My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to admit, I have baked a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my time, and I mean a lot, but I've never found one that has made me stop and smile.  My idea of the perfect cookie is a big fat morsel, a crispy shell hiding a warm gooey centre, I'm talking barely warmed through.  Everything I tried were just too thin, too crispy or too greasy, not what I would ever call a decent chocolate chip cookie, or even a decent Frisbee for that matter.  That was until I discovered the queen of the kitchen, Nigella Lawson, had created a recipe which is portioned out using a quarter cup measure.  Now that's my kind of cookie!

This was everything I've been waiting for!  I am now a mere twenty minutes away from my perfect cookie, or even ten if you follow my lead and freeze half of your dough!  Just roll up that delicious cookie dough into a sausage, wrap in paper and freeze.  Just knowing I've got a little stash of these beauties just waiting to be baked is so comforting, and perfect for any unexpected guests who just happen to drop by.

Nigellas Chocolate Chip Cookies

(From Nigella Kitchen)

Ingredients:

150g soft unsalted butter

125g soft light brown sugar

100g caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg, fridge-cold

1 egg yolk, fridge-cold

300g flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 x 326g packet of milk chocolate morsels or choc chips

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C.  Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit.  Put the brown and white sugars into a bowl, pour the slightly cooled, melted butter over them and beat together.  Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and cold egg yolk until your mixture is light and creamy.  Slowly mix in the flour and the bicarb. until just blended, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the cookie dough into an American quarter-cup measure or a 60ml round ice-cream scoop and drop onto the prepared baking sheet, plopping the cookies down about 8cm apart.  You will need to make these 2 batches, keeping the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge between batches.

Bake for 15-17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.

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Sweet Treats

When the chill of January seeps into your bones and starts getting you down there's nothing like a little sweet treat to perk your spirits.

1. Macarons from The French Oven in Newcastle,  2. Mr Stanley's Rose Creams, 3. Rococo Chocolate lollypop.

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Viennese Whirls

Last night I came home from work craving my pajamas, a lazy take away and a evening in front of the TV with Kris and the cats.  Those plans were scuppered by you, Sky Arts.  For some reason or another, the Sky Arts film crew were filming a scene for an upcoming drama in the courtyard outside of my garden.  There were huge lights, cameras, generators and lots of people milling around just beyond my little garden fence.  Realising I wasn't going to get the quiet relaxing night I so craved I took myself to the kitchen for a little therapeutic baking and to keep an eye on what was going on outside, of course.  

The result of my baking were these yummy little Viennese Whirls.  Viennese Whirls were a constant favorite in my childhood home.  The cream, the jam, the delicate crumbly biscuit I mean, what's not to love?!  Sunday morning always saw us gathered round a plate of the adorable cookies, the Sunday papers scattered over the dining room table and a huge pot of tea surrounded by five mugs.  There's something about a Viennese Whirl I find so comforting, I just felt I had to delve back into my past and recreate those lazy Sunday mornings I used to love so much. I mean, I wasn't getting my lazy Saturday night so made damn sure to get my relaxed Sunday morning.

Viennese Whirls

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter, very soft

250g plain flour

50g icing sugar

50g cornflour

1tsp vanilla extract

2tbsp milk

Method:

Preheat your oven to 160C and line a baking tray with parchment.  Take a circular cutter, around three inches in diameter and trace 16 circles onto the parchment around one centimeter apart.  Flip the parchment over so the ink is on the bottom.

Place the butter, sugar ad flours into a food processor and pulse to combine.  Once the dough starts to come together scrape the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.  Pipe whirls of dough onto the lined baking tray using your stencils as a guide.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes, or until just golden and allow to cool on the tray.  Once cool sandwich the cookies together using butter cream and jam.  Eat with a pot of tea and the Sunday papers.  Slippers are essential. 

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Holga for Nikon

Last week, my lovely boyfriend came home from work clutching a tiny little parcel.  Upon my inquiring on the contents he handed it over and said 'it's for you'.   Excitedly, and a little suspiciously, I opened the little white box to reveal a teeny lens for my camera.  Closer inspection told me it was none other than a Holga lens purpose built for a Nikon DSLR.  How fun!    We already own several Holga cameras but I'm sure fellow owners will probably share my distaste for the super expensive film and the uncertainty of the image quality.  So many times have I become owner to a little blue wallet full of black prints.  My amazing little lens takes all of that worry away, allowing you to view your images straight away.

I just love the gloomy atmosphere it gives to the image.  Just perfect for a winters stroll down the banks of the industrial River Tyne.

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Passion Fruit Curd

Passion fruit is one of my very favorite flavours and I'm always looking for new ways to include this delicious fruit in my baking.  I recently came across a recipe for passion fruit curd in one of my monthly foodie reads and instantly folded the corner of the page for future reference.  And by future reference I mean the time it takes me to get to the market, buy ten passion fruits and arrive back home clutching my bounty with an excited grin on my face.

So far I have slathered this beautiful curd upon home made scones, hunks of sourdough toast, fresh crumpets and have even gone as far as to simply spoon it right into my open mouth.  It really is that delicious!  I would recommend cooking the mixture for longer than the recipe states as this is quite a soft set spread and I'd prefer it a little stiffer.  

Passion Fruit Curd

Ingredients:

8 ripe passion fruits

3 large eggs

150g caster sugar

2tbsp cornflour

  

Method:

Put the passion fruit pulp in a food processor and whizz to separate the seeds from all the juicy bits. Scrape into a sieve set over a medium saucepan, pushing through as much pulp as you can. Reserve 2 tbsp of the seeds, then discard the rest. 

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and set over a low heat. Whisk until all the butter has melted then, using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the passion fruit curd has thickened to a similar consistency as lemon curd. Don't be tempted to turn the heat up to speed up the process as the eggs will curdle; make sure you stir right around the edge, too, as this is where it might catch first. 

Sieve the curd into a clean bowl to get rid of any eggy bits that may have curdled. Stir in the reserved seeds and cool, before spooning into jars and chilling. Curd will keep in the fridge for a week. Eat smothered on hot buttered toast, crumpets or scones (see related recipes).

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