melting moments Archives

I am back home after a super hectic yet wonderful trip. After eating plenty of good food and gorging on sweets, I would have loved to post a few Indian recipes. Those are sure to follow but today I wanted to post these Melting Moments. Sugar et al has completed 6 months today and a half anniversary was the perfect excuse for me to look back, go through my previous posts and recipes and assess how far I have travelled since I started out.

Its been such an amazing journey with the new things that I learnt along the way, the wonderful people who I came across, the different cuisines, creativity, thoughts, ideas that I find everywhere. Funny that I didn’t even know that such a beautiful place existed on the Internet before I started. I so love this blog-o-sphere as much as I love you all.

I am my own critic. Will it be exaggeration if I tell you that so much of the food I cook and photograph don’t make it to my blog? If I am not happy with the way a dish looks it will not be posted and I will start working on something else. I make a rare exception if the recipe is unique or has taken a great deal of effort to make or the gap between my posts are significantly long. So today I have recreated these cookies, with variations of course. My Strawberry Melting Moments is one of those posts which I was never proud of. I was experimenting with my camera and they were photographed badly. Do you also have such instances? Are there posts that you wish you had done differently?

That being said, I am totally in love with these cookies. The crumbly melt-in-your mouth texture makes them so special. Passion fruit pairs beautifully with chocolate in these cookies and look how bright they look together! This months Sweet Adventures Blog Hop challenge is also about cookies. I have missed the last few challenges so I was excited to find out about the Cookie Monster theme in August. The event is being hosted this month by Sophie from The Sticky and Sweet. Do check out the fantastic creations that all have put up at the end of the post.

Eggless Chocolate and Passion Fruit Melting Moments
Makes 7 large sandwich cookies

125g unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
1 cup flour
2 tbsp custard powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder

For filling
60g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp passion fruit puree, strained to remove seeds
2 drops yellow food colouring

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Using an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour, custard powder and cocoa powder over the butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined and a soft dough forms. Using 1 heaped tbsp of dough per ball, make balls. Place on prepared trays leaving room for spreading. Using a fork dipped in cocoa, lightly flatten each biscuit until 1 cm thick. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cool on tray for 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile make the passion fruit filling: Using an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter till fluffy. Add the sugar gradually and whisk to combine. Add the passion fruit puree and mix well. Tint the frosting with food colour. Spread or pipe the filling on the flat side of a cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Serve dusted with cocoa powder.

I am so looking forward to the weekend. 4 days off…a much needed break. We have been longing for some family time. And it has been long due. First it was the boy’s health, one following the other and then my husband travelling on work. Now all we want is to slow down and huddle together in a few peaceful corners of the world and do nothing of substance.

I have a few things planned but most of it is going to be driven by how adventurous we feel every morning. If we are not too late to catch the Autumnal red gold trees , I may be able to get a few scenic pictures for you. A few guests who I love having over are also on the agenda. And plenty of food, of course. I hope to keep my pantry well stocked with sweet treats.

My little men love Melting moments. And I love watching them grab the cookies hard that crumble under the slightest pressure. It melts my heart to see them despair over the broken cookies. These are a joy to make too. They are egg less and ready in minutes. With or without frosting they always taste great!

The Easter bunnies are on their way, their baskets loaded with treasure. I am basking in the excitement of letting them uncover.

Bounty is in the air! Not a moment too soon.

Strawberry Melting Moments (adapted with variation from Taste.com)

Yields 10

125g unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup flour
2 tbsp custard powder
icing sugar to serve

For filling
60g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp strawberry essence
3/4 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
2 drops pink food colouring

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Using a electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift flour and custard powder over butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined and a soft dough forms.
Using 1 heaped tbsp of dough per ball, make balls. Place on prepared trays leaving room for spreading. Using a fork dipped in flour, lightly flatten each biscuit until 1 cm thick.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden. Cool on tray for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile make strawberry filling: Using a whisk, beat butter in a bowl till light and creamy. Add strawberry essence. Whisk to combine. Add icing sugar. Whisk until well combined. Tint the frosting with food colour.
Spread or pipe the filling on the flat side of a cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Serve dusted with icing sugar.