Chocolate Rosettes

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It's sometimes a mistake to try and improve on an old favorite recipe. Last year, I shared my recipe and memories of Christmas Rosettes with you. I know that these cookies have lost cache, but they will forever remain one of my favorite treats. My love for them is enhanced, of course, by the sweetness of memory. I think that's OK. We all are creations of time and place and those memories are what make us unique and set our place at the table. Several years ago, Bob and I were in Hawaii for several weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday. The people of the islands know how to celebrate the holiday in an unabashed fashion and it is impossible not to get into the spirit of the season if you are there. Let's say Hawaii, unconcerned with political correctness, bolstered my somewhat flagging Christmas spirit with its exuberant sense of season. We arrived home on Christmas Eve and, despite the hour, I decided we couldn't have Christmas without rosettes on the table. One of the beauties of these cookies is that they require no special ingredients. Another is the ease with which they come together. Ease and simplicity made the cookies possible that Christmas, so I'm not quite sure what possessed me to try this gussied up version of the recipe. It was a mistake. Truth be told, this chocolate version is lacking in flavor and, save for color, has nothing to commend it. It is neither sweet nor chocolatey. Please view me as your early warning system. If you are tempted to try this recipe, pinch yourself and move on. You deserve better.

Chocolate Rosettes...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder (any type)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
Vegetable shortening
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1) Combine cornstarch, flour, cocoa, sugar and salt in a bowl. Beat egg lightly, combine
with milk, and add to dry ingredients. Stir until smooth.
2) Heat rosette iron in deep, hot oil (350 to 375 F) for two minutes. Drain excess oil from iron; dip in batter about 1/2 way. Fry rosette while counting to 10. Wiggle iron so rosette falls off into oil and continue to fry until golden brown. Lift out with tongs. Drain on paper towels. Reheat iron 1 minute before making next rosette. Yield: 18 rosettes.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Stained Glass Cookies - Baking and Boys
Pecan Strips - Louanne's Kitchen
Lemon Glazed Christmas Wreath Cookies - Barbara Bakes
Chocolate Chip Biscotti - Mom's Cooking Club
Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies - The Recipe Girl
Peppermint Meringue Cookies - Sugarcrafter

Swedish Strawberry Cream Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This lovely sponge cake is popular throughout Scandinavia. I learned to make the Swedish version of the cake , called Jordgubbbstårta, the summer of my twelfth birthday. Traditionally, this cake was made for special occasions such as birthdays or national holidays. In summer months the cake was filled with heavy cream and fresh berries. Winter versions were, of course, filled with fruit preserves. While it is simple to make, the cake requires a lot of beating and I suspect that's why it was so seldom made. Although electric mixers became available to homemakers in the early 1930's, they were expensive and few families could afford them. All that changed in 1952 when Sunbeam began to market an affordable hand held electric mixer. That, coincidentally, is the year I first made this cake. Independence Day was a communal holiday in our neighborhood and Mrs. P was responsible for the desserts. She decided to substitute the usual shortcake with her lovely Swedish sponge. She had already made one cake when she asked if I would like to make the second. I was thrilled to pieces and under her watchful eye began to make the second. Now, there is a Tom Sawyer aspect to this tale. I suspect I was given the task because it took so long, even with the electric mixer, to beat the eggs. With her hands free, Mrs. P went on to mix a batch of brownies and the dough for oatmeal cookies, while I carefully held the mixer and watched and waited for the eggs to thicken. They eventually did and the tale ends well. My cake was a triumph. To prevent unnecessary worry, you should know that the cake layers will not dome as they bake. I've also found that the cake is vastly improved if the layers are lightly brushed with orange liqueur or dark rum. The berries I used were super-ripe and packed with flavor, but they tinted the cream pink. If you want a cake with a pure white visage use less ripe berries. The cake will hold nicely for a day or two, but it really wilts as day three approaches. This is a lovely dessert, and if you're looking for a strawberry dessert to replace shortcake, you might want to give this a try. Here's the recipe.

Swedish Strawberry and Cream Cake - Jordgubbstårta...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1 cup (4 to 5 large) eggs, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Orange liqueur or rum for brushing cake layers
Filling
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 quart hulled strawberries, sliced

Directions:
1) Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottom of pans with wax or parchment paper. Grease paper and flour pans. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Place eggs in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat until frothy. With mixer at high speed, slowly add granulated sugar and beat until mixture is very, very thick and pale. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
3) Sift flour and baking powder into another bowl or onto wax paper. With mixer set to low speed, slowly add flour to egg mixture, beating just until blended.
4) Spread batter into pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake bounces back when touched. Do not over bake. Remove cake layers from oven and cool.
5) To prepare filling, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until cream is stiff. Refrigerate. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Toscatarta - One Perfect Bite
Swedish Coffee Ring - One Perfect Bite
Linzer Cookies - One Perfect Bite
Swedish Visiting Cake - Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy
Swedish Princess Cake -Foodaholics
Swedish Meringue Cake - Epicurious

Linzer Cookies

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I love Linzertorte when it's made by someone other than myself. It's a lot of work to assemble and I have trouble with the lattice that typically covers it. I make up for it's absence on our dessert table by making Linzer cookies for the holiday. The cookies are very easy to do and the ingredients used to make them are the same as those used in the torte. While the cookies are far simpler to assemble than the torte, they need to be chilled before being rolled. That means you'll need to build wait time into your plans should you decide to make these luscious morsels. These are basically a butter rich sandwich cookie. It can be a trick to get the top and bottom layers to line up with so soft a dough. I recently read the problem can be overcome by rolling the cookies on parchment paper and transferring the paper to a cookie sheet, rather than attempting to move the cookies. Makes sense. I still haven't tried it, but I've put it on my must try list for the coming year. Linzer cookies are traditionally filled with black currant jam. That can be hard to come by, so feel free to use whatever jam you have available. Raspberry and apricot are always safe alternatives. If the dough becomes too soft as you are working with it, return it to the refrigerator to chill again. All scraps can be saved and reused if they are chilled before an attempt is made to roll them. If you keep the dough cold and use a cookie cutter no more than 2 inches in diameter, you'll have no problem making this classic cookie. Here's the recipe.

Linzer Cookies...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup ( 2 sticks) sliced butter at room temperature
1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg, separated
2/3 cup finely chopped almonds, divided use
1/3 to 1/2 cup good jam or jelly

Directions:
1) Combine flour, butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg yolk and 1/3 cup almonds in bowl of a food processor. Blend until a smooth dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. I chill my dough for 3 to 4 hours before rolling.
2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
3) Roll dough on a well-floured board until it is 1/8-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or thimble to cut centers from half of cookies. Brush cookies with centers removed with egg white. Sprinkle with reserved 1/3 cup almonds and 3 tablespoons sugar. Plain rounds should be left without topping. Transfer cookies to prepared cookie sheets.
4) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges just begin to brown and center of cookie is set. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
5) Top each plain cookie with 1/2 teaspoon jam. Cover with a cut out cookie making sure to keep almond-sugar side up. Yield: about 50 sandwich cookies.