What's It All About
—This blog began as a side project when we opened Nook Eatery in 2009. In September 2012 we sold Nook, and sadly it now no longer exists. We have a new blog (see A Good Place to Gather). As always we remain inspired by the ingredients we use and the food we cook. This site remains purely as an archive of our three years at Nook Eatery and the recipes I created.
The Most Amazing Chocolate Cookies
Alternatively referred to as the most ridiculous chocolate cookies. All thanks to Ferran Adria for his first (and only) cookbook - The Family Meal. This is an awesome cookbook. So practical. So well thought out. And these cookies …
Based on reviews I have read, a lot of people have been left feeling extremely hard done by after attempting this recipe (most complaints being about how the cookies spread when they bake). This will not happen if you use the best quality dark chocolate you can find, at least 70% cocoa. You may also find it difficult to get already mixed five spice powder in your local supermarket, but you can always make your own.
I have tweaked the recipe (as I so often do). Makes 24 cookies.
ingredients
45g butter
300g 70% dark chocolate, roughly chopped
200g caster sugar
3 organic eggs
45g flour
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon ground espresso
100g white chocolate, roughly chopped
100g milk or dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Melt the butter and dark chocolate over a bain marie. Set aside to cool.
Place the sugar and eggs in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat with a whisk attachment until light and mousselike. Add the cool chocolate mixture and stir to combine.
Add the flour, spice, espresso and chocolate pieces. Mix until thoroughly combined.
Now things get a bit tricky …
The mixture will be quite sticky (what with the lack of flour and abundance of chocolate awesome). Leave at room temperature to set. Do not put in the fridge as the mixture will become too hard to work with.
Spread half the cookie dough over a large piece of parchment (baking) paper. Roll into a cylinder about 6cm in diameter. Place in the freezer until the dough is solid (about an hour). Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. This process will inevitably leave you with chocolate covered fingers. Not the worst fate. You can always try slightly wetting your fingers under a running cold water tap before working with the dough.
Preheat an oven to 180°C. Remove the cookie cylinders from the freezer and unwrap. Using a sharp knife, cut each cylinder into 12 equal size discs. Place on lined baking trays and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and eat with gusto.
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I don’t use g as measurements so will probably not make this even though it sounds pretty good.