
Follow the instructions on the next page to shape the rocks.
Filling
¼ cup (30 g) salted peanuts
¼ cup (30 g) salted cashews
2 Tbsp (20 g) dried sweetened cranberries
Follow the instructions for the filling on the next page. You can also make chocolate rocks without a filling, but the white chocolate on its own is very sweet. You can substitute other kinds of nuts and dried fruit as well.
Tip: Use the rocks as decoration on a cake—maybe the chocolate cake on page 33 or the nut cake on page 105.
1. Divide the white chocolate mixture evenly into 3 small bowls. Leave bowl 1 as is. For bowl 2, stir in the rest of the crushed Oreo cookies. For the last bowl, stir in the cocoa powder. 2. Cover the bowls with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Let them stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 3. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a pastry board and lay out the nuts and cranberries. 4. Scoop out a small piece of one of the chocolate mixtures and flatten it. Place a nut or a cranberry in the middle and press it in. Roll the chocolate with your hands so it takes the shape of a rock. Repeat with the remaining chocolate mixtures, nuts, and cranberries. 5. Leave the rocks on parchment paper to harden for a few hours at room temperature. 6. Store the rocks in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve them.
MINT-GLAZED HAZELNUT COOKIES
makes 18 cookies
Look up! Maybe you’ll see an interesting cloud in the sky today. Clouds soar by in all shapes and sizes. Allow your imagination to soar along with them and decorate these soft hazelnut cookies in cloud patterns with the help of a kitchen sponge.
Hazelnut cookies
1½ cups (250 g) hazelnuts
1⅔ cups (200 g) icing sugar
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 egg white
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Grind the hazelnuts using a nut grinder. In a bowl, combine the ground hazelnuts with the icing sugar and flour. Add the egg white and lemon juice. Work the dough well with your hands until the ingredients are combined.
Dust some icing sugar on your pastry board and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is approximately ¼ inch (7 mm) thick. Cut the dough into approximately 2-inch (5 cm) squares, or use cookie cutters. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Mint glaze
1 egg white
2 tsp lemon juice
approximately 1⅔ cups (200 g) icing sugar
few drops peppermint oil
In a bowl, stir together the egg white, lemon juice, and icing sugar. Add peppermint oil to taste—it’s very strong, so add just a little at a time! Transfer to a piping bag.
Decoration
blue liquid gel food coloring
water
Mix a few drops