Need shortbread recipe for mold pans
So I got these cockle shell pans presumably designed for madeleines and they work a treat that way. But would love to make sandwich cookies, which would mimic the look of whole clams. Found a few recipes for that but the texture of the cookies produced all seem kinda bubbly/flakey; am looking for something that will produce a tighter, smoother crumb, to better counterfeit the surface of a real seashell. I'd glaze the finished product like abalone, natch. ;-)
[This is the general idea of what I'm after, minus the linen and pearls. Think the lady who posted this on her blog, Cherry on a Cake, lives in Malaysia — recipe calls for some rice flour, not sure if I can use rice starch instead.]
There are shortbread recipes for stamped cookies that might work, but AFAICT they are meant to be turned from the mold and baked on a sheet. I'd rather bake the shells right in the pan, but not sure I can do that and still get the relatively flat top needed for the inside of a sandwich cream.
Anybody here have a suitable recipe I could swipe? Otherwise I'll just start out with the one from Cherry on a Cake, it's pretty close, if not a cigar.
Rice flour is available everywhere.
Have you tried the standard 1,2,3 with egg?
?
that might be your shortbread you're looking for.
You could add powdered cocoa to part of the dough or lightly dust one side and roll up, cutting a pinwheel into thirds and press into the shells for striped shells. ??? or a layer of nuts rolled in while rolling dough. Save some dough to make round pearls to prop shells slightly open?
Yeah I had been wondering if I could incorporate egg into the recipe, at least to stretch it. But 1,2,3 + eggs is also the recipe for madeleines, which rise too much in the pan at the end of the bake and form the classic hump — not so great for one half of a sandwich cookie. Though maybe if the eggs are not beaten a lot the dough won't trap all that air and not puff up too much?
Did come across spritz cookies on Google Images, thought I had a potential candidate. But they call for a different baking method: squeezing the dough through a press to create shapes on a flat baking pan. Dunno how well the recipe would work if I just drop the dough into the madeleine pans' cavities and bake it from there. Oh well, guess there's one way to find out!
Mini you read my mind, of course I was thinking of striating the shells with cocoa powder because that's how a lot of real cockles look. Grated pecan for speckles. But I'll stay away from the faux pearls — don't think most oysters have scallop shells and I'm going for authenticity here. ;-)
Gonna experiment with a couple batches tonight. Thanks bakers!
separate your egg and use the yolk first, then add white as needed. It's the whites that fluff it up, or what about two yolks and a little white?
or don't fill them so full that they puff up.
like the one in the middle http://www.flickr.com/photos/sensechange/523200676/
... or don't use any eggs at all. A lot of shortbread is actually made without eggs.
Magdalenas are not shortbread. It usualy has baking powder or similar leavening agent.
Also usually they have about the same amount of fat, sugar, flour and egg. My recipe states: 100g aceite, 100g azúcar, 2 huevos, 100g harina, 1 cucharadita bicarbonato sódico, cáscara rallade de 1 limón.
The French version might be different, but I still don't think it will double the flour, halve the sugar, halve (or leave out) the eggs and leave out the baking powder.
Well, it might be 1 + 2 + 3 but with different order of ingredients.
do they line up? Can you fill two pans, drop something in the middle (like a hazel nut) and then bake them stuck together?
http://natureinfocus.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/cockle-shells-at-studland-bay-in-spring/
could also toss cocoa in part of the dough creating several shades and thicknesses of colored dough, laminate it or stack it up and then cut cubes to squish into the molds. putting the stripes where you want them. I so want to do this myself... Also like the light pinks, orange tones...
oh oh! scrape one striped side of the layered cube (before squishing into form) with a fork to get those fancy moving stripes!
That's right adri, madeleines are more of a sponge cake, their batter often refered to as a génoise, although they have egg. Anyway that's why I can't use their recipe for cookies, and need one for shortbread instead.
That first recipe I found, at the Cherry on a Cake, doesn't include eggs, and comes close to what I want. But the spritzen look like they have a tighter crumb, even though they do contain egg. Maybe it's the higher proportion of flour that does it.
Fortunately I've got four of the same madeleine pans here, will experiment tonight with as many different methods as have time for.
Mini, see what I mean, those cockle shells are so gorgeous. Maybe two thin layers of dough, one cocoa and one lemon, could be draped together and then accordion folded into a roll, chilled and sliced into the molds. Trouble for me is there's almost no counter space in my NYC kitchen, difficult to roll out pastry. Will figure something out.
P.S. I liked those day-glow orange and pink ones too! Wonder how they were flavored. Oh and you can get those pans online pretty cheap.
I am looking for a light shortbread cookie that I can bake in my easter cookie pan.
These usually are flaky and buttery, can be piped into molds and baked. I use this recipe usually (I think it’s similar to a Danish butter cookie recipe):
Cream/beat butter, sugar and vanilla for 5-8 minutes (stand or hand mixer) until pale and fluffy. Sift and fold in flour and salt. Then, pipe onto parchment or in your case, the mold, and bake. Refrigerate if using parchment so the cookie will retain its piped shape (eg star tip).
150°C/300°F 13-16 minutes.
if using zest, rub zest into sugar before beating with butter.
Good luck!
- Christi