Pineapple Tarts 2012

I first attempted to bake pineapple tarts last year. This is decidedly the most popular Chinese New Year cookie among my family members and friends. I have a friend who would order his $1.50/piece pineapple tart every year without fail and it is not uncommon to pay $1/ piece for home-made pineapple tarts nowadays.

In case, you are reading this in the hope to pick up a recipe so that you can make your own tarts and save a few quid, I need to be upfront and urge you to abandon your wishful thinking. The ingredients which include primarily pineapples(lots of them) , good butter, some flour and eggs are not going to be cheap. Then when you factor in the tediousness of grating your own pineapple, stirring the jam cauldron for 2-3 hours and fiddling with the pastry to shape them into pretty little morsels, you just want to give up.

I kind of did...give up. Not wanting to repeat the same old same old as last year, I decided to work with 2 different recipes, one for the open tart and another for a closed tart. Thanks to Valerie Kong's Traditional Chinese New Year Goodies class, I think I have truly found a melt-in-the mouth pineapple tart recipe. Contrary to what most food bloggers believe, you don't need corn flour to achieve the tender melt-in-the-mouth texture. Her recipe appears to be simple enough, with flour, butter, egg yolk and milk powder. I am uncertain if it is the golden ratio of her recipe or if it is the technique of incorporating the flour with the butter that delivered the melt-in-the-mouth end result.

The cookie turned out to be one of the most tender and delicious pineapple tart I have eaten. My dad couldn't stop eating them and at one point, was stuffing 2 cookies at one time into his mouth! Kind of funny to see the old man behaving like a kid.

I was feeling ambitious and attempted one of the most traditional closed tart design. This entails wrapping the jam with the dough and shaping it into an acorn shape before making little snips around the  tart to achieve the semblance of a little pineapple. The whole process of shaping and snipping was so laborious that I only managed to get some 20 tarts in close to an hour. I gave up and chose a simpler shaping method which only required me to roll the round dough across a little ribbed plastic panel.


I have just finished cooking my second batch of Pineapple Jam and can't wait to bake another batch of closed tarts.

I shall not publish the recipes of the pineapple tarts here as I know Valerie conducts the classes every year.  If you are interested, please check in with Shermay's Cooking School or contact Valerie for class schedules.

In the meantime, if you do not already have your own 'heirloom' pineapple tart recipe, I welcome you to start here.

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Ox Tongue Cookies - 宜兰牛舌饼

My first encounter with this cookie was in Taiwan. Named after the shape it resembles, it is literally called  Ox Tongue Cookies and is the local specialty of Yilan Province in Taiwan.
The commercial grade I had tried, came in many different flavours including, cheese, coconut, black sesame etc...  The cookie was whisper thin and gloriously brittle. Packed with the wonderful flavours of butter and maltose, the fragrance was delightfully distracting as I was shooting the photos of these cookies.


My reference recipe worked with a soft oily dough (butter rich) which had to be proofed to relax the gluten structure. This was then used to wrap a sugary dough filling before it was rolled out carefully to form the thin tongue like shape. Obviously, made by hand, I can never attain the whisper thin thickness of the commercial product - most likely rolled out in large batches through machine press - but I am more than delighted with the results. Thin and brittle enough to break at the slightest snap, I am feeling very accomplished. I can't wait to show these off to my Taiwanese colleagues.  These are again, traditional treats that very few would be bothered to make at home nowadays.

I can't wait to modify the recipe for Chinese New Year. Continue to watch this space for further adaptation.

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YiLan Ox Tongue Cookies (宜兰牛舌饼， 原味）

Recipe : (adapted from 来做古早味零食） 
Oil Dough
120g                     All purpose flour
55g                       Water
12g                       Powder sugar
40g                       Unsalted butter

Sugar Dough
30g                       Powder sugar
20g                       Maltose syrup
20g                       Unsalted butter
5g                         Water
30g                       Condensed Milk
50g                       Cooked flour ( Cook flour in a pot over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until
                             flour turns light brown. Sift and store)

Method :
1. Prepare oil dough by mixing water, sugar, butter together. Add all purpose flour and knead until a smooth dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough proof for 30 mins.

2. Divide the proofed oil dough (1) into 10g portion and roll them into balls.

3. Prepare sugar dough by mixing sifted powder sugar,maltose syrup, butter and water. Add in condensed milk and cooked flour until a dough is formed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 mins to firm up the dough.

4. Divide the sugar dough into  7g portion and roll into a ball.

5. Flatten a oil dough ball and wrap one portion of the sugar dough with the oil dough.

6. Flatten (5) slightly on a lightly floured silpat / baking sheet. Carefully roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin (use a smaller pin - those typically used for making Dim Sum would be good) .

7. Repeat (5) and lay the 2nd dough next to (6) and roll out the dough as instructed in (6)...



8. Make a slit down the center of the dough as shown above. (failing to do so, the cookie will balloon up in the oven) Bake at 170C for 15mins until the cookie is golden brown.

Christmas Spritz Cookies

Christmas is a season of gifting and for some amateur bakers, like myself, who have the audacity and hubris to believe that our wares can be as good as those bought from the stores, it is also a time of happy frenzy as we pot around in our kitchen, churning out batches after batches of cookies and other sweet treats for friends and dear ones. For me, at least, the festival offers a legitimate excuse for me to indulge in my culinary expressions...  L has commented that I would be making many people happy with my Christmas giveaways. I replied with my usual pragmatism, "I am not sure if I will be making them happy but at least I get to bake to my heart's content and not have to eat them up by myself..."  So, not quite the right attitude to embrace the season's spirit but I swear, I try, I do....  at least I make the effort to conceptualise about what would delight others.

Last year, I gave away boxes of Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms.  This year, the inspiration came from  RasaMalaysia, Bee's Spritz Cookies Post. Her post reminded me of a similar cookie press which I had bought almost a year ago when I was traveling in the US. That and of course, Bee's ravings about the recipe made it difficult for me to resist baking this.  It was an easy recipe and the cookie press effortlessly lends a cuteness to the cookies which I believe would be well received by all. The vision of a green Christmas Tree immediately had me reach for my new tub of Pistachio Paste. The first time I worked with the pistachio paste was with these financiers... The impression of those jade green crumbs remains vivid.


The full green pistachio spritz cookies were delicious with the sweet nuttiness from the pistachio. Embellished with a whisper of gold dust or a sprinkle of gold sprinkler beads completed the festive picture. Deciding to experiment a little more with my cookie press, I then dreamt up a dual flavour concoction by combining 2 strips of dough, one pistachio and one vanilla side by side and extruding them through the press. The result was delightful and I was really thrilled.

So, if you too, happen to have a cookie press lying somewhere in your cabinet, I urge you to rummage for it and give this a try. The fundamental recipe, as promised by Bee is wonderful and you can jazz it up with a little creativity. Happy Baking! Pin It

I will be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #14: Creative Christmas Bakes (December 2011).

Recipe : (Adapted from RasaMalaysia's Spritz Cookies)

Ingredients:

280g (260g for pistachio dough)  unsalted butter, room temperature
85g powdered sugar+15g sugar1/4 teaspoon salt
20g Pistachio paste (for pistachio dough)
310g all-purpose flour
110g corn starch
3 tablespoons milk powder
2 tablespoons full cream milk/whole milk ( I omitted this for the pistachio dough)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method :

Cream the butter with sugar and salt until fluffy. Add in egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until well incorporated. 

Add in pistachio paste (for pistachio dough) and mix until well incorporated.

Add in the milk powder,milk, and mix well.

Fold in the all-purpose flour and corn starch. Mix until the dough becomes soft and not stick to hands.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silplat.  Transfer the cookie dough into the cookie press with your desired pattern. Ratchet the dough out onto the baking sheets. Make sure to leave some space in between the cookies. Top the cookies with some sprinkles and place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked. (For dual flavour cookies, form 1 strip of pistachio dough and 1 strip of vanilla dough. Combine them side by side along the length. Insert the combined dough into the cookie press and ratchet the dough as above) 

Bake for about 13-14 minutes, or until cookies are completely cooked through inside or turn slightly brown. Cool on rack.

Bourke Street Bakery's Chocolate Sour Cherry Cookies

If ever there was a fraternity devoted to cookie lovers, it would most likely be split into 2 sects, the chewy diehards and the crispy advocates.  I, for one, belong to the latter union. I have never quite learnt to appreciate the fudgy texture that the chewy cookie lovers so swoon over. I like my biscuits/cookies light and crisp...as exemplified by the sables featured here and here.

Having said that, I do wish to pay tribute to Bourke Street Bakery's Chocolate Sour Cherry Cookies.  These are super-rich chocolate biscuits that when baked to perfection, is crisp on the outside and fudge-like in the the center - a clever recipe that not only addresses the needs of both sections of the fraternity but hold all chocolate lovers captive as well.

An easy recipe to follow, this has been tried by many. Ellie of Almost Bourdain/ Gourmand Recipe had first strongly recommended me to try this when I was gripped by the Bourke Street Bakery fever a while ago.


A great basic recipe, the flavours can be tweaked by modifying the level of bitterness in the dark chocolate, injecting more tartness with tangy fruits or imparting textural crunch with nuts. Absolutely delicious eaten on its own, I was equally besotted when I dunked it in milk. A cookie and a glass of milk - I get enough energy pow for the whole morning!


Recipe : (Adapted from here )

235g           Dark Chocolate
150g           Plain flour
40g             Unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 tsp         Baking soda
1/2 tsp         Salt
100g           Unsalted butter softened
240g           Soft brown sugar
2                 Eggs
85g             Dried sour cherries

Method:
1. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Melt chocolate over a ban marie.
2. Set oven to 165C.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and creamy.
4. Add in eggs one at a time until well mixed.
5. Add in (1) in 3 additions, mixing well after every addition.
6. Add in melted chocolate.
7. Fold in sour cherries.
8. The batter will be quite sticky. Refrigerate for 10mins and shape the batter with ice-cream scoop or spoon onto a cookie baking sheet - ensuring enough spacing between cookie for spreading.
9. Bake at 165C for 15-20 mins until risen and quite cracked on top. Cool on the trays and eat. Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

Pierre Herme's Macaron au Chocolate Amer

A while back, I was on a roll with Pierre Herme's sables. I was so entrenched in those recipes that for a while I thought I had found a new defining moment for myself.  You've probably noticed that I am currently in the mood for macarons and what better way to merge the two obsessions than to experiment with  the Macaron Master's recipes?

Pierre Herme's macarons have to be the most celebrated in the pastry world. My first encounter with the Macaron was at Laduree when I was in Paris for the first time almost 10 years ago. At that time, I was staying at a hotel at Champs Elysees and I was ignorant about Laduree's fame. I ventured in one Sunday morning because it was a pretty restaurant/ cafe and I wanted to have breakfast.  I recall being overwhelmed by the queue and the crowd hovering over the pastry counter. It was then that I spotted these colourful, gem-like pastries.  I  joined the queue and bought a gift box of macarons which I brought back to the office as souvenirs.

When I returned to Paris again 2 years ago, I could have gone to Pierre Herme's Patisserie, but strangely, I didn't feel compelled to do so. Perhaps it was because I had already seen his creations in Tokyo or perhaps I had other higher priorities like shopping for cookware at E.Dehillerin...

Whatever it is, it has not stopped me from lusting after his coveted cookbook Macarons. Available only in French now, I am waiting fervently for the English translation. In the mean time, I have tried to search for others who may have baked from the book. 2 recipes stood out, one is a Ketchup Macaron recipe which is too unorthodox for me. The other is this Macaron au Chocolate Amer which incorporates melted 100% Chocolate.  Chocolate has the infamous reputation of destabilising meringue and up till now, I have never quite come across any recipe that calls for the use of melted chocolate in a macaron biscuit or even a chocolate chiffon ( I have only come across one recipe). Cocoa powder is most commonly used and a good quality cocoa powder like Valrhona will give a deep rich chocolate hue to the pastry.


I did not succeed during my first attempt because I had been too confident and had gone ahead to bake it at 155C like I have done before.  The shell of the macaron,  though looked smooth and lovely in the oven turned out to be quite soft. Upon cooling, this immediately turned all puny and wrinkled.  Luckily, with macarons, I have cultivated the habit of piping a few macarons on 2 small sheets for test baking. This allows me to check for proper drying which can be reflected in the proper development of the macaron feet.
I reverted back to the instructions in the recipe which called for baking the macarons at 180C with fan mode.

This time round, the macarons turned out well. The shell is not as crisp as the last 2 recipes but  slowly crystalised over time to yield a very delicate thin shell with a sponge-like chewy center- most fascinating.
The beauty of this recipe is that the 100% Cocoa is so bitter,  it actually neutralizes the sweetness of the meringue quite effectively.


Recipe : (from here) 
Shell
150g       Almond Meal
150g       Icing Sugar

55g       Egg White A
2g         Red colouring

150g       Castor Sugar
2.5 tbsp   Water

55g         Egg White

60g         100% Dark Chocolate

Ganache Filling

180g       70% Dark Chocolate
20g         100% Dark Chocolate
200g       Cream
70g         Butter (room temperature)

Method :
To make the shells

Line 2-3 baking sheets with baking parchment. Mark the parchment with circles 1½in/3.8mm wide (I drew around a piping nozzle of the correct diameter), spacing them ¾in/2cm apart. Turn the paper over (the circles should show through).

Sift the icing sugar and ground almonds (you’ll need a fairly wide mesh sieve for this) into a large bowl.

Chop the 100% cocoa solids chocolate and put it in a bowl over a pan of just-simmering water, leaving it to melt and reach a temperature of 122F/50C.

Divide the egg whites into two equal portions.

Mix the food colouring into one portion and add to the bowl with the icing sugar and almonds (no need to mix it).

Put the mineral water in a small pan and add the granulated sugar. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then boil the syrup using a thermometer to track its temperature.

Meanwhile, put the other half of the egg whites in a bowl and plug in the electric beaters. When the syrup reaches 240F/115C, begin to beat the second quantity of egg whites to soft peaks.

Once the syrup reaches 244F/118C, pour it slowly on to the whites, beating all the time. Keep beating until the mixture returns to a soft peak consistency and has cooled to 122F/50C. (This egg white-syrup mousse is what chefs call an Italian meringue.)

Add the beaten egg whites to the bowl with the icing sugar and almonds.

Mix, then add the melted chocolate. Once it is incorporated, beat the mixture hard with a wooden spoon for a minute or so, without trying to incorporate more air.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ³/8in/10mm plain tip. (Depending on the size of your piping bag, you’ll probably need to do this in three or four batches.)

Pipe the mixture onto baking sheets lined with the parchment paper marked with circles. Using a sifter, sprinkle lightly with powdered cocoa (you’re aiming for a few freckles, not an even dusting).

Tap the baking sheets on a work surface covered with kitchen towel.

Let the shells stand for half an hour, until a skin forms on the surface. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4.

Slide the baking sheets into the preheated oven. Bake for 12 minutes, quickly opening and shutting the oven door twice during the cooking time to let the steam escape.

Take the baking sheets out of the oven. Slide the sheets of parchment paper with shells onto a work surface and leave to cool.

To make the ganache

Cut the butter into pieces.

Put the chocolate into a bowl. Boil the cream and pour about a third at a time onto the chopped chocolate, mixing each time. The mixture will separate and look grainy, but keep mixing and it will come together.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool to 122F/50C.

Add the chopped butter and beat until smooth.

Pour into a wide dish. Press clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe.

To assemble the macarons

Spoon the ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a ³/?in/10mm plain tip. Pipe a generous mound onto a shell, then top with another shell, twisting lightly so that the filling spreads and bulges enticingly.

Store covered in the fridge for at least 24 hours to allow the inside of the macaron shells to soften.

Bring back to room temperature before eating.

Raspberry White Chocolate Macarons

Here's one for the Sweet Tooth Fairy. Without cocoa powder to neutralize the sweetness of the macaron shell, this biscuit is sweeter than the Chocolate Macarons I had made earlier. (Actually strangely enough, I found that as you let the macarons age for a few days, they became less sweet, so the chocolate macarons were really quite perfect after they have sat out 3-4 days in the fridge. )  With the Raspberry White Chocolate filling, the sweetness level was propelled to astronomical level. In the spirit of research and experimentation, I had only made a few macarons with the Raspberry White Chocolate filling recipe I found in Australian Women's Weekly 'Macarons & Biscuits'.  I filled up the rest of the biscuit stock with the dark chocolate ganache.

One of the challenges I had faced many years ago when I managed to achieve consistent macaronage was to get the perfect pastel shade cookie without browning. Pretty peaches, Bubblegum pinks and Melon greens were what I was after. Hence, when I was sure that macaronage was still within my reach last week, I couldn't wait to get them out in every bubble gummy shades... First up, is of course, the girly pink colour. I baked these at 155C without using the fan mode and left them on the lowest rack in the oven.  They turned out quite decent with very little browning.

So if you have a weakness for anything sweet and pretty, this one's for you.


Recipe ( I had used Trissa's Recipe which uses the French Meringue Recipe here)

Please refer to the recipe at Trissa's post. Her recipe has been tried and tested by many and I find it less troublesome to follow. A few points to take note :

1. I added the pink colouring after all the castor sugar has been added and the meringue is relatively stable.

2. I let the macarons dry out for 1.5 hours in an air conditioned room before baking. If you are staying in a cooler region with lower humidity you can cut down the drying time to 30mins.

Raspberry White Chocolate Filling (Australian Women's Weekly Macaroons & Biscuits)

60ml         Pouring cream
150g         White chocolate
1 tbsp        Raspberry Jam

1. Bring the cream to boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate, stir until smooth. Stir in jam and tint with pink colouring. Refrigerate until spreadable.

2. Sandwich Macarons with filling.

Chocolate Macarons -Experimenting With Adriano Zumbo's Recipe

Have you noticed something interesting among successful pastry chefs? Whether it be Pierre Herme, Australia's Adriano Zumbo or our own Singapore home grown Chef Pang Kok Keong, they invariably have an accolade of macaron trophies that applaud their pastry wizardry.

I deem the macaron the holy grail of baking. I started experimenting with it possibly 4-5 years ago,  before I started blogging. At that time, macarons were difficult to come by in Singapore and they were (and still are) frightfully expensive. I did most of my research on line and would be baking every evening, trying out one recipe after another, adjusting one condition after another... throwing out one tray of cookies after another... not because I liked to eat macarons but because I was obsessed with the quest of getting my hands on the holy grail...
When I finally achieved consistency, using the Italian Meringue technique, I felt proud and at peace with myself....

For all who had attempted to make the macaron, you would know that these cookies are more temperamental than a prima donna and has to be coddled with utmost attention and sensitivity. There is no fool proof recipe for macaron - too many factors can rub the spoilt little biscuit the wrong way. If you are new to macaron baking and is successful for the first time with a particular recipe, congratulations - you were very lucky... the next challenge then requires you to reproduce this with the consistent outcome again again and again.... Among the many pressure points that can kill your joy are

1. The stability of your egg white;
2. The end point of meringue deflation (what some people call macronage, the lava flow consistency you need to achieve before piping them out.)
3. The air drying time which can be affected by room temperature and humidity - In humid Singapore, don't expect to dry your macarons properly in 30mins as is usually stipulated in most recipes)
4. Your oven condition.

The recipe is the least of my worry - most of them, if you scrutinise closely have roughly the same component ratio. (The ones with higher sugar to almond meal/egg white ratio tend to be more stable to work with but you will need to have a very sweet tooth to enjoy them.)  The real challenge lies in the technique and conditions - the only way to grasp these is to be prepared to make batch after batch until you understand the limitations of your working conditions, until you can recognise what the macronage end point looks like...

I have been inspired to bake macarons again by an elimination challenge in Australian Masterchef. In the challenge, the contestants are expected to create Adriano Zumbo's Macaron Tower. What intrigued me was not the unique flavours of the macarons (if you can't get the biscuit right, no amount of clever flavour ideas will redeem you) but the baking condition recommended in Zumbo's recipe - he had recommended that the macarons be chucked into a 200C oven, turn the oven off for 10 mins before finishing the baking process at 155C for another 9 mins. Too many voodoo oven settings have been written for the macaron... Pierre Herme's recommendation to insert the macarons into a 220C oven and immediately change the setting to 180C to continue the baking process with a wooden spoon jammed into the oven door to keep it slightly ajar ...sounds amusingly like old wife's tale.

However, the temperature ramping is not without its purpose. The higher temperature crisps the shell of the macaron while the lower temperature cooks the inside of the macaron while keeping it soft and chewy. The end result is not a biscuit that is crunchy through - that would have made it a meringue - it should have a crisp shell with a gooey center. This method, I think, is especially useful if the sugar to almond meal ratio is about 2:1. Higher sugar ratio, I think, will be able to crystallise better at lower temperature to give a glassy crispy shell even at a lower temperature e.g. 150 - 160C.



I tweaked the recipe and added about 50g of cocao powder to the original recipe (see below). I also dried the macarons in my air-conditioned living room for 1.5 hours before baking.
The result is very good. As promised the shell is crisp while the center remains chewy and gooey...
I urge you to play with the recipe. Do not be discouraged if you do not get it right the first (few) time round - especially if you've never made macarons before. Repeat it and pay attention when you do. Till my next macaron (I am still not a fan), may we all find macronage!


Recipe : Please refer to Adriano Zumbo's Recipe on Masterchef Website for instructions.

225g     Almond meal
225g     Icing sugar
50g       Cocoa Powder
82.5g    Egg White

225g     Castor sugar
55.5g    Water
82.5g    Old egg white
1.5g      Powdered egg white


Chocolate Ganache Filling :
240g     Dark chocolate
250g     35% Fresh cream

1. Heat cream in a saucepan until it boils.
2. Remove from heat and boil the boiling cream into a bowl that holds the chocolate.
3. Let it infuse for 3 mins. Stir the chocolate gently until it is totally melted.
4. Cool down to pipe-able consistency.

Raisin Danish Butter Cookies

I had mentioned in my earlier Danish Butter Cookies post that I was just one cookie short to complete the full array in the nostalgic blue tin. Here it is , my last instalment of the Danish Butter Cookie collection. Made during that short interval just after I got back from Korea last weekend and before I scuttle off again on Sunday, I did my best to snap a couple of photos before packing these up to bring for my colleagues in Taiwan.

This version, unfortunately did not taste quite like my favourite coconut raisin cookie in the blue tin. Possibly because the coconut component was insufficient in the recipe. If I were to tweak this further, I would probably try to increase the amount of dessicated coconut and find ways to incoporate some coconut cream or oil into the recipe. Nevertheless, if you had enjoyed the earlier sable cookies recipe, this will still have the buttery flavour and the light crisp texture that we had loved about the recipe.

For now, let me leave you with this very short post. Will cook once I get my travel laundry done :)

Recipe :

95g              Unsalted Butter
1g                Fleur de Sel
1/8 tsp         Vanilla extract
40g              Powdered sugar
15g              Egg white
100g            Plain flour
15g              Dessicated Coconut
20g              Raisins chopped.

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk unsalted butter with Fleur de Sel until creamy.
3. Add in egg white.
4. Add in flour and dessicated coconut, raisins and mix until well combined.
5. Roll the dough in between 2 sheets of plastic to 0.3cm thick.
Chill the sheet in the fridge for 30mins or more. Cut the dough into desired shapes using a cookie cutter.
6. Bake at 180C for 10-12 mins or until golden brown.
8. Cool down and store in air tight container.

Pierre Herme's Sable a L'olive Noir Recipe - Black Olive Cookies Recipe

I have often been told that I look young for my age and because of that, I have always celebrated it to almost the extent of flaunting it...on many occasions, telling people that I am almost half a century old - which is really, not too far from the truth. I guess everyone, especially those from the fairer sex would be happy to look younger. However, sometimes, working in a male-dominated industry, to look like you've just graduated from college can often work against you. However,over the years, I have also learnt that as much as appearance can set a formative impression in others, what is often more important is the first conservations you hold with the other party. It is when you speak that you can either affirm or overturn their prejudice. It is from that point onwards that credibility gets a chance to build and gradually be allowed to develop into something bigger, such as respect. I am, as you can see, still on the Pierre Herme trail. Referencing from his book, Le Livre des fours sees et melleux de Pierre Herme which gave me the Sable Viennois, I found many other interesting but simple recipes. It is amazing how once satisfaction has been delivered, trust follows - almost unconditionally.

This is another Sable recipe but is based on a technique that I have never worked before. Different from Sable Viennois which uses egg white or the more common ones that uses wet egg/egg yolk, this recipe works with cooked egg yolk. The egg yolk is cooked fully and mashed up into fine crumbs. A small quantity of this is then added to the creamed butter.
I understand that this is not an unique methology but for me this is new and I was suitably intrigued.

The texture of the cookie is totally unlike the shortbread which is more compact and crumbly in a melty sort of way. It is neither the same as the Sable Viennois, the crispness of which has a more airy quality to it. This cookie is crisp with an light crumbly snap. It was magical and my immediate impulse was to create a chocolate chip version next time.


The other reason that drew me to the cookie was the incorporation of Black Olives and EVO in the recipe. A more adult and sophisticated taste, this is perfect for those who prefer a savoury cookie to the usual sweet ones.

I can't be more pleased to add this to my cookie repertoire. I will never look at cookies in the same way again.


Recipe :
5g Cooked Egg Yolk(Cooked & passed through a fine mesh)
65g Unsalted butter
2g Fleur de Sel
35g Powder sugar
25g EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
15g Corn Flour
80g Plain flour
25g Black Olives in Oil (finely minced)

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 170C (fan assisted mode)
2. Lightly beat an egg yolk and microwave at high for 30secs until cooked. (if you don't have a MW oven, you can hard boil your egg and remove the egg yolk from the hard boiled egg)
3. While the egg yolk is still warm, press it through a fine mesh.
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk together, softened butter, Fleur de Sel until creamy.  Add powdered sugar and cream until homogenous.
5. Lower the mixing speed and gradually add in the EVO.
6. Add in sifted plain flour and corn flour.
7. Fold in minced black olives.
8. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of cling wrap to 0.6-0.8cm thick. (Alternatively, you can roll the dough into a log)
9. Refrigerate to firm.
10. Cut dough using cookie cutter or slice log with a knife.
11. Bake at 170C for 12 minutes until brown.

Expanding on Pierre Hermes' Sable Vennois Recipe - Sugared Danish Butter Cookies

As much as I admire gourmet flavours and sophisticated recipes, I know I am not a good cook. I have neither the skills, the experience nor the deftness to create intricate and sophisticated dishes. Unlike full time housewives tasked with enormous responsibilities and with loads of practical experience stashed under their belts, I am at best, only pretending to cook in my kitchen. However, I would also admit that I like my food to make me look like a good cook... hence my quest and my penchant for 'simple gourmet recipes' that taste great and pack a punch of  wow...

If you are rolling your eyes now at the sight of yet another sable vennois post, sorry dear... this is my blog, I cook and I post what I like. I had liked how the sables tasted and I had felt gratified by the way these had resonated with many. Until recently, I had never thought that having someone read my post and attempt my shared recipe with raving success could be so rewarding and satisfying. I now realise I had underestimated the power of sharing. To all those who had recently tried the recipes in the last few posts, thank you for sharing your satisfaction with me - they had really made my day...

There is something magical about this recipe and I am determined to create the full collection in the very popular blue tin. This is an easily identifiable shape... I don't remember seeing cookies that come in this 'pretzel' shape except for those in the Danish Butter Cookie Tin. I bought the cookie cutter years ago and have never used it. Now that I have found the right recipe for it, I just can't wait.

In the previous posts, the cookie dough was piped from a piping bag. For ths creation, I have chosen to roll out the soft dough into a sheet, chill it to firm before cutting with the cookie cutter. Straight forward approach that does not require a nobel prize winning scientist to figure out but sometimes, we are too fixated with a recipe and just need a little nudge to move things out of the box.... in my case, the nudge came in the form of this twisted cookie cutter :) .

There is another advantage in shaping the dough this way - the thicker slice actually made the cookie less delicate to store and transport. Many would remember the pretzel shaped variety in the blue tin came crusted with grainy sugar. My sugar is not coarse enough to create the same effect but the slight crunch from the grains nevertheless added good texture to the cookie. To be honest, out of the 4-5 varieties normally encased in the blue tin, the sugar crusted versions were my least favourite. The ones that would run out first would always be the plain round wreaths (like what I made the last time), followed by the coconut raisin cookie...  So stay tuned - if I succeed in my experiment with the coconut raisin butter cookie, I would technically have the full range from the Blue Cookie Tin... :)  So - which is your favourite variety from the blue tin?

Recipe :
95g               Unsalted Butter
1g                 Fleur de Sel
1/8 tsp          Vanilla paste (the recipe originally asked for 2-3 pinches of Vanilla powder)
40g               Powdered Sugar
15g               Egg White
115g             All purpose flour
Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk unsalte butter with Fleur de Sel until creamy.
3. Add in powdered sugar and whisk until homogenous and creamy.
4. Add in egg white. ( The mixture may curdle a little but it will smoothen out after flour is added.
5. Add in flour and mix until well combined.
6. Roll the dough in between 2 sheets of plastic to 0.3cm thick. Chill in the fridge for 30mins or more. Cut the dough into desired shapes using a cookie cutter. Sprinkle with coarse grain sugar.
7. Bake at 180C for 10 -12 mins or until golden brown.
8. Cool down and store in air tight container.