Mint Condition
Dec. 23rd, 2019 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Chocolate Peppermint Bars.
Shortbread:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp / 1 stick unsalted butter, chopped
Filling and top:
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
9 oz bittersweet chocolate (at least 60%)
Heat oven to 325. Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment, allowing 2" to hang over the sides. Make the shortbread: in a fud processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. Add butter and process until a smooth dough forms. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the baking pan. Bake until firm to the touch and the sides of the crust are beginning to pull away from the pan, about 25 minutes. Cool completely.
Make the filling: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine powdered sugar, butter, cream, and peppermint extract. Beat until the mixture forms a smooth, thick paste. Press the filling evenly over the shortbread. Chill to set for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Use the parchment overhang to lift the shortbread and filling out of the baking pan, and onto a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2" squares (there should be 36). Place squares on a rack placed over a parchment-lined sheet tray, and let them come to room temperature for about 15 minutes.
In the top of a double boiler, melt 7 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat, add remaining 2 oz chocolate, and let sit for 2 minutes. Spoon 1 tsp chocolate on top of each cut peppermint square, using the back of the spoon to spread chocolate to the edges. Cover the top completely and leave the sides exposed, though it's fine if some of the chocolate drips down. Let sit at room temperature to set for at least 1 hour.
What worked: This was quite good - the filling was like a better version of a Peppermint Patty (or After Eight mint). We sprinkled crushed candy cane on top of the chocolate before it set, so there was a bit of crunch and extra peppermint. They are quite showy and while they didn't necessarily look high-end commercial, they certainly didn't look homemade. I thought the squares might be a bit small but having them as three bites is just about right.
What didn't: This was far fiddlier than most dishes I like to make. If I was making it for GBBO, I'd make the shortbread and filling pans separately and assemble individual squares; they would be more likely to be strictly even layers that way. But I'm not, so it was fine having some variation from pressing it with my hands and not getting it precisely flat and even.
The shortbread took 10 minutes longer to firm up while baking. I forgot that the curvy upstairs neighbor doesn't like mint desserts, but the other three of us nommed it up. The shortbread really didn't add a whole lot in flavor; mostly it was a crunch foil for the filling. I think the cocoa is only there to give contrast to the pale white filling.
Will I make it again? Maybe for a potluck where I want to impress people.
Shortbread:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp / 1 stick unsalted butter, chopped
Filling and top:
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
9 oz bittersweet chocolate (at least 60%)
Heat oven to 325. Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment, allowing 2" to hang over the sides. Make the shortbread: in a fud processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. Add butter and process until a smooth dough forms. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the baking pan. Bake until firm to the touch and the sides of the crust are beginning to pull away from the pan, about 25 minutes. Cool completely.
Make the filling: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine powdered sugar, butter, cream, and peppermint extract. Beat until the mixture forms a smooth, thick paste. Press the filling evenly over the shortbread. Chill to set for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Use the parchment overhang to lift the shortbread and filling out of the baking pan, and onto a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2" squares (there should be 36). Place squares on a rack placed over a parchment-lined sheet tray, and let them come to room temperature for about 15 minutes.
In the top of a double boiler, melt 7 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat, add remaining 2 oz chocolate, and let sit for 2 minutes. Spoon 1 tsp chocolate on top of each cut peppermint square, using the back of the spoon to spread chocolate to the edges. Cover the top completely and leave the sides exposed, though it's fine if some of the chocolate drips down. Let sit at room temperature to set for at least 1 hour.
What worked: This was quite good - the filling was like a better version of a Peppermint Patty (or After Eight mint). We sprinkled crushed candy cane on top of the chocolate before it set, so there was a bit of crunch and extra peppermint. They are quite showy and while they didn't necessarily look high-end commercial, they certainly didn't look homemade. I thought the squares might be a bit small but having them as three bites is just about right.
What didn't: This was far fiddlier than most dishes I like to make. If I was making it for GBBO, I'd make the shortbread and filling pans separately and assemble individual squares; they would be more likely to be strictly even layers that way. But I'm not, so it was fine having some variation from pressing it with my hands and not getting it precisely flat and even.
The shortbread took 10 minutes longer to firm up while baking. I forgot that the curvy upstairs neighbor doesn't like mint desserts, but the other three of us nommed it up. The shortbread really didn't add a whole lot in flavor; mostly it was a crunch foil for the filling. I think the cocoa is only there to give contrast to the pale white filling.
Will I make it again? Maybe for a potluck where I want to impress people.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-30 07:56 pm (UTC)