Update from the Beverly Hills Chocolate Lab:

Late spring begins a particularly bountiful season in California.  Farmer’s markets are lush with freshly picked produce – citrus fruits, berries, and edible flowers. Though all who choose to flock to the market are privy to the bounty, it somehow feels like personal treasure as you fill your own basket, trolley or bag.

Local purveyors with their bountiful offerings are a regular source of inspiration for our seasonal confections like ginger toffee dusted with dried Clementine powder and a new, favorite: strawberry, rose, white chocolate sandwich cookies.

Weekly, the Beverly Hills Chocolate Laboratory crew explores the market for the best produce and unusual finds. About a month ago, they discovered Harry’s Berries, which are locally regarded as the best strawberries in Los Angeles. To maximize the sweet, tart burst of late spring flavor, we dehydrated the strawberries and ground them to a powder that was incorporated into our Super Duper Sugar Cookie Mix. To further exaggerate the flavor, we sandwiched the enhanced sugar cookies around a rich, strawberry curd and a ribbon of rose-infused white chocolate butter cream. To beautify the top and give a hint of what flavors are within, the cookie is garnished with a dried, sliced strawberry. Sandwich cookies conjure a touch of nostalgia. This recipe brings updated, seasonal flavors to an old style cookie.

You can taste these beauties at our Beverly Hills Vosges Haut-Chocolat Boutique for as long as Harry’s berries are in season. Or, try your hand at the recipe. Dehydrated strawberry powder isn’t particularly easy to come by. If you can’t find it, you can experiment with your own flavors and spices, pushing our sugar cookie mix into a new realm.

Strawberry White Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches
Prep Time: 2 ½ Hours | Cook Time: 6 Mins

Ingredients
Vosges Haut-Chocolat Super Duper Sugar Cookie Mix
2 heavy duty cookie sheets lined with parchment or Silpat ® baking mats.
If your cookie sheets are thin and flimsy, double up your sheet trays for extra protection from the heat.
1 large egg (cold)
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 Tbs. organic strawberry powder or lemon zest

Directions
1. Place 2 sticks softened butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 Tbs strawberry powder and the contents of the cookie mix bag in the large bowl of an electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon will work too!
2. Beat on medium speed until a loose dough ball forms, about 2 minutes.
3. Scrape out the dough onto a piece of parchment or wax paper and roll the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to about ½ ” thick.
4. Chill until firm-about ½ hour-then use your favorite cookie cutters to make fun shapes.
If the dough warms during rolling, return to the refrigerator and chill until firm.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 ° F (177 ° C) and move racks to the bottom.
6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out a bit to even out the edges.
Cookies will be barely-baked looking and very pale in color. Do not over-bake or the cookies will be dry!
7. Let cookies sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from the oven and then move cookies to a wire rack to complete cooling.
8. Then, take two cookies and put 1 teaspoon white chocolate and1 teaspoon strawberry curd in the center. Garnish with a dried strawberry.

White Chocolate and Rose Buttercream Filling
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 15-20 mins

Ingredients
1 cup Vanilla Sugar
1/3 cup water
3 Egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
10 oz Butter
4 oz 36% Felchlin White Chocolate
1/4 tsp. Rose Water

Directions:
1. Heat water and sugar to 240 F.
2. Whip egg whites and cream of tartar. Pour in sugar syrup slowly.
3. Add melted chocolate and butter chunks. Finish with rose water.

Strawberry Curd Filling
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 30-45 minutes

1 cup Vanilla Sugar
1/2 cup Strawberry Juice
1 tsp Lemon Zest
7 Egg Yolks
4 oz Butter, chunks
.25 oz Dehydrated Strawberry Powder

Directions:
1. Using a double boiler, whisk sugar, strawberry juice and yolks until mixture reaches 160 F.
2. Once it reaches the proper temperature, immediately take off heat. Add butter chunks and stir constantly until curd is cooled to 140 F.
3. Chill and serve.

Tags: cookie, sandwich, strawberry, sugar cookie, vosges

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at 12:15 pm and is filed under recipes-sweet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.