Mini Chocolate Madeleine: Lovely mini size!

Another Madeleine recipe, haha, but please don't blame me, I do love the Madelene!
Actually the look is the first thing, then the taste, I really love the cute shell shape so, I just don't have enough of it.

This time the Madeleine comes in small size, the mini one. I just got this pan and I just couldn't wait to use it. The recipe came from the Japanese book:
Even the book show me how to melt the chocolate in the microwave, I still use the double boiler method. With the small amount of the chocolate it easy to ruin it in the microwave!
The cookie come out lovely and tasty too, not too sweet but not bitterly. You don't have to brush the pan with the butter if you use the good quality silicone Madeleine mold. But if using the traditional metal pan, I suggest you to brush the pan heavily because the Madeleine will stick to the pan like crazy.
Anyway, the Valentine's day is coming closer, and closer. This chocolate Madeleine can be your perfect gift to the one you love too.

Mini Chocolate Madeleine
Makes about 45 pieces

15g	Bittersweet Chocolate (melted)
2	Eggs
70g	Cake flour
15g	Cocoa powder
½ tsp	Baking powder
70g	Unsalted butter (melted and cool)
80g	Caster sugar
	Butter for brushing the pan

Preheat the oven to 170°C

Sift the flour baking powder and the cocoa powder together. Put the sugar into the flour mixture and whisk to combine.
Lightly beat the eggs, then pour into the flour mixture, whisk to combine.
Pour the melted chocolate into the flour and eggs mixture, then follow with the melted butter.
Mix until just combine.


Pour the batter into the piping bag fitted with 1 cm plain nozzle.
Squeeze the batter into the mold.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the Madeleine is puffing up and firm to touch.

Mini Chocolate Madeleine: Lovely Mini Size!

January 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge #26: something light... Tuiles – what could be lighter??

Well, I feel like we had complicate recipes for many months (and yes, I want to take a break ! Haha). Actually if the recipe of this month is the same length of last month (do you remember 12 page!) I will skip. But after seeing this month challenge, I feel so happy. This is one of my favorite cookies. I love the light and crunchy touch.

make this kind of cookie many times before, so it's not a challenge in the form of making something new. But every time that I try new recipe, It's my CHALLENGE too.

I just don't know what to pair with this cookie, actually I love it on its own, so sorry that I can't complete the challenge (the pairing part is here because me and my family finished them before I have a chance to pairing it, ^ ^)

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

January 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge #26: something light...

Tuiles – what could be lighter??

Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract, I use vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet


Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes (I use 8 minutes) or until the edges turn golden brown.

Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

* I use the French bread pan.

January 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge #26: something light... Tuiles

– what could be lighter??

White Chocolate Caramel Ganache Cookies

After the Chicken Farm Baker's Project: Valentine Chocolate ! I still have a White Chocolate Caramel Ganache in my fridge, and I know that I have to find the way to use it. So I adapted this recipe from: ................

The original recipe is called Alfajores de Dulce de Leche, which is the cookie with Dulce de Leche filling. But I think the cookie that use this kind of sweet filling can be a good companion to White Chocolate Caramel Ganache too.

So, I change the filling, (I think that if you can't buy already the Dulce de Leche in a can, my filling is easier and take less time to make too). The cookie is very easy and take very little time to make, and the dough is very easy to handle, you can reroll it without making them become tough. I use the egg wash to make the cookie's color better, because the dough use very little sugar, the color will be too pale. But if you feel a bit lazy to do it, just sprinkle the sugar is enough to give a cookie an extra sweetness.
Anyway, I add the Dulce de Leche recipe, just in case that you really want to make it, ^ ^.
If you use the White Chocolate Caramel Ganache filling, it will be better to keep the cookie in the fridge after filling it, because the ganache will melt in hot climate.

White Chocolate Caramel Ganache Cookies

Makes 84 couples

Cookies
540g	all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
50g	confectioners’ sugar
340g	chilled salted butter, cut into pieces
½ cup	water
	Sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Egg wash (optional)
1	Egg yolk
1tbsp	Water
White Chocolate Caramel Ganache
1.75 oz (4 Tbsp / 50g)	granulated sugar
4.5oz (2/3 cup – 1 Tbsp/ 135g)	heavy cream (35% fat content)
¼ tsp	Salt
5 oz (135g)	white chocolate, finely chopped

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat (such as Silpat).

Sift together flour and confectioners’ sugar. In a food processor, pulse together flour mixture, sugar, and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 20 seconds. With machine running, pour in the water in a slow stream, and process just until the dough comes together, about 20 seconds.

Form the dough into two flattened disks and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. On a well-floured work surface, roll out one disk of dough to a scant ¼-inch thickness. Using a 1½ inches round cookie cutter, cut out rounds from the dough and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other disk of dough. Gather up the scraps from both batches, and reroll and cut.

If using egg wash: mix the yolk with the water, then pass through a sieve. Pour the mixture into the bottle with spray nozzle.

Spray the egg wash over the cookies rounds.

Sprinkle the rounds with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the White Chocolate Caramel Ganache:


Chop the white chocolate into small pieces, and put in the bowl.

1. Make a caramel: Using the dry method, melt the sugar by spreading it in an even layer in a small saucepan with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat, watching it carefully as the sugar begins to melt. Never stir the mixture. As the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan occasionally to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Cook to dark amber color.
2. While the sugar is melting, heat the cream and the salt until boiling. Pour cream into the caramel and stir thoroughly. Be very careful as it may splatter and boil.

3. Pour the hot caramel-cream mixture over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
4. The chocolate should be smooth and shiny, let the ganache cool completely before using.

About 30 minutes before serving, spread 1 teaspoon of the cold White Chocolate Caramel Ganache (or the Dulce de Leche) on the cookies. Place the sugared cookies on top to make sandwiches. Serve immediately. Unfilled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Optional: Dulce de Leche filling

2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

Empty milk into the top of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes, until the milk is thick and amber in color, about 5 hours. Remove from heat, and beat with a wooden spoon to smooth out. Transfer to a clean bowl, and refrigerate several hours or up to 3 days

White Chocolate Caramel Ganache Cookies