woensdag 23 februari 2011

Moving day for this blog....

Time for me to move this blog to a new address....
All the posts have been moved to my new blog, so what are you waiting for?

Come visit me over at The Baking Bluefinger!

zaterdag 5 februari 2011

Banana Nutella Maple Syrup Bread for World Nutella Day (one day late)




Only pics for now, extended blogpost will follow on Monday!

Twitter Avatar February - James Beard Refrigerator Spice Cookies


Last year a couple of my blog friends were having fun on Twitter with their avatars: they would pick a bread and everyone would post that bread as their avatar for that month. This year the theme is chefs and I decided to join in on the fun. Nancy came up with the great idea of each of us picking a different chef for each month. Everyone chooses one recipe by that chef, takes a photo of the dish and uses that photo as our avatar for that month.




February's avatar chef is James Beard, chosen by Nancy. The recipe I chose is Refrigerator Spice Cookies, its in 'American Cookery' (1972) by James Beard, but it can also be found here.

These cookies reminded me a lot of Speculaas, I divided the dough into three and baked 2 portions. The third portion can be found in my freezer, waiting for a surprise visitor ;) I taste-tested one cookie, it reminded me a lot of Speculaas. Most cookies found their way to work where they were devoured by my colleagues, the rest are at my parents house waiting to be eaten by my dad.



Next month's chef is Emeril Lagasse, chosen by Margaret



Refrigerator Spice Cookies
(American Cookery by James Beard)
Yield: 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups sifted AP flour
1 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375o F.

Cream the butter, then cream in the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Combine with the butter mixture until well blended.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 parts and form rolls that are approximately 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll them up in wax paper or aluminum foil and store in the refrigerator or freezer until firm, about an hour.

With a sharp knife, slice into 1/4-inch rounds. Place on cookie sheets and cook until lightly browned at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.