Almond Crackle Cookies - Two Ways

I clipped the original recipe for this post from a King Arthur catalog (2008). King Arthur calls them Almond Cloud Cookies, but they look like crackles to me. The original recipe is simple, calls for just a few ingredients and one mixing bowl. The cookies are slightly chewy and macaroon-ish and magically delicious. Some almond macaroon recipes combine the sugars, but here the confectioners’ sugar is sprinkled liberally over the unbaked cookies. I suppose you could also pipe this dough, but an ice cream scoop/disher works well and gives perfect results. For serving, I like these best with an assortment of other small cookies or little desserts. And they would be awesome with a fresh fruit salad for dessert.

The original recipe calls for an optional 1/8 tsp of bitter almond oil, or lemon or orange oil. Having tried the recipe several ways, I prefer it with straight almond extract so there is no distraction from the intense almond flavor. And I add a pinch of salt — that tiny bit makes a difference.

Almond Crackles I

20-24 cookies (depending on size)

Preheat oven to 325º.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment

 

10 ounces almond paste

1cup/7 ounces sugar

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp almond extract

pinch of salt

Confectioners’ sugar for topping

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, blend the almond paste and sugar until the mixture forms fine crumbs.

Add the lightly beaten egg whites in a slow steady stream while continuing to mix. Mix until you have a smooth paste. Add the almond extract.

Using a 1/2 or 3/4 ounce cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared pans.

Using a flour sifter or a fine strainer, dust the cookies heavily with confectioners’ sugar.  I like to use the tips of 3 fingers (thumb, forefinger and middle finger) pressed together make a pattern on the top of each cookie. You could also use the end of a wooden spoon, or skip this all together.

Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes until light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet pans.

Vanilla, chocolate or a 50/50 sandwich.

This brings us to Almond Crackles II. And you're thinking, "Wait. What?".

I know. Why mess with a good thing, and if it ain't broke don't fix it... words to live by unless,  like me, you like to fiddle with recipes.

I had in mind a cookie for grown-up ice cream sandwiches. My variation has a more cake-like texture with the crunch of sliced almonds in the cookie and on top. I added whole eggs (vs. just whites), flour, leaveners and sliced almonds to the dough as well as on top of each cookie. The powdered sugar still gives a nice crackle.

Don't be turned off, the "dough" doesn't look pretty when it goes on the sheet pans, but that little problem is solved with baking them off - they will look lovely when they come out of the oven!

Almond Crackles II

approx. 28-30 cookies

Preheat oven to 325º.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment

1 cup/4.8 oz all purpose flour (unbleached)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

10 ounces almond paste 

1 cup/7ounces sugar

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp almond extract

pinch of salt

4 oz blanched, sliced almonds (for dough)

3 oz blanched, sliced almonds (for topping cookies)

Confectioners’ sugar for topping

In a small bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, blend the almond paste and sugar until the mixture forms fine crumbs.

Add the eggs  in a slow steady stream while continuing to mix. Mix until you have a smooth paste. Add the almond extract. 

Add the flour mixture until just combined then add 4 oz almonds and mix until just combined

Using a 1 ounce cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared pans. The dough will be very wet and loose, even runny looking. Divide the 3 oz sliced almonds for topping evenly over the cookies.

Using a sifter or a fine strainer, dust the cookies heavily with confectioners’ sugar. 

Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes until light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans.

Early Spring, 2012

Cherry blossom.

It’s spring. To celebrate, this weekend I cleaned the house. By cleaned I mean I really cleaned. I scrubbed and polished and vacuumed and dusted and drank too much coffee - not necessarily in that order. 


A full Saturday in spring spent cleaning the house means I am already behind in the yard. And my garden, like all of New England, is waking up early this year. In addition to the usual suspects sprouting in all the right (and some wrong) places, the cherry trees are blossoming and most of the daffodils have bloomed. Past years, I have had daffodils blooming thru late April along with the lilacs. 


It's time to rake and put down mulch and edge and tidy up... If you garden even a little, you know how exciting spring is. The soil is warming up, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping. You look to see what survived the winter. You lament the loss of perennials you lovingly planted last year or years before. You make plans and you feel grand. Sweet & Simple has taken a toll on my yard and garden, after all there are only so many hours in a spring or summer season, and I've come to terms with a few more weeds and more containers for pops of color. But I love the simple peace and quiet of working outside and I've promised myself  a few extras hours of gardening this year.

To bring a little spring indoors, this morning I made the tiniest bouquet of violas. The weensy perfume bottle marked “Lazell’s Perfumes New York” is a thrift store treasure, the violas are from a planter at my front door.

I'm seeing dramatically fewer daffodils this year, so it looks like I’ll be busy planting more in the fall.  I like to order daffodil bulbs from a Connecticut company - Van Engelen Inc. 

Daffodils in my backyard.

Happy spring to you! I wish you all the joy of the renewal season.

Lemon, Pepper and Parmesan Sables - #baketogether

I was super excited about Abby Dodge’s March #baketogether project – savory sables. In my mind, French Sables are the ultimate, buttery icebox cookie. Ooooooh la la!

My variation on Abby's recipe is lemon, pepper and Parmesan because those are three flavors I especially enjoy together. The brightness of the citrus, the warmth of the pepper and the nutty Parmesan all balanced out by Maldon, currently my fav sea salt. Maldon is expensive, but I use it sparingly as a treat. One box lasts a VERY long time.  My oldest said he loved "those parmesan cracker things" - I have to agree that they are delicious, whatever you call them.  I'd like to try a bleu cheese-bacon combo on my next pass (though I would omit the salt entirely in a bacon version).    

Sables just out of the oven - cooling on a kitchen window sill.

I will note, again, that #baketogether is open to all bakers. Simply follow the clear directions on Abby's site, get inspired and get baking! It's fun to participate and see all the clever spins on Abby's easy-to-follow, instructional recipes. I would definitely head over to Abby's site to see this month's technique in pics before you try this recipe. As a side note, I also use a food processor for pie dough and love the results - very consistent.

You can see that my sables are not perfectly cut - lopsided! - but they are a lovely, nutty brown color.
And that made a very happy baker.

Lemon, Pepper and Parmesan Sables 

Makes 29 cracker size sables or 40 coin size nibbles

1 1/3 cups (6 ounces) unbleached, all purpose flour

1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 teaspoon sea salt (fine grain)

1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste) freshly ground black pepper
Zest of 1 medium lemon

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 7 slices, well chilled

2 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons very cold water (if your dough is DRY (like mine) add water in 1/2 tsp increments until desired consistency is reached)

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional, but recommended, and I prefer Maldon for sprinkling)

To make the dough:

1. Put the flour, cheese, salt and black pepper in a food processor and pulse briefly to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are slightly larger than pea size, about 10 to 12 pulses depending on your machine. Drizzle the water evenly over the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough begins to form moist crumbs that are just beginning to clump together, about 8 or 9 more pulses depending on your machine.

2. Dump the moist crumbs onto the unfloured counter and gather into a pile. With the heel of you hand, push and gently smear the crumbs away from you until they start to come together in a cohesive dough. Two or three ‘smears’ should do the trick. Using a bench scraper, gather the dough together and turn it about 45 degrees and give it one or two more smears.  Gather the dough together and shape the dough into a 7 1/4-inch long and 2 1/4 -inch wide rectangle using the bench scraper to make the sides nice and straight.

OR, create a rounded log that can be cut into bite size coins. I prefer this size to serve with wine or cocktails. The video link is helpful, but I normally just place the dough in a sheet of waxed paper/plastic wrap and, using my hands, roll the log back-and-forth until I have a nicely shaped log.

Either way, wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, about 3 hours, or up to 2 days.

3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment. Using a thin, sharp knife, cut the rectangle logs, or round logs, into 1/4-inch slices and arrange about 1 inch apart (they don’t spread much at all) on the prepared sheets. If making “coins,” you will need to turn your log after each cut to ensure the shape of the “coins” is consistent.

If you like, sprinkle the sables with your favorite salt salt just before they go in the oven.

Bake, one sheet at a time, until nutty brown around the edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Serve slightly warm or room temperature.

4. The dough can be shaped and frozen for up to a month and then thawed for about an hour on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight. Likewise, tuck the baked and cooled sables in a heavy duty zip top bag and stash them in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature and warm them for a few minutes at 325°F to refresh the flavors.

Happy Baking! 

Please Help Sweet & Simple "Get On The Shelf"

Sweet & Simple entered Walmart’s first-ever Get On The Shelf contest, and wants your vote! 

Get On The Shelf is an “American Idol” style competition where contestants create a video featuring their product(s) and the public votes online for the winners.


The grand prize winner’s product may be sold on www.walmart.com and may get shelf space in select Walmart stores. Walmart will also provide invaluable insight and advice on scaling up effectively. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Sweet & SImple!


Please vote for Sweet & Simple here or  from your mobile phone, text  2879 to 383838.

You can vote once per day via Facebook and text – so, please vote often!

Thank you for your support!

Every vote counts and is appreciated.

I believe... dreams can come true.

Coconut Cake with Chocolate Espresso Sauce

The original recipe for this post is from Paci Restaurant in Southport, Connecticut. I love Paci's Coconut Cake so much that I wrote to Gourmet for it in July, 2000. I was pregnant, out of work, and apparently had a lot of time on my hands.  I'm pretty sure if I had called, and asked nicely, they would have shared the recipe. Bob Patchen and his wife, Donna, are two of the nicest people in the entire universe. But I was SO excited to be "published" in Gourmet magazine I can hardly tell you. I blame it on pregnancy hormones and, of course, REALLY loving their coconut cake. You should make it - their version or mine. Honestly, I love both!

 Just out of the oven - golden brown!

My own version has some minor adjustments, a little less sugar, a little more vanilla and sweetened coconut instead of unsweetened (available at most health food stores).


Coconut Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Serves 10-12

2 cups (270 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) (225 grams) unsalted butter

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs 

1 cup (8.6 ounces) whole milk

1 1/2 cups (135 grams) sweetened, flaked coconut

Grease a 10- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment.  Grease paper and dust pan with flour, knocking out excess. Or, if you are in a hurry, use a cooking spray.

Have all ingredients at room temperature.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In the work bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter with sugar on medium speed until light in color and fluffy.

Add vanilla, then beat in eggs, 1 at a time. (Mixture may look curdled.)

Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk in 3 batches on low speed. Begin and end with flour mixture.

Increase speed to medium and beat batter 1 1/2 minutes, or until smooth. Fold in coconut.

Spoon batter into cake pan and spread evenly with a butter knife or small offset spatula. Bang pan once or twice on counter to remove any air bubbles that may have formed.

Bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Cool cake in pan on a rack 1 hour, then invert onto rack. Remove paper and reinvert onto another rack to cool completely.

Serve with Chocolate Espresso Sauce (recipe follows and is a modified Paci recipe as well).

My version, with a little puddle of Chocolate Espresso Sauce.

Chocolate Espresso Sauce

Yield: 1 1/2+ cups

6 ounces espresso

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

12 ounces best quality semi-sweet chocolate 

In a small sauce pan over medium heat add espresso and sugar and cook to reduce by half.

Bring mixture to room temperature. When cool, whisk in vanilla.

In a double boiler over simmering water (I don't own a double boiler and instead use a stainless bowl that fits in a  medium size soup pot), melt semi-sweet chocolate with heavy cream. When melted, remove from heat and gently whisk in espresso mixture. 

This sauce is best used immediately or gently rewarmed prior to serving.

A night off for a great cause...

Thank you to my friend and Sweet & Simple photographer, Melani Lust, for including Sweet & Simple in the 10th Annual CancerCare Girls' Night Out. On Thursday, March 1st, I donated brownies, put on a pretty dress and joined a group of wonderful women raising money for a great cause.

Melani Lust of Melani Lust Photography (left) and Michelle Jaffe (right)

Congratulations to all the sponsors, especially Melani, and participants on a fabulous party that was all about helping other people! As my company grows, I look forward to working with CancerCare in the future.

Rum Tropical Punch & A Wild Giveaway

One of the many treasured vintage cookbooks my mom has sent over the years is San Francisco à la Cart, by the Junior League of San Francisco (New York: Doubleday, 1979).


Chapter II, Beverages, is so fun! My favorite recipe is for Rum Tropical. The original recipe description warns, “Watch out for this! It is deliciously lethal.” I made some minor changes to the recipe and the drink is at least as delicious and lethal, if not more so! It’s so easy and can be made well ahead of a party. I like to garnish each drink with an all-natural maraschino cherry or two because they’re nostalgic and adorable and they taste even better after they’ve soaked in the punch. If you like, you can purchase all-natural maraschino cherries here, but check your local grocery store first. And I've made this for my kids without the booze - I'm pretty sure we called it Pirate Punch. Ahoy!

Rum Tropical Punch

My March giveaway is for this wild leopard print wine purse that showed up in my newsfeed on Facebook a few weeks ago. What a super fun and stylish way to transport a bottle of wine just about anywhere - to your fav BYOW restaurant or a picnic at the beach. It's on my wish list but it can be yours by entering the giveaway!

Source: thewineauxshop.com via Michelle on Pinterest

To enter, leave a comment in the comment section below telling me if you have a punch tradition in your family - wine, champagne or liquor based? - and what the punch means to your family. For example, my grandmother had a "fancy" alcohol-free punch she made for weddings and now I wonder if it was ever spiked on the sly. Had to have been, right? I also love eggnog "punch" around the holidays. Picture a pretty punch bowl with a block of vanilla ice cream bathing in egg nog, a dash of nutmeg and an optional splash of rum, for adults only. Holy heart stopper - small servings for that egg nog!

By commenting you confirm that you are 21 (because it is alcohol related) and, if you win, that you will claim the prize within 72 hours by contacting me at info@sweetandsimple.com. If not, you forfeit the prize and I will select another winner. The contest ends on Saturday, March 3rd and the winner will be announced on Facebook and in the comments section below. Sorry to be firm, but I don't want anyone to be disappointed!

Jenni's Wine Jell-O!
(Photo Courtesy of Jenni Field, Online Pastry Chef)

Wait, wait! There's more!!

Additionally, you can visit my friend, Jenni Field, the one-and-only Online Pastry Chef, on her blog, comment there, and be eligible for another boozy giveaway! Coincidence? Nah. We definitely planned this. Jenni made a fab Wine Jell-O Recipe for the occasion. I know you're going to LOVE it. 


Jenni's also on Facebook and Twitter.


Rum Tropical Punch
10-12 generous servings


In a large pitcher combine and whisk:
4 cups of rum (preferably a lighter rum)
3 cups pineapple juice
1 cup mango juice
1/2 cup lime syrup, cooled (recipe follows)


Lime Syrup:
In a small saucepan combine:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, strained
1/4 cup extra fine sugar
Bring mixture to a boil, remove from heat and cool thoroughly


Refrigerate the punch for at least 48 hours.
Serve in pre-chilled, small glasses over crushed ice.


Maraschino cherries, petite lime wedges and/or fresh pineapple wedges for garnish (optional, but why not?)