Category: Desserts & Cookies

Butter Spritz Cookie Recipe

These are known as butter “spritz” cooking because, well, they’re spritzed: squirted out of a pastry bag or if you’re a fan of Ron Popeil, a cookie gun. Make a chocolate version by stirring in 1/3 cup cocoa powder…or do half and half!

8 ounces (2 sticks) soft butter
3.5 ounces (1/2 cup) sugar
1 large egg
11.25 ounces (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
coating chocolate, sprinkles, raspberry jam or other embellishments

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Making Caramel Apples

Most caramel apples are made using melted caramel candy for the coating, or a home made version thereof. Personally I prefer caramel sauce as starting point. You get a lot more flavor nuances when you cook the sugar to the breaking point, or at least that’s how I see it. That’s where the fun is. Cooking the syrup to the caramel stage is also a lot easier to my mind, as you don’t have to measure temperature. You just swirl it over the heat until it’s nut brown…easy.

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Making Candy Apples

Much as I love caramel apples, given a choice I’ll go for the candy apple every time. That’s because no one makes them much anymore. There’s a perception that they’re more difficult to make than caramel apples, but it ain’t so. If you can heat syrup in a pan and take its temperature, you can make a candy apple. Here, let me show you how easy it is.

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Anybody up for chouquettes?

Got a lazy autumn afternoon going? Have a craving for something sweet but don’t have the initiative or the appetite for proper pastry? Then chouquettes are your answer. These little blobs of choux (cream puff) batter are extremely light, slightly rich and just a little sweet. They’re perfect with what’s left of the newspaper and a cup of coffee. All you need to do is whip together a little choux batter, it’ll take you fifteen minutes tops.

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Making Cannelés

You often hear it said that cannelés are small, eggy “cakes”. Don’t you believe it. Cannelés are custards (with candy-like crusts) and need to be treated as such. I know what you’re thinking: Joe, what kind of custard gets baked at 525 degrees Fahrenheit? That answer is a HIGH HEAT custard, wise guy, and just like a low-heat custard, precautions must be taken to prevent a cannelé from absorbing too much heat too quickly, lest it form lots of bubbles, expand and ultimately break into a grainy, syrupy blob. I’ll explain on the way. Let’s get moving!

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Cannelé Recipe

There are many cannelé recipes out there, and most are very similar. What I’ve found is that the proportions are nowhere near as important as the process, which is detailed in the photo tutorial.

16 ounces (2 cups) milk
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1.5 ounces (3 tablespoons) dark rum
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
8.5 ounces (1 1/4 cups) sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
5 ounces (1 cup) all-purpose flour

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Making Crotins au Chocolat

These unusual yeast-raised sweet muffins are unlike any other chocolate cake or bread you’ve ever eaten. Vaguely fluffy when warm, they settle down as they cool to become a bit denser and more decadent-feeling. Though not nearly as decadent as a flourless cake they’re definitely a chocolate kick-in-the-pants, as Mrs. Pastry likes to say, with little bombs of melty goodness throughout. Start by assembling your ingredients and preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Begin with the sponge. Whisk together the flour, sugar and yeast in a medium bowl.

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Crotins au Chocolat

No, not crottins with two t’s, those are, er…something else. A recipe that’s very similar to this one appears in Nancy Silverton’s excellent Pastries from the La Brea Bakery. I changed it slightly to accommodate instant yeast. Her crotins are a chocolate body blow…for certifiable chocolate fiends only. They’re not terribly sweet, and that heightens the impression that you’re eating almost pure chocolate, just in muffin form. You’ll need:

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Making Chocolate Pudding

If I were to give this a name, I’d call it serious, I-ain’t-playin’-no-games chocolate pudding. Unlike conventional American-style chocolate puddings it has bar chocolate mixed into it, which gives it extra body and deeper chocolate flavor. It’s not chocolate-mousse-thick, it’s much lighter than chocolate mousse, but you know when you take your first spoonful: there’s real chocolate in there. Start by assembling your ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients in a small saucepan.

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Chocolate Pudding Recipe

This pudding has extra chocolate as requested (repeatedly) by reader Glenn. It’s no more difficult to make than the vanilla version, and yields a silky and delicious product that you’ll end up hiding from your kids. You’ll need:

1.75 ounces (1/4 cup) sugar
1.25 ounces (2 tablespoons, 2 teaspoons) cornstarch
1/2 ounce (2 tablespoons, 1 teaspoon) cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 ounces (2 cups) whole milk
2 egg yolks
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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