Halloween is coming (I think...)

Needless to say, Halloween is just a few days away.  It's been relatively quiet around here in my neck of the woods...I think we're managing our expectations about Halloween.  You see...for those of us in the New Jersey and surrounding areas, Halloween's been "canceled" by Mother Nature for the last two years.  I'm talking major storms, extended power outages, and gas shortages so missing out on Halloween was the least of our concerns.  But with that in mind, I think many of us are taking a "let's see..." and "we'll believe it when it happens..." kind of a stance on it.

It's looking good though.  I'm hopeful the kids will finally get to trick-or-treat on the actual day of Halloween and have a chance to enjoy their parade, assemblies and parties at school this year. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Halloween (sorry!) but as a mom, I feel an obligation to mark the occasion and work up some enthusiasm.  So my little ninja and I will be trick-or-treating and enjoying all the celebrations this coming Thursday.

On the home base, I whipped up these spiderweb cookies.  I'm not into anything ghoulish so I stick with cute treats when I make any for Halloween.  This year, I saw spiderweb florentines in Martha Stewart Living (yes, I said Martha - and no, we won't go there...) that seemed like a fun thing to whip up.  Instead of using the florentine recipe from the magazine, I went with my favorite tuile recipe - these almond-butterscotch ones - and added the simple dark chocolate spiderweb design on top. It's not all that different from when I drizzled them rather haphazardly with chocolate for the holidays. 

These simple spiderweb cookies are just my type of Halloween treat. And whenever I think of these types of thin, crispy, lace cookies (or tuiles/florentines), I always think ice cream.  Their crispiness goes so well as a contrast to smooth, creamy ice cream so naturally, I had to serve them together!

Have a fun and safe Halloween, everyone!

Tuiles are really easy to make - you literally just warm and stir 5 ingredients together (in this case: butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, flour, and almonds) in a small saucepan or skillet to make the batter. It only takes about 2 teaspoons of batter to make one of these and you can store any you don't make right away in the refrigerator for a week.  

That way, you can bake a few as needed and serve them fresh with a bowl of ice-cream (of course)! Better yet, take the tuiles straight out of the oven and gently press them on top of an upturned cup or bowl to make a serving dish for your ice cream.  They are fun and delicious at the same time.

Recipe:

Spiderweb Tuiles
Tuile recipe adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz (originally Pecan-Butterscotch Tuiles) and idea from Martha Stewart

(Please see this previous post for lots of details, as well as this one)

- Approximately 18 cookies, depending on size -

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1/4 light corn syrup
1/4 cup very finely chopped almonds (or other nut of your choice)
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a saucepan or small skillet, melt the butter along with the brown sugar and corn syrup over low heat.  Once the mixture is melted evenly, add the flour and nuts and stir until combined.  Let batter cool slightly and you can use it right away or transfer it to a small container, cover, and refrigerate for up to one week.

To bake tuiles, drop 2-teaspoon mounds of batter onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can use wet fingertips to round out the mounds so they spread more evenly as they bake.  Place no more than 4 mounds on each baking sheet and space them well apart since they spread a lot.

Bake until tuiles spread and turn golden brown, roughly 7 minutes, rotating the pan mid-way and keeping an careful eye on them toward the end (remove them before they get too dark). 

Let the tuiles cool for about a minute (they harden very quickly) before lifting them up with a metal spatula and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.  

Place melted chocolate into a resealable plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner.  Pipe chocolate onto tuiles in a spiral, starting in the center and working outward.  Make lines from the outside and in, repeating all around until you have a spiderweb pattern.  Let tuiles sit at room temperature, or refrigerate, until chocolate sets before serving.  

These tuiles are best fresh, eaten the same day they were made while they're crisp so it's a good idea to bake what you need and save leftover batter for later.  If that's not practical, however, I've had success storing the baked cookies in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for a few days (they stayed crisp).  And don't forget: tuiles are an excellent accompaniment to ice cream!