Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you know me, chances are you've had one of my mom's chocolate chip cookies.

They're a pretty big deal.

She's baked them for as long as I can remember. For seven years, she baked a double batch for every field hockey game and fencing meet I ever had, and she did the same for my brothers cross country running races, ski races and crew meets. They were always in tins lined with doilies, wrapped in layer upon layer of saran wrap then tied up with a ribbon in our school color.

Everyone who comes to work at our home, be it carpenter, painter, or electrician, is baked a batch of these cookies. If she's going out and knows the lawn man is coming to cut the lawn, she leaves a plate of cookies (doily and all) on the front steps for him and his crew to enjoy.

Visitors are sent off with a package to sustain them on their journey home. They appear in care packages, potluck dinners and any other occasion calling for cookie consumption. If they don't appear for some worthy reason, people want to know where the cookies went. Everyone wants them.

They're famous.

What's the secret?

Follow the recipe straight from the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag. Use egg beaters instead of a real egg, and don't try to round out the dough when you place it on the cookie sheet. Leave it lumpy. It's as simple as that.


Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from the Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate morsel bag.

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg - or 1/2 egg beater
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In the bowl an an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on high until well mixed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until incorporated.

3. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together, then add to the butter mixture gradually. Mix on low speed just until the flour is combined with the butter. Stir in the chocolate chips.


4. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet, but don't smooth out the dough. Bake for roughly 11 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Place the cookies onto a wire rack to cool.



I had the pleasure of enjoying a few this afternoon (left over from baking for our electrician). It's been a good year since I've had any, and they were just as delicious as ever. I'm glad some things never change.

Busch de Noel

Christmas Countdown: Five Days!

Still unsure of your Christmas dessert? How about a Busch de Noel?

A Busch de Noel, or Yule Log, is a traditional Christmas cake. It consists of a chocolate cake coated with buttercream, then rolled up and decorated to resemble a log. As I was baking my Busch de Noel last week, I began to wonder how the tradition of a cake resembling a log came into being.

Apparently, the Busch de Noel arose from an ancient celtic tradition for celebrating the winter solstice. On the solstice, the Celts would dearch for a large elm, cherry, beech or oak trunk to burn. The log was both a symbol of the suns rebirth as well as an offering of thanks to the sun for returning to the earth.



As this tradition evolved, the celebration became more elaborate. The logs were decorated in greenery and ribbons and the ashes were collected and saved for later use in curing illnesses and warding off the devil.


As time wore on and stoves came into popularity, the tradition still evolved. The former larger logs were replaced by smaller branches, which were set in the middle of dinner tables and surrounded by Christmas treats. This branch was eventually replaced by a cake resembling a log, and thus the Busch de Noel arose!

Thank goodness, as I'd much rather eat cake than go out hunting for a log!



The cake needs to be baked a day in advance to assembeling (and eating!). It sits overnight underneath a damp towel, which ensures a moist cake for easy rolling.


Ingredients:
7 medium eggs
7 oz semisweet chocolate
7 oz sugar
4 tablespoons raspberry jam
2 tablespoons chocolate liquor

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temp
½ cup sugar
2 egg whites
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 oz semisweet chocolate

Powdered cocoa
Decorations

To prepare the Cake:
1. Grease a 9 x 13 inch brownie pan with butter. Line the greased pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Chop and melt the 7 ounces of semisweet chocolate in a double broiler. Allow the melted chocolate to rest for five minutes while you prepare the eggs and sugar.


3. Separate the eggs. In an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and fluffy. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until firm.

4. Fold the melted chocolate into the egg yolks and sugar just until combined. Then fold in roughly 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Add the remaining egg whites and fold until the whites are incorporated.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until firm. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cover the cake with a damp towel and allow to sit overnight.

6. The next day, remove the towel from the cake. Sprinkle the cake with the chocolate liquor, then spread with the raspberry jam. The cake is now ready to be frosted and rolled!





To prepare the Chocolate Buttercream:
1. Chop and melt the 4 oz of chocolate in a double broiler. When melted, set aside and allow to rest for five minutes while you prepare the eggs and sugar.

2. Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, and place this over a pot of simmering water. Place a candy thermometer in the bowl and continue to heat the sugar and eggs, while stirring occasionally, until the thermometer registers 160.

* If you don’t have a candy thermometer, don’t fret! You can heat the mixture until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is no longer grainy when rubbed against the side of the bowl.

3. Remove the bowl from the heat and place in the electric mixer. Whisk the egg whites and sugar on high speed until white in color and thick, roughly 8-10 minutes. It will be similar in consistency to marshmallow fluff.


4. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the soft butter in small chunks with the mixer running on medium-low. When all the butter is added, run the mixer for an additional 2-3 minutes.

5. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate into the buttercream, and fold until all the chocolate has been incorporated.


To assemble the Busch de Noel:
1. Spread roughly 2/3 of the chocolate buttercream on the cake, leaving a border of ½ inch uncovered around the cake.


2. Starting at the 9 inch side of the cake, roll! Don’t try to squeeze the cake too tight, just roll lightly, pulling pack the parchment as you go.

3. Use the remaining buttercream to coat the exterior of the cake. Use a fork to create bark-like lines in the frosting, and dust with powdered cocoa.

4. Decorate to your liking!!


Happy Baking!!!