Chocolate and almond paste babka

Is it odd to try to make something that you've never actually eaten before?  I know I find myself doing that sometimes, as in the case of this babka.

I'd say I barely knew what a babka was (my husband is the Seinfeld fan in the family so I didn't even have that reference) until a year or so ago when it seemed to pop up everywhere.  Serious Eats called it a "babka renaissance" and rightly so because you started seeing these loaves of twisted bread, often swirled generously with chocolate, seemingly everywhere.  

That was all well and good but I can't say I was much drawn to making or eating babka until very recently when I saw a recipe for a marzipan & chocolate babka from Sweet Paul.  Right away, I thought about my almond buns - a spin off of another recipe from Sweet Paul where I add grated almond paste and chocolate as a filling to the small-batch cinnamon roll dough I use (it's delicious!).  So my brain immediately went to a babka filled with grated almond paste and chocolate.  I prefer swapping almond paste for the sweeter marzipan.  There is just something about a recipe using almond paste that gets me running into the kitchen!  Even in July, approaching a busy holiday weekend...

So I experimented and thought I'd give this babka idea a try.  I started by learning a bit more about what a babka was and how it was supposed to taste and be.  Babka translates into "little grandmother" and is an Eastern European yeast bread-cake that's similar to brioche.  The bread is somewhat dense, itself slightly dry, that's often paired with a moist chocolate spread filling (though there are ones with other fillings like cinnamon, nuts, and fruit...plus now we have almond paste!).  The mix of sweet eggy bread with a chocolate filling is its very appeal.

My imprecise/untraditional loaf is a blend and adaptation of two recipes: Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe for making babka dough via Smitten Kitchen and the filling inspiration from Sweet Paul. The Sweet Paul recipe was almost too simple and I felt I needed to follow more precise instructions. What resulted was a sweet bread that was dense yet light, slightly dry yet moist. The almond paste adds extra chew and a great almond flavor and fragrance, which I love; my only regret was maybe not using a bit more of it!  

I think 3 oz. of dark chocolate is a fairly modest amount for the filling, and you could use more if you want to be more indulgent.  You often see far more intense chocolate swirls in a babka loaf.  They are also often brushed with a sugar syrup or topped with streusel.  I like that, at home, I can practice some relative restraint, and this was flavorful and moist enough for us.  When it comes to the chocolate, using a deep, flavorful one you enjoy (Scharffen Berger 62% in my case) will give you more mileage. 

It was fun making this babka!  Aside from needing to plan ahead and set time aside for an overnight rest, the yeast dough was surprisingly easy to handle and the steps were not difficult to tackle at all.  My family and I enjoyed having "babka for breakfast" and I still have a few slices tucked away in the freezer to enjoy another day.  All in all, it was a very rewarding baking experience.

Almond paste waffles

This breakfast comes to you fresh from yesterday's snow day.  We finally had a snow day!  I didn't think I'd say or think this but I missed having a snow day this winter and was actually hoping for one - emphasis on "one".  Well, my wish came true - snow fell and we were all home, from school, from work, and got a chance to enjoy a little hush and quiet, and to huddle around in the house on a weekday (before it was time to get busy and start shoveling).  

With a snow day, it's important to have plenty of food!  It's also a great time to try a new recipe.  For me, I jumped at the chance to make these almond paste waffles!  

If there are a few food items I really love, it's got to include things like chocolate, eggs, almond paste, nuts in general, and sweet potatoes.  Almond paste is right up there.  We love it in baked goods and I've used it in all sorts of ways but not in waffles so when I saw almond paste waffles on Food52, I couldn't wait to try it!

These waffles turned out crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, with a bit of chewiness to its texture, and nice almond flavor.  It's basically how almond paste waffles should taste, I think.  

Almond paste is incorporated into the waffle batter by stirring/dissolving small pieces of it into some warmed milk and butter.  I used whole milk instead of the buttermilk listed in the recipe, and I would strongly suggest the swap out because buttermilk has the tendency to curdle when heated.  I didn't have buttermilk on hand so I made a proxy using milk and white vinegar; the homemade buttermilk quickly curdled as I heated it and I had to restart using milk instead.  You might have less of an issue using actual buttermilk rather than my substitute but I'd bypass the risk and go with milk.

To amp up the almond flavor, I added a touch of almond extract.  The batter is on the thick side and when cooked, you end up with familiar waffles that have a distinct almond flavor and a little chewiness that we really like.  Ironically, the waffles tasted a lot like this almond bread I adore and which I happened to have made a loaf of just 2 days earlier!  It's been an almond breakfast kind of week!

As you know, Valentine's Day is coming up.  How about having an early celebration this weekend with a nice breakfast on Sunday?  If you have an almond lover among you, these almond paste waffles might be just the right treat!  Otherwise, you can always make a batch of chocolate chocolate-chip waffles instead!

Cocoa marzipan loaf cake

Somehow, even with all the cookies and treats sitting around the house, I still managed to do a little more baking during our holiday break.  I'm still "high" on all the wonderful, cozy memories from the holidays.  I know I may be breaking protocol by talking about things like cake right now in early January but I want sweet things like cake to be a part of my life every month of the year.  In moderation, if we must...

During our time off, I was browsing old cookbooks and decided to whip up this cocoa marzipan loaf cake I saw in one because it sounded so good.  By my way of thinking, one can always use a simple "everyday" cake around the house (no matter how many cookies you have on hand), ready for afternoon snacking and a cup of tea. And when something involves chocolate and almond paste, well, I just can't resist.  So if you're like me, you find yourself shrugging your shoulders, thinking 'why not', and heading into the kitchen to make it happen. 

Given the name, I thought this recipe would call for marzipan but it's actually almond paste, something I always have on hand and want an excuse to use (marzipan is essentially the sweeter version of almond paste).  I've come to think of this loaf cake as the chocolate cousin of the almond bread I make often.

In full disclosure, this cake is originally titled cocoa marzipan pound cake but I went with loaf cake because there is not a pound of butter involved and pound cake tends to conjure up that image for a lot of us.  But if you're like me, any time you see a loaf cake like this, you do think pound cake in terms of texture and flavor but I think this is better...you have added depth from cocoa powder and moisture and flavor from the addition of almond paste.  My family and I tend to love all bakes with almond paste and we enjoyed this cake without exception.  

I was glad I persuaded myself to squeeze this bake into our schedule last week. 

Italian almond star cookies

One of the best things about the holidays has got to be the cookies!  I love thinking about, looking at, making, eating, and sharing all the colorful, festive, lovingly decorated cookies we conjure up. 

I think you'll agree that this is the time of year when we pull out all the stops - out come the cookie cutters, the star tips and piping bags, the sprinkles, frosting, candied cherries, nuts, and all sorts of other embellishments.  It's just a fun time to savor!

As much as I love French patisseries, when it comes to Christmas, I think of Italian-American bakeries and those festive cookie platters wrapped in cellophane and ribbon that are ready to be brought to someone's home.  Growing up in Brooklyn, I would pass by many of these bakeries and admire their cookies.  So when I was thinking about trying one or two new holiday cookie recipes (new to me, at least), I tend to think along the lines of those Italian-American offerings.  So now, here's another one I can recommend: almond star cookies.

These cookies are like a mix between classic butter cookies (like the ones from the blue tins) and almond paste cookies.  I'd say it's like 60% butter cookie and 40% almond. They are quite similar to the Italian-American butter cookies I posted last year except these have almond paste in them.  If you love almond paste as much as I do, I think you'd expect deep flavor as well as moisture and a little chewiness from it in your baked goods.  True to form, it does that for these cookies.  

I dare say my family and I prefer these cookies over the plain butter ones.  The little guy was practically shoving them into his mouth at an alarming rate so I'm glad even a half-recipe made a lot (about 40) since they were so popular.  I shared some of this batch with a friend of mine.  She told me she especially loved them because they were soft as opposed to hard, like she's used to when she buys them from a bakery.  These cookies are buttery and almond-y, softer than what you'd expect, and with a slight chew, thanks to the almond paste. 

The recipe for these cookies comes from Saveur though my version is somewhat different since I made a few changes to suit my needs.  I reluctantly omitted the kirsch since I don't have it, and added a splash of almond extract.  And instead of maraschino cherries, I used candied cherries (sliced in half) on mine.  I also opted to make thumbprint impressions on some and filled them with a swirl of chocolate ganache.  I love Ferrera bakery in NYC's Little Italy and they have cookies topped with a round of piped chocolate ganache that always looks so good, so here is my take on it.

I don't know if I'll have time to try any other 'new' cookie recipes since there are many family-favorites to make but I'm glad I finally tried these since I'd bookmarked the recipe for years now.  I have a feeling I'll be making them again.

Chocolate amaretti cookies

It is well-documented that I love almond paste and making cookies with it.  It is just a quick way to chewy-cookie heaven, with a pungent dose of aromatic almond flavor thrown into the bargain.

I was watching Giada De Laurentiis make chocolate amaretti cookies on her show the other day and turns out, it's the almond paste (or "macaroon") cookies I make all the time, with a dose of cocoa thrown in.  Sounds great!  Of course, I need to make a chocolate version of my favorite chewy almond cookies so I got right into the kitchen to do just that.

Giada uses a food processor but I made these cookies in the stand mixer like I usually do because the mixer is sitting right on my kitchen counter whereas the heavy food processor is wedged into a corner of the pantry downstairs.  

It works out just fine whichever equipment you use.  It's just a matter of breaking down the almond paste with some sugar and dark cocoa in this case.  Egg whites bind the whole thing together, without the need for any flour in these recipes.  You could add some orange zest if you like but I kept it as is.  I had a vague concern that the cocoa might mask the almond flavor too much so I tossed in a few drops of almond extract; turns out, that wasn't really necessary but a little extra almond insurance doesn't hurt as long as you don't go overboard.  

I topped the cookies with a sprinkle of coarsely chopped sliced almonds for a little bit of crunch without using more sugar.  These cookies are naturally sweet but they do beg for a little decoration on top.  And I can tell you these chocolate amaretti cookies were delicious, being the familiar almond paste cookies I know and love.  You've got a ton of sticky chewiness in every bite.  The edges are just a little crisp giving way to a very chewy center.  The cocoa or chocolate flavor is actually not very strong.  I think it nicely tempers some of the sweetness of the almond paste and gives you a hint of cocoa but while they look dark and chocolaty, the almond flavor and chewy texture remain the star of the show.  I'm very good with that.

Almond buns (small batch)...with an almond paste filling

Calling all almond lovers - this one's for us!

Soft almond buns/rolls - filled with almond paste, toasted slivered almonds & a little dark chocolate

Ever since I had that atypical craving for cinnamon rolls early last year and made some from scratch, I've been hooked!  I've made those chocolate and orange cinnamon rolls several times and now, I have some amazing almond buns (or call them "almond rolls" or "almond cinnamon rolls") to share with you! 

I've now discovered yet another great use for almond paste, and I'm so excited because I'll jump on any excuse to eat more almond paste and almond-based pastries!  The idea for these almond buns came from Sweet Paul's Eat and Make.  In the book, he has a recipe for almond buns that featured grated marzipan and slivered almonds as part of the filling.  That got my attention!

Main ingredients for filling: toasted slivered almonds, grated almond paste, and finely chopped chocolate

I took that amazing-sounding idea and adapted it to suit me.  I used the small batch cinnamon roll recipe I've been using, which makes 4 beautifully soft and pillowy rolls, and instead of marzipan, I used almond paste.  Marzipan is sweeter than almond paste.  I've never used marzipan for baking, and knowing what I do about almond paste (it is sweet enough for me), I was pretty confident it would work just as well - if not better - for this purpose.  I was intrigued at the idea of how the almond paste (or marzipan if you go that route) would melt into the dough while baking to create this gooey almond filling for the buns.  After eating it, I can tell you it is divine!    

I also added a bit of chocolate.  Honestly, I showed restraint here.  I added a mere 1/2 ounce of dark chocolate in total to these 4 rolls.  I wanted the look and taste of some chocolate without overpowering the almond flavor.  And almond is most definitely the headliner here.

To amp up the almond flavor even more, there are crunchy almonds in the form of toasted slivered almonds in the filling.  Other than that, I have a little bit of butter, sugar, and a touch of cinnamon to pull it all together.  It's hard to describe properly in words but...fresh from the oven, it's basically biting into a warm pillowy mound of gooey almond bun.  It's literally oozing with almond flavor and especially tasty with a drizzle or two of the super simple almond glaze I made for them.  

I tasted the buns without a glaze and they are good even without it because there's enough sweetness and moisture from the almond filling.  But in the end, I'm glad I whipped up a quick glaze.  I simply whisked some powdered sugar together with milk (or use almond milk if you have it) and a few drops of almond extract - heavenly!  I think I'll stick with the glaze going forward because it just makes for a more tactile, more memorable experience.  And if you're going to have a sweet bun or roll like this, you might as well go all out and fully immerse yourself in it!

Almond scones...and almond peach shortcakes

It is pretty well established that I love things made with almond paste - cookies, cakes, cupcakes, breads, croissants, you name it!  And now, I get to add scones to the list.

Almond scones made with almond paste

It wasn't until last November that I made scones for the first time.  I converted/educated myself and my family by trying that recipe and we've been enjoying those orange-chocolate-vanilla bean scones fairly regularly ever since.  My husband and I never thought we'd be oohing and ahhing over scones but we've been doing just that when we eat those.  So needless to say, I pay far more attention to scone recipes now and when I spotted one for almond scones on Food52 - ones that use almond paste - I've been itching to try it!

I love the deep, aromatic, sweet flavor that comes from almond paste.  The best part might be the chewiness it lends to things, scones included, as I've now discovered.  

These scones have grated almond paste distributed within them.  Grating almond paste on a box grater is a technique I learned recently while making the tri-color cookie cake.  It seems to be a great way to disperse the almond paste evenly into the batter. 

Freeze canned almond paste for 15 minutes and grate it easily using the large opening

Thanks to that almond paste, the scones bake up with a signature almond flavor, with a center that's a little bit chewy.  That chewiness is my favorite part and the thing that keeps me going back for more!  I do love all things almonds and I'd gladly eat these almond scones any day.

Peach shortcakes with almond scones

I thought I'd make these scones go double-duty and I used them to assemble some shortcakes.  Just like I used some of those lighter buttermilk biscuits to make strawberry shortcakes a while back, I decided to take these almond scones to make simple peach shortcakes (let's take advantage of some good peaches while they are readily available)! 

It's as easy as slicing open an almond scone and filling it with some slices of slightly-sweetened ripe peaches (I tossed them in a little sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice).  You could even add a small splash of liqueur (like amaretto) if you like.  Spoon the juices right over and let it seep into the scone...the scones were made to absorb that extra moisture.

A little whipped cream and your almond scone for breakfast (or afternoon tea) subs in for dessert. How fun is that!

Tri-color cookie (Easter) cake

Tri-color cookies, or Italian rainbow cookies, have to be one of our top five favorite sweets.  My family and I are seriously crazy about them!  No Christmas is complete without at least one, or more likely 2 or 3 batches of it.  We're talking three layers of almond sponge cake joined together by apricot preserve, encased in dark chocolate.  It's a heavenly combination.  We're such fans I've turned them into mini cupcake bites and now, we can have it in cake form, too!

Tri-color cookies, then cupcakes bites, and now cake too!

Given our love of those cookies, you can imagine my interest when I spied this recipe for "Italian Rainbow Cookie Cake" on Joanne's Eats Well With Others blog.  The post I happened to be looking at was for another lovely cake but it was the rainbow cookie cake that popped up at the end of the post, in the 'related recipes' section, that caught my eye.  I knew I had to make it!

I couldn't possibly wait until Christmastime to try it out.  I know I don't really need a reason to make any cake but thinking of the colors (I was actually aiming for pastel hues but the colors baked up deeper than I expected), I thought I'd pretend to be seasonal and call it an Easter cake.  I added some white chocolate shavings and nestled a few Cadbury mini eggs on top.  To me, once something has a few Cadbury mini eggs on it, it just screams: "Easter!"  They're the first thing I buy when Easter treats start appearing at the stores.  So I hope you'll play along and indulge me on this loose Easter theme.

I made this recently as a little surprise for my fellas (my husband and the little one).  I knew they'd love it and after tasting it, we were all thrilled.  It is literally tri-color/rainbow cookie in cake form!  As you'd expect, it's fluffier and thicker than the cookie (which is really not a cookie...but that's another discussion) and more importantly, the flavor is very much the same.  I've been partial to making smaller 6-inch cakes lately and this one is another example (though my family would've welcomed a 9-inch with this one).  This could very well be the first 3-layer cake I've ever made and, miraculously, I actually had three 6-inch round cake pans so I was able to bake the layers all at once!

Texture and flavor wise, this cake is as it should be - a moist sponge cake that has a lot of body and almond flavor thanks to almond paste.  I use apricot preserve (heated then strained so it's smooth), rather than a combination of apricot preserve and raspberry jam because my family and I are partial to it here. I tried to pack as much of the preserve in the cake as possible since we love the flavor it adds. That got me thinking about possibly baking the batter into two layers next time but splitting the 2 layers into 4 so that we'd have another layer of preserve!  I can call it a quad-layer rainbow cake, maybe?  That might be over-complicating things but I want to make it happen...

I like to use strained apricot preserves - and lots of it - between the layers of this almond cake

This cake is encased in one of my favorite things: chocolate ganache. But because of a higher chocolate to cream ratio, the chocolate ganache is somewhat firmer (so you get more of a shell) than typical ganache frosting you'd use for a cake.  That's just spot on here because it replicates that hard shell/snap I know and love from a good tri-color cookie.

You can probably tell I've discovered a new favorite cake!

Almond semolina cake

Here I go with another almond recipe.  I can never try too many because I just love almonds!  I particularly love pastries with nuts.  This is one of those cakes that I can enjoy any day (and any time) and never get sick of; it's not too sweet and just totally delicious. That's why you see me lingering on this theme, making many renditions of this cake.  This one is special with a bit of semolina flour and a slightly jazzed-up topping.

It was worth running around a few supermarkets to find the semolina flour I needed for this cake. I've never baked with semolina before though we used it once in a cooking class to make pasta. There's regular all-purpose flour in this cake but the addition of semolina gives it a unique little twist that I liked.  I think I expected a gritter texture, like cornmeal or even almond meal, but finely-ground semolina blended right in yet added a very subtle bit of texture and a hint of nuttiness that works really well with almonds (and other nuts, I'd imagine).

Like any surefire great almond cake, this one has some almond paste (another one of my favorite things) tucked inside.  It's moist and so fragrant and flavorful.  The topping is fun and delicious at the same time.  Instead of just scattering sliced almond on top before baking (though nothing wrong with that!), you kick it up a notch by stirring it with a little bit of frothy egg whites and brown sugar. That produces an extra crunchy, sweet topping that's pretty addictive!

This cake is also light and fluffy thanks to folding separately whipped egg whites into the batter.  It reminded me of one of our all-time favorite treats on earth - tri-color cookies, which is made the same way with whipped whites folded into the batter.  When we had this cake for dessert one night, my 8-year old said "mmm...it tastes just like tri-color cookies!"  I couldn't help but beam with pride...maybe he does take after his mama just a little!

I'm really happy I bought that 6-inch round cake pan with the removable bottom.  I used it to scale down the original recipe and make a small version.  It's just right for my small family and gives me the chance to try out more recipes and play more often in the kitchen.  That said, my little guy honestly said he loves this cake and wish there was more!  (Though in all fairness, there are obviously plenty of times when he tells me he doesn't like something - he can be quite blunt.)

Almond bread

This is an almond quick bread recipe I made a few days ago.  It was one of a handful of recipes I keep in a manila folder in my kitchen cabinet filled with recipes that I rip out from magazines.  This recipe dates back to the Oct. 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  It caught my attention because I love baked goods with almonds and almond paste is one of my favorite ingredients.  I love trying recipes that use almond paste because I'm rarely disappointed, and this one didn't either.

I'm undecided as to whether this should be called almond "bread" or "cake" because I enjoyed it like cake but then I think of banana bread, which I enjoy in a similar way but would never think of calling cake.  I have actually made a version of almond cake before, which does have more fat and sugar than this recipe so maybe bread is the right term to use in this case.

All that confusion and rambling aside, I'll just say this bread/cake was moist, with a really good dense (not heavy) texture thanks to the almond paste. That almond paste really gives it a bite, almost a chewiness, that I just can't get enough of.

If you're interested in a lighter alternative to pound cake, this is a wonderful option.  It tastes a lot like a light pound cake - something a bit less sweet and rich.  It's full of fragrant, almond flavor instead of being buttery (though there's nothing wrong with that).  It's also like a heartier chiffon cake, one of my all-time favorites. I added a dash of almond extract out of habit to underscore the almond flavor.  For another dimension, you could certainly throw in some lemon or orange zest.

I omitted a glaze on top of this almond bread based on personal preference; I'm not big on glazes. What I did keep was the sliced almonds on top, which add a great crunch.  If you bake the almond bread and allow it to cool to room temperature, please cut yourself a slice while the outer crust is altogether crisp and crunchy, shattering under your knife.  I just love that contrast in texture.

My fellas enjoyed this for breakfast (it's "bread", right?) but also being very similar to a classic Italian almond cake, I like it as dessert.  Don't you love it when you make something that can be enjoyed any time of day!

Easy chocolate-almond croissants

I'm sure you've seen many recipes for making shortcut croissant or pain au chocolat using store-bought puff pastry.  So while this is hardly earth-shattering, I'm actually pretty psyched about it because this almond version has a baton of almond paste tucked into it that makes it a world better (in my opinion, anyway) than those without.  Admittedly, I'm biased because almond paste is one of my favorite baking ingredients.  Hopefully, you enjoy it too...

This was really just an exercise on my part to use up ingredients.  I have puff pastry in the freezer after my last experiment and thought I'd use some of it to make a simple breakfast.  Not surprisingly, my son enjoys pain au chocolat so I thought I'd make a few.  To make things a little more interesting, I went with this chocolate-almond version.  They're filled with dark chocolate and a baton of almond paste (just almond paste rolled into a baton or log shape).  It's convenient that I often have leftover almond paste in the refrigerator so this all came together very easily.

Dark chocolate and almond paste filling

The almond paste warms but stays intact after baking and in a bite, the fragrant, sweet almond flavor plays really well with the dark chocolate.  It also adds a touch of chewiness against the crisp, flaky texture of the croissant.  There's certainly nothing wrong with a regular pain au chocolat - in fact, I made an extra, plain one for my son - but the almond paste inside and the sliced almonds on top add another layer of flavor that we really, really liked.

A plain pain au chocolat on the left

Since I have no faith in my ability to produce that croissant shape, I went with the simple fold/roll-up method that's the signature shape of pains au chocolat anyway.  I've attempted the croissant shape before, with embarrassingly unattractive results.  I never can seem to get the hang of twisting the dough correctly so that it comes out looking like a croissant rather than a twisted crab.  I'll be sticking with this simple method from now on.

I literally made just 3 of these babies for our breakfast.  If you're using a sheet of puff pastry, you can make 6, cutting the dough downward along the folds into three pieces first, then slicing again crosswise to make a total of 6 rectangles.  I assembled them the night before and covered them snugly with plastic wrap before storing in the refrigerator.  In the morning, I topped them off with a little egg wash and sliced almonds before baking.

I believe that traditional, or "true", almond or chocolate-almond croissants are made with day-old croissants that are split in half and filled with almond cream and topped with almond slices before baking again.  To me, using almond paste and store-bought puff pastry is a good shortcut.  No doubt, these chocolate-almond croissants would be markedly better made with homemade puff pastry.  If you've done that yourself, I applaud you.  But since making puff pastry is not on my to-do list, this is the kind of recipe for me.

ONE ingredient crostata crust

This probably sounds as hard to believe to you as it did to me, but the crust for this blueberry crostata I made really just takes one ingredient.

And that single ingredient is...almond paste!  I saw this wild idea on TV and I was seriously amazed and had to try it for myself.    

Almond paste is one of my favorite baking ingredients and I normally prefer canned but the recipe calls for the kind in a tube (bonus: it's easy to find in most supermarkets) and I took the safe route and followed directions.  I say just stick with the tube variety for this purpose because it works; I was impressed by how easy it was to roll out.  You literally divide the tube of almond paste into 4 pieces.  Take one piece at a time, smash it down with your palm, and roll it out into a rough 6-inch round.  It literally takes a couple of minutes to make one!  I was worried the almond paste would break apart, be either too dry or too wet and sticky but none of that was the case.

Guess who this fairly-genius idea came from?  Brian Boitano!  As in...the figure skating champ, gold medalist.  He had a show on the Cooking Channel a while back and he was on The Chew recently promoting his new cookbook.  Funny enough, I always thought Brian Boitano was the very picture of seriousness and intensity so who knew (after watching his cooking shows) that he's actually so fun-loving, not to mention good in the kitchen!  

So on this show, he prepared pear and almond crostatas, made with the almond paste crust.  I sat up straighter and kept asking my husband if I was hearing it right!  I hit rewind a few times (watching on DVR) to make sure.  I'd never heard of such an idea and you don't often hear something new...

Now, I know about using almond paste as a layer of filling in rustic tarts, like a galette.  Last Fall, I made an apple-frangipane galette that I'm actually really proud of (because it was my first attempt and was delicious).  In it, I layered frangipane - an almond pastry cream made of almond paste, butter, sugar, and eggs, under the apples.  The frangipane not only added great flavor but created a barrier between the fruit and the galette crust that kept the crust firm and crisp.  But using just almond paste and nothing else for a crust?!

As you can see, I opted to use blueberries instead of pears to make blueberry crostatas (I particularly like blueberry tarts).  I winged it a little and just tossed my blueberries with a little sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch before layering it over the rolled out almond paste.  

I need to tell you that I took shortcut to the extreme with this!  I skipped the cream cheese filling that Brian spreads on top of the almond paste and under the fruit.  Here's my rationale: I was simply making two to eat with my husband and to test the general idea of this crust.  I also wanted to keep it light and quick.  I actually thought mascarpone cheese might be even better than cream cheese but I had neither in the house.  Without the filling though, the bottom of my crostata crust was wet and it was hard to remove from the parchment.  I expected that (though hopeful for a miracle) but if you are making these to serve to guests, follow the recipe and make the cream filling, which will not only add some richness but should act as some barrier to the moisture in the fruit to keep the crust firmer on the bottom.  A "normal" pastry crust would obviously hold up a lot better without a filling.

Now that all disclosures have been made, I have to tell you that I'm really impressed by this idea from Brian Boitano.  You get this nice, tasty crust with so little work.  The crust obviously does not taste rich and buttery.  I love that it's a lot lighter.  There's almond flavor and the texture is crisp yet chewy as you expect from almond paste.  You know the fold-over is the best part of a galette or crostata crust and it's the same way here...that edge is crisp yet chewy and a little extra sweet with the turbinado sugar dusted on top before baking.  

It's always great to learn something new and I think this is a really cool trick!  

I hope you're having a good Memorial Day weekend!  I have a lot of admiration and gratitude toward those who served, and are currently serving, our country.  We are truly lucky to have the freedom that we enjoy.

Another reason to break out the almond paste

I've proclaimed my love of almond paste in the past and I'm saying it again!  Aside from chocolate, almond paste is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with.  I love how fragrant it is, how good it tastes, and how it gives cookies that delectable chewy texture.  Use it in cake or bread and the almond paste gives it a ton of almond flavor and a wonderful moisture. 

Almond-Orange Cloud Cookies - with chocolate on the right

Since my family and I love these intense almond cookies and they're easy to make, I'll make a batch every so often for no other reason than to enjoy them together. 

Over time, I've made a few variations of the basic chewy almond cookie recipe.  The cookies are basically flourless macaroons (not the French kind).  Generally, they're a simple combination of almond paste, egg whites, and sugar, with a little something added on top.  I've gone with just almonds, made the pignoli/pine nuts version, and added candied cherries for the holidays. 

This recipe was another excuse to play with almond paste and this time, these cookies feature orange zest.  I've been buying citrus like orange and grapefruit like mad since they're in season and because I need fruit to balance out all the chocolate I eat! 

I adapted the recipe from Joy the Baker, who traces it back to cookies she tasted at King Arthur Flour.  Her version uses orange zest and vanilla beans, which sounds terrific.  I love how you can tweak these cookies and take it in slightly different directions, and I imagine I'll make other variations in the future.

There are a few differences between this recipe and the other variations I mentioned.  Instead of confectioners' sugar, granulated sugar is mixed with the almond paste, although a generous coating of confectioners' sugar goes over the top of the cookies before baking.  You poke a few holes into the thick cookie dough and that, along with the coating of powdered sugar, gives them a cloud-like look.  I was pretty amazed that the confectioners' sugar didn't melt during baking and I think the finished cookies looked very nice (I was a little doubtful going in). 

Also in this recipe, instead of just adding egg whites into the mix (like I'm normally used to doing), the whites are whipped so they can be poured in gradually.  This is a practical way to do it because it allows you to control how much egg whites go in; if you need to, you can stop once the mixture thickens to a stiff paste.  I'm not absolutely sure but I suspect whipping the whites and even the use of granulated sugar creates more of a meringue like outer crust on these cookies.  However, the edges and center are still wonderfully soft and chewy.

To satisfy my curiosity, I added chocolate to some of the cookies!  I've never used chocolate in any almond paste cookies before but to my mind: almonds + orange + chocolate = a delicious combination.  That's one of my favorite combinations in a chocolate bar but, to be fair, I have a lot of "favorite" chocolate bar combinations.  I decided to finely chop the chocolate I used because I didn't want any big crunchy chunks to compete with the chewy texture because these cookies aren't meant to be eaten warm.

After tasting them, I say if you want a strong, clear almond and orange flavor, go with the plain orange zest.  If you like a bit more complexity and something to cut through the sweetness a bit, add the chocolate.

To try a simpler method, I also baked some without the indentations or confectioners' sugar on top.  They don't look as good as the "cloud" like ones but have the same crisp shell and deeply chewy edges and center.

When pressed (by me), my husband thinks he prefers the ones with chocolate best, which surprised me.  I kind of feel like maybe the chocolate is better reserved for that full-on warm, melted chocolate chip cookie experience as opposed to here where the almond paste is the star.  Frankly, I have no complaints about any of these cookies.  I roll my eyes in happiness while eating them but to be severely picky about it, I'd have to say the no-fuss basic almond cookies with nuts on top are still my favorite.

On a different note, I mentioned Joy's blog earlier.  It's one I've gotten used to checking in on in the past couple of years.  The other day, she wrote an interesting post on blogging and invited bloggers to leave their blog addresses in the comments.  As I was clicking away at some of them, it really hit me how much we all have in common in this gigantic community of food bloggers (and readers).  What we do and the scale of it may be vastly different but we all have this wonderful love of food, of cooking-eating-sharing and making memories around it.  I love this camaraderie of people who love to cook and eat, knowing that we all exist whether you have a food blog or not.  I really think food is one of the greatest bonds we all share with each other.