January 30 & 31 - Chocolate Orange Cookie Stacks

WOO HOO!

I did it!  One month down, eleven more to go!  (Excuse me...let me just reach back here...and, uh, pat myself on the back.) Although keeping up this blog is a lot of work, I feel like this project is definitely helping my cooking skills stay sharp.  This past month, I've been trusting my culinary (gut) instincts more and I feel more confident in my decisions (I have a bad habit of sometimes second guessing myself in the kitchen, which I shouldn't because I know what I'm doing).   My multitasking skills are incredible and my kitchen is uber organized!  Super bonus = Now, I'm really good at saving money at the grocery store!

And thanks to all of you reading this blog.  I really like seeing the comments.  Sometimes, I don't get a chance to respond, but I do read all of them.   Here is the link to the actual book online at amazon.com just in case you'd like to try the recipes:

Fast, Easy, and Fresh Bon Appetit Cookbook

So, for the upcoming months, I will not only try to be a little more humourous, but I will try and make some other recipes (and take pictures of them) outside of this calendar project.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:

Whipped Cream: $1.39

Cookies: $1.79

Orange Juice: $1.29

Orange zest:  Had 

Total: $4.47

When I saw this recipe, I was a little disappointed.  It sounded like it would be a little too simple and therefore wouldn't taste very good.  Boy was I wrong!  Sometimes, simplicity is the best.  The whipped cream/orange juice concentrate mixture tastes like orange creamsicle (or orange push-pop if you're around my age).  That got me thinking, what if I freeze the cookie instead of refridgerating it?  What would happen?

For the wafer cookies, I used chocolate pizzelle cookies.   They are VERY delicate, so use a light touch, but I think they really make the dessert look nice.  Obviously, if you use pizzelles, they'll take a little more filling than the 1 Tablespoon as the recipe states for the wafer cookies.  Helpful hint:  if you put your cream in a piping bag, it'll make for easier construction. 

Just in case your like, "What's a Pizzelle?"  Pizzelle's are Italian waffle cookies.  They come in a variety of flavors and can be found at your local Italian grocery store.  Sometimes they will have them at your larger grocery stores, but the best quality pizzelles usually come from the Italian markets.  They are delicious and a better alternative calorie-wise than most cookies.  (I'm still trying to track down a pizzelle iron so I can make them!)

Another tip with this recipe is to make sure that you really whip the whipped cream and orange juice to a stiff peak.  If you under whip this just a little, the filling is going to ooze out of the cookie stack and make a hot mess.  When it looks like it's ready, whip it for 20 seconds more...just in case.

And now...drumroll please....

THE RESULTS

Fast:  From start to finish this recipe should only take you maybe 20 minutes tops (depending on how many stacks you make).  The whipping of the cream and o.j. mixture will take the most time.  I don't see why you can't just serve the stacks right away.  Although the recipe says to chill in in the fridge (which I don't think accomplished anything but making the cookie soggy)

Easy:  Not too difficult.  If your not good at piping and decide to use a piping bag, that might prove to be a little difficult.  This would be a great recipe to make with kids.  I think they'd get a kick out of whipping the cream and o.j. and building the stacks (although I would get a sturdier cookie then pizzelles).

Fresh:  Not so much. It's just orange juice and whipped cream.**

**As I've been going through all of these recipes this past month, I think this fresh category has been really tough to critique.  To me, fresh means lucious, flavorful garden vegetables or just picked herbs.  The more I ponder the use of the word "fresh" by the author, I wonder if they meant it to mean "a new take".   So in the future, I'll try to judge that category by both "fresh tasting" and "fresh take"

Overall:  This is actaully a really good recipe that you can do for company.  The whipped cream can be made ahead of time and put in the fridge, then you can just pipe and serve.  I didn't care for the "letting it sit in the fridge" part of the recipe.  The cookie got soggy and the whole thing was a (delicious) orange mushy mess (I like a little texture in my desserts). 

I loved the frozen cookie stack.  You do have to let it sit out for 5-7 minutes before serving, otherwise you are not going to be able to cut into that thing!  Not only do you have whipped cream frozen like ice cream (and tasting like push-pops), but the cookies stay crisp as well!  If you use the chocolate pizzelles, they'll taste like chocolate waffle cones with orange creamsicle ice cream on top.  Yummy!!

Tomorrow is Tip Day!  I'm going to re-post my original blog entry explaining the calendar project, so newer readers to this blog can understand how and why this all started.