Maida Heatters Chocolate Cookies With Gin Soaked Raisins Food

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH GIN-SOAKED RAISINS

Steps:

• Combine raisins and gin in a cup and let stand at least 8 hours to macerate.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 2 large baking sheets, shaking off excess flour.
• Mix confectioners sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, flour, and salt with an electric mixer at low speed. Add egg whites and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth.
• Drain raisins in a sieve, without pressing, then add raisins to dough with pecans. Stir until thoroughly mixed. (Dough will be thick and sticky.)
• Working quickly, drop 1/4 cup dough for each cookie onto a baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 3 inches apart, and gently pat down each mound to about 1/2 inch thick.
• Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven, rotating sheet halfway through baking, 15 to 17 minutes total, or until cookies appear cracked and centers are just set. Cool cookies on sheet 1 minute, then transfer carefully to a rack to cool completely.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE MADELEINES

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.

RUM-RAISIN SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Bring the raisins and rum to a boil in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand for several hours or overnight. When ready to bake the cookies drain the raisins in a strainer set over a small bowl; use any leftover rum for something else.
• Sift together the sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter until it is very soft. Add the sugar and beat well until completely smooth. On low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating until smooth.
• Stir in the prepared raisins. Transfer the dough to a large piece of wax paper or aluminum foil, wrap, flatten slightly, and refrigerate for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Do not freeze the dough or it will become too firm to roll.
• When ready to bake the cookies adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 375 degrees F.
• Place the dough on lightly floured pastry cloth and turn it over to flour all sides lightly. With a floured rolling pin roll the dough gently only until it is 1/2-inch thick, no thinner!
• Use a plain round cookie cutter about 2 1/2-inches in diameter. Dip the cutter in flour before cutting each cookie and cut them as close to each other as possible. When cutting a cookie press the cutter very firmly into the dough and rotate it slightly in order to cut through the raisins. Press the scraps together, chill them, and reroll. Place the cookies 1 to 2 inches apart on unbuttered cookie sheets.
• Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Reverse the sheets top to bottom and front to back to insure even browning. With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to racks to cool.
• Since these are fragile the author likes to wrap them individually in clear cellophane. However you store them-handle with care.