Black Forest... Cookies!?

Last week a coworker who knows I like to bake offered me a challenge. Black Forest Cake. In a cookie.

Chocolate, cherries, cream. Holy crap yes. So, I started searching. Initially I’d figured I’d make a chocolate sugar cookie and sandwich two together with something cherry-ish between them. Maybe top it with some kind of creamy glaze or icing… Seemed like a lot of steps, particularly if I was making some of it up as I went. And I’d have to present these to the people at work who come by my desk and say “Cookie?” Not something I want to do with a complicated recipe that I’ve never tried before.

And then I came across a thumbprint cookie that was freaking perfect. A minor adjustment to incorporate the cherries and I had it! And holy crap do they look fancy. And holy crap did people ever keep coming back to my desk looking for more. Too bad the recipe only makes 28. I definitely need to do a double batch next time.

Black Forest Cookies

What you need:

For the cookie part:

• ½  cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg, separated 
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (regular, not dutch process)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar, for coating the cookies

For the gooey filling:

• ½ c cream cheese
• 3 tbsp dried cherries, chopped (if you don’t have or can’t find dried, I suppose you could use some other kind but really, look for the dried ones, they’re awesome)
• ¼ c icing sugar

To make them look super fancy:

• ½ c semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

What you gotta do:

As usual, have all the ingredients waiting for you on the counter. It’s best if everything is the same temperature: room temperature. But don’t bother preheating the oven quite yet.

As with nearly all cookie recipes, you start by creaming the butter and sugar.

Separate the egg, set the white aside, and add the yolk to the butter/sugar along with the vanilla and milk.

Sift the flour and cocoa together. I use a sieve over a bowl.

I recommend a bowl wider than the sieve.

I just dumped all the dry stuff in with the wet and started stirring. And panicking. It looks really dry at first. Like way too dry.

But I kept stirring and eventually it all mixed in and formed a really soft dough.

That’s why I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge for an hour. I totally did the dishes while it chilled. Totally did. Okay, yeah, total bullshit. But I thought about doing them.

Once it firms up a little, roll it all into balls. Yup, do all of them first. (Actually, preheat the oven to 350 first).

You get a better idea of how many there are, get a chance to make sure they’re all about the same size, and you won’t be constantly wiping egg white off your hands to roll the next one.

Yup, egg white. Dip each ball in the egg white.

Actually, best to dip only half of it, then roll it in your palm to spread it around. A bit too much egg white isn’t terrible. It comes off looking and tasting kinda meringue-like, but if you’re aiming to make these look fancy, less egg white is better.

Roll the whited balls in sugar and place them on a cookie sheet. With your thumb, a bottle cap, or a half teaspoon measure, press the balls down and make a dent.

Bake about 10-12 minutes, and then while they’re taking a minute to cool on the pan, use that measuring spoon to refresh the dent in the middle. You could probably skip this step if the dent stays, or if you’re okay with a slightly shallower dent.

Put them all on a rack to cool completely. You can make the filling while they cool.

Combine the cream cheese, icing sugar and chopped cherries in a bowl, then transfer it to a sammich bag.

Cut the corner off the bag and squeeze a bit of the filling into each cookie.

Resist the urge to poke at them or eat them. They’re not done yet and yes they really need the last step.

(Note the white-ish meringuey coating. It's actually kinda crispy and tasty, but has a slightly different aesthetic.)

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on medium heat. Seriously, everything in the microwave should be done on medium heat unless it’s water you’re trying to boil. The radiation is just too intense; you’ll scorch the chocolate.

Once it’s all melted, put in into a sammich bag as well, and trim a tiny bit off the corner.

Back and forth across the top of the cookies and the decorating is done. They’ll need a minute or two in  the freezer to set before you can pack them into the magic cookie tin to take to work. Keep them in the fridge though, there's cream cheese in them.

So, there we go. Black Forest Cookies.

Alright folks, here's your chance. Challenge me.

What kind of cookie do you want me to make?

Someone give that girl a sammich

No, I dont' think it's quite over. The Mayhem that is. This is one hell of a long month.

Taneasha is still on the road, still plagued by the strangest weather. Srsly, the woman is like some kind of tornado magnet. Me, I've decided that working full time over the summer isn't enough. I have to do school too. Evening calculus, here I come. Well, I do school full time and work part time the rest of the year, I should be able to pull this off, right? Right??

Feeding myself in the 45 minutes I'll be home between work and school three nights a week for the next 8 weeks is gonna be fun. I'm going to do a bunch of cooking ahead, have actually started with that and no, Taneasha, I didn't remember to take pictures /hangs head in shame/. I do however have pictures of a meal that commonly goes unappreciated.

The sammich.

Humble, yet satisfying, and creators of very few dirty dishes, these things have for some reason become some kind of good-enough meal, something we sigh and resign ourselves to. But really, what beats a couple slices of bakery fresh bread made with locally grown organic whole grains with a crusty exterior and tender inside carefully cuddling an infinitely variable collection of delectible meats, savoury cheeses, perfect veggies and just the right amount of condiment. Ha. Who says purple prose is dead?

Fresh bread is an absolute requirement for me and sammiches. I'll give it two days and then the rest of the loaf is relegated to toast (now there's a meal to sigh about). Besides, when you're craving egg salad, you really need fresh soft bread. It's squishy and gooey and way too likely to ooze all over your palms if it's not on the right kind of bread.

And I was craving egg salad. And I am completely unable to control cravings. And because of that I sometimes don't take anywhere near enough pics. But, I mean, it's a freaking sammich, I think you can figure it out without the visual aids.

Egg Salad Sammich

What you need:

• 2 slices of the freshest bread ever
• 1 egg, boiled for about 10 minutes
• 1-2 tbsp mayo
• salt & pepper & butter
• Optional, at your discretion, to your taste, and depending what you happen to have in the fridge at the time:

• minced chives or green onion
• red onion
• pickled onions
• pickled asparagus
• hot pickled beans
• picked pickles
• olives, black or green
• dill, thyme, basil, tarragon, marjoram
• chili powder, cumin, caraway, paprika
• bacon
• horseradish
• ham
• capers
• sundried tomatoes
• jalapenos, pepperoncinis, banana peppers
• what else is in your fridge?

What you gotta do:

Peel and mash the boiled egg. Mash it first. Don't add the mayo yet, you don't know how much you need!

Add the other stuff to the bowl. I had some cipollini onions in balsamic vinegar (if you've never had them, find them, they're fabulous),

bacon of course, and some dill that I'd dried and jarred last summer.

Once you've got all your goodies in the bowl with the egg, start adding the mayo. And by mayo I mean real mayonaisse, not some kind of weird whipped salad dressing. And by start, I don't mean plop it all in there. Too much mayo will totally kill an otherwise awesome egg salad. And once it's in there, there's no getting it out. Start with a teaspoon or two and mix it in completely before you add the next one. For once I'm going to say that wetter is not better. You don't want the creamy goodness on your hands as you're trying to eat.

Shred yourself some lettuce. Shred. Don't try to lay a whole leaf of iceburg on top of egg salad and expect it to work. For one, iceburg is useless and flavourless. At least use romaine. And shred it as finely as you can. Stack them, roll them, and slice them into tiny hairs of lettuce. Egg salad is actually one of the more delicate things you can put between sliced bread; you don't want to go overpowering it with huge crunchy chunks of leaf.

The matter of butter on bread is one of great debate. Some need it, some hate it, some want it on one side only, some only need it if there's no mayo... holy crap. Do what you want. Me, I need butter on sammiches and on toast. Regardless of what else is on there, I need the butter. You, you do whatever your little heart desires. This is your sammich.

Start assembling your masterpiece. Butter, mayo, whatever you want on the bread. Next, the egg salad. I don't spread mine all the way to the edge because I know it's going to squish a bit. Now, the delicately sliced (and apparently very shiny) leaves.

Cut the sammich any way you want. Or don't. This is a very personal thing and everyone seems to like them done differently. Who am I to tell you how best to arrange your meal.

The only thing I will insist on is a pickle. Every great sammich needs a pickle. Yes, you could have a few potato chips, maybe some carrot sticks, but even with those on the side, you need a pickle.

Okay, I'll admit it, that is definitely not the best looking sammich I've ever made. That was a muffaletta, which I promise to make for you some day. This though, this is dinner. No, not lunch. Sammiches are dinner too.

What kind of sammich do you eat for dinner?