Flourless Chocolate Cookies à la Caramelized White Chocolate

I told you I would blog more about Caramelized White Chocolate! The day after I finished off my first batch of the ganache, well, I made another. I couldn't help it...and I have to say that I was quite satisfied with this use. Satisfied enough to post a photo of these silly things in the freezer bag that is supposed to protect them from me long enough to make it to my family's mouths this weekend...if I publish this online right now, I really do have to save them as promised...

This cookie recipe caught my eye last month on the Desserts Magazine site; I believe my cookies did not end up flat as theirs did because mine got overmixed. That's what happens when you follow time instructions rather than your gut. But these turned out well all the same, and perhaps chewier as a result of the mixing (although the photo on their website could be misleading, as the instructions say they should end up no more than half an inch thick, which is much thicker than the one in the photo, so maybe I just made mine too small). Super chocolatey, packed full of nuts, easy to make, and fabulously paired with caramelized white chocolate ganache and a touch of sea salt in the middle, yum! Glad I made the cookies smaller than directed since I made them into these rich sandwiches.

The white chocolate caramelizing went a bit different this time; the white chocolate chips did in fact liquify initially when roasted in the oven, but this did not affect the outcome. I just kept up the stirring, and it still turned nicely brown and crumbly, and worked equally well in the ganache. Which reminds me that it's a good idea to try a recipe more than once when posting it (as per these food blog ethics guidelines...), which I generally try to do - and I don't usually post something unless I'd make it again.

So here's one more thing I would definitely make again (maybe with almonds next time?):

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons (68g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder (high quality for best chocolatiness!)
3 cups (350g) confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of Salt
2 3/4 C (272g) walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon (15g) pure vanilla extract

optional for more chocolatiness: 1 C bittersweet chocolate chunks

1. Place a rack each in the upper and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2. Combine the cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and walnuts (and chocolate chunks, if using) in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla. Mix on medium speed mix for 3 minutes (or less!), until the mixture has slightly thickened. Do not overmix it, or the egg whites will thicken too much.

3. With a 2-ounce cookie or ice-cream scoop or a generous tablespoon, scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, to make cookies that are 4 inches in diameter, Scoop 5 cookies on each pan, about 3 inches apart so that they don’t stick when they spread. If you have extra batter wait until the first batch of cookies is baked before scooping the next batch.

4. Put the cookies in the oven, and immediately lower the temperature to 320 degrees F. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until small thin cracks appear on the surface of the cookies. Switch the pans halfway through baking. Pull the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire cooling rack, and let cool completely before removing the cookies from the paper. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

5. Sandwich the completely cooled cookies with the ganache of your choice and a light sprinkling of sea salt in the middle, and refrigerate to assist the bonding process. If the cookies are not completely cooled they will melt the ganache.

Really, don't forget to pair the caramelized white chocolate ganache with salt, no matter what you do with it!

Almond and Chocolate Cake

This is for those of you who are looking for a flourless option, a lower-carb and higher fiber option, or just a plain good dessert. It has more of a cake texture than flourless chocolate cakes that are mostly made of eggs, since it uses ground almonds to replace the flour.

Almond and Chocolate Cake
From Paris in a Basket

5 oz/150 g unsweetened chocolate or 6 T cocoa
5 oz/225 g sugar (2/3 C)
7 oz/200 g butter, room temperature
10 oz/300 g ground almonds (found at Trader Joe's)
3 T flour (eliminate if you need this to be gluten free)
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

1. Grate chocolate by hand or in a food processor (or measure cocoa). Mix with the sugar, the egg yolks, and the butter until blended and smooth.
2. Add the almonds and flour and mix well.
3. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt, at soft peak add the baking powder and continue beating until firm. Carefully fold into the other ingredients. Do not overmix.
4. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Rub an 8-inch pan (springform works well) with butter and sprinkle with flour. Pour the mixture into the pan, smooth even with a spatula and place in oven. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Let cool, remove from pan and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Serve with a spoonful of creme fraiche/whipped cream and/or fresh raspberries (or at least defrosted frozen fresh raspberries!) on the side.

Flourless Orange Ginger Cake Edged in Chocolate

For some reason this Flourless Orange Ginger Cake recipe jumped out at me this week; I was just scanning the dessert recipes on my favorite food blog, and remembered how it once appealed to me at a time when I did not have 2 hours to boil oranges. I've enjoyed baking other flourless cakes this year, including a chocolate almond cake that was marvelous with raspberries and crème fraîche, so I was eager to see how this would go.

Unlike some flourless chocolate cakes whose content is mostly eggs, this (and the previously mentioned chocolate almond cake) is built with ground almonds. A friend pointed out to me that this makes for an expensive cake, but I will point out that is also makes a fabulous cake texture in the right recipe. Trader Joe's ground almond packages are probably the most affordable and easily accessible option for this; I stock up whenever I can, since sometimes the stores are out of them. Some recipes that call for almond meal or ground almonds need a fairly fine grind, so TJ's ground almonds would need to be passed through a food processor prior to using them in those recipes, but for these cakes the rougher grind has been fine. On the same note of pricey-ness, these cakes also tend to be denser and richer than traditional American cakes, so a smaller amount can serve more people since you will want to cut smaller pieces to serve.

After finding an occasion that would serve as an excuse for baking, I followed Chocolate and Zucchini's recipe pretty closely (but not perfectly, of course!). When it came to the icing, I didn't have a whole lemon, nor pearl sugar. I did have some frozen lemon juice, so I stirred some raw sugar into the defrosted juice and spooned it over the finished cake while it was still warm. I added some extra orange zest on top, which was in big enough pieces to add a bit of texture to the top surface. The last change I made was add dark chocolate edging to the cake; to be completely truthful, I was afraid the edge of the cake was a little too browned, so I cut the browned edge off all the way around and then painted the open edge with chocolate. Since I had already planned on pairing chocolate in some way with the cake, this worked out well! This was a good proportion of chocolate to orange, so that the orange/ginger was not overwhelmed by chocolate.

The result received very good reviews from the tasters, and I myself very much enjoyed eating the cake. It was incredibly moist due to the whole puréed cooked oranges that were mixed in, the fresh and candied ginger bits were a great compliment to the orange, and the chocolate was wonderful with the things I added to it (see below). It also traveled quite well - another benefit of smaller cakes without damage-able icing. It should be stored in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in plastic to preserve the moistness.

Chocolate Edging
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken into bits if bar chocolate
2 tsp. orange zest
1 T butter
optional: 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

Microwave on high for 30 seconds in a bowl; stir well, and return to microwave for another 30 seconds if necessary to melt completely. Spoon mixture onto the edge of the cake and let solidify either at room temperature or in the refrigerator if in a hurry. May also be used to decorate the top surface of the cake.