New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Pastry chef does it her way in new book
To the baking world, it’s an unthinkable suggestion bordering on blasphemy: When making certain desserts, it’s just fine to use imitation vanilla extract.
So says Helen S. Fletcher, the author of “Craving Cookies: The Quintessential American Cookie
Book.” It may be the best cookie cookbook you will ever see.
Fletcher is the pastry chef at Tony’s, one of the highest-rated fine dining establishments in St. Louis. For more than 20 years, she owned Truffes in University City, a bakery that catered to restaurants, hotels and caterers, and also did a lot of work with weddings.
So she knows about baking, even when it comes to imitation vanilla.
“At work, at Tony’s. I use vanilla that costs $400 a gallon,” she said, demonstrating in one short sentence the difference between professional bakers and hobbyists.
Even small bottles of what she considers the best tasting, most aromatic vanilla, Tahitian vanilla, can cost $35. And she doesn’t want to price anyone out of the joy of baking.
“My whole mantra is: I want people to bake. I want people to enjoy baking. I want people who have never baked to bake,” she said.
And that means using imitation vanilla when the vanilla flavor doesn’t stand on its own, such as in recipes that also use a lot of spice or chocolate. She usually uses professional imitation vanilla herself, but she also recommends McCormick’s.
Fletcher, 81, has had no formal training as a baker. So she has developed her own way of doing things, tips and tricks and hacks that work wonders but that other bakers don’t use.
Her new cookbook, which is self-published, has tricks for baking the way she bakes.“Craving Cookies” is Fletcher’s second cookbook. The first, “The New Pastry Cook,” came out in 1986. Someone has a copy on sale at Amazon for $253, she said.
“What moron would pay $253 for a pastry book?” said the writer of that pastry book. “Two hundred fifty-three dollars, and no sense.”
Chocolate-dipped Sweet and Salted Butter Cookies
Yield: About 35 servings 12 tablespoons (11⁄2 sticks, 170 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1⁄2 cup (100 grams, 31⁄2
ounces) granulated sugar 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons almond extract 11⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract,
preferably Tahitian
1 7 / 8 cups (260 grams, 91⁄4 ounces or 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
6 ounces (170 grams) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
11⁄2 tablespoons vegetable
shortening
1⁄2 cup sanding sugar, see
note
Sea salt to taste
Note: Sanding sugar is a coarse sugar that will not melt in the oven. It can be found at some grocery stores, big-box stores, kitchen supply stores and online.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line several rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together until very light. Add the egg yolk and beat until completely combined. Add almond and vanilla extracts, and beat well. Add the flour all at once and mix until the dough comes together in a ball.
If using cookie cutters, divide the dough in half (290 grams or 10 ounces each). If it is too soft to work with, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Place between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll with a rolling pin to about 1⁄4-inch thickness, and cut out the cookies.
Repeat with the second half of the dough. Gather the pieces that are left over and reroll as necessary.
If rolling and slicing, divide the dough in half as directed in step 3. Roll each half into a 10-inch log.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. Slice about 1⁄4-inch thick. (The logs may be frozen, thawed and sliced as needed. Bake as directed).
Place cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for 6 to 7 more minutes if very small or 10 to 12 minutes if larger, until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
While cookies cool, prepare the quick-tempering chocolate. Mix chocolate and shortening together in a bowl.
Melt by either placing the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stirring until combined or by placing bowl in microwave and heating in 10-second bursts, stirring between each one, until combined.
In a separate bowl, mix sanding sugar with salt to taste. You want to be able to taste the salt, but the sugar should be the predominant flavor.
Holding a cookie upsidedown, dip the top half of the cookie into the chocolate. Sprinkle with the sugar/salt mixture. Allow the chocolate to set firmly at room temperature.