Suzi's Blog

A Classic Cookie: Grandma Rose’s Chocolate Layer Cookie

by Brian on February 3rd, 2010 in Cookbook Reviews, Cookie Jar, Dessert Digest, Recipes No Comments

I don’t want to get into a debate about global warming.  I’m a scientist so I respect the recent evidence that something is happening.  Thing is, whether you just look at the history of the ice ages or go back for tens of millions of years, there have been significant cycles of climate change.  Long before there were SUVs or a Chinese economy, there were dramatic dips and peaks in temperature.  Of course, with six billion humans now, it’s certain that we have some impact.  We may not be “causing” the changes, but we contribute to them.  So, lowering our carbon footprint is a good hedge. 

Oh dear, the “hedge” word.  It has such an evil connotation after the financial meltdown.  Wait, did global warming cause the financial debacle?  No, we can’t overreach.  We need to chill.  I have the solution.

Last week I wanted to browse cookbooks.  With a chill factor near zero, I did not have the ambition to visit my local bookstore.  My front room was more than adequate.  Suzen and I have a serious collection of over 3,000 cookbooks.  Thanks to me, it’s a bit dessert heavy but it’s much too late to change that fact of life.

It’s fun to browse our bookshelves.  New books that we know we need to test and blog on.  And old favorites, some long buried but never forgotten.  Like Rose Natafln’s Grandma Rose’s Book of Sinfully Delicious Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Cheese Cakes, Cake Rolls & Pastries.  With roots in Russia, Rose created a successful depression-era restaurant in Toledo, Ohio with her husband.  Then she moved to Portland, Oregon and established another landmark.  In the 50’s and 60’s Rose was at home in a community filled with Russian, German, and Scandinavian bakeries.

I grew up in Portland.  I can tell you that a first-grader with twenty cents in his pocket could walk home from school and have many choices on his route.  I usually found a two-fisted brownie.  Frosted.  With walnuts.

Rose is gone, her restaurant long gone.  Despite the word “sinful” in her book title, I’m sure Rose has ascended to the Great Bakery in the Sky.  I even know what she’s responsible for.  Brownies.  Although in Rose’s book this delight is simply called Chocolate Layer Cookies.  A standard brownie base is topped with mint cream filling then crowned with a sweet chocolate glaze.  Serve these cookies chilled and you get a snap as you penetrate the glaze and mint topping, then glide through the brownie.  The coolness in your mouth is eased by the warmth of chocolate.  It’s not a cookie.  It’s an experience.

If you already own Rose’s book, hold on to it.  On Amazon, the price for a copy is now 20 times what I paid for it in 1975.  I think my new hedge against financial meltdown is going to be dessert books.

Chocolate Layer Cookies

Cookie Layer

2 ounces       unsweetened chocolate
½ cup             sweet butter
2                      eggs
1 cup              sugar
½ cup             slice nuts [pecans, walnuts, or almonds]
½ cup             unsifted, all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Thoroughly grease a 9” square pan.  Melt the chocolate and butter together over hot water.  In a bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until thick.  Add nuts, flour and chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.  Pour batter into pan and bake for 25 minutes.  Let cool.

Mint Cream Filling

1 ½ cups        powdered sugar
3 tablespoons           softened sweet butter
2 tablespoons           heavy cream
¾ teaspoon               peppermint flavoring

Beat together all the ingredients until smooth.  If you like, sprinkle a drop of green coloring in this mint cream.

Spread the filling evenly over the cookie layer, cover and chill until firm.  About 1 hour.

Chocolate Glaze

2 ounces       sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons           butter
1 teaspoon                vanilla

Melt together all ingredients over hot water.

Drizzle the glaze over the mint topping.  Cover and chill again until firm.  Cut the layer into bite-sized squares and place in paper candy cups.

 
Source: Grandma Rose’s Book of Sinfully Delicious Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Cheese Cakes, Cake Rolls & Pastries by Rose Nataflin

The Mojito Trio: Classic, Mango, and Kiwi

by Brian on January 29th, 2010 in Cookbook Reviews, Dedicated Drinker's Diary, Recipes 1 Comment

I am not a subtle person.  I describe myself as incisive.  Other people might use other adjectives.  I can be intense and I cook and make drinks that way.  A teaspoon of cinnamon?  Oh, no, two is better.  I can draw a very evil stare from Suzen when I’ve overdone it.

Still, she likes my drink concoctions.  She knows that first sip will be strong.  Which is why I just surprised her.  I made a mojito and I followed the classical recipe: I put in club soda. 

Jessica Strand has written a lovely drink book, Margaritas, Mojitos and More.  Her Classic Mojito recipe, given below, has that club soda that I’ve always heard goes into a real mojito.  I always left the club soda out, opting for an intense hit of just mint, rum, and sugar syrup.  What interested me about Jessica’s recipe was the relative balance of ingredients: not too much mint, nor too much rum, and just a little sugar instead of my usual heavy splash of sugar syrup.

So, I experimented and followed her recipe exactly.  Not one extra teaspoon of sugar.  The result?  Very interesting.  It tastes like a mojito, but it is subtle.  There is no overpowering “wham” in your mouth.  That distinctive mojito flavor is there, but it just resonates instead of blaring away.

The book has a bevy of mojito-like recipes.  I tried the mango, which was good, and the kiwi, which was like a smoothie with rum.  For that one, I did add some extra sugar but then again my kiwis were a tad less than ripe.  As with many fruit cocktails, you do need to adjust sugar AND tartness based on your fruit.  If you do add sugar, then some additional lemon or lime juice provides the right counterpoint and maintains the liquidity. You really don’t want a thick cocktail that you have to chew.

Try this mojito with a soft, low intensity cheese and you have beginnings for perfect party.

Classic Mojito

½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon superfine sugar

5 mint leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish

Crushed ice

2 ounces white rum

1 ounce club soda

Put the lime juice and sugar in a highball or other glass.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the mint leaves and crush or muddle them against the glass with the back of a spoon or muddler.  Fill the glass with crushed ice.  Add the rum and club soda, and stir gently.  Garnish with a mint sprig.