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french fridays with dorie: cocoa sablés
One of my favorite cookies is Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies from her Baking cookbook.
When I saw Cocoa Sablés on this week’s French Fridays schedule, I assumed that we were making World Peace cookies. I’ve made them many times before and adore them. The AMFT version weren’t exactly a renamed version of the old favorite. They were more like a fraternal twin, and they did not disappoint.
I absolutely love the convenience of homemade slice-and-bake cookies. Stash them in the freezer, and you can have an instant snack on a whim.
This shortbread-like cookie comes together in the stand mixer easily. I accidentally rolled my logs much skinnier than Dorie did. They were a little over an inch, instead of a little under two inches. Honestly, this wasn’t deliberate. The type in the book is small, and even though it said 1¾ inch, I read 1¼. These cookies are rich, so my little coins (they were about the size of quarters) were the perfect size.
My book group came over this week, so I made these cookies as refreshments. The book we read, The Known World by Edward P. Jones, won the 2004 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. This beautifully-written novel about a black family of slave owners in antebellum Virginia told a wonderful, if disturbing, story. As always, we had a lively discussion, some of it related to the book, most of it not. The cookies got positive reviews. So did this lemony artichoke dip.
My yield was nothing like Dorie’s. She said the recipe would make 36 cookies. Granted, my rolls were skinnier. I shaped my dough into more than two rolls, not just because they were thinner, but because I find shorter rolls easier to handle. I baked about half the dough and got over 60 cookies. I plan to put the other rolls in the freezer for later.
I was short on time, so I didn’t coat the logs with egg and roll in sugar as suggested. I’ll have to try that variation when I bake the rolls from the freezer. I can imagine the effect will be pretty.
One thing that always trips me up when I make rolls of icebox cookies is how to store them while chilling or handle them while slicing so that one side doesn’t become flat. Hopefully, I’ll learn a new trick from one of the other participating bloggers’ posts. If you have some thoughts, please share!
To read about the other FFwD bloggers chocolatey experiences, check out their posts at French Fridays with Dorie. We don’t post the recipes, but you should treat yourself to this book. There are so many winning recipes, it’s worth it.
French Fridays with Dorie: Michel Rostang’s Double Chocolate Mousse Cake
I have another true confession to make this week: I’m not that into chocolate. When it comes to chocolate, I can take it or leave it. I know some people will find that hard to imagine, but that’s the way it is.
I say this because, for French Fridays with Dorie, the recipe this week was a very chocolately cake: Michel Rostang’s Double Chocolate Mousse Cake. What a decadent cake, with a very fancy name, for an ordinary week! Fortunately, I am married to a chocoholic, who comes from a family of chocoholics so I had an enthusiastic audience.
For chocolate, I used a bar of Ghiradelli’s 60% bittersweet, which, chocoholic or not, I always have on hand. This recipe called for coffee, but I’m not really a coffee drinker. I do like espresso drinks, but I get them for a treat from Starbucks, Peets or my favorite Lexington coffee shop. So, as embarrassing as this is, I made some extra-strong instant coffee to add to the mousse mix.
Firm but still glossy?
Oops!
I didn’t plan the timing quite right. I baked the crust after dinner, but there wasn’t time for it to chill before bedtime, so the crust chilled overnight. Dorie said the mousse could be made a few hours ahead, so I worried it might deflate overnight. It survived. The next night I baked the cake with the mousse layer and we ate it warm for dessert. Then, for night #2, we had the baked and chilled version.
Howard, the chocoholic, preferred the warm version. My opinion might not matter as much, given my indifference to chocolate, but I agree with him. This cake was interesting, but so far this month, I’ve only liked, not loved the recipes. I have high hopes for next week’s Chicken B’stilla.
If you’d like to see how other bloggers fared with the Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, check out their links at French Fridays with Dorie. If you like what you see, you can buy yourself the book and join our cooking group.
A Plateful of Happiness 