Wednesday 8 August 2007

Checkerboard Cookies


The OK ones...

The 'Not-so Nice' ones

My first attempt in making Checkerboard Cookies. I read the recipe for at least 5 times before i decided to do it. I got this recipe in Joy of Baking. I did this cookie in 2 parts. The moulding and shaping is done on a separate day, stored in the freezer till last night. I have never measured dough so precisely in my life. I literally took the Ikea measuring tape and marked on my baking paper all the measurements. And yes, although the recipe just mentioned rolling out the dough on the baking paper, I suggest you place a cling wrap over the dough. As the dough is quite soft, it tends to stick to the rolling pin, unless u flour it real well. For convenience sake, I covered it with cling wrap and roll it. The dough will be smooth and the rolling pin won't be dirty...hahaha, less washing for me... :P

I was fresh from my shower and the Thai lesson last night, with all the Thai words still ringing in my head. Since W is coming back today, I decided to bake the cookies last night so that I can bring to the airport today to welcome him... ;)

According to the recipe, the baking temp is 180 degrees and about 5-7 mins. But, somehow my oven took much longer, maybe because mine is a 3-in-1 oven, with the convection oven baking rack which is lower. So I ended up baking it at 190 degrees for 10 mins. Those 'failed' ones are those at the end of the roll. For one reason or another, they decided to crack and the checkerboard gave way... though I tried to fix it back, but don't think I was successful...haha

But overall, I loved the taste! The addition of orange zest made a big difference, with the combination of pure vanilla essence which I got from Cold Storage. Its alot of work with the measuring, cutting and stacking...but...Nice... hope W will love it later.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bravo! They are really beautiful and worth all the time you took to make it.

I have seen this in one of my cooking book and I didn't dare to even try it because it looks complicated to me and a lot of work. You are truly brave to take it up. :)

samshiki said...

Hi Cooking Ninja,
Thanks for the compliments. As you can see from the pictures, it's not quite there yet...haha.
Like you, I read this recipe quite a few times b4 i really understand the instructions and know how to do...hee... you can do it too for sure! By coincidence, I was at your blog a second ago looking at your bakes too... your banana cake looks lovely! ;)