Just like mother used to make
Finessing the chocolate
The chocolate chip cookie, an all-American invention, is one of the best things to eat accompanied by a cup of Beaver Creek espresso blend Italian roast. Beaver Creek is the most southerly coffee estate in the world and like so many good things in SA agriculture, is located in KZN, God’s own province. Now, chocolate chip cookies are a cinch to make. But believe me, if you want to hit the highest spot this kind of baking can reach, you need to address the quality of the chocolate. In my opinion, based on empirical research carried out by a cook with a PhD from UKZN, imported high-cocoa chocolate is the only way to go. And this is how you get there …
To make a batch of truly superior
chocolate chip cookies you will need:
• 400g plain white flour • 150g salt-free butter • 90g brown sugar • 90g caster sugar • ½ teaspoon sodium bicarbonate • ½ teaspoon Royal baking powder • ¼ teaspoon salt • 2 eggs • 200g best dark chocolate
First, the magic: for some reason unfathomed by this genius, bits of chocolate embedded in raw dough don’t melt during the baking process. As a result, the chocolate chips retain their independence and identity after baking.
The combination of tastes and textures make these little biscuits truly sought after. B�But now for the big idea: instead of using standard packages of bitter chocolate bought from the sweet counter, go over the top and buy a R25 slab of imported, high-cocoa dark chocolate.
The cocoa is usually expressed as a percentage on the packaging. As in all things, the higher the better. I prefer a truly dark, bitter chocolate on those rare occasions I’m allowed to eat the stuff. The ultra-bitter taste may not be to your liking, so experiment to find the cocoa percentage that suits your palate best.
Enough theory: now for action. Commission your industrial-strength Kenwood Chef, or failing that, the mixer of your choice. Fit the ball whisk and place the butter and sugars in the mixing bowl. Rev the machine to the red line and allow the contents to reach the consistency of thick cream. Now for the eggs. As in all baking, be warned: eggs should be at room temperature. Add one at a time with the mixer running. Let the egg-butter emulsion form before adding the second egg. Failure to do this means, well, how can put this, failure. Switch off. Add the carefully measured flour, bicarb, salt and baking powder to a fine mesh strainer held over the mixing bowl. Tap the side of the strainer with your hand until all the powders have sifted themselves into the mixing bowl. R ight, now we do we something call folding, which is counter-intuitive. You’d expect to rev up the mixer again, wouldn’t you? Boy, are you wrong. This will aerate the mix, making the cookies inappropriately airy and light. What we want is a good, dense cookie that makes medium-sized demands on your teeth. Folding is the way we get this; all it means is carefully hand-mixing the flour with the wet mix using a spatula. the chocolate bits. Roll the stiff dough into pecan-nut sized balls and place them on a well-buttered baking sheet, leaving room between each dough ball for expansion. tick this into an oven preheated to 180ºC, bake for 15min, allow to cool on a rack at room temperature then serve to wild, uncontrolled roars of manic pleasure. – David Basckin |fw
