Finished cutting the milk toffee. Pretty pretty.
Giving Up on Neatness
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sri Lankan cashew milk toffee (which is really closer to a fudge than a toffee, despite the name) with silver leaf applied to it, but I wanted to try for Diwali today, and I think it looks great!
Not at all easy to do neatly, even with the two sets of wooden tweezers that came with the silver leaf — it blows around wildly in the slightest breath of air. But if you give up on neatness, it works just fine. 
These will be going in the December Patreon treat boxes — well, the ones Anand doesn’t eat will be going in the treat boxes. He adores milk toffee.
Spiced Chocolate Gingerbread Dragon Eggs
This grown-up gingerbread has tremendous depth of flavor, with molasses, jaggery, plenty of ground ginger and a bit of cayenne taking it to the next level. It’s based on a recipe by Matt Lewis, but with a few tweaks heading it in a more Sri Lankan direction. The result is a sturdy, chewy cookie with a little heat — perfect for shaping into dragon eggs. A pattered cookie cutter makes that easy, and a little gilding gives these cookies a festive holiday glow.
NOTE: They’d also work well as sandwich cookies with creme, or ice cream sandwich cookies.
3 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
⅓ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T. ground ginger
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1 T baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/4 – 1/2 t. cayenne (to your taste)
1 c. unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 c. jaggery (or dark brown sugar)
1 large egg
1/2 c. molasses
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
a little vodka and gold luster dust for decoration, optional
1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave at half power; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour with cocoa powder and spices; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with the jaggery / brown sugar on high until fluffy, about two minutes. Add egg, molasses, and melted chocolate, stirring to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, beating on low until it forms a dough.
5. Divide the dough into two firm balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled.
6. Preheat oven to 350F, and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick, and cut out cookies. If the dough is a little cracked, you don’t need to get it completely smooth — the cracks will add to the dragon egg-like appearance. Chill again for 15 minutes before baking, to reduce the chance of spreading.
NOTE: I found that with this particular cutter, if I pressed down far enough to cut the cookie out completely, the dough tended to stick and be hard to remove from the cutter. It was easier to press it most of the way, then remove and use a sharp knife as needed to free the egg from the dough. A little fiddly, but worth it!
7. Bake cookies for about 7 minutes; let cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
8. Once cooled, add a little luster dust to a bit of vodka (or extract, but extract can add more flavor / scent than you want), and use a food-dedicated little paintbrush to gild the eggs, giving them a proper dragon-ish glow.
Enjoy!
Rising Chocolate Moon 🙂
Dragon Eggs
More photos and a recipe tomorrow, but I will leave you tonight with these adorable chocolate-cayenne gingerbread dragon eggs that just came out of the oven. So cute, and as I hoped, the crackling of the dough really adds to the dragon scale effect. You get these ideas in your head, and you’re never quite sure if they’ll work out. Will try gilding them in the morning, after they’ve cooled….
Painting with Luster Dust
A nice decorating alternative to dipping in chocolate is painting with luster dust (keep a tiny brush dedicated for cooking) mixed with a bit of vodka. The vodka won’t add any flavor, but will help the dust adhere. This is quick and fun and festive!
A Scolding
When I’m in production baking mode, I often enlist Kevin to help out, but I have to be a little careful with instructions. He’s a great cook, but the last time I had him make cookie dough for me, he used vanilla extract instead of beans.
And quality vanilla extract is great, I use it a lot for baking, but there’s something about using the actual beans that just produces a better cookie, I think. I’m not enough of a food expert to tell you why, though!
I scolded him; he won’t do that again.
(I get both my extract and beans from Penzey’s. Pricey, but SO good.)
Feels Desi to Me
Dark chocolate-dipped cardamom, rose & vanilla shortbread (see previous post for recipe). I think I love the gold leaf + dried rose petal decorations the best; they feel very desi to me.
But the gold polka dots are also cute on a sweater, and the white hearts, and the tiny pink dots make me think of cute little kids, so okay, I like them all. Luckily, I don’t have to pick.
Cardamom & Rose Shortbread
Dipping and decorating some of the cardamom, rose & vanilla shortbread from the weekend (for the Patreon treat boxes). Honestly, I think I like these cookies best plain myself, but it’s fun to play with decorating, and rarely does anyone complain about a little more chocolate.
Also, the embossing rollers are pretty hard to use completely evenly, so if there are some cookies that didn’t come out quite perfect, a little chocolate covers a multitude of sins.
*****
Cardamom & Rose Shortbread
(45 minutes + optional 15 minutes chilling time)
Gorgeously aromatic, these warm flavors make for a perfect chai companion.
Ingredients:
3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c. brown sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean, recommended (or 1 T vanilla)
a few drops rose essence or 1 T rosewater
3/4 t. salt
1 t. ground cardamom
3 1/2 cups flour
chocolate chips for dipping, optional
dried rose petals and edible gold flakes for decorating, optional
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar; add the vanilla, rose, salt, and cardamom. Then add flour and mix on low until dough forms.
3. Turn out dough onto floured board and shape into a firm ball. (If it’s not coming together into a dough, the heat of your hands will help.) NOTE: Can be kept chilled at this point for several days, covered in plastic wrap, and then rolled, cut, and baked fresh.
4. Firmly pat flat and roll smooth (to desired cookie height, usually about 1/2 inch). If using embossed pattern rollers, roll carefully now. If using cookie cutters, cut out shapes, place on parchment-covered baking sheet, and chill for 15 minutes (to help hold shape).
Alternately, press into baking pan or shortbread mold, prick with fork. You can also cut shapes out after baking — shortbread is very forgiving that way — but then the individual cookie edges won’t be browned.
5. Remove from fridge and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges begin to brown, then remove to wire rack to cool. Delicious with chai!
6. Optional: Melt chocolate chips in double boiler or glass bowl in microwave at half power. Dip cookies, place on parchment paper, decorate, let dry.
NOTE: Can be stored frozen for two months, or will keep fresh for a few weeks.
Even Yummier
Kavi says these cookies are even yummier than the usual cookies, and I have to say, after pressing out the dough, my hands smell incredible. Cardamom, rose & vanilla shortbread. Recipe and more photos tomorrow.
