Best Maida Heatters Chocolate Spritz Cookies Recipes

MAIDA HEATTER'S DOUBLE CHOCOLATE WHOPPER COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 (175C) degrees with rack in the center. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir gently until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
• Whisk the flour in a small bowl with salt and baking powder.
• Beat the eggs, sugar, espresso and vanilla in a large bowl using an electric mixer on high speed until light and lofty, 2 or 3 minutes.
• Drizzle in the melted chocolate on low speed until blended. Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Turn off the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
• Use a 1/3-cup measure to scoop the dough into 6 mounds on each of the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Use a small spatula to scrape the dough out - it's a little gooey.
• Bake one sheet at a time for 17 minutes. The tops of the cookies should look dry and shiny. Cool the cookies on the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer with a spatula to a wire rack cool completely.

MAIDA HEATTER'S 86-PROOF CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and dust the inside of a 9-inch bundt pan (called a minibundt pan), or any other fancy tube pan with a 10-cup capacity, with fine dry breadcrumbs. Invert the pan over a piece of paper and tap lightly to shake out excess crumbs. Set aside.
• Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on low heat. Cover and cook only until melted; then remove the top of the double boiler and set it aside, uncovered, to cool slightly. (You can also melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, just keep a close eye on it.)
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
• In a two-cup measuring cup dissolve the coffee in a little boiling water. Add cold water to the 1 1/2 cup line. Add the bourbon. Set aside.
• Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat to mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the chocolate and beat until smooth.
• Then, on low speed, alternately add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions with the liquids in two additions, adding the liquids very gradually to avoid splashing and scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Be sure to beat until smooth after each addition, especially after the last. It will be a thin mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Rotate the pan a bit briskly, first in one direction, then in the other, to level the top. In a minibundt pan the batter will almost reach the top of the pan, but it will not run over and you will have a beautifully high cake.
• Bake for one hour and 10 to 15 minutes. Test by inserting a cake tester in the middle of the cake and bake only until the tester comes out clean and dry.
• Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then cover with a rack and invert. Remove the pan, sprinkle the cake with a little optional bourbon, and leave the cake upside down on a rack to cool. Before serving, if you wish, sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar through a fine strainer.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TORTE

Steps:

• Set a rack in the center of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch glass pie plate. Dust it with bread crumbs or cocoa powder. Set aside.
• Place the chopped chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over water over low heat. Bring it to a low simmer. Meanwhile, in a cup or small bowl, dissolve the coffee in the 1/4 cup boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Cover and cook over low heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is almost melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. Let cool slightly. (Alternatively, place chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and pour it over the chocolate. Cover with a plate or kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Vigorously whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 15-second bursts, whisking between, until smooth and fully melted.)
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the yolks at high speed until they are pale, thick and lemon-colored, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat at high speed for 5 minutes more until very thick. Reduce speed to low, and add the vanilla and cooled chocolate, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as necessary. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Wash the whisk attachment and mixing bowl.
• In the mixing bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff but not dry. Gradually, in two or three small additions, gently fold half the egg whites into the chocolate, then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining whites just until no whites show. Handling as little as possible, gently reserve about 4 cups of the mousse in a separate medium bowl; cover and refrigerate.
• Transfer the rest of the mousse into the pie plate; it will barely reach the top. Gently level and bake for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat, then leave it in the oven for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. (The mousse will rise during baking and then, while cooling, it will sink in the middle, leaving a high rim.) Wash the mixing bowl and whisk attachment and place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
• When the baked mousse is completely cool, remove reserved mousse from refrigerator. Handling as little as possible, transfer the chilled mousse to the center of the baked mousse. Mound it slightly higher in the center, but be careful to handle as little as possible or it will lose the air beaten into it. Refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours.
• Make the whipped cream: In the chilled mixing bowl with the chilled whisk attachment, whip the cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla on high speed until it holds a defined shape. Spread over the unbaked part of the mousse, excluding the rim; refrigerate. (Another way of applying the whipped cream: Use a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tube and pipe a lattice pattern over the top of the pie and a border around the edge.) Coarsely grate some semisweet chocolate over the top before serving, if desired. The torte is best eaten the day it's made, but it's not bad the next day.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE MADELEINES

Steps:

• You will need two special madeleine pans, available in fine kitchen equipment shops, to prepare these cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Lightly brush the cookie indentations of each pan with butter, using a pastry brush. Take care not to leave any unbuttered spots.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa, coffee, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Place the 1/4 pound of butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream thoroughly. Beat in the vanilla, rum or Cognac and granulated sugar. Add the whole eggs and egg yolks and beat thoroughly. The mixture may take on a curdled look, but that is proper. Start beating on low speed while adding the dry ingredients. Beat only long enough to blend.
• Place a rounded teaspoon of the batter into each of the cookie indentations. Do not spread; it will settle itself. Place in the oven and bake about 12 minutes or until madeleines spring back when touched with the fingertips.
• Remove from the oven and invert onto a rack. Arrange them patterned side up on the rack. Using a sieve, dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH GIN-SOAKED RAISINS

Steps:

• Combine raisins and gin in a cup and let stand at least 8 hours to macerate.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 2 large baking sheets, shaking off excess flour.
• Mix confectioners sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, flour, and salt with an electric mixer at low speed. Add egg whites and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth.
• Drain raisins in a sieve, without pressing, then add raisins to dough with pecans. Stir until thoroughly mixed. (Dough will be thick and sticky.)
• Working quickly, drop 1/4 cup dough for each cookie onto a baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 3 inches apart, and gently pat down each mound to about 1/2 inch thick.
• Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven, rotating sheet halfway through baking, 15 to 17 minutes total, or until cookies appear cracked and centers are just set. Cool cookies on sheet 1 minute, then transfer carefully to a rack to cool completely.

MAIDA HEATTER'S CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Adjust a rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare a 9-by-9-by-1 3/4-inch pan as follows: Turn the pan upside down. Center a 12-inch square of aluminum foil over the pan and fold down the sides and corners to shape the foil. Then turn the pan right side up. Place the foil in the pan and gently press it into place. Place a piece of butter in the pan, heat it in the oven to melt and then brush it all over with a pastry brush or spread it with crumbled wax paper. Set aside.
• To prepare the brownie layer, place the chocolate and butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over low heat and stir occasionally until melted. Stir in the salt, sugar and vanilla. Remove from heat and stir in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour and stir well to mix, then stir in the pecans and coconut. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Let stand.
• To prepare the cheesecake layer, beat the cheese in the small bowl of an electric mixer until it is soft. Add the sugar, two tablespoons cocoa powder, vanilla and almond extracts, eggs and flour, one at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition.
• Pour the cheesecake mixture in a ribbon over the top of the brownie layer. Smooth the top. Then marbleize the two mixtures slightly as follows: Insert the handle end of a teaspoon almost but not completely to the bottom in one corner of the pan and, with the flat side of the handle, cut through the batter in a wide zigzag pattern. Smooth the top again.
• Bake for about 40 minutes until a toothpick gently inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• Cool to room temperature. Then place in the freezer for about one hour until firm.
• Cover with a piece of wax paper and, on top of that, a cookie sheet. Turn the pan and cookie sheet upside down, remove the pan and peel off the foil. Cover with a cutting board or another cookie sheet and then turn upside down again, leaving the cake right side up.
• Cut into 16 large squares or 32 bars or triangles, wiping the blade with a damp cloth between cuttings. These may be wrapped individually in clear plastic wrap. But if they are not going to kept cold, using a sieve, sprinkle cocoa over the tops before wrapping to prevent sticking. Store these in the refrigerator or the freezer. They may be served frozen.

CHOCOLATE SPRITZ COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, cocoa and salt in bowl.
• Beat together butter and sugar in large bowl until smooth and creamy.
• Beat in yolk.
• On low speed, beat in flour mixture until well combined.
• Cover; refrigerate 10 minutes.
• Heat oven to 375ºF.
• Grease several baking sheets.
• Spoon some of dough into cookie press fitted with plate-tip of your choice.
• Keep remaining dough refrigerated.
• Onto prepared baking sheet, press dough onto cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
• NOTE:.
• Cookies can be decorated before baking.
• Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until firm. Remove from oven.
• With pancake turner, immediately remove cookies from baking sheet to wire racks to cool
• Continue with remaining dough, pressing out and baking.
• Line clean baking sheet with waxed paper.
• Heat chocolate and oil in small saucepan over low heat, until melted.
• Dip ends of each cookie in chocolate, drizzle chocolate mix over cookies, or decorate in any fashion desired.