Sunday, July 26, 2009

MILAN COOKIES





















The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

We had the option of doing either or both. I wanted to do both but ended up doing only the Milan Cookies. The Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies I leave for another day.
The Milan Cookies turned out nothing like the ones that my other fellow Daring Bakers had posted and I was a wee bit disappointed. The first batch I made with a 1/4” tip and they were nice and slim, but after ten minutes of baking, all I got was cinders. So for the 2nd batch made a double layer and put them for just 8 minutes. They were nice and crisp. The filling was really delicious and I think the orange zest made a big difference.

Milan CookiesRecipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network websitePrep Time: 20 minInactive Prep Time: 0 minCook Time: 1 hr 0 minServes: about 3 dozen cookies
12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour• Cookie filling, recipe follows
Cookie filling:• 1/2 cup heavy cream• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped• 1 orange, zested
In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools). Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.