Brown Sugar Made Better
I’m a little late to the Christmas cookie-making party, but for heaven’s sake — it was -8 degrees this morning. What else can one do but bake to warm up the blasted apartment? But before I get ahead of myself here, first, some good news for Yankee bakers: eagle-eye HIB contrib John spied this lovely bag of brown sugar (see photo) at our Asia Markt on Kopenhagner str. It’s the first we’ve found in the hauptstadt. Not to be confused with granulated, or “natural” brown sugar, this is the soft, moist and packable brown sugar used in lots of cookie recipes and sometimes barbecue sauces — and apparently is also key in Thai cooking (news to me, but explains the packaging.) Our bag of light brown sugar is the real deal, if not a bit rustic — we found a few small, dark chunks of sugar amid the fluffy stuff inside. Didn’t seem to bother the cookies a bit.
So to celebrate the new year (and the cold weather), here’s a quick recipe for chocolate “flake” cookies that use one hard-to-find item (brown sugar) and one re-purposed German item (”raspel Schokolade,” or chocolate flakes.) Thin layers of chocolate flakes melt together to create a cookie that appears practically stuffed with chocolate. It rules.
HIB’s Chocolate Flake Cookies (adapted from 101 Cookbooks, who adapted it from David Lebovitz’s Great Book of Chocolate)
100g white sugar; *120g* packed light brown sugar; about 120g butter, softened; 1 egg; 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar (pref. bourbon); 1/2 tsp. baking soda (also found at some Asia Markts); 175g flour; a pinch of salt; whole package (100g) dark chocolate flakes (I used the Schwartau brand; it’s cheap); and nuts, if you want them.
And so: Oven at 150C, parchment paper on the baking tray. Beat the butter and the brown and white sugars together until smooth. (If you don’t have a hand blender, this can be done with a fork; make sure the butter is very soft.) Mix in the egg, baking soda and vanilla sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the chocolate flakes, flour and salt; then blend ‘em all together (add nuts here if you’re using them). Scoop the dough into pingpong ball-sized shapes, and place on the baking sheet with good room in between. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned on top. Eat warm.
(Note: If you prefer U.S.-based measurements, shoot us a note below and we’ll happily translate the recipe…)
Tags: Asia markt, baking, book, brown sugar, chocolate flakes, cookies, rare ingredients, recipeRelated posts
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.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Is that sugar demerera?
January 5th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I’ll just add, as a happy cookie consumer. Them cookies do, in fact, rule.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
hi d.z. - nope, the sugar isn’t Demerera; although i’ve never used it myself, i understand Demerera to have larger crystals than this type of softer, gritty, almost wet-feeling brown sugar. it’s definitely the texture that makes this brown sugar so well-suited for tender cookies. can one bake with Demerera?
January 6th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
It’s what’s called “soft brown sugar” or “dark soft brown sugar” in the UK. Think of the texture of damp sand. Much finer than demerera. Those cookies look amazing!
January 7th, 2008 at 9:48 am
oops! use 120g brown sugar; not 100g as i wrote before. apologies.
January 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
thanks a lot for this tip! i just stumbled upon your blog while having problems trying to get chocolate chip cookie ingredients. i managed to find the exact same brand of brown sugar at an asia markt on frankfurter allee, just across the street from ring center.
January 9th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
fudduf: sweet. as many of the asia markts seem to use the same supplier, i’d guess this brand of brown sugar should be available at most outlets ’round the hauptstadt. and if your recipe isn’t a super-family secret, do share!
April 10th, 2008 at 10:23 am
What is baking soda called? I’ve only found baking “pulver.”
May 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Baking soda, aka Sodium Bicarbonate, is Natron (Natiumhydrogencarbonat). I found a 50g sachet in Kaisers. I used to buy it from the pharmacy in the UK, but haven’t tried here.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
You can also get brown sugar, both light and dark, at the Asian market on Müllerstr. near the Seestr. U-Bahn station in Wedding. They also have boxes of Arm & Hammer baking soda.