Bon Appetit Desserts (165 page)

Brush pinwheels lightly with egg. Sprinkle each with ½ teaspoon sugar. Place scant ½ teaspoon jam in center of each. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake until pinwheels are golden and puffed, about 13 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet, glaze, sugar, and jam.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made ahead. Place cookies between waxed paper sheets in airtight containers and store at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.

Sprinkle cookies with powdered sugar, if desired.

Madeleines

It was a madeleine—a small, shell-shaped cake-cookie—that launched a surge of memories for the narrator of Marcel Proust’s
Swann’s Way.
Perhaps this simple recipe will help you create memories of your own. Madeleines must be baked in a special pan: a metal or silicone mold with scallop-shaped indentations. The pans are sold at cookware stores and online.
Makes about 1½ dozen

2 large eggs

⅔ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

Pinch of salt

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter and flour pan for large madeleines (about 3×1¾ inches). Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon peel, and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 16 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Gently remove madeleines from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Dust cookies with powdered sugar.

Langues-de-Chat

The French name translates as “cats’ tongues,” which refers to the long thin shape of these crisp, light cookies. They are traditionally served with sorbet or ice cream. For a fancy presentation, dip one end of each cookie into melted white, milk, or dark chocolate and chill on waxed paper until the chocolate is set.
Makes about 2½ dozen

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup egg whites (about 2 large)

6 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2 heavy large rimmed baking sheets. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Beat in lemon peel and vanilla. Add egg whites and beat 30 seconds. Add flour and salt; beat just until blended.

Spoon batter into pastry bag fitted with ⅓-inch plain round tip. Pipe batter onto prepared baking sheets in 2½-inch-long strips, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, about 10 minutes. Carefully transfer cookies to racks and cool completely (cookies will crisp as they cool).

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Orange and Rosemary Butter Blossoms

A bit of fresh rosemary adds an herbal, slightly savory flavor to these pretty cookies. Gold sparkling sugar is available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores. A cookie press with assorted disks can be found at cookware stores and at
williams-sonoma.com
and
amazon.com
.
Makes about 7 dozen

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

1 large egg

½ teaspoon (scant) salt

2⅓ cups unbleached all purpose flour

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Raw sugar or gold sparkling sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and orange peel in large bowl until sugar becomes pale orange. Add butter and rosemary and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and salt. Add flour and stir until well blended.

Pack dough into barrel of cookie press fitted with 5-point star/flower disk. Press cookies out onto heavy ungreased rimmed baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle centers very lightly with freshly ground pepper and raw or sparkling sugar, if desired.

Bake cookies until just golden brown at edges, about 12 minutes. Using metal spatula, immediately transfer cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat with any remaining dough, pepper, and raw or sparkling sugar.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made ahead. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze up to 1 week.

Beignet Twists

Orange peel and brandy flavor these fried cookies from New Orleans. Enjoy the cookies as a snack, as dessert with brandy-spiked orange slices, or for breakfast with café au lait. A deep-fry thermometer is essential for determining when the oil is hot enough for frying.
Makes about 4 dozen

6 tablespoons sugar

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons brandy

2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1½ teaspoons finely grated orange peel

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil plus additional for frying

1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour

Powdered sugar

Combine sugar, egg yolks, brandy, whipping cream, orange peel, vanilla, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; add 1 tablespoon oil and whisk to blend. Add flour ½ cup at a time, mixing until very thick dough forms; scrape out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until no longer sticky, about 3 minutes. Roll out dough to 12×10-inch rectangle. Cut lengthwise into 3 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into ¾-inch-wide strips. Twist each strip of dough several times and place on large baking sheet; chill twists to set dough, about 30 minutes.

Pour enough oil into large saucepan to reach depth of 1 inch. Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of saucepan and heat oil to 350°F. Working in batches, drop twists into oil. Fry until golden, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer beignets to paper towels and drain. Sift powdered sugar over. Serve warm or at room temperature.

DO AHEAD
:
Beignets can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Cinnamon Fritters

These deep-fried cookies—called
sfingi, sfinci,
or
zeppole
in Italy—hail from a time when many Italian homes didn’t have stoves for baking. The cream-puff dough contains no sugar; rolling the freshly fried cookies in cinnamon sugar is what makes them sweet.
Makes about 6 dozen

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¾ cup water