Alphabet Baby Quilt

Elephant Costume (Happy Purim!)

Morello Cherry and California Apricot Hamantaschen

Purim is approaching, so I decided to bake some Hamantaschen. (First time ever.) For the cookie dough I used the recipe by Nancy Baggett in The All American Cookie Book. The apricot filling is her recipe also. The cherry filling is a jar of morello cherries from Trader Joe's reduced until syrupy and then chopped fine. Awesome.The cookie starts off a bit dry, and softens and develops more flavor after sitting a couple of days. When I brought these to class they were a big hit.

To form some of the cookies I patted out circles of dough, centered a spoonful of fruit filling on top, and then folded up the edges. Tedious work. Then I realized I could shape the dough into a triangular log, slice it, and push out the center of each slice with my thumb to make space for some filling. Much quicker and a more triangular shape also.

Mystery of the Macaron aux Marrons

As a treat for a friend's 40th birthday dinner a few weeks ago, I returned with some trepidation to the fussy world of the macaron. My first attempt several years ago ended in a lot of frustration and a little reward. Not in taste - they were consistently delicious. But in presentation. My fortunes the second time around were no different. From the same single batch of batter I got wildly divergent outcomes. Half with lovely smooth domes and exposed bubbly feet, all the hallmarks of a stylish macaron. Half cracked and spreading tops and smooth rounded edges, no different in appearance from a chocolate crinkle cookie.

The formula for the batter is by Pierre Herme, from a spread years ago in Bon Appetit. (I used a batch of whites that I had collected and frozen last summer, the surplus from an ice cream session.) The filling is my own invention:  about a pound of chestnuts blanched, peeled, simmered in milk, then cooled and pureed with unsalted butter, confectioner's sugar, heavy cream a splash of rum, and a pinch of fleur du sel. Inconsistent appearances aside, the macarons made a superb finish to a winter banquet..

Rugelach Revelation

Until about 4 p.m. Sunday 16 December 2012 I never had much taste for rugelach. It always seems to me a bit flat. The dough in particular. Pleasant and tasty but also weighty, so that it never has risen above a mid-level option at best when searching for a treat. Then I pulled a batch of these dainties out of the oven. It was my first attempt. I had marked the page for this recipe from Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery ages ago, and I have always found her a trustworthy guide. Plus I happened to have cream cheese and butter and raspberry jam and a loaf of sour dough bread all at once on hand. A conspiracy of convenience.

I waited a few minutes for them to cool enough to taste, and when I took my first bite, the sensation was -- revelation. The dough has weight, for sure, but also is genuinely flaky. The tang of the cream cheese in the pastry matches beautifully the tang of the sour dough breadcrumbs in the filling matches beautifully the tartness of the raspberry jam.

I hesitate to make the claim, since I believe it is human nature to love that which is one's own creation, for no other reason than because it is one's own creation. But honestly, I think these are the best rugelach....