Orange Buttermilk Cake

Orange Buttermilk Cake - made April 17, 2010, original recipe

I invented this recipe – sort of. If you look closely, it’s a variation of the Kahlua Cake recipe but I just changed some components to get a different flavor. But the texture and moistness are approximately the same. I changed it up because I wanted to use up some buttermilk and oranges I had. Past experience has taught me the basic elements of this cake (cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, eggs, oil and liquid flavoring) are pretty forgiving and bake up into a nice cake even if you do get creative with the add-ins.

1 18.25-oz package of yellow cake mix
1 4-oz package vanilla pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 orange
Juice from 1 orange squeezed into a 1 cup measure, then top off the measuring cup with oil for a total of 1 cup orange juice & oil

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease Bundt pan.
2. Sift the cake mix to get rid of any lumps. Combine remaining ingredients in the mixing bowl of a freestanding electric mixer and mix with the paddle attachment until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour batter into greased Bundt pan and slide into preheated oven.
4. Bake until top is firm and toothpick inserted in center of Bundt ring comes out almost clean or with a few moist crumbs. Make sure you do the toothpick test in the most moist-looking part of the cake.
5. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then invert onto serving plate and let cool almost completely before glazing.

Glaze
I made up this glaze recipe – the thing with glaze is it’s really a matter of personal preference. Some people like runny glazes and others want their glaze to have the firmer consistency of frosting. For this one, I combined 5 tablespoons of softened butter, some powdered sugar, the zest from 1 orange and the freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange. How much orange juice and how much powdered sugar is up to you. Add more juice if you want a runny glaze and more powdered sugar for a thicker glaze. Use an electric mixer to combine the ingredients as that’ll show you the consistency you have fairly easily and you can add juice or powdered sugar to your taste.

For this particular glaze, I waited until the cake was still a bit lukewarm or just barely cool and I spread half the glaze over the cake. It melted slightly into the cake. Let the cake cool completely then cover with the rest of the glaze. That first layer of glaze will harden slightly as the cake cools and the sugar crystallizes and the second layer will remain softer like a frosting. I like to have both textures against the soft crumb of the cake.

Easy Mix Yellow Cupcakes

Easy Mix Yellow Cupcakes - made April 13, 2010 from Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans

Another coping attempt as I baked these cupcakes after my uncle died and a couple of days before his funeral. Anything to keep busy. This was an easy recipe which I needed since I had a tendency to become too distracted and not bake well because I kept forgetting key ingredients. These are nearly foolproof and are a nice standard vanilla cupcake. Watch the baking time. I hovered by the oven and pulled these out at that sweet spot where a toothpick inserted one minute comes out with almost raw batter but another toothpick the next minute comes out nearly clean but with a few moist crumbs. That’s when you know it’s done. I didn’t bother to frost these because I just didn’t feel like it and it was late at night and I was tired. Fortunately, they tasted pretty good on their own and didn’t need to be accessorized with frosting. That’s when you know you have a good recipe.

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup sugar
½ cup canola or corn oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sour cream

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg and yolk and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes.
3. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. Mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. The batter is ready to bake, or for additions such as nuts, fruit or other flavorings.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Heirloom Devil's Food Cake

Heirloom Devil's Food Cake - made April 8, 2010 from Chocolate Chocolate by Lisa Yockelson

I turned to baking as a crutch to get me through what would turn out to be a weekend vigil at the hospital for my uncle’s final days. I made this devil’s food cake to keep myself busy before it was time to go see him at the hospital. I had made this recipe before and my notes said it had turned out pretty well. I made it again and it did turn out well – the texture was moist and a bit dense but not too heavy. The chocolate butter frosting was rich but not as overwhelming as the one for the Godiva chocolate cake. But I will admit the Godiva chocolate cake itself was the better cake. It had more flavor and a slightly softer texture which wasn’t as dense. If I’m in the mood for an all-chocolate cake again, I would pair the Godiva Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake with the Chocolate Butter Frosting and call it a day. I didn’t time how long the layers took (I hardly ever do) but you do need to keep an eye on baking time, especially with chocolate cakes since you can’t rely on them turning golden brown or other visual cues to tell you they’re done. By the time a chocolate cake looks done, it’s probably overbaked, especially if the top feels really firm and/or there are cracks on top.

Devil’s Food Batter
2 ¼ cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 ¾ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
1 ¼ cups buttermilk, whisked well

Frosting
Chocolate Butter Frosting

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Lightly grease the inside of two 9-inch layer cake pans (1 ½ inches deep) with shortening, line the bottom of each pan with a circle of waxed paper cut to fit, grease the paper, and dust with flour.
2. Mix the batter: Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
3. Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 3 minutes. Add the sugar in 3 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 45 seconds after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract and melted chocolate. On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl frequently to keep the batter even-textured.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly between them. Spread the batter evenly.
5. Bake and cool the layers: Bake the cake layers in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until risen, set and a toothpick inserted in the center of each layer withdraws clean (or with a few crumbs attached). Cool the layers in the pans on racks for 10 minutes. Invert the layers onto other cooling racks, peel away the waxed paper, and cool completely.
6. Set up the serving plate: Tear off four 3-inch-wide strips of waxed paper. Place the strips in the shape of a square on the outer 3 inches of a cake plate.
7. Assemble and frost the cake: Center one cake layer on the plate (partially covering the waxed paper square; the strips should extend by at least 1 inch). Spread over a layer of frosting. Carefully position the second layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake, swirling the frosting as you go. Once set, gently remove and discard the strips of paper. Let the cake stand for 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Bake and serve within 1 day

Chocolate Butter Frosting

4 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
7 tablespoons milk, heated to tepid
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

1. Place the confectioners’ sugar, salt, melted chocolate, vanilla extract and milk in the bowl of a heavy-duty freestanding electric mixer fitted with the flat paddle. Scatter over the chunks of butter and beat on moderately low speed for 2 minutes to being the mixing process.
2. When the frosting begins to come together, raise the speed to moderate and beat for 3 minutes, or until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to keep the frosting even-textured.
3. Increase the speed to high and beat for 2 minutes, or until very creamy. Adjust the texture of the frosting to spreading consistency, as needed, for adding additional teaspoons of milk or tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar.

Dealing with Life...and Death

I haven’t blogged as regularly for the past few weeks or baked as much, partly because I haven’t felt like it and partly because I haven’t had time. We lost my uncle a week and a half ago and it’s been difficult to get “back to normal”. Whatever normal really is.

Whenever death hits our family, I’m both angry and resentful that the rest of the world still goes on. People still go to work, TV shows still run, the radio DJs are still cheerful as they yak away, stores are still open, traffic is still bad during commute hours, and on and on. I feel like I need to come to a standstill if no one else will and just mourn. I mourn not only for myself in losing my uncle but I mourn for my mom who lost a brother, my cousin who lost a father, my aunt who lost a husband and everyone else who lost a great presence in their lives. It seems wrong and even almost frivolous to just go forward as if nothing ever happened. He meant something to all of us and that should be acknowledged. And it is. We had a very touching and dignified military funeral for him complete with Navy officers in dress whites and his casket draped in the US flag. We say prayers daily, each in our own way and through our own beliefs.

But I’ve also come to realize that doing those things isn’t the only way to honor and remember my uncle. It’s also in how we remember him, what positive influences we take from him and how we reflect that influence in our own lives. It isn’t about coming to a standstill, however much we want to. That’s not what he stood for nor is it what he would wish for us. Yes, life relentlessly moves on, even when death seems to make you want to come to a halt. Our part in it is to take that gift of life that we still have and to do the best we can with it. Each person we meet touches our lives in some way. If we’re fortunate, they touch it for the better. It’s our job and our tribute to deceased loved ones not to waste their influence on us or fritter away our own remaining time. That’s how they remain infinite and forever with us. Because we celebrate their lives in the way that we live our own.

This is a picture of my uncle at his college graduation, 45 years ago.

Godiva Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake

Godiva Ultimate Chocolate Layer Cake - made April 6, 2010 from Epicurious?

I've had this recipe for so long that I forgot where I got it from but I think I downloaded it from epicurious.com some years ago. I've never made it until now and I'm sorry I waited so long. I love this cake. It has a nice chocolate flavor and a wonderful texture that's nice and moist. I took it out at just the right time - one minute the toothpick inserted in the center still had raw batter clinging to it and a couple of minutes later, it only had moist crumbs clinging to it. That's when you know it's baked just right. Unfortunately, true to form, I didn't really time it though.

For the frosting, I used the Pernigotti cocoa from Williams Sonoma which has a really deep chocolate flavor. It turned out a dark chocolate frosting that was a bit too rich for me but if you're a dark chocolate or a frosting fan, you might like it. Regardless, the cake itself is delicious. The recipe calls for making it as a 3-layer cake but I needed some batter for cupcakes to give away so I baked it as 2 layers and 8 cupcakes. I ended up not using the entire 1/2 cup of Godiva chocolate liqueur to brush over the baked cakes. It didn't seem like I needed that much to make it flavorful and moist and turns out I didn't. But I did use the exact amount called for in the cake itself and the frosting.

Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 cup sifted cocoa powder
1/3 cup Godiva Liqueur

Cake
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
6 ounces unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup Godiva liqueur, divided
Shaved chocolate

1. For the buttercream, cream the butter until smooth. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder over the butter, add 1/3 cup Godiva liqueur and slowly mix until smooth.
2. For the cake, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. On low speed, stir in the chocolate and gradually add the reserved sifted ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk and ½ cup of Godiva liqueur; beat until smooth. Divide the batter among three greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake in preheated 375˚F oven for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack to completely cool. Chill the layers in the freezer for about 30 minutes, until firm.
3. To assemble the cake, remove the cake layers from the freezer and brush with the remaining Godiva liqueur before spreading ¾ cup of buttercream between each layer. Spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides of the cake, which has been placed on a serving plate. Serve immediately or refrigerate if necessary. If refrigerating, remove 1 hour prior to serving. Garnish with shaved chocolate. Serves 12.

Kahlua Cake

Kahlua Cake - made April 1, 2010, adapted from recipe from Patricia Ng

I haven't kept up with this blog much lately, partly because I haven't had as much time to bake as often and partly when I have baked, I've made things I've already blogged about. My nieces were here last week for spring break and I did make one of our favorite cakes. I first had this cake when I worked at eBay and my coworker friend Patricia made this cake. I thought it was scrumptious. Patricia shared the recipe but over the years I've somehow lost track of it. So for this version, I've tried to recreate what I remember of it. It turned out pretty well so this time I'm documenting it.

This is really easy to make. The directions are somewhat sparse and I play around with the proportions of the Kahlua and water in the cake and the amount of Kahlua and confectioners' sugar in the glaze. I make the glaze and heat it until it has a syrupy viscosity but I admit I didn't really measure. I just made it until it "looks right". You can't really go wrong. This is more of a soaking syrup than a glaze anyway. You don't want it too thin but don't make it so thick that it's a noticeable glaze on the cake. This is another good picnic-type cake as it's very versatile and travels well.

1 package yellow cake mix
1 4-ounce package instant chocolate pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup mixture of Kahlua and water (mix to taste – you can use all Kahlua if you want a stronger taste of Kahlua or ½ and ½ or ¾ and ¼ or anywhere in between

Glaze
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ to 1/3 cup Kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F and spray a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. Sift yellow cake mix until lump-free. Combine all ingredients in the mixing bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat with a paddle attachment until smooth – 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it (toothpick inserted in the outer edges should come out clean).
4. For the glaze: combine confectioners’ sugar and Kahlua in small saucepan over medium heat and whisk to a boil. Brush glaze over warm cake.

Lemon Pound Cake

Lemon Pound Cake - made March 27, 2010 from Baking by Flavor by Lisa Yockelson

Whenever I have lemons and sour cream to use up, a lemon pound cake is typically my go-to thing to make since most recipes marry the two ingredients quite frequently. I could tell this one would turn out well just from the batter - it was silky smooth when I poured it into the tube pan. I baked it for almost 90 minutes before it seemed done. You don't want to underbake this kind of cake because it'll seem too heavy. The texture on this was soft and almost spongy but still had that pound cake texture. The lemon flavor comes through quite well. I'd consider this a good summer picnic cake as it'll hold up well in warm weather and isn't as rich as a chocolate dessert. And you don't have to worry about it melting or having to cart it around.

Lemon Peel Infusion
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind
2 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons pure lemon extract

Sour Cream Lemon Cake Batter
3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups superfine sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup thick, cultured sour cream

Lemon Sugar Wash
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Grease the inside of a plain 10-inch tube pan with shortening. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of waxed paper cut to fit and grease the paper. Dust the inside of the pan with all-purpose flour. Tap out any excess flour; set aside.
2. Combine the lemon rind, lemon juice, and lemon extract in a small nonreactive ramekin. Set aside for 15 minutes before using.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
4. Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderately low speed for 4 minutes. Add the superfine sugar in three additions, beating for 1 minute on moderate speed after each portion is added. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, blending for 45 seconds after each addition.
5. On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in three additions with the sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with the sifted ingredients. Scrape down t he sides of the mixing bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured. Blend in the prepared lemon infusion.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared tube pan. Smooth over the top with a rubber spatula.
7. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until risen, set and a wooden pick inserted in the cake withdraws clean. The baked cake will pull away slightly from the sides of the baking pan.
8. While the cake is baking, make the lemon-sugar wash: In a small, nonreactive bowl, combine the lemon juice and sugar. Stir well. Let stand 10 minutes. Using the ash now will give the surface of a baked tea loaf, pound cake or batch of muffins a crackly, sugary veneer.
9. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Carefully invert the cake onto another cooling rack, peel off the waxed paper circle, then invert again onto another rack to cool right side up. Place a sheet of waxed paper under the cooling rack to catch any drips of the topping.
10. Using a soft, 1-inch-wide pastry brush, brush the lemon-sugar wash on the surface of the warm cake. Cool completely before slicing and serving. Use a serrated knife to cut the cake neatly and cleanly.

Freshly baked, the pound cake keeps for 5 days.

Hot Chocolate Cake

Hot Chocolate Cake - made March 27, 2010 from Fearless Baking by Elinor Klivans

I'm on the hunt for a good molten chocolate cake recipe. I've tried several and they've been good but I always think they can be better. You'd think a warm chocolate cake with a molten liquid fudge center would be easy to knock out of the park but I'm picky. The texture of this one could be better. I either didn't beat the eggs and sugar enough or else this is just how the texture was meant to be. It was a little heavy and the cake part that baked was almost dry. Which is quite a feat considering the middle was liquid fudge. Or perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for chocolate yesterday (yeah, those icicles just formed in hell). This one was almost too rich for me. It could be I'm losing my taste buds. Gasp. Horror. Nah.....

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Ice cream for serving with the cake, optional

1. Mix the cake: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with sides at least 2 inches high.
2. Put the butter and chocolates in a large heatproof container set over, but not touching, barely simmering water in a saucepan. Stir the mixture often over the hot water until the butter and chocolate are melted and smooth. As soon as the chocolate mixture melts, remove it from over the water and set it aside to cool slightly.
3. Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture looks fluffy, thickens and lightens to a cream color. This is the stage of the mixing that lightens the cake. Move the beaters around in the bowl if using a handheld electric mixer. Mix in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and stir in the melted chocolate mixture, mixing until it is blended. Put the flour and baking powder in a flour sifter and sift over the chocolate batter. Stir in the flour mixture just until it is incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake and serve the cake: Bake for 15 minutes until the edges look set and the center is soft and just baked enough to hold its shape. A toothpick inserted in the center comes out with batter clinging to it, and one inserted into the edge comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it.
5. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes to firm it slightly. Use a small sharp knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the pan. Release the sides of the springform pan and remove them. Use a knife and a large flat spatula to cut and move slices of cake to serving plates. The centers of the slices are a thick liquid. Serve with a scoop of ice cream, if desired.

Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Shortbread - made March 27, 2010 from The Baker's Catalog

Although you can't really tell from the picture, this is actually two layers of chocolate chip shortbread sandwiched with caramel. The recipe called for processing chocolate chips into finer pieces but I skipped that stage and just used mini chocolate chips (make life and baking easy on yourself). This was pretty easy to make, if a bit timeconsuming to unwrap all those small caramels before melting them. Do yourself a favor and give the caramel plenty of time to melt, not the 1 minute the recipe says. I melted the caramels while the shortbread was baking then just warmed it up slightly when I took the shortbreads out. I also added a little heavy cream to make the melted caramels a little less thick. You have to sandwich these carefully as when the caramel mixture is still hot, it's much more liquid and the top shortbread can slide right off if you don't hold it in place until it sets a bit. I also used 2 8-inch round cake pans instead of 9-inch rounds and just manually shaped the leftover dough into small shortbread rounds that I later sandwiched together with caramel.

This was rich but pretty good. I skipped the topping of melted caramel and pecans as that seemed a little over the top, even for me. Don't overbake the shortbreads or they'll be almost too tough later when sandwiched with the caramel.

ETA: now that these have cooled completely, I tried one the next day and found it almost impossible to eat. The caramel had hardened too much. I'd advise adding cream or milk to the caramels when you melt them so when they cool, the caramel mixture is still soft, not hard and chewy. Otherwise, you can "salvage" this by warming up the pieces for about 15 seconds in the microwave to soften/melt the caramel. Then they're delicious.

Shortbread

1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1 cup chocolate chips

Filling

8 ounces (a scant 1 cup, packed) vanilla caramel

Topping

2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

6 ounces (a scant 3/4 cup, packed) vanilla caramel

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease two round 9-inch cake pans.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the butter, salt, sugar, and vanilla. Combine 1 cup of the flour and the chocolate chips in the work bowl of a food processor, and process until the chocolate is chopped; you want the chocolate pieces to be small enough that they don’t poke up out of the dough, as they would in chocolate chip cookies; but large enough that you can still discern them as being individual bits. Combine the rest of the flour and the flour/chocolate mixture with the other ingredients. Divide the dough in half and press it into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with your fingers. Prick the dough all over with a fork.
3. Bake the shortbread for 35 to 40 minutes, until it’s golden brown around the edges. While the shortbread is baking, place the pecans in a single layer in an ungreased pan, and bake them right along with the shortbread, for about 8 to 10 minutes, until they’re golden brown and smell “toasty.”
4. When the shortbread is done, remove it from the oven, and loosen the edges with a heat-resistant plastic knife or table knife. Allow the shortbread to cool for 5 minutes.
5. OK, pay attention now, because timing is everything from this point forward! You want to work fast enough that you can cut the shortbread while it’s still warm. So—while the shortbread is cooling in the pan, measure out 8 ounces of caramel, and put it in a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup (the spout makes for easy pouring), or in a microwave-safe bowl.
6. After 5 minutes, carefully turn the shortbread, all in one piece, onto a clean work surface. Melt the caramel in the microwave until it’s bubbly; this should take about 1 minute. Pour the melted caramel atop one of the shortbread rounds. Top with the other round, and press down very gently to make a “shortbread sandwich.”
7. Wait 1 minute, for the caramel to set somewhat. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the shortbread round into 12 wedges; first cut it in quarters, then cut each quarter into three pieces. Some of the caramel will ooze out the sides; that’s OK, it makes it look even more luscious! Transfer the wedges to a cooling rack, under which you’ve placed a piece of waxed paper or parchment, to catch caramel drips.
8. Melt the remaining 6 ounces of caramel. Drizzle or spread it atop the wedges. Quickly, while the caramel is hot, sprinkle with the toasted nuts, pressing them into the caramel so they’ll stick. Allow the shortbread to cool completely before serving. Yield: 12 shortbread wedges.

Copyright 2005 The Baker's Catalogue, Inc.

Buttercrunch Melt-a-ways

Buttercrunch Melt-a-ways - made 3.21.10 from Baking by Flavor by Lisa Yockelson

Think of this as similar to a Mexican Wedding Cake (also on my blog as Buttery Tea Balls) - melt-in-your-mouth texture, rolled in powdered sugar but instead of nuts, it has toffee bits inside. It's also rolled in almonds before baking then rolled in powdered sugar - twice - after baking. I didn't have Heath bars to chop up so I used half a bag of the Heath toffee bits. Not sure I would've liked chocolate in these anyway but I may try them again properly with actual chopped-up Heath bars. The cookies don't spread so you can rely on the size of dough you roll out is the size of cookie you're going to get. Don't make these big. They have a high butter content relative to the sugar and flour so these are rich. A bite-size cookie is the perfect size to enjoy these.

2 ¼ cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsifted confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
4 packages (1.4 ounces each) milk chocolate-covered toffee bars (Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bars), finely chopped
About 1 ½ cups finely chopped almonds, for rolling the balls of cookie dough
About 2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, for dredging the baked cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line the cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts, using a wooden spoon or flat wooden paddle. At this point, the sugar will form small speckled clumps in the butter mixture, but as soon as you add the flour, the sugar will disperse.
4. Stir in half of the flour mixture and the chopped candy. Stir in the remaining flour and mix to form a cohesive dough. Let the dough stand for 5 minutes to allow the butter to be absorbed into it. The dough will be moist but reasonably firm and manageable.
5. Place the almonds into a shallow bowl. Spoon out scant tablespoon-size quantities of dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls into the chopped almonds, pressing the nuts in lightly as they are rolled. Arrange the cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets, placing 12 to 16 on each baking sheet (depending on the size of the sheet).
6. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes, or until set, with light golden bottoms. There will be a few thin cracks in the tops. Little bits of chopped candy will puddle at the base of the cookies, here and there.
7. Let the cookies stand on the sheets for 30 seconds, then remove them to cooling racks, using a sturdy, offset metal spatula. As you are removing them, detach any melted bits of candy from the base of the cookies, using a flexible palette knife or tip of a teaspoon. Cool the cookies for 5 to 8 minutes.
8. Line a work surface with waxed paper. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl. Wearing food-safe rubber gloves to protect your hands, carefully roll the cookies, a few at a time, in the sugar to coat, and place on the waxed paper. After 30 minutes, coat the cookies again.

Yield: 2 ½ to 3 dozen cookies