Skip to main content

Gathering Ingredients is Not Enough, Now for Equipment

Early in my cookie baking project, I discovered I would have to plan ahead to find the right ingredients for each cookie. I have made special trips to the grocery store for almond paste, pastry flour, graham crackers, Brazil nuts, dried currants, sesame seeds and coconut (the fresher, the better). I made additional trips to Home Cake, my local cake decorating supply shop, for special cookie cutters, pastry bags and decorating dust.

I managed to conserve gas on other occasions only because the things I had on hand included: lemons, fine granulated sugar, pecans, molasses, oats, pine nuts, vanilla beans, brandy, rum and sherry. Impressive, huh?

Now, as I look ahead to the next few cookies, I've added to my shopping list: cottage cheese, dried figs, more oranges, and peanut oil - somehow, I stopped using it for stir-fries and never bought more.

Oh yes, one more thing - a pizzelle maker. For the uninitiated, or non-Italian, a pizzelle maker is a device that takes a fairly runny batter, squishes it between two hot, (usually) round metal plates to form a thin disk with decorations in relief on each side. Much like a waffle iron, but the product is thinner and can be rolled into a cylinder while still warm, becoming crisp as it cools. Scandinavians have a virtually identical device to make a cookie they call Krumkake.

I have been tempted, but resisted buying this single-purpose appliance, which sells for about $50 new. I've successfully avoiding buying an automatic rice maker and an automatic bread baker. This time, for the sake of the blog (picture my arm to my forehead approaching martyrdom), I figured I'd have to take the plunge, but I don't have to spend the big bucks. A used appliance should work just as well as a new one.

Craig's list Seattle was no help, but because I'll visit my mom in Oakland next week, I took a chance on the SF Craig's list. Un grande successo! $10 for a used pizzelle maker for sale in Oakland, and it's all mine!

More when I make the pizzelle.
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 8:23 PM

    Wow..Looks amazing!!!! /I look forward to your feedback /thanks for this man it was very help
    Pizza Equipment

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#33 Almond Bolas (Portuguese Almond Cookies) 1975

Three almond balls ( bolas ) in a row. "This one is good," my sister-in-law Jill told me. She tried not to express too much surprise, but I have regaled her with too many tales of failed cookies. And forced her to eat a few duds. I was glad this one made the grade. I liked it, too. You might think I am a hopeless romantic to fall for another almond cookie. (Italy, almond cookies. Almond cookies, Italy.) The fact is every country that can grow almonds has its special recipes for almond cookies. Portugal is no exception. The ground blanched almonds combine with dry bread crumbs, then the usual sugar, egg whites and almond extract. The dry bread crumbs are key. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, the bread crumbs add a perfect crunch to their rustic, nutty texture. Holes in the center ready for filling. These cookies don't "drop." You roll them in a ball ( bola ) and press a hole in the center, as for jelly-filled thumbprint cookies. Egg yolk
1 comment
Read more

#17 Brazil Nut Crescents 1958

Light as a feather, these cookies showcase the Brazil nut. After my fiasco of many ingredients (the Oatmeal Molasses Cookies seem so last month), I wondered if only four ingredients would be enough to make a decent attempt at a cookie. I creamed the butter, added sugar, flour and finely chopped Brazil nuts, as instructed. I kneaded the dough on a floured surface a bit, and formed my 2-inch cylinder of dough. The ridged crescent shapes emerge when you cut off each slice. As you cut, each round compresses into more of an oval or square. Help it shape by giving it a pat on top. Then, poke a finger sideways into the middle of each slice, and pull the ends toward you to form the crescents. Cookie rounds flatten as you slice them. I expected a firm cookie, like the Mexican Wedding Cakes I've made. But these are lighter. When I bit in, they crumbled like an abandoned sand castle. OK, edible sand castle. I wondered how they had stayed together until then. The texture difference c
Post a Comment
Read more

#21 Cornetti 1989

First, the texture. These crescent-shaped darlings came closest to the crisp-outside, soft-inside of the almond cookies I've been craving. The difference with these is their distinct orange flavor, from chopped, candied orange peel, and the cup of white cornmeal that adds a gritty crunch to each bite. Cornetti, dusted with powdered sugar. These firm, hearty cookies, with a ground almond base, are my first real almond cookie success. They are not the same as any cookie I tasted in Italy; I have yet to duplicate those bakery cookies. These stand on their own, apart from the rest, and they are every bit as good. After one minute in boiling water, almonds are ready to have skins removed. Blanching almonds. Orange peels simmering in sugar syrup. The bad news is the labor required, especially if you begin with almonds that have their skins. Although an easy process of blanching in hot water allows the skins to be removed for an all-white dough, by the time I was done,
1 comment
Read more