German Crescent Cookies

I discovered these wonderful cookies when a friend baked me a batch a few years ago after my daughter was born, and I've been hooked ever since. They're tender, flakey and nutty but not overly sweet, the perfect snacking treat around the holidays, and frankly any time of the year. Excellent companions to hot tea or coffee as well, and incredibly easy to make. 

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The dough starts out almost like a pie crust, except it involves equal parts butter and cream cheese - the cream cheese makes the dough more tender and gives it a lovely tart and creamy note. It comes together in no time and all and you can use a food processor to make this part of the process even quicker. Chilling it after mixing is important, to give the flour a chance to properly hydrate and the fat to solidify so it maintains its structure through rolling and baking.

   

After the dough is chilled for 2 hours or overnight, cut it in quarters and shape it into discs. Ideally, you'd rolls this out into an even circle, but honestly perfection is not needed here, the cutting and rolling process is quite forgiving and the cookies will look wonderful even if they're not perfectly even in size. 

Here's where the magic comes in though - the dough doesn't get rolled out on a floured surface like any old cookie, but rather on a mix of nuts and sugar (cinnamon and lemon zest optional). This gets embedded into one side of the dough as it rolls out and coats it in flavor and texture. Don't worry too much if the mixture ends up on the top as well as you move the dough around and the rolling pin picks up some of the sugar-nut mix, but keep it on the same side as you roll it all the way out to a ~10" circle. The dough will be quite thin, but keep it as even in thickness as you can.

Cut the circle of dough into 16 triangles, like you'd cut a pizza (in half, then quarters etc to ensure roughly even slices) - you can see in the picture above an example. Then, take each triangle and roll it from the short edge towards the opposite tip as you would a regular crescent roll, with the nut encrusted side on the outside and the (nearly) plain side on the inside. Repeat with the remaining 3 discs, you should end up with 64 little cookies ready to bake.

Place these close together in a pan, I like to use parchment or a silicone mat to ensure easy cleanup. They don't grow a lot in the oven, so in a standard cookie sheet pan I usually fit 32 of them, two rounds in the oven total. 

Bake in preheated 350F oven for 12-14 minutes until baked through and slightly golden on the bottom. They won't take on a lot of color when baking, so keep that in mind as you judge when they're done. Enjoy warm or cooled.

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German Crescent Cookies

Ingredients

• 300g flour
• 200g butter
• 200g cream cheese
• 60g sugar
• 60g brown sugar
• 60g ground hazelnuts
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• lemon zest (to taste, optional)

Method

1. Knead a smooth dough from the flour, butter and cream cheese. 
2. Wrap in cling film and put in the refrigerator for at least two hours or better overnight.
3. Mix both sugars, ground hazelnuts, cinnamon and lemon zest in a bowl.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two cookie sheets with either parchment paper or silicone mats.
5. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, quarter it and shape it into balls.
6. Sprinkle a little hazelnut-sugar mixture on your work surface and start rolling out one of the dough portions on top. Move around as needed to ensure it doesn't stick/the coating is everywhere under your dough. Keep rolling into an even thickness until you get a 10" disc.
7. Cut into 16 parts (like a pizza) and roll up into crescents.
8. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes.

Notes

• I often skip the cinnamon and lemon zest, especially when I want the flavor of the nuts to really shine through. You can also use other spices and adapt the recipe to your taste.
• You can use any nut flour/ground nuts you prefer. Almonds and pecans work really well.
• The recipe is easy to scale up and down as needed, just make sure the amount of dough you roll out into a 10" disc is roughly the same as the original recipe.
• These cookies freeze really well, and they keep in a covered container at room temperature for several days.

Jaffa Cake Roll

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Chocolate and orange have long been one of my favorite combinations. So are raspberry and (dark) chocolate and more recently passion fruit and ruby chocolate, but I digress. Naturally, I was drawn to the Pim's cookies during my study abroad time in France and I loved the Jaffa cakes during my visit to Dublin a while back. There's even a debate on which one is best, but I'll stay out of that one. :)

Inspired by this combination, I started playing around with ideas on how to bring it together in a home made dessert. I made some muffin sized sponge cakelets topped with orange jelly and chocolate, but though they were tasty the ratios were off and the sponge texture wasn't quite what I envisioned.

Later on, I decided to steer away from the individual dessert format and into something that could work well as a centerpiece dessert, where I could focus on the flavor and texture components without the tedious piecewise assembly. Thus, I settled on the swiss roll. 

I made a pretty simple angel food cake style sponge, which is light, moist and flexible so it holds up to rolling and works as a great flavor canvas. For the rendition pictured here, I actually gave the whole thing a fall flavor twist, I'll include the variation details in the recipe notes - the sponge got a good dose of pumpkin spice mix to set the tone.

While the sponge cooled, I worked on the next essential layer - the orange jelly. For jelly made from scratch, the ratio I used is 1 tsp of gelatin powder to 1 cup of liquid - in this case, orange juice, orange zest and rooibos tea combined for the base, in which I dissolved bloomed and melted gelatin powder. For my fall inspired version, I used a pumpkin spice rooibos packet. I lined a pan the same size as the sponge with plastic wrap and poured the jelly mix inside, then set in the fridge to set. 

Finally, it was time for the chocolate - I of course planned to melt and temper some chocolate for the signature shell on top, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to include it inside the roll as well, after all what's a swiss roll without a creamy filling? I made a simple chocolate mousse using chocolate and cream - melted the chocolate using part of the cream (I also melted a bit of gelatin to help stabilize the mousse), then let it cool to almost room temperature. Then, I whipped the remaining heavy cream and folded the ganache gently and gradually. I let it chill in the fridge before spreading it on the sponge and jelly for final assembly.

Last but not least, a Jaffa cake is not complete with the snap of a layer of chocolate - I tempered some dark chocolate and drizzled it over the roll to create a hay effect for the fall theme. you could also just pour a thin layer all over for a shell on top. This is a pretty well explained step by step to temper chocolate, I'm still working to hone my own skills so I claim no expertise in this area.

I wish I had more progress shots to illustrate these steps, but I was a bit too eager to get to the decorating part for the fall inspired jaffa roll so I put it together quickly while running ideas through my head of how I would decorate it. I made a batch of these fantastic pumpkin spiced marshmallows, which I topped with orange and white sprinkles and cut in the shape of pumpkins and leaves.

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Jaffa Cake Roll

Sponge Ingredients

• 2 eggs, separated
• 30g sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 35g milk
• 23g oil
• 7g cornstarch
• 30g flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325F, line a quarter sheet pan with parchment.
2. Separate eggs into two medium bowls, set whites aside for the moment.
3. Whisk oil and milk into egg yolks until smooth.
4. Sift flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture, whisk until well combined.
5. With clean whisk or hand mixer attachments, whisk egg whites until foamy.
6. Gradually add sugar while continuing to whisk, until soft peaks are achieved.
7. Add lemon juice and keep whisking to stiff peaks.
8. Fold egg whites into egg yolk mixture in 2-3 additions, careful not to deflate the whites too much.
9. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes until set and lightly golden.
10. Transfer sponge to a cooling rack with the parchment lining and lay another sheet of parchment on top to prevent drying out. Let cool completely.

Jelly Ingredients

• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp orange zest
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup water (or an herbal tea, if you's like some floral notes)
• 1 tbsp powdered gelatin

Method

1. Mix gelatin and water/tea in a small bowl and let sit for the gelatin to bloom.
2. Gently warm up to melt gelatin - this can be done in the microwave in short 20s intervals or over a bowl of hot water.
3. Pour melted gelatin in a medium bowl along with all the remaining ingredients (orange juice, zest, honey).
4. Line a pan the same size as the sponge (quarter sheet pan for this recipe) with plastic wrap and pour enough of the jelly mixture to achieve 1/4" thick layer. Let this chill in the fridge until set.
5. When ready, use plastic sheet to transfer jelly to the top of the sponge layer.

Chocolate Mousse

I used this recipe, except I mixed in darker chocolate with the semisweet for more depth of flavor.

Assembly

- lay out cooled sponge on work surface on a piece of parchment

- place jelly sheet on top, leaving 1/2" from one short edge and trimming the other end to make it just a bit smaller than the surface of the sponge

- spread chilled mousse on top with an offset spatula to a uniform thickness of about 3/4"

- using the parchment, roll the sponge tightly starting with the edge where the jelly left 1/2" space, careful not to let the jelly slip out as you do this

- twist the ends of the parchment sheet to secure the roll seam side down, and place in the fridge to set

- before serving, drizzle or spread tempered chocolate on top and decorate as desired

- slice with a clean knife to serve (dipping in warm water and wiping off with a kitchen towel before cutting ensures a clean line)

Notes

- for a fall themed variation, I made the following changes to the recipe: added 2 tsp of pumpkin spice seasoning to the sponge  at the same time as the dry ingredients; I used pumpkin spiced rooibos tea instead of water in the jelly mix; I added a pinch of nutmeg to the chocolate mousse

- I like desserts that are more subtly sweet, so I didn't add a lot of sweetness to the orange jelly. Consider including up to 1/4cup of sugar to the jelly to taste if you prefer.

Grandma's Apple Pie

 Sometimes nostalgia strikes - it's fun to be transported back to the time and land of my childhood through food. Based on a recipe for Hungarian apple pie and adding a bit of my own spin on it, I tried to recreate the apple pie bar my grandma would make in Romania. 

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Hosting guests was always a big event at my grandma's house, she would always go all out to impress - from a generous array of appetizers, soup, hearty main course and sides, and home made dessert, as well as ensuring appropriate drink pairings. Did you know the best way to start a meal in Romania is with smoked pork belly, red onion and a shot of plum brandy (palinca)? Now you do :)

Her desserts weren't particularly elaborate, but they had that homey goodness of a tried and true treat, passed down from one home cook to another. The additional perk of that is that the ingredient list is usually very accessible, mostly with everyday items that I can have on hand at any time at home. This apple pie is one of those recipes. This is not your classic American pie, not even close. It's somewhere between an apple bar and breakfast pastry, with a flaky yeast leavened dough (though I've heard of it made with baking soda as well) and a pre-cooked apple filling thickened with semolina, a staple in Romanian cooking. 

The dough starts similarly to classic short crust of American pies - cut fat into flour, add flavor and wet ingredients, knead briefly. I used cream cheese for half the fat component for a creamier, more tender crumb, but also added lemon zest for flavor and the wet ingredients include egg and a mix of yeast, warm milk and sugar. The egg adds richness, and the yeast provides the signature fluffiness of this pie bar. Mix the egg and yeast into the flour mix first with a spatula/fork to incorporate without fully melting the butter, then knead briefly to bring together without overworking it. Bring into a rough ball, cover and rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes to get the yeast a chance to work its magic. 

While the dough rests, it's time to work on the filling. My grandma used to grate her apples, and recipes I've found recommended slicing them, I split the difference and cubed mine, I love the uniformity of a smaller cut in any apple bake I make. I also included a pear because I love the flavor and texture, and cut it the same size as the apples. Sautee the apples (and optional pear, or just use another apple) with sweetener of choice and flavorings until softened and the juices start to thicken, around 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat. I used maple syrup for that cozy fall vibe, and added vanilla paste, cinnamon and nutmeg. I don't think I ever encountered maple syrup before moving to the US, so my grandma definitely just used regular sugar, but I couldn't resist the toasty caramel flavor to pair up with the warm spices. Remove from heat, stir in semolina to thicken the filling and set aside to cool.

Roll out half the dough to the shape of your pan in a thin, uniform sheet - you're aiming for something large enough to cover the bottom of the pan and go up the sides about an inch, just like any other pie. Spread filling in to reach every corner of the pan and press gently to fill in all the gaps. Since this is a closed top crust pie, things won't move around and shouldn't sink as you cook, so what you arrange now is what you'll get when it's done. This is the step where you can also add marzipan if using, or you can choose to sprinkle some chopped lightly toasted nuts - almonds or pecans would work great. Roll out the remaining dough to the size of the pan, then pinch the edges to seal. 

For color and shine but also flavor, finish the crust with an egg wash - a whole egg or just a yolk works great. A tip I found is to brush the egg wash, let it sit for 5-10 min to slightly dry, then brush on an additional layer of egg wash - it will be smooth and uniform but richer than just one pass. Lightly poke the crust in a few places for steam to escape. I also make squiggly lines with the back of the fork across the crust for a fun design effect. Certainly not necessary but fun nonetheless.

Bake in a preheated 325F oven for 35-40 minutes, until gloden brown on top and baked through. For best structure/clean cuts, cool completely before serving. However, this is so good still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, so pick your favorite option and dig in!

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Grandma's Apple Pie

Makes a 10"x10" pie

Ingredients

• 250g flour
• 4 tbsp butter, chilled
• 4 tbsp cream cheese
• 65g powdered sugar, divided
• zest of one lemon, divided
• 1.5 tbsp warm milk
• 3.5g instant yeast (half a packet or 1 tsp)
• 1 egg
• 3 medium apples
• 1 medium pear
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 30g maple syrup
• vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp semolina
• 1 egg/yolk for brushing on top
• 2-3 tbsp marzipan (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven at 325F.
2. In a small bowl, mix 5g powdered sugar, the warmed milk and the yeast and set aside for 5-10 min to activate.
3. Cube butter and cream cheese and add into flour. Cut them in using a pastry cutter or butter knife until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
4. Mix in 60g of powdered sugar, half the lemon zest and a pinch of salt, combine lightly.
5. Add yeast mixture and one egg, then knead lightly until it comes together.
6. Cover bowl and let this rest for 30 minutes.
7. Chop up apples and pear in small cubes, then mix in medium pot with the maple syrup, remaining lemon zest and a splash of vanilla extract.
8. Bring apple mixture to a simmer over medium heat, then cook a few minutes until the fruit is softened and the liquid thickened.
9. Remove from heat, add semolina and set aside to cool.
10. Roll out half the dough in a thin sheet, then lay in the greased pan to cover the bottom and 1" up the sides.
11. Gently press in cooled filling, and top within thin slices of the marzipan, if using.
12. Roll out the second half of the dough and lay on top of the filling, press together around the edges to seal.
13. Brush on top with egg or just egg yolk, then create a pattern on top using a fork.
14. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the bar is cooked through and the top is golden brown.
15. Let it cool for a bit before cutting in squares to server.

Notes:

• I added cream cheese in the crust for a lighter, most tender crumb. however, if you prefer a more crisp crust you can use all butter.
• If you don't have/want the pear, you can always just use 4 apples. Play around with the varietals to get some variety of texture. I used two Gala and one Granny Smith. 
• I couldn't resist and added some nutmeg to the fruit as well. Any combination of warm spices you enjoy would work well.
• I used an adjustable square form with parchment to get the 10"x10" size, but this would turn out quite well in a 9"x9". A rectangular 9"x13" would be ok too but the dough may be so thin that it wouldn't hold up.

Chestnut donuts

Some kids like pancakes, but mine seem to prefer more structured treats - waffles, (baked) donuts and (preferably dinosaur shaped) muffins are breakfast staples. This week started out strong with a delightful batch of chestnut donuts which the kids promptly devoured, with sprinkles of course.

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One of my earliest childhood memories is climbing on my grandparents' garage roof and picking fresh chestnuts off the tree. I wasn't in the loop on how they were cooked, but I vividly remember the beautiful shine of the fresh picked fruit and the toasty creamy experience of eating its contents. This weekend I got to relive part of that by purchasing fresh chestnuts at the farmer's market and turning them into delicious donuts.

I took the sage advice of the farm stand attendant and cooked the chestnuts the way she told me - 20 minutes in boiling water, then I slit each one and baked them at 500F for another 10 minutes. Most of the chestnuts cracked open and were easy to break up with bare hands, and others remained a bit more stubborn, but the insides were nutty and soft in all of them. I used a strawberry corer to remove all the contents into a clean bowl then measured out what I needed for this recipe.

I chose a light but flavorful milk option - unsweetened vanilla almond milk - to make the chestnut puree. You might have to use a bit more to get a smooth consistency, an immersion blender worked really well to get this task done with minimal cleanup. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, oil and sugar together with the flavor extracts (vanilla with rum optional) to create a light and creamy base for the batter - you're looking for a paler color than you started out with and a lightened up texture. Mix in chestnut puree, yogurt and applesauce - I added these to fill in for leaving out some of the oil and sugar from the original recipe to lighten it up.

Mixing the dry ingredients in a separate bowl is optional but a good idea to get them mixed together uniformly and break up any clumps - that way you can minimize the amount of mixing for the final batter and get a lighter, more tender crumb. I used cake flour, though AP flour would probably work just fine. See notes for cake flour substitution using all purpose flour and corn starch. Pipe or spoon in the lightly oiled donut pan, then bake at 355F for 14-16 minutes, until cooked through. You can test by poking a toothpick through the thickest part of the donut, if it comes out clean then it's ready to come out. Turn out on a cooling rack and let the donuts come to room temperature (if you have that sort of patience :) ).

Dip in the glaze and sprinkle with preferred toppings right before serving, or save in an airtight container if you have any donuts left over. I made two options, both were delicious in their own right - a white glaze made simply from greek yogurt and maple syrup, perfect canvas for chocolate or rainbow sprinkles and a chocolate glaze made with black sesame paste, maple syrup and cocoa powder. We couldn't wait so we served them with fruit as dessert, only a pair made it to breakfast the next day. They were still fluffy and tender the next day, the kids loved them just as much!

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Chestnut donuts

Makes 6 thick donuts

Ingredients

• 110 g cooked chestnuts, shelled (see notes)
• 50 ml almond milk 
• 1 egg
• 1 oz vegetable oil
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 oz greek yogurt
• 1 oz applesauce
• rum extract
• 110g cake flour (one scant cup)
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• Glaze and toppings of your choosing (see notes)

Method

1. Preheat oven at 355F.
2. Blend chestnuts and milk into a smooth paste - I used an immersion blender, which make cleanup a bit easier, but a blender or food processor would work too. Add a bit more milk as needed, you're aiming for peanut butter consistency.
3. In a bowl, whisk eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and airy. 
4. Add yogurt, applesauce and chestnut puree and mix until well incorporated.
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Add dry ingredient to wet mixture and fold gently, careful not to overmix.
7. Spoon into lightly oiled donut pan.
8. Bake 14-18 minutes, or until donuts are cooked through (passing toothpick test).
9. Remove from oven, turn over onto cooling rack and let come to room temperature.
10. Dip in glaze as desired and decorate with sprinkles or fresh fall fruit.
11. Enjoy!

Notes:

• I boiled the chestnuts for 20 minutes, then cut a slit at the bottom of each one and roasted in a 500F oven for 8 minutes. At that point most of them had cracked more, had a lovely aroma and were easy to split open by hand (they're HOT so let them cool first). I used a strawberry corer to get them out of the peel when they were more stubborn, though many came loose of their shell on their own.
• Vanilla almond milk lends a beautiful flavor to the chestnut puree. You can use any plant or dairy milk you prefer, but add a dash more vanilla extract if you use plain flavor.
• Original recipe calls for 50ml oil and 90g sugar and no yogurt/applesauce, but I wanted to lighten up the batter a bit and I loved the light moist crumb I got. 
• If you don't have cake flour, all purpose would work pretty well too, consider substituting 1tsp of the AP flour with corn starch as a good cake flour substitute for a softer crumb.
• I dipped my donuts in one of two easy glaze options: maple yogurt (greek yogurt, a dash of maple syrup) and black sesame chocolate (black sesame paste, maple syrup, brut cocoa, milk as needed to get a silky consistency), and topped with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles to the kids' preferences.
• These donuts are so moist they would be delicious plain, dipped in a simple ganache or simply drizzled with a dark and flavorful maple syrup.