herbal remedies

Not everyone is a fan of cloyingly sweet desserts. It's a sad, true phenomenon that I will never understand. Especially as I am sitting here eating mini marshmallows from the bag. It is with a tear in my eye and a marshmallow in my throat that I accept this and trudge on to make shortbread for my Mommy Dearest or date nut bars for my Grandma Sue. At least I will always have my sister and father, both of whom have the sweet-tooth disease.

What do you do for these batty people who want dessert but would most likely consider a meal-ender a plate of cheese with fruit? Get creative and get down with Mother Nature.

These rosemary shortbread cookies will make your average 8-year-old recoil at the "grassy" pieces and lack of artificial color but all those ladies eating watercress sandwiches will blot the corners of their mouths with pressed linen napkins and exclaim (quietly, of course) "what a delight!" Even better, they have just five ingredients and the ladies in waiting won't have to picture you toiling away at the stove with sweat {gasp} dripping down your brow.

Rosemary Shortbread

from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
Yield: 18 cookies or 8-10 slices

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C butter, chilled
1/4 C sifted powdered sugar
2 T minced fresh rosemary
2 T granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Process first 4 ingredients in a food processor or blender until mixture forms a ball.
2. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a 2-inch cookie cutter; place on lightly greased baking sheets. If you don't feel like going through cookie cutter madness, press dough into an 8" or 9" tart pan and score lines into dough to form eight to ten separate pieces.

3. Bake at 325° for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition: 89 cal, 5g fat 0mg sod, 10g carb, 1g protein

last call for deep, dark chocolate

We are not quite in the season where it is too warm to stomach rich desserts and all you want to do is grab that blue freeze pop from a nearby child's hand and suck it down for yourself.  There is still room for dense shortbread, caramel, chocolate and playing nice with toddlers.  When my Aunt Potty (please don't question the nicknames in this family) put in a request for "something chocolate" way back at Easter I knew I needed something that would satisfy after the already filling dinner but not loom overwhelmingly large like a cake.  I was tired of cute and had already distributed my Cottontails anyway.  I went to my unassuming and refined baking pan: the tart.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

from Saveur
Yield: 8-12 servings (depending on your appetite, this thing is rich!)

INGREDIENTS
crust
1 1⁄2 C all-purpose flour
1⁄4 C plus 1 T dutch-process unsweetened
cocoa powder (if you don't live near the beloved Wegmans, Whole Foods or a cute little one-off market like we have, I would suggest Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa)
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
10 T unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 C plus 2 T confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract

caramel
1 1⁄2 C sugar
3 T light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
6 T water
6 T unsalted butter
6 T heavy cream
1 T crème fraîche (oh my lord, same as the cocoa, just use sour cream, it will be FINE)

ganache
1⁄2 C heavy cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Gray sea salt for garnish (or in my case, chocolate-covered strawberries, the kids I know aren't really into grey sea salt, wonder why?)

DIRECTIONS
crust 
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients.
3. Transfer dough to a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

caramel
1. In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 T water and bring to a boil.
2. Cook, gently swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and start to turn color. Increase the heat to high and boil until the syrup turns a deep amber color, 4 to 5 minutes. Watch carefully, as it can burn quickly.
3. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and while wearing oven mitts CAREFULLY whisk in butter, cream, and crème fraîche (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth.  Remove pan from heat a Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours.

ganache
1. Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat.
2. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth.
3. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, 4–5 hours. Sprinkle tart with sea salt (or dip those delish strawberries in some extra ganache!), slice, and serve chilled.

SERVES 8-12

Nutrition (based on 1/12 of tart): 426cal, 26g fat, 136mg sod, 51g carb, 35g sugar, 1g fiber, 3g protein

everything is better when sandwiched together.

Easter was a blast but sadly we had to leave before I could even taste dessert.  It was probably a good thing, however, considering that we ate out the night before with the sibs at the beloved Alto Cinco and had my Grandma Sue's food at our fingertips for the weekend.  Of course, we could not part without an amazing Easter basket full of treats ranging from spicy jalapeno almonds to the best chocolate covered potato chips on Earth all filling a brand new bushel basket for gardening this year.  Spoiled?  I will freely admit that I have been since birth and am I super grateful to the village it took to raise me!

I did make a "thank you" of sorts that will come in a later posting.  They were very Easter apropos (I will refer to them as Cottontail Cupcakes) in all of their fluffy white glory.  For now, though, I have a sweet little cookie sandwich pairing.

I think all things are better when filled or slathered with frosting and these are not exempt.  They can be frosted with anything- ganache, mint filling, peanut butter- be creative!

 

Chocolate Shortbread Sandwiches

Yield: 24 mini sammies or 12 regular sammies

INGREDIENTS
shortbread adpated from Cooks Illustrated and Martha Stewart
1/2 C old-fashioned rolled-oats
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C cornstarch
2/3 C confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp salt
14 T unsalted butter, softened
4 T unsweetened cocoa powder
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted for dipping (optional)

banana cream filling
1 mashed banana
2 C confectioner's sugar
2 T butter


DIRECTIONS
shortbread
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
1. Pulse the oats in a mini prep or food processor until reduced to fine powder, about ten 5-second pulses.
2. In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix ground oats, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, cocoa, sugar, and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds.
3. Add the butter to the mixer and continue to mix on low speed until dough just forms and pulls away from sides of bowl.
4. Roll dough into teaspoon-sized or half tablespoon-sized balls (depending on cookie size preference) and place 1-2" apart.  Flatten with a fork or palm of hand.
5. Bake for 5-8 min. until dry but not too dark on the edges. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool.
6. Dip cookies in melted chocolate if desired.


banana cream filling
1. Beat banana and butter together.  Add confectioner's sugar.
2. Frost one side of 24 cooled cookies.

Nutrition: 171 cal, 9g fat, 59mg sod, 23g carb, 14g sugar, .5g fiber, 1g protein