Thursday, December 24, 2009

Espresso Delights



It's Christmas Eve! Blessed Christmas everyone! Since young, I've always loved Christmas. Though it was never a family culture to celebrate the occasion, I'll always bug my parents to throw a Christmas party. From then on, every Christmas became a family affair, one that I'd always look forward to year after year. There's something about Christmas that make people feel like celebrating, loving and giving. Isn't that wonderful? I think there's no other better holiday than Christmas :).

This year, instead of having traditional roast turkey, we had a Japanese themed dinner with sashimi, sushi, yakitori, chawanmushi and miso soup. To go with the Japanese theme, we had Japanese soft drinks and ume sake. To me, it's the company and the family effort, that really matters to me. Being able to contribute to the family dinner makes me very happy and seeing the happy faces when they opened their cards and presents is absolutely uplifting.

Well, I was supposed to make the dessert for the dinner...but as I've been so tied up over work, I haven't  had time to do so. The dessert crisis was solved when my dad brought back a log cake from his company. Just the exact thing we needed!

Aside from the dinner, I can't have a proper Christmas without making cookies for my dear friends, hence I made these Espresso Delights as Christmas favours to those who are close to me.



I spotted this recipe in the Ultimate Cookies Magazine by Better Homes and Gardens. Combining full-bodied espresso with the mild spiciness of cinnamon and natural sweetness of the bittersweet chocolate flecks, these are absolutely decadent. The cookies are wonderfully crisp, yet melt-in-your-mouth. My pictures really don't quite do justice to them.

Well, I hope my friends will enjoy these little treats. Here's to a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Espresso Delights
adapted from Ultimate Cookies Magazine

Ingredients:
113g butter
37g powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp instant espresso
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
110g flour
20g semisweet chocolate (finely chopped)

Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with a stand mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar, instant espresso, vanilla and cinnamon, beat till well-combinged. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, then stir in any remaining flour and chocolate.

2. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet. Press to flatten slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookie edges are set and the bottoms are lightly-browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

3. Sift cocoa powder and powdered sugar over cooled cookies a desired.


Yields 24 cookies.

2 comments:

  1. nice pic and presentation again!

    I love the pokka dots!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you dear :). I love polka dots too! They are just too cute to resist :P

    ReplyDelete

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