Maida Heatters Chocolate Cookies With Gin Soaked Raisins Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Fit your cookie press with a favorite plate. You'll need unbuttered, unlined cookie sheets.
• Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not simmering water, or melt in the microwave following manufacturer's directions. Allow to cool slightly.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the salt, vanilla and sugar and beat to mix well. Add the egg yolks and beat to mix, then add the chocolate, mixing well to blend. On low speed, gradually add the flour. Beat only to mix after each addition.
• Fill your cookie press with a portion of the dough. Press out the cookies 1-inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to a rack to cool. Store in airtight containers.
• NOTE: Cookies may be decorated with chopped nuts or candied cherries before baking, if desired.

Steps:

• You will need two special madeleine pans, available in fine kitchen equipment shops, to prepare these cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Lightly brush the cookie indentations of each pan with butter, using a pastry brush. Take care not to leave any unbuttered spots.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, coffee, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Place the 1/4 pound of butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream thoroughly. Beat in the vanilla, rum or Cognac and granulated sugar. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks and beat thoroughly. The mixture may take on a curdled look, but that is proper. Start beating on low speed while adding the dry ingredients. Beat only long enough to blend.
• Place a rounded teaspoon of the batter into each of the cookie indentations. Do not spread; it will settle itself. Place in the oven and bake about 12 minutes or until madeleines spring back when touched with the fingertips.
• Remove from the oven and invert onto a rack. Arrange them patterned side up on the rack. Using a sieve, dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375.
• Cut aluminum foil to fit cookie sheets.
• Cream the butter in a mixer.
• Add the salt, vanilla and both sugars and beat well.
• Add the eggs and eat well.
• Lower the speed of the mixer and about half of the flour and beat only until incorporated.
• In a small cup stir the baking soda with the hot water until it is dissolved. Mix it into the dough. Add the remaining flour and beat only to mix.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the chocolate and the nuts.
• There are various methods for forming the dough. You can simply drop the batter from a teaspoon or you can freeze the dough overnight (Ruth Wakefield did this). Maida prefers forming the dough into balls with your wet hands. She says they will have a more even color and taste better. Whichever method you chose, place the dough 2 inches apart on the foil and slightly flatten the top with a spoon or your fingertips. Bake for about 12 minutes until the cookies have browned all over. If using only one cookie sheet, use the upper rack. If using two sheets, reverse them from top to bottom half-way through the baking time. Let the cookies cool for a few seconds before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Set a rack in the center of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch glass pie plate. Dust it with bread crumbs or cocoa powder. Set aside.
• Place the chopped chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over water over low heat. Bring it to a low simmer. Meanwhile, in a cup or small bowl, dissolve the coffee in the 1/4 cup boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Cover and cook over low heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is almost melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. Let cool slightly. (Alternatively, place chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Cover with a plate or kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Vigorously whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 15-second bursts, whisking between, until smooth and fully melted.)
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the yolks at high speed until they are pale, thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat at high speed for 5 minutes more until very thick. Reduce speed to low, and add the vanilla and cooled chocolate, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as necessary. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Wash the whisk attachment and mixing bowl.
• In the mixing bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff but not dry. Gradually, in two or three small additions, gently fold half the egg whites into the chocolate, then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining whites just until no whites show. Handling as little as possible, gently reserve about 4 cups of the mousse in a separate medium bowl; cover and refrigerate.
• Transfer the rest of the mousse into the pie plate; it will barely reach the top. Gently level and bake for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat, then leave it in the oven for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. (The mousse will rise during baking and then, while cooling, it will sink in the middle, leaving a high rim.) Wash the mixing bowl and whisk attachment and place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
• When the baked mousse is completely cool, remove reserved mousse from refrigerator. Handling as little as possible, transfer the chilled mousse to the center of the baked mousse. Mound it slightly higher in the center, but be careful to handle as little as possible or it will lose the air beaten into it. Refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours.
• Make the whipped cream: In the chilled mixing bowl with the chilled whisk attachment, whip the cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla on high speed until it holds a defined shape. Spread over the unbaked part of the mousse, excluding the rim; refrigerate. (Another way of applying the whipped cream: Use a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tube and pipe a lattice pattern over the top of the pie and a border around the edge.) Coarsely grate some semisweet chocolate over the top before serving, if desired. The torte is best eaten the day it's made, but it's not bad the next day.