Food Photography Contest : Chocolate-Ginger Crinkle Cookies

Live for food? Love photography? Join the contest here, organized by Leites Culinaria with $700 in prizes.

And I'm sending this photo as an entry.



If you want to participate just follow the link.

Chocolate-Ginger Crinkle Cookies
via Leites Culinaria
by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn
from Gingerbread: Timeless Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Desserts, Ice Cream and Candy
(Chronicle Books, 2009)
Makes 40 cookies



Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
7 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Confectioners’ sugar for rolling

Method
1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

2. Combine the butter and 3 ounces of the chocolate in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 1 1/2 inches of simmering water (being sure not to let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter have melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. (You can also melt the mixture in the microwave, heating it at about 20-second intervals and stirring periodically until it is melted and smooth.)

3. Stir the granulated and brown sugars into the melted chocolate mixture, using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula. Drop in the eggs, one at a time, mixing briskly until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract and gradually incorporate the flour mixture. Fold in the remaining 4 1/2 ounces of chocolate and the crystallized ginger. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

4. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Shape the chilled dough into walnut-size balls, roll in confectioners’ sugar, and arrange them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. (If your kitchen is quite warm and the dough becomes too soft, return it to the refrigerator until chilled and fairly firm.) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and the tops are cracked.

6. Cool the chocolate-ginger crinkle cookies on the baking sheets set on wire racks for about 2 minutes before removing them to the racks to cool completely. Store the crinkle cookies in an airtight container or in a zip-top bag for up to 4 days.

Melting Moments

It's been 2 months since my last post in this blog. So many things happened. The photograph theft issues and our move into a new apartment have drained my energy. And blogging would be the last thing in my mind.

I've been busy unpacking stuffs and decorating room by room in our new nest. Now, everything's almost back to normal except the photo theft issues (yup the thefts are still around), we start a new chapter in the new apartment.

2 years in the old apartment and we had such a really sweet memories. Especially in our artful life. We've done so many artful things.


sweet memories from the old apartment

And this is what I've done for the past 2 months, painting and decorating the new place.


new chapter in the new place

Ok, enough about our story :), now I'm ready to rock on my kitchen. This would be the first recipe from my new kitchen and the first food photos from my new food photos corner. Lucky me, the new flat has a room (kids' room) with abundant of light in the morning *yaayy*. And I think this would be my favorite spot to take picture.



For the recipe I just used what I've left in my pantry. Actually this is Arwen and Leia's project. They did it, I just supervised them, so you can imagine how easy this one.

Got the recipe from my favorite site Joy of Baking.



Melting Moments
source : Joy of Baking
Ingredients :
Melting Moments Recipe:

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour (dita-I use 1 cup)

1/2 cup (60 grams) cornstarch (corn flour) (dita- I use 1 cup)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (30 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping:

1 cup (110 grams) powdered (confectioners) sugar, sifted

Directions :
In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

When dough is firm, form into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 12 - 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, line another baking pan or tray with parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle about half of the confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar onto the bottom of the pan and then place the slightly cooled cookies on top of the sugar. Put the remaining sugar in a fine strainer or sieve and then sprinkle the tops of the cookies (or you can just roll the cookies in the sugar).

These cookies store very well. Place in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper and they will keep a couple of weeks.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

I made a slight modification for the recipe. I used 1 cup of flour instead of 1 1/2 cups, then added 1/2 cup to the corn flour. So the cookies would be more delicate and melting in your mouth.

For the coating, you can create as your liking. I made the caramel coating cookies because I missed the day when I was just a kid eating Lontong Paris cookies :) (it's kind of Indonesian shortbread cookies with caramel coating and chopped nuts).

KBB#18 : French Macarons - Chocolate Peanut Butter

O my o my....jantungan banget waktu baru terima surat cinta dari KBB. Gak nyangka kalo tantangan kali ini adalah bikin French Macarons....DANG!!!!!

Gue punya pengalaman buruk dengan FM. Udah 11 kali bikin tapi gagal semua. Bayangin berapa banyak putih telur dan bubuk almond yang terbuang? :(

Tapi karena ini tantangan KBB, ya mau gak mau harus dilakoni. Bismillah ajalah. Karena kebetulan gue mau mudik Ke Indonesia, Arfi ngasih kesempatan untuk bikin duluan sebelum gue sibuk nyiapin kepulangan gue ke Indonesia *thanks Fi*

Akhirnya, tepat di hari ulangtahun gue, setelah semua bahan-bahan siap, gue nekad dan sok percaya diri ngerjain tantangan ini. Tentunya dengan harap-harap cemas semoga mac feet-nya keluar.

Waktu mau ngeluarin macaron dari oven sambil ngintip...LOL...gak berani buka mata lebar-lebar, takut kecewa kakinya gak keluar. Pas oven dibuka...loh loh apa tuh?

Yipeeeeee!!!! French Macarons-nya ada kakinya!!!!!!!!!!! Mari kita mac feet dancing!!!!! Hadoohhh masa harus bikin 12 kali dulu dan di hari ultah gue untuk bisa dapetin feet?? hahaha....macaronsnya pinter gak mau ngecewain the birthday girl.

And I proudly present...my French Macarons! (walopun kakinya gak gendut gendut,tapi gue udah cukup puas)



Snickers Macarons
source : helen tartelette
Makes about 16

For The Shells:
3 egg whites (I like to use 1-2 day old egg whites)
50 gr. granulated sugar
200 gr. powdered sugar (minus 2 Tb)
55gr. almonds
55 gr. peanuts
2 Tb cocoa powder



For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won't work. Combine the almonds, peanuts, cocoa powder and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Pass through a sieve. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Pipe or spoon some ganache on one shell and sandwich with another one.
If you use fresh whites, zap them up in the microwave on medium high for 20 seconds to mimic the aging process.