Linzer Cookies

February - The Valentine month as the world normally looks forward too... my daughter and me are feb born and we do have our days to celebrate.  Anyways - to spread love and cheer Baking Partners picked these Linzer cookies for the month's challenge, they don't just look good ,they taste super yumm too.

 Linzer cookies are two almond flavored cookies sandwiched together with a tiny blob of jam...........

 Recipe Source :Adapted from Alice Medrich, Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy 

 Ingredients:

•  1  cup + 2 tablespoon  /145g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup/ 63g  ground almonds
• 1/4 cup /50g granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 8 tablespoon of  unsalted butter
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest or 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
• Strained or pureed good quality preserves or fruit spread
• 1 teaspoon + extra Powdered sugar for dusting
  
  
  Method:
  
  
    Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached. A quick stir and add the butter and extracts to it. Let them all combine to come together into a dough. Remove the dough , wrap it in a cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours or time permitting allow it rest overnight.
  When it is ready to roll out the cookies - first ensure the dough is out of the refrigerator and is supple enough to roll but firm enough to hold the shape. 
  Preheat oven  to 325F. Roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of wax paper to even thickness. Gently peel away the top sheet and cut out the desired shape and gently place it on the prepared baking tray.
  I have used 2 trays here- first tray had the shape intact. The second one also had the shapes placed. Here, use a small heart cutter and make an impression in the center. 
  Place the cutter at the center of the cookie and with a knife gently remove the inner dough - leaving the shape of the cookie and the center cut out intact. Continue to do so for the rest of the cookies on the second tray. Set to bake for 15 to 25 minutes or use the time which is safe on your oven. Check out if the sides of the cookies are browning -  just turn the tray around to ensure even baking. Once done remove from the oven and place it on a wired rack for cooling.
  
  

   

Now place the second tray cookies on a wax paper and dust them with icing sugar.
Take the cookie from the first tray and place a small blob of jam - I have used mixed fruit jam here.
 Now take the sugar dusted cookie and place it in the jam so that the jam spreads out in the small heart - press gently to sandwich the cookies together.
The cookies are brittle when cooled - so remember to handle them with care so that they don't crack up.

I made them twice hence 2 different shapes here. Linking these yummy cookies to Baking Partners hosted by Swathi Iyer

Dutch Coffee Buns............Kofieebroodje

2014 is here already ...........Hope this year brings us all lots of joy, peace and prosperity......
Back to baking too .........and look forward to bake some interesting challenges here. So, I start the year with Baking Partners challenge -  Dutch Coffee Buns...Kofieebroodje. Nothing complicated about this .....yet a soft and sweet bun straight out of the oven in few hours.....

Marshmallow Nut Brownies

A good break from the cakes and breads I bake...here's brownies. They are so easy to put together when you have all the ingredients in hand and tastes heavenly too. I made this previously to celebrate two of my aunts who became grandmas...so brownies have an emotional story to it .. and this is how I made it..

Honeycomb Buns or Bee’s Hive Buns - Khaliat Nahal

From the desert summer to the rains back home, a  2 month get away has made me home sick like never before. Back to base and nose deep into routines,I kept myself away from baking. And,here I rise up to the
We knead to bake Challenge no.9 -  Honey comb buns.
 A Middle eastern delicacy,usually sweet and can be made savory too. Khaliat Nahal literally translates to Bee hive in Arabic.The name takes after the way the buns are baked so close to each other forming a honey comb pattern.

Bialy

A bialy is often described as a bread flatter than a bagel with an indentation - not a hole - on the top, that is generally filled with onions and any other filling of your choice.It is crisper and denser than a bagel and when toasted, is crunchy. 

Torcettini di Saint Vincent (Sugar Crusted Twisted Cookies from the Valle d’Aosta)

We Knead to Bake,of course we need to :) I have never tried cookies with yeast and this challenge taught me how to.One can get a lil skeptical when you see this cookie recipe where yeast is used unlike baking powder which is the norm......make to it believe it- it is simple and sweet.

Adapated from A Baker’s Tour by Nick Malgieri

Hokkaido Milk Bread with Tangzhong

It's been a fun experience making these soft & spongy bread, not just fun, it has just changed my views about store bought bread.Enjoyed this method though an entirely new concept to me - I loved making the rolls,braids,knots and plain bread too.

Classic Croissants

Crisp flaky croissants are always a delight and when it is baked at home its double delight. I have picked this off the shelf at stores many a times over the years, and never thought of making it on my own until, the "We knead to bake " challenge came along. Here it is ......

Cream Horns

I once saw on a TV show  a Pastry chef  making these Cream Horns........ I watched the show with such wonder...perhaps at the revelation of how its made :) And here it is ...

French Macarons

French macaron...who doesn't love it? When you make them there are only two ways to it. You either get it right or you don't. There's nothing in between..the pic here is the result of my fifth attempt !! It is a great sense of accomplishment because I have been trying this since  Jan 2012..

Chocolate - Banana Cake

Do bananas sitting over the counter stir the baker's rush?? Perhaps it does for me. There should always be 2 leftover bananas that should smile back at me from a bunch - and all I can think of at that moment is a banana cake - I guess I should start thinking out of the box.. and here I begin with a Chocolate banana cake.

ACHAPPAM - Rose Cookies

It's been a while that I blogged, though have been cooking all along. A break is good but when it gets too long ,it is all the more harder to get back......so here I am...with Achappams!

Capsicum & Onion Fritters

It's been a while that I blogged - being busy is an absurd excuse. Who isn't busy anyways?
Sometimes there are so many things that take away your attention and knowingly or unknowingly you just move with the flow..........No more ranting ..........:)
The weather has been warn all day& a lot cloudy.............the gloom is hard to handle ( I say gloom because am a lil messed up in the mind all day)...........but the changes in weather is something we are allowed to watch without a choice. To distract the gloom I made these Capsicum & Onion fritters for tea.

Baked Mathri

I've been a little to held up with too many things last week..........most of wall the parents visit - but when they are short term visitors ............every moment is precious:)

Pizza

Leftovers ................. One could work wonders with leftovers.They are always handy on a lazy day and if disguised they become a family favorite too. Pav Bhaji is one such dish that has helped me disguise it in many ways and kids have just loved it.

Chicken Puffs

Snack time is fun.......and usually we end up snacking on all kinds of rich food, despite our best efforts to cut down on them. There was a pack of Puff pastry squares  in the freezer,some cooked chicken breast - so got down to do the puffs a little differently...........and all I did was bake it in a cupcake pan.

DAL PAKODA

Its been a while that made some pakodas & thought i should make some for tea this evening. This is a very balanced,easy to make recipe. You could even make it well in advance & store it in the fridge and use it when needed. Just make sure no salt is added if the batter is going to be stored for a day or two. Salt could be added when the batter is kept out of the fridge.  well, lets move on to the ingredients.

Step 1: Wash and soak the three ingredients below for about an hour, drain & grind to a coarse thick batter. Less water the better.

•  Half cup -  Raw rice
• One Fourth cup   - Toor Dal ( Split Gram)
• One Fourth cup - Urad Dal ( Split Black Gram)

Step 2: Mix in the following to the batter.

• One fourth cup - Fresh coconut grated
• 4 Green chillies ( or as appropriate)
• 1'' Ginger - Finely chopped
• Curry leaves - a few finely chopped
• Coriander leaves - a few finely chopped
• Hing ( Asafoetida) - Less than a quarter tsp  or 2 pinches
• Jeera( Cumin) powder - Less than a quarter tsp  or 2 pinches
• Salt to taste

  Step 3: Heat Oil for frying till moderately hot. The batter will now look like this ....

Step 4 : Deep fry the batter a tsp at a time until golden brown. Serve hot.
             You could compliment it  with Mint chutney or tomato ketchup.