Cooking for Two (33 page)

3.
Dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Turn the sticky dough out onto the floured surface. Dust your hands with flour, then press the dough into a small disk with your palm. Dust this disk with flour. Dust
the rolling pin with flour, then roll the dough disk into a circle about 11 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter or a drinking glass, cut the dough into circles. Using a large metal spatula, transfer these to the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart.

4.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until set but soft, yet brown around the edges. Allow to stand on the cookie sheet at room temperature for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

L
INZER
C
OOKIES
makes
2 large cookies

L
inzertorte is an Austrian specialty: a crunchy, almond crust, spread with jam, and topped with a lattice crust. Here, two wafer cookies sandwich raspberry jam—or any jam you prefer. They’re perfect after any meal, or with a cup of tea midafternoon. Because the dough must be very fluffy and light, mix it only with an electric mixer, not by hand.

1.
Position the rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Use a nonstick cookie sheet, or a regular one lined with parchment paper, or a silicon baking sheet.

2.
Cream the shortening and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed; continue beating for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the ground almonds and lemon zest until well incorporated; then beat in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt all at once. Finally, beat in the pasteurized egg substitute or the quail eggs, just until a dough forms. Alternatively, the dough can be made in a food processor; add the ingredients in the order listed above; pulse with each addition and scrape down the bowl as necessary.

3.
Dust a clean, dry work surface with flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface, then press into a disk with the palm of your hand. Dust the dough and a rolling pin with flour; roll the dough to a ¼-inch-thick rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut out four 5½-inch-diameter circles. You can use a small tart pan, ramekin, or baking dish as your guide. Cut a round hole in the middle of two of these circles, about 2 inches wide. Use a wide spatula to transfer the four circles to the cookie sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart.

4.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

5.
Spread 1 ½ tablespoons of raspberry jam on each of the two cookies without holes cut into them. Top these with the cookies with the holes cut out in the center. Dust each cookie with 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately; or store, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.

L
EMON
H
AZELNUT
B
ISCOTTI
makes
8 biscotti

B
iscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies. They’re dry and crisp, traditionally dunked into vin santo, red wine, or espresso. Cornmeal, a surprise ingredient here, makes these lemony biscotti very crunchy. Since one egg and a tiny amount of vanilla are the only liquids in this recipe, take extra care to measure the dry ingredients accurately.

1.
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the hazelnuts on a lipped baking sheet (lipped so they won’t roll off); bake for 7 minutes, or until fragrant and lightly browned, stirring once or twice. Maintain the oven’s temperature, but cool the nuts for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then pour them into a clean hand towel. Fold them into the towel and rub off their papery skins by rolling them between your hands inside the towel. Roughly chop the nuts with a heavy knife or in a mini food processor. Set them aside.

2.
Lightly beat the egg, egg substitute, or quail eggs and vanilla in a small bowl with a fork; set aside. For baking the cookies, use a nonstick cookie sheet, or a regular one lined with either parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.

3.
Stir the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until well combined. Mix in the currants, lemon zest, ginger, and the chopped nuts; stir in the beaten egg. Continue stirring, although the dough will be quite dry, until the egg is thoroughly incorporated. Wash your hands and dry them thoroughly, then mix the dough by hand, kneading it in the bowl until it holds together. If the dough does not cohere (most likely because of the day’s humidity or the viscosity of your flour’s glutens), add water in 1-teaspoon increments, mixing by hand after each addition until it forms a compact but slightly dry dough.

4.
Dust a clean, dry work surface with a small amount of flour. Turn the dough onto it, sprinkle lightly with flour, then roll the dough with your palms into a 6-inch-long log, about 2 inches in diameter, pressing down gently against the work surface as you form the log so that you get rid of any air pockets in the dough.

5.
Place this log on the cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes, until slightly cracked but barely browned. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the log to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

6.
Using a serrated knife, cut off the ends of the log, discard them, then slice the remaining log into 8 cookies. If you wish, make diagonal cuts across the log, so as to make larger cookies.