Monday, November 17, 2014

Fave dei Morti Cookies


There's a lovely story behind these small cookies, sometimes referred to as little cakes.  Though the translation, Beans of the Dead, sounds a bit macabre, these cookies are wonderful treats with coffee, tea, or a dessert wine.  The liturgical story explaining the history of these treats balances remembering past lives with the promise of future relationships.  The cookies are eaten on November 2, or All Soul's Day.

I have to say that I looked twice at this recipe before deciding to try it.  Perhaps I should have looked one more time (see below).  Not anywhere near renouncing my love of sweets, I was nevertheless piqued by how healthy-on-paper these little 'beans of the dead' looked.  Hardly any butter (replaced by nut fat, I'm sure), the substantial quantity of almond meal (this has to be more nutritious than using all white flour), and the relatively low load of sugar (hmmm...likely supplemented by the sugar in the shot of rum)... for a yield of 5 dozen cookies?  Remarkable!

I made these in October and was pleasantly surprised at how lovely they turned out.  They were delicately soft and almond-y.  Pictures were taken, uploaded, and an All Soul's Day posting was my goal.  But there was something about the taste and coloring of the cookies that was missing.

Carefully scanning the recipe once more, I knew that I had left out the cinnamon!  It's taken me until now to remake the cookies, retake additional pics, and confess.  I give you both:  faded and flushed.

Notes

I used a mixer to combine all the ingredients, but I am sure you could use a wooden spoon and/or spatula to mix everything together.  

I melted the butter on my first making and softened the butter the second time.  No difference!

I chilled (30 minutes or so)  the dough on both occasions before rolling because I didn't have the time to bake off.  The mentor recipe does not say to do this.

The mentor recipe suggests adding a very little bit of water if the dough is crumbly.  This never happened with my two productions, but it's good to know.

The dough is sticky, but surprisingly the rolling is not affected.   Hand-rolling goes quickly. 

The dough does not spread much while baking, so spacing can be an inch between cookies.


Fave dei Morti Cookies

7 ounces (200 grams) almond meal
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium-large egg
2 tablespoons butter, softened or melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 shot rum (1.5 oz. or 45 ml)

Directions

1.  In a mixer, combine all the ingredients until the dough has gathered together fully.


2.  Wrap dough in saran and chill for 30 minutes or so.
3.  Hand roll walnut-sized pieces of dough into balls and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Each ball was about 3/4 - 1 inch in diameter.


4.  Use a spoon or your finger to dimple each cookie.  Notice that the cookies on the left are paler.  That's because they had no cinnamon!  The ones on the left are the corrected batch.


5.  Bake at 350º F for 10-15 minutes or until dry to the touch and a bit golden.  Turn sheet 1/2 way around midway through the baking.  Again, left without cinnamon.  Right with cinnamon.


6.  Once cooled, place into ziplock bags for air tight storage.  These freeze well too!


Thursday, November 6, 2014

Autumn Rice Krispie Sticks



Over the next few posts, I want to share some quick and effortless-to-modify sweets that are easy to freeze and pull out when you are busy with all the seasonal responsibilities requiring attention.  Don't look over your shoulder...I assure you that what is on your platter now is nothing compared to what will climb aboard over the next few weeks.  But enough.  You are well acquainted with Holiday Season frenzy. 

These Rice Krispie Sticks are a riff on the familiar Rice Krispie treat.  Though the classic recipe is barely modified, but the addition of nutmeg and cinnamon to the mix brings these treats to a whole new level of sophistication.  Yes, you create a dessert finger food with a bare minimum of effort and time.  Cutting the cooled Rice Krispie mass into slender sticks, dipping them in melted chocolate (I used dark), and then capping them with sprinkles makes a statement.  And that statement is, "Pick me up and insert into your mouth." Yum!

As you know, this is a no-bake recipe, so it can be thrown together in less than 20 minutes, chilled down for a bit, and then adorned the way you want.  No time to garnish with chocolate?  How about softening some ice cream and use the sticks as dippers, dredging them through some coarsely chopped peanuts on the way to your mouth?  Does barely warmed jam-of-your-choice sound like a dip possibility?  Is a bowl of whipped cream more your style?  Endless...  

Notes:

1)  The recipe yielded about 36 sticks measuring about 1" x 3".  There was a wee bit left over that I wrapped and placed into the freezer for a surprise in the near future.
2)  I melted the butter and added the marshmallows and spices in a non-stick Dutch oven.  When the rice cereal was added, the mixing was easier since nothing stuck to the pan.  Cleanup was a breeze.
3)  Once cut, I stood the stick into the melted chocolate, and in some cases, slathered the chocolate up the stick with a knife.  Then I scraped off any drips and placed the stick into a bowl of sprinkles.  
4)  All sticks were placed on a piece of parchment to allow the chocolate to solidify. 


Autumn Rice Krispie Sticks
(slightly modified from the classic recipe here)
Yield:  Dependent on size; 1"x 3" sticks yielded approx. 3 dozen

3 tablespoons butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
6 cups of puffed rice cereal
11 x 7 glass baking dish, coated with a vegetable spray
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or use whatever type chocolate you like)

Directions

1.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan, and then add the marshmallows, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2.  Stir with a heat proof spatula until mixture is entirely mixed (including those ever-so-small pieces of marshmallow that just take a bit longer to get with the program).
3.  Remove from heat and add cereal, folding and mixing until everything is coated and gooey.
4.  Move contents to your baking dish and flatten with spatula or your clean fingers.
5.  Allow to cool.  I placed the dish in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before coating the ends with chocolate.
6.  Meanwhile, place the chocolate chips in a small bowl and microwave for 15-20 second intervals, stirring after each session until chocolate is melted.  I find that when there are very small pieces needing to melt, I just keep stirring rather than heating again.
7.  Remove rice krispie bar from refrigerator.  You can cut your sticks from the glass dish or remove the entire mass from the dish and place it onto a cutting board.  
8.  Using a sharp knife score and then cut the bar into sticks.


9.  Holding each stick from one end, dip the other end into melted chocolate, using a small spatula or knife to help coat the bottom of the stick.  Scrape off any chocolate that will otherwise drip.
10. Dunk the stick into the bowl of sprinkles and lay on parchment paper.  Allow to dry for an hour or overnight.
11. Once dry, any uneaten sticks (banish the thought) can be placed into an airtight container (layering with parchment to accommodate the sticky-factor) and kept in the refrigerator.


A possible garnish for the holidays...