Best Recipe: Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies

There is a wonderful French-style bakery a few miles from my home. One of my favorite treats is their flourless chocolate cookie. It has a crispy cracked crust with tiny chocolate chips in the soft, chewy center - Yum!! When I asked about the type of cookie, I was told that it was a meringue. Hmmm, I thought. Meringue? These did not look like the tasty little meringue's like those on Joy of Baking, or "Mom's Chocolate Chip Meringue" cookies on SmittenKitchen. These are very tasty, but not the kind of cookie I was looking for.

After several hours of searching on Epicurious.com, Food Network.com, and Google, for meringue cookie recipes without finding what I was looking for,  it occurred to me that I needed a different approach. I changed the search terms from "chocolate meringue" to "flourless chocolate" cookie. Now I had a new set of recipes to sort. After several minutes of skimming result pages it became obvious that the number one recipe that was referenced the most was famous Chef François Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies. This was it - my search was over.

Oh, are these delicious!This has now become my go-to cookie for fast and wonderful cookies that get raves every time they are served. For those of you in NY, go to Payard’s Upper East Side pâtisserie and buy a few dozen for yourself. If you happened to buy Payard's latest book last year, it is featured  in Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes, and Confections for Everyone.Tasty treats can also be found on his online e-Boutique.

For those of you like me, who live far from NY, you can find this cookie recipe, and links to related articles, online in the New York Magazine article, Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies, April 13, 2008.

I have made these cookies a dozen times in the last 2 months for family and gifts, with toasted walnuts and pecans, tiny bittersweet chocolate bits, and plain. They are always very good. If you are not familiar with this style of recipe, it doesn't look like it will work with the ingredients called for. Persevere, they are wonderful.

New Finds: Deodorized Cocoa Butter, Writing Spoon, World Wide Vanilla Beans

Intriguing items have been catching my attention in various blog articles this week: deodorized cocoa butter, a stainless steel writing spoon, World Wide Vanilla Beans.

Image via Wikipedia

Deodorized cocoa butter:

I was totally fascinated by the idea of alternative chocolates as presented in the article Like Ketchup for Chocolate, posted by Dave Arnold. Noted in the article, for purposes where you want the silky feel of chocolate, but not the scent, deodorized cocoa butter is needed. Create a silky delight with the scent and flavor of your choice, a signature couverture.

After a quick Google search, I found an informative supplier: Cocoa Supply, South Hackensack, NJ.

"Deodorized cocoa butter is used in recipes where you don't want to add the strong cocoa flavor and aroma that Natural Cocoa Butter has. Widely used in the cosmetic industry, it is great for creams and balms, as well as any recipe where you want to blend other flavors."

I have not ordered from Cocoa Supply, but they are now on my wish list, along with a Santha wet grinder.

Writing Spoon:

While reading blog articles about molecular gastronomy, and following up on resources sited, I came across a most interesting spoon: a stainless steel spoon with a tip that resembles a calligrapher's pen nib. This remarkable spoon can be found on Le Sanctuaire.com, where a short video of the spoon in artistic motion can be viewed.

Writing Spoon description: "An innovative design from Julia Mariscal, each piece is hand-made of 18/10 stainless steel. This spoon has a tip that resembles that of a fountain pen. Just dip it in coffee, chocolate, or sauce, and use it for writing. Great for the table and also for plating in the kitchen! Dishwasher-safe. Made in Spain."

World Wide Vanilla Beans:

Image via Wikipedia

I have used and been delighted with Madagascar vanilla beans, Tahitian vanilla extract, and Mexican vanilla beans. Previously, I had not heard of those from Uganda, India and other places until recently. The Boston Vanilla Bean Company sells several varieties including Uganda vanilla beans and Indonesia vanilla beans. Beanilla.com additionally has vanilla beans from Tonga and India. The product descriptions provide insight into the differences between the various types.

Example description of the Organic Indonesian vanilla bean from Beanilla.com:

"Our 100% Certified Organic Indonesian Vanilla Beans are sweet with a unique woody flavor. The flavor is perfect for richer deserts and recipes that call for chocolate, caramel, or other deep flavors. They are very plump, pliable and have a flavor similar to our Indian vanilla variety. These vanilla beans are Australian Certified Organic (ACO), which means that you can ensure that these vanilla beans were produced in harmony with nature, keeping harmful chemicals out of our land, water and air.

Length: 16-17cm (approx. 6-7 inches)
Color: Very Dark Brown/Black
Place of Origin: Indonesia
Botanical Name: Vanilla Planifolia, Organic
Amount: 1 Whole Vanilla Bean
Flavor: sweet, woody, and a hint of smoke"

I'll keep looking for interesting items to share. Disclaimer: I do not work for these companies. These are my observations and found examples.