For most kids, Easter usually means school holidays, trips to the Royal Easter Show, swapping chocolate eggs with friends, and eating countless hot cross buns. I was certainly one of those kids, but these days I like to bake my own hot cross buns.

So far, I haven’t managed to do that this year. Not from lack of wanting to, mind you. I’ve just been a little busy with this and that. So a few days ago while I was making some chocolate cookie dough, it occured to me that I could rectify my hot cross bun-less situation.

The dough ended up being made into these caramel and chestnut cookies, but I also saved some dough scraps which I then added some raisins to, rolled out again and cut as rounds. Once baked, I piped crosses over the top of each cookie, using royal icing, and sandwiched them between vanilla ice-cream flavoured with lots of nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon (since I like my hot cross buns spicy).

I’m quoting the recipe for the basic chocolate cookie dough below, because it’s a handy one to have. As Fran Bigelow says in her cookbook, it is a very versatile dough which you can use not just for cookies, but also as a tart shell. I can imagine them being used to sandwich some salty caramel ganache, or mint flavoured buttercream or even fashioned into homemade Oreos somehow. In the meantime, I’m happy to have some Easter fare to enjoy.

Hot-Cross-Bun-Ice-Cream-Cookie-Sandwiches? Takes ten minutes to pronounce, I know, but only two seconds to scoff down.

Chocolate wafers :
(makes 24 cookies; recipe from Pure Chocolate by Fran Bigelow)

170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup dark Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Add the cocoa powder and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

Add the egg and vanilla and blend thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the flour. Mix on low speed until the dough begins to hold together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.

To bake, position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 162’C. Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper of Silpats.

Working quickly, on a lightly floured surface roll half the dough into a 12 x 12 inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3 1/4 inch round cookie cutter, cut out about 12 cookies. With a metal spatula, transfer to a lined cookie sheet. Pierce each cookie with the tines of a fork several times. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly dull on top. [Note : Mine were a little thicker and took slightly longer to bake] Transfer to racks to cool. They will crisp as they cool.

Repeat with the remaining dough, gathering the scraps together and gently kneading into a second batch. Store in an airtight container as long as 1 week.

The other day, my mother asked me if I would make some cookies for the upcoming visit of my sister and her family. Of course, I said yes straight away.

My sister, if you must know, is the model child in our family. Not only did she graduate from University with an honours degree, but she’s now married, and she had a wedding, which my mother got to organise in its entirety. She also now has two lovely little girls (and because she lives in New Zealand, my mother can play Granny without having to babysit too often). Furthermore, her husband happens to be the son of one of my dad’s childhood friends.

Even though being different personality types meant that we quarrelled a lot as kids (later to be united in our irritation of our much younger brother .. whom I must stress that I also love, just in case he reads this), I am in great debt to her because she was the one who introduced me to all kinds of literature. From Enid Blyton to Ursula K. Le Guin, Neil Gaiman and William Gibson. Also, I still can’t imagine anyone else but my sister, who had no interest in my kind of music whatsoever, acquiescing to chaperone me to some extremely seedy pub in a dodgy location, just so that I could see a band I was obsessed with at the time.

When we were kids, we were rarely allowed to eat any kind of cookie beyond plain Marie biscuits or maybe homemade gingerbread. It was only during each Chinese New Year that there would be the unavoidable abundance of Chinese peanut cookies, love letters and tins of Danish butter cookies that at the time, we considered the ultimate luxury item.

I haven’t baked any cookies in awhile, so I guess I went a little bit overboard. This time, I have attempted a few new recipes, as well as some old favourites, like Alice Medrich’s Sesame Seed Coins. These cookies, which are quite similar in texture to Chinese Peanut Cookies, are incredibly tender and full of sesame flavour. In fact, you can even make them with peanut butter instead of tahini, but I think the original will always be the one I like best.

A good cookie, I believe, is like a celebration. A celebration of good ingredients, encapsulated in a few small bites. It connects me with the cup of tea I drink, the couch I’m slumped on, and the television I’m staring at, or a friend I’m celebrating the return of and the sister I’m looking forward to seeing again.

Pecan Penuche Shortbread with Rum :
(from Alice Medrich’s wonderful book, Pure Dessert)

170g unsalted butter, melted and still warm
99g firmly packed grated piloncillo sugar or light muscovado sugar
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon salt
191g plain flour
73g pecans, coarsely chopped
Turbinado, Demerara, or granulated sugar for sprinkling

Line the bottom and four sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil. In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugar, rum, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and half of the pecans and mix just until incorporated. Pat and spread the dough evenly in the pan. Let stand for at least 2 hours, or overnight (no need to refrigerate).

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 148’C.

Sprinkle the remaining pecans over the top of the shortbread and press them gently into the dough. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, leaving the oven on. Sprinkle the surface of the shortbread with pinches of the turbinado sugar. Let the shortbread cool for 10 minutes.

Using the foil, remove the shortbread from the pan, being careful to avoid breaking it. Use a thin sharp knife to cut it into squares. Place the pieces slightly apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment and return to the oven for 15 minutes to toast it lightly. Cool on a rack.

Shortbread keeps for several weeks in an airtight container.

I did a silly thing the other day. A friend came by with the gift of a bag of chestnuts after a recent chestnut picking trip to the Blue Mountains. (How exciting that the season is finally upon us!) I had so many grandiose plans for those shiny little beauties. But first, B showed me how to have a proper old fashioned conker fight. Then, after two chestnuts were suitably destroyed in a highly unskilled contest of extremely random proportions, I set about cooking and painstakingly peeling every single nut left in the bag.

Unfortunately, when it came to cooking a large portion of the peeled chestnuts in order to transform them into a puree, I committed a cooking sin : I walked away from the stove. Yes, not-watching-the-pot-on-the-stove. That ole chestnut!

*sigh*

The pain of losing all those chestnuts (and the frustration of having to scrape a burnt pot) left me in no mood to pursue plan A. We had the remaining chestnuts that evening, in a sauce, with potato gnocchi (a Locatelli recipe). Having shelved my chestnut ideas for dessert, I decided to make something comfortingly chocolate instead.

This chocolate brownie surely scores points for being the ultimate in brownie decadence. A brownie, with a baked layer of chocolate cream reminiscent of chocolate brulee, topped with a shiny chocolate glaze. The original had an additional chocolate decoration on top but since I didn’t have the necessary ingredients for it, I omitted that component.

As this dessert is quite rich, I would recommend halving the recipe and making it in a rectangular baking tin with dimensions roughly similar to 18 x 25 x 4cm. It is pretty complete on it’s own and doesn’t even require the garnishes I have included. Cut the resulting brownie into small fingers and share with all the chocoholics in your life. Especially the ones who bother to bring you bags of chestnuts which you subsequently turn into cinder.

[Update : To anyone making the recommended 1/2 recipe, note that your brownie layer will be thinner than mine because I forgot to reduce the brownie component of the recipe when I made the mix. You can proceed with a full brownie recipe, but a 1/2 recipe will probably make for better eating, because you will get a better chocolate cream : brownie ratio. If you do a 1/2 recipe for the brownie component, make sure you reduce your baking time accordingly.]

Chocolate Brownie :
(serves 10 – 12; from Dessert by David Everitt-Matthias)

for the chocolate brownies :
2 eggs
175g caster sugar
240g bitter chocolate (64% cocoa solids)
150g unsalted butter, melted
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
20g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
60g plain flour
100g hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and finely chopped [I used macadamias]
100g bitter chocolate (71% cocoa solids), finely chopped

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until thick and pale. Put the 64% chocolate in a large bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla, then fold in the egg mixture. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking powder and flour and fold them in too. Add the nuts and chopped chocolate, then transfer the mixture to a grased and lined 12 x 36 x 4cm baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 180’C. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until just cooked but still a little soft in the middle. Remove from the oven and leave to cool while you make the chocolate cream.

for the chocolate cream :
400ml double cream
400ml milk
140g egg yolks (about 4)
100g caster sugar
500g bitter chocolate (71% cocoa solids), chopped

Bring the cream and milk to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan, then remove from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, then pour on the cream, whisking to combine. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently for 2 minutes. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour on the cream mixture, whisking until the chocolate has dissolved. Pass through a fine sieve. Press the edge of the brownie against the sides of the tin to make sure there aren’t any gaps, then immediately pour on the warm chocolate cream, leaving a 2mm gap at the top of the tin for the glaze. Place the tin in an oven preheated to 150’C and cook for 20 – 25 minutes, keeping your eye on it. The cream should be just set and wobble very slightly in the middle. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 3 – 4 minutes and then stretch a piece of cling film over the tin; this will allow the cream to finish cooking in its residual heat. When it is completely cold, place in the fridge for 1 hour.

for the chocolate glaze :
150ml water
175g caster sugar
55g cocoa powder
125ml double cream
2 1/3 gelatine leaves
40g bitter chocolate (64% cocoa solids), chopped

Put the water and caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Whisk in the cocoa powder and cream, bring back to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 minutes, until soft and pliable, then squeeze out all the water. Remove the pan from the heat and add the gelatine, stirring until dissolved. Leave to cool for 3 – 4 minutes, then pour on to the chopped chocolate, whisking until it has melted. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool.

Remove the brownie from the fridge and spread a layer of the cooled glaze on top, smoothing the surface so it is level with the top of the tin. Return to the fridge to set.

To serve, carefully remove the brownie from the tin and cut it into portions, using a warm, wet knife.

(PS: I forgot to mention in the previous post that I have finally joined Twitter. My one concession to a life otherwise free from Mybook/FaceSpace blah. I’m not sure if I will actually use it much. In fact, I barely know how to use it at this stage, but I thought I would sign up anyway, and see how things go from there).