December 1, 2010

Dressed Up Pizzelles

Have you gotten involved with Kitchen Play yet?

No?

What are you waiting for?

I was thrilled to get the message from Casey (mastermind of Kitchen Play as well as Tastestopping) that I would be participating in the Holiday edition of the Progressive Dinner Party. I was a little nervous, to be honest, because all of those bloggers who have gone before me have put up quite a spread. Would I fit in? Could I hang? Would our sponsor –MySpiceSage.com – be happy with what I created?

Oooh – I hope so.

I was assigned Dessert, so – whew. If there’s anything I am comfortable with, it’s dessert. (You’ve seen my butt, right? Yeah, it gets dessert.) But – then I had to decide what to make. And then I had to decide what to ORDER from MySpiceSage.com. Decisions! After an overwhelming thought process, I took the plunge. I ordered the following:

Madagascar Vanilla Extract
Ceylon Cinnamon
Vanilla Sugar
Pure Orange Oil
Almond Extract
Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
Almond Flour
Goji Berries

Okay, okay. I’m sure you are wondering what in the world I could possibly make with that mess of ingredients. Doubters!! I created genius! (Actually – two varieties of genius!)

Both desserts are Pizzelles. Have you heard of them? They are a basic Italian cookie, made in a machine very similar to a waffle iron, just with prettier designs and a thinner outcome. Pizzelles are often used to make ice cream cones, and I think you will find that the taste is quite similar, in case you are curious before actually setting out to make them. But, because YOU control what goes into the batter, you get a MUCH more delicious result.

For the first variety, I made an almost basic pizzelle recipe, but added a lot more flavor by using both vanilla and bourbon, as well as a bit of Pumpkin Pie Spice. I filled these with a Cream Cheese Buttercream that was spiked with a healthy dose of the Ceylon Cinnamon, ginger, and a dash of ground cloves. But wait, there’s more! Those little dots of red you see hiding in the filling? That’s chopped Goji Berries. Have you tried them? They are, for lack of a better explanation, a drier, tangier raisin. They were a wonderful compliment to the spiced cream cheese.

In the second variety, I made a chocolate pizzelle batter, with a bit of vanilla and almond extracts, as well as Almond flour. These I filled with an orange infused chocolate mousse and ground hazelnuts. I dipped the ends in dark chocolate and chocolate chips to dress them up a little more – perfect for a holiday party. As an alternative, you could sub out the orange oil for peppermint extract, and then dip the ends in chocolate and crushed peppermint candies. Showing up at your office with a tray full of these would practically guarantee you a raise, wouldn’t it? If not a raise, well, a Christmas Bonus for sure!

Holiday Spiced Cream Cheese Pizzelles with Goji Berries

makes 30

Pizzelle Batter:

3 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon bourbon
1-3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 teaspoons baking powder

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar. Add in the butter, vanilla, and bourbon. Add the flour, spice, and baking powder and mix until well combined.The batter will be thick and stiff enough to drop by spoonfuls. Make sure your Pizzelle maker is hot, and place the batter slightly behind the center of the design. When the machine closes, it pushes the batter forward, and placing it this way gives you a better result. As soon as you remove the pizzelles from the machine, be ready to wrap them around a spoon handle, or shape by hand into a tube. You can also wrap them around an ice cream cone form, but this is not necessary. Most of mine I formed using my hands only.

Spiced Cream Cheese & Goji Berry Filling

1 stick Unsalted Butter, softened
1 stick Salted Butter, softened
1 – 8 oz package Cream Cheese, softened
1 – Vanilla Bean, split and scraped
1 – Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 – 1 Teaspoon Ceylon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup chopped/diced Goji Berries

Combine butters and cream cheese and beat in electric mixer until smooth. Add in remaining ingredients, except for Goji Berries. Beat on Medium High Speed for 5 minutes. Add in Goji Berries and mix for an additional 2 minutes. Pipe into formed Pizzelles.

Mixed Nuts & Orange Chocolate Pizzelles

makes 30

Chocolate Pizzelles

1 cup flour
1 cup Almond Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract

Sift the flours, baking powder, and cocoa powder in a bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, milk, almond extract and vanilla. MIX until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Proceed with the making of the Pizzelles as described above.

Simple Chocolate Orange Mousse with Hazelnuts

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Melted Chocolate (I used Semi-Sweet)
1/4 cup Confectioners/Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Orange Extract
1/4 cup ground hazelnuts

In mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add in melted chocolate and flavorings. Beat until well combined. Add in sugar and beat until stiff and ready to pipe. Stir in chopped hazelnuts. Pipe into prepared Pizzelles. I dipped mine in melted chocolate and pressed them into mini-chips.

Kitchen Play is also giving YOU a chance to win $100! To enter, you can recreate either my recipe, or any other of the bloggers’ MySpiceSage.com recipes. The contest is being held at Kitchen Play. You can enter a total of 6 entries, which are any of the 6 courses that we have created. You can find more details and the other bloggers’ recipes at Kitchen Play. Contest is now through December 31, 2010, and full contest rules are also available at Kitchen Play. Go!