Fruits Rouges Scones

 Today I made "fruits rouges" (red fruits) scones. Fruits rouges is a common French ensemble, whether as a frozen berry mix, ice cream flavor, or an infusion (the French term for herbal tea).

Experimental Procedure:
The recipe is yet another variation on my chocolate chip scone recipe: link here
Instead of using chocolate chips or a mixture of chocolate chips and fruit as I have with previous versions, I used a 1.5 cups of frozen fruits rouges.

Observations:

I am not sure why this batch came out rather "blob-like" in shape, possibly from extra moisture in the fruit, possibly from an improperly heated oven. The purple color makes it harder to determine when the scones are fully cooked, and although I baked these scones for 18 minutes perhaps I should have baked them longer.

The lack of chocolate and the tangy/tart flavor of  fruits rouges resulted in the scones not being sweet. Thankfully this can be remedied with a little powdered sugar. See figure 1.

figure 1.

6 Layer/Magic bars in France: the joys of speculoos

In college 6 layer bars/Magic bars/other regional names for this dessert of glory was my go-to dessert for group events.  They are always a crowd please-er and embarrasingly easy to make.  Seriously the hardest step is crushing a package of graham crackers.

For my second dessert attempt in France I made them, but had to make a few modifications due to availability/lack of availability of ingredients, namely graham crackers.  Instead I used speculoos cookies (see Figure 2. below).  If you have not had speculoos in its may forms of joy and wonder, get on a plane and come to France or the Netherlands (speculoos is originally Dutch, one of the many glorious Dutch contributions to the world).  Or beg someone you know in France to mail you some.


Ingredients:
1/2 250g stick of butter (see Figure 1.)
350g speculoos cookies
200g shredded coconut
397g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
400g dark chocolate

Bake Time: 25 minutes

Directions:

• Prehead oven to 176°^C (350°^F)
• Crush speculoos into tiny bits (see Figure 3.)
• Melt butter and in bowl combine with speculoos (Figure 4.)
• Pour into pan and spread evenly (Figure 5.)
• Add coconut (Figure 6.)
• Chop chocolate into small bite-size pieces (Figure 7.)
• Add chocolate
• Pour sweetened condensed milk onto pan, making sure to evenly spread and avoid pouring on the sides of the pan. (Figure 8.)
• Bake 25 minutes
• Allow goodness to cool
• Enjoy!

Figure 1.  1/2 250g butter

Figure 2.  Joy and glory

 Figure 3.

Figure 4. melted butter

Figure 5. form crust

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

Figure 8.

Observations:
Dessert was once again hit with the crowd
Speculoos makes life and everything better
Chopping chocolate by hand was a lot of work
Potato masher was a great tool for pulverizing the speculoos
Using butter or non-stick spray would help with crust sticking in corners and edges

Baking in France: Chocolate Chip Cookies (attempt 1)

 Today was one of my first attempts at baking in France.  I started off with the classic chocolate chip cookie.  Recipe here.  As expected there were some challenges/conversions to be made.

Change #1 butter comes in 250g bars.  1 cup of butter = 227g butter.  Because I do not own a scale (yet) and did not want to estimate 227g, I used the whole 250g butter.

The new laboratory

So far, so good
Change #2.
350°^F is 177°^C.  Of course I misread this and set the oven to 130°^C (266°^F).  The cookies took longer, but otherwise seem unaffected.

The end result:

Observations:

The cookies are good.  No observed change with the addition of 23g of butter. 

Success!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

After much experimentation (see previous trial posts) here is my current working recipe for a giant chocolate chip cookies baked in a 7 inch cast iron pan.  When coupled with ice cream this dessert is known by various trademarked names.  Whatever you call it, it's a giant cookie of joy.

Ingredients:

2.5 C flour

1 C brown sugar

0.5 C wht sugar

1 C butter

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

0.5 tsp water (critical, see Figure 1. for explanation)

2 eggs

2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bake Time: ±30 minutes

Makes 4 giant cookies

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325°^F
• Cream (mix) the butter and sugars
• Add eggs, vanilla, and water
• In separate bowl mix dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt)
• Add dry ingredients in and mix well
• Add chocolate chips
• Fill 7" cast iron pan 2/3 to 3/4 full with dough (it will rise)  See Figure 2.
• Bake 30 minutes
• Allow cookies to cool in pan for several minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
• Enjoy!

Figure 1.  

The essential 0.5 tsp of water to ensure the mixture has adequate Hydrogen bonding for premium structure and texture.  Yes, baking is Chemistry

Figure 2.

7" cast iron pan 2/3 full to prevent overflow and lengthen cook time.

Giant Cookie trial 2

The quest continues to make the perfect giant cookie.

Experimental Procedure:

For this trial I once again followed my chocolate chip cookie recipe found here with the following variations:

• Oven was preheated to 325 instead of 350
• 7" cast iron pan was filled between 2/3 and 3/4 full of raw dough before baking (see figure 1. at the bottom of the page)
• Cookie was baked for 30 minutes and then allowed to cool.

Results and Observations:

• The cookie edges and middle baked in sync and arrived at the desired browned edges with soft center.  I was able to avoid crunchy edges and raw core.
• Cookie stayed within the confines of the cast iron pan and did not threaten to overflow.
• Total bake time was 30 minutes

I do believe I have discovered the ideal baking conditions.  While this trial did not control for individual variables so as to be able to determine the exact roles of each variables, the goal of this experiment was not to isolate the variables but to arrive at the best giant cookie possible.

Further testing and consumption will be required to determine if this is in fact the "best" giant cookie, but for now I find this recipe with these modifications to be excellent for the time being.  So take this experiment, bake some giant cookies, and enjoy!

Figure 1. The 7" cast iron pan filled 2/3 full of raw cookie dough.

 

Giant Cookie trial 1

Today's experiment is to make a giant chocolate chip cookie using a small cast iron pan.  When coupled with ice cream this dessert can be known by various trademarked names.  Whatever you call it, it's a giant cookie of joy.

For this trial I used my normal chocolate chip cookie recipe with no modifications.  Recipe here.  The only variables we are testing for in these trial is cooking conditions: time and temp.

Experimental Procedure:

I followed the normal recipe but put the cookie dough into a 7 inch (approx) cast iron pan.  Pan was filled 75% to allow room for the dough to rise during baking.  Oven was pre-heated to standard 350°^F

Results and Observations:

• Observations were made at 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and then I lost count during subsequent repeated short intervals.
• Trial will therefore need to be repeated to determine exact baking time.
• Edges of cookie baked significantly faster than center.
• Cookie almost overflowed pan

I have determined bake time is significantly greater than 20 minutes, probably around 30 minutes.  Next trial I will try reducing the oven temperature to 325°^f to slow the browning of the cookie's edge compared to the center.  I may try filling pan only 2/3 full to see this also reduces bake time.

Though the experiment is not yet conclusive, any endeavor resulting in eating warm chocolate chip cookie I count as a success.

Chocolate Chip Scones (using a food processor)

Today's experiment is testing the effects of using a food processor to cut in the butter for scones instead of a pastry knife.  Here is my standard recipe for chocolate chip scones.  The idea for this procedure modification comes from my friend Elizabeth who's blog is here.

Experimental procedure:
I cut the cold stick of butter into 16 cubes (see picture to left).  Followed standard recipe with exception of using food processor on the "pulse" setting to cut in butter.

Results and Observations:
The experiment results are in and I am happy to report my findings are positive.  The scones are have desired light and fluffy inside and slight crisp on the outside.  Elizabeth's results, that a food processor can be successfully used to cut in butter, have been experimentally verified.  Let it also be noted using the food processor was significantly faster than a pastry knife.