Call me Bridget
You know that bit in the first Bridget Jones movie where she plans to create a Michelin-worthy dinner to impress her friends, and ends up serving: blue (string) soup, followed by an omelette and marmalade? That somewhat sums up how things have gone for me this week.
On Sunday my impatience and carelessness resulted in a saggy, flabby ‘hole-in-the-centre-from-stabbing-it’ attempt at a chiffon cake… followed by some THICK, (I mean boulder-like), excessively sweet, NYC cookies – I’ve tried making this style of cookie before and it ended in tears – I just can’t get on board with them… I therefore have no idea why I’m still trying to convince myself that I’m a fan, I’m not.
Monday started how all obnoxious Monday’s like to start: with a series of coffee disasters – still haven’t given up on the broken Nespresso machine – I’m at the stage where I need sandbags to reduce flood damage, and subsequently dumped ground coffee all over the worktop in an effort to fill my Moka pot - one of those truly beautiful moments.
Things peaked on Tuesday when I trumped Bridge’s blue soup with a ‘pond-dahl’ – no, green lentils are not a suitable emergency alternative for red lentils in a red lentil dahl.
I told you last week that I fancied soft boiled eggs and toast soldiers (with butter and maybe marmite). Well, I’ve still not fulfilled this, however, on Thursday I got impatient - I had no appropriate thick white bread for toasting so free-styled and went for a jammy semi-soft egg on a brown seedy roll with butter… it was good but let’s face it, not remotely the same.
Oh, and have I told you that I have to hold my oven door closed whilst things cook these days? Some would argue that our 28-year-old kitchen has character, others may just say it’s very old and in need of a face lift… despite my fondness for our quirky little kitchen, I’m inclined to agree with the latter.
Ok so it’s not been a total disaster of a week – I did manage to create a magical mini egg cookie that you will LOVE (below), I’ve also included my top tips for cookie perfection. I got myself totally immersed in the wonderful world of art and illustration… and subsequently spent a lot of time researching it which, as inspiring and enchanting as it was, robbed me of a fair few hours (including some that I generally prefer to assign to sleeping). I’m subsequently tired, stressed (because now my to do list is long, and the hours I have to do the list have diminished) and, whilst I’m stressing about getting through the to do list, I’m also mad because I’d rather be doing other stuff, like taking photos, drawing, painting, baking, writing this… and maybe developing unicorn wings so I can fly… why not?
Anyway, before we get onto the important stuff (cookie-gate) - NEWSFLASH: NEXT WEEK IS OFFICIALLY SPRING! Get the BBQ OUT people!! Although maybe don’t put your snow boots away just yet, I’m sure we’ll be hit with another juicy blast of winter before Spring decides it’s ready to make an appearance… but there’s so much HOPE! Eeek!
OK, I’m sending big squishy hugs and loads of love as always, have a lovely Sunday and a good week.
Steph X X X
Easter Egg Cookies
According to a study by HelloFresh Ireland (admittedly not the most robust source but let’s roll with it), cookies are one of the World’s 10 favourite comfort foods. I’m too scared to commit to my top 10 list of foods, but I’m in violent agreement that they are bursting with comfort and charm. They’re the perfect blissful balance of sweet, salty, buttery goodness.
I know we’ve ventured down a cookie hole before, but to recap, my ultimate cookie has crunchy, caramelised edges and a fudgy interior. It comprises a mix of white and brown sugar for optimum flavour and texture, the sweetness is balanced with salt, and it’s rich with butter, it’s neither too big nor too small, and it makes me very happy. Simples!
Much as this recipe is fairly simple, there are a number of important instructions that must be obeyed in order to achieve said perfection…
Firstly, use quality ingredients. In baking, it’s not always essential to use the premium stuff however, when you have very few ingredients in the mix, their flavour becomes more important, so, in my opinion you want to use some really tasty butter, a decent flour also enhances the flavour, even the quality of the sugar can alter the flavour (Bonraw offer a range of lovely organic sugars), though this isn’t strictly necessary, and of course, make sure you have some decent chocolate.
In terms of chocolate, I like to opt for some high calibre white and 54% dark chocolate for perfect melty vibes (you could also use an Easter egg broken into chunks), and of course these aren’t Easter cookies without the addition of mini-eggs - I chop them in half then whack some into the dough with the choccy chips and save a few back to press into the top of the cookie, partly aesthetic, partly for the extra goodness.
Don’t be scared of adding salt – salt is important to balance the sweetness but also it enhances the natural flavour of the cookie - yum.
Next up, make sure your butter is room temp, i.e. soft. Having combined it with the sugar, don’t beat the hell out of it - we don’t want fluffy and airy, just nice and creamy. Once the egg is added, we mix again just until it’s combined, then comes flour, and again, a gentle mix until incorporated. Finally, we bang in the chocolate, again mixing only until it’s evenly distributed through the dough. You need to channel your inner Goldilocks, not too much, not too little, just enough.
I know it might feel a bit painful, but now you need to weigh your cookie dough portions. For 100% accuracy, weigh the full amount of dough, divide by 13 and you should come out at around 60-65g. Portion your dough into the correct size chunks, roll each chunk into a nice round ball and press some extra choccy chunks (mini eggs) into the top of the dough.
Then there is the big rest… you want to give them at least 24 hours, my preference is about 48, or even 72 hours (I know MADNESS but bear with me). It seems faffy and unnecessary but remember, time = FLAVOUR. I baked off cookies at various intervals this week, the result? Those given less resting time were paler, tasted sweeter, and had a much more one-dimensional flavour. Texturally they didn’t match up either. And I’m afraid science backs this up – it turns out that, during the resting process, both flour proteins and starches break down, the flour hydrates a little, and the butter chills. We are then rewarded for our patience with a more flavourful, well-rounded cookie with a better texture.
Finally, bake them enough, but not too much. Golden edges, fudgy, soft centre. You may need to judge this in your own oven as all ovens vary, but for me, 170C fan for 12-14 minutes = perfection.
When they come out of the oven place a round cookie cutter over the cookies, gently move it around the edge of the cookie in a circular motion, nudging it into a neat shape, then let them sit on the trays for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If you eat one warm, give it that 5-10 minutes rest on the baking tray before you dive in as there is some carry-over cooking that needs to take place… you will also probably save yourself from a mouth burn which we all know is HELL!
Finally, sprinkle the tops with a pinch of flaky sea salt for that sweet, salty excellence!
Now, go get your cookie cape on and create some magic!
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