Sometimes, I love to have tea parties by myself, of course. Yeah, judge me, bitches, I don’t give a shit what you think this whole interest probably started because I love the idea of being able to sit around and eat cakes and cookies and it was reinforced with all of the times I went to Sunday tea with my friends in Boston. There always needs to be something with citrus and something with chocolate at the tea table, and that’s where the idea for this cookie came along. That, and it seems so food blogger perfect for me as a Californian to make something with both citrus and chocolate in it. This cookie, it’s very dainty, fragrant and really refreshing. It’s perfect with a cup of black tea. The cardamom and black pepper add a nice accent to the orange and chocolate notes, while the turmeric gives the cookie a beautiful golden color that highlights the beautiful orange used to make it. I opted for sable cookies in particular because they are similar to shortbreads, but they are more buttery and less fragile, giving them a good texture for being dipped in chocolate.
Makes about 80 1 inch cookies:
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon orange blossom honey
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
Dark chocolate (about 1 cup)
In a bowl, cream sugars, butter, zest, honey, egg yolks, spices, and baking powder together. Fold in the flour and continue mixing until it forms a smooth dough. Allow the mixture to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow for easier rolling and cutting.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour chilled dough onto a floured surface and roll with a floured rolling pin to about 1/8th an inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters (I bought mine from Marukai, but any cookie cutter is fine!) and transfer to a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
For the chocolate, melt over a double boiler. Be sure that the chocolate remains liquid until ready for dipping.
Crystalized Orange Peels:
Orange peels (chiffonaded)
2/3 cups water (in two parts)
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
3/4 cups sugar (in three parts)
Boil orange peels in 1/3 cup water. Pour out the liquid after 5 minutes of boiling and repeat the same process with the remaining part. Finally, combine the orange juice with 1 part of the sugar and bring to a boil again, this time, until it reduces to a thick syrup. Allow the peels to cool in the fridge for freezer for 10 minutes. At that point, separate the peels, and coat in the remaining sugar. Bake peels in a 300 degree oven on a lined baking surface for about 10 minutes, and then allow them to remain in the turned off oven for 2 hours to crystalize.
Assembly:
Dip half of the cookies into the chocolate and then place an orange peel on the cookie. Allow them to cool on a nonstick surface in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes before removing.
Freddy's Harajuku 