Celebration

This summer has been full of celebrations. We’ve had a baptism and a wedding and next Sunday we will be celebrating the confirmation of our oldest daughter. Seems just a little while ago she was small and now she is a teenager more independent on some days than others. It makes me reflect, did we do enough for her? Fortunately there are still a few years until eighteen and so I console myself that we still have a bit of time. But the fact that she is already fifteen, means the other kids are all growing up as well. There is something nice about the fact that we now have big kids in the house as well. Discussions can be quite interesting. I’ve had my first grader-going-on-second ask me one day if I knew what carbon monoxide was. I did my best explaining what produces carbon monoxide and why it is important to let the fire in the fireplace and the wood-burning oven in the sauna completely die out before closing the dampers. He then asked me, “But Mom, do you know why carbon monoxide is so deadly?” Before I had a chance to respond he went on to tell me about how the carbon monoxide is able to penetrate through cell membranes making it deadly. And I thought I was the one teaching.

Since we are preparing for another celebration next weekend, I thought I would share a couple of recipes perfect for the occasion. We don’t make cookies daily but quite often I do have a batch of cookie dough balls in the freezer ready to pop in the oven if the need arises. At the moment my freezer is quite empty as nearly all of the berries are eaten as well and so have needed to something completely new and fresh. I have tried two types of cookies. One is a gluten-free cookie and the recipe is from the lovely Ardys. Here is the link to her delcious Gluten-free Double Chocolate Chip cookies made with buckwheat. I think the main thing of importance is that they should not be overbaked. The lovely thing about these cookies is that they have no added refined sugar if you use unsweetened chocolate. I was not able to find the unsweetened version so I used a dark chocolate. So my cookie did have a bit of refined sugar. Eat them plain with coffee, or if you’re really feeling like it is a special day perhaps a scoop of ice cream on top would do the trick.

The other cookie that I have been working on is a Alfajores recipe. It is a completely new cookie to me and I still need to do some research but I promise that the recipe below is a melt-in-your-mouth cookie experience. The reason for their delicate nature is that they have quite a bit of corn starch in the dough.

I had been at the coffee shop one day and two young lads happened to stop by and stand in the doorway. They obviously were not Finns as they were not as blonde in complexion. I welcomed them and they claimed that they just came for a quick look that they would be back some other time. They really liked the interior design and soon they were inside and we were chatting. They just so happened to be from South America, and they recommended that we might take the alfajores cookies on our menu. Perhaps we could, as they are delicious. Below is one version that I found on Chowhound’s website.

Alfajores
80 g/ 2 dl/ 1 c cornstarch
65 g/ 1.5 dl/ 3/4 c flour, plus more as needed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
110 g/ 8 tbsp butter at room temperature
72 g/ just under 1 dl/ 1/3 c sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice (or you could use pisco or brandy)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
2 dl/ 1 c dulce de leche
Powdered sugar for dusting

Mix all of the dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside. Next place the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You may also use a hand-held electric mixer for this. Mix until light and fluffy. If needed, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolks, orange juice (or brandy) and vanilla and mix until incorporated. This will take about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed. On low speed, gradually fold in the flour mixture and mix only until everything is incorporated.

Turn the dough on a piece of cling film and wrap and form a smooth disc. Place into the refrigerator to rest until firm for at least one hour. I have also allowed it to rest overnight.

Once ready to bake, turn your oven to 175 C /350 F. Place your dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough to a thickness of 0.6 cm/ 1/4 inch. The dough may crack, but it is easy to patch up together. Using a 5 cm/ 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds and placed on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Mine were a bit smaller and although the original recipe calls for a bake time of 12-14 minutes, I baked mine for a meer 3 minutes. At four minutes they had become quite dark. So watch the first pan closely to see what the right bake time is with your oven.

Once out the oven, let them cool a bit before removing and placing on a wire rack. Fill half of the cookies with 1-2 tsp (depending on the size of the cookie) dulce de leche. Place a second cookie on top to form a sandwich. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

This cookies freeze immensely well! And they only take a minute to thaw. I actually prefer them just a bit cold, causing the dulce de leche to be just a bit chewy along with a cup of hot coffee. Perfection!