Langues Du Chat Cookies for Valentines Day and a Free Printable Cookie Box

Yes fine readers, it is that time of year again. The shops are filled with overpriced boxes of choccies and cards featuring disgustingly cute little teddy bears thrusting love hearts into our faces. No I am not bitter, I am not single, I just think all these things are complete rubbish and that Valentines Day is a truly materialistic 'holiday'.

You should show your partner how much you love them every single day, and not by buying them stuffed animals and other equally shoddy goods, but with your words and actions and most importantly, home baked treats.

Now as you may know I cannot resist a chance to theme something in any way I can, and if it involves glitter and sprinkles all the better, so Valentines Day is one such reason I have grabbed hold of and gone with.

I decided to make these cookies after one of my in bed recipe book browsing sessions - everyone does that right? I was looking through this book, one of the prettiest I own. It has a felted textured cover and gilt edges and comes wrapped in lavender tissue paper in a beautiful pale pistachio green box. I don't even care that it is entirely in French, the photographs are so beautiful you don't need words. Of course it is a recipe book, so you kind of do need words, but I remember enough from school to get by.

Langues du chat or 'cat's tongue' cookies are delicious crisp little almondy bites which you usually serve with coffee or ice cream, or with nothing at all if your name is Nancy. You use a very different technique to make these than you would a normal cookie but they are still very easy, the hardest part is piping them onto the baking sheet in straight lines so they bake evenly.


You would not usually decorate langues du chat, although Ladurée always enrobe one end in a lovely pastel colour. I thought this was an excuse to get my sprinkle collection out so used metallic sugar crystals, pearlised sugar dragees and tiny pink sugar hearts - you can of course use less twee decorations or none at all, it is completely up to you. Given as a gift with some good coffee or ice cream I think they would make any food fan feel more loved and appreciated.

I've given two options for the box base - one to keep your love guessing and the other with a space for you to write your name, as they will obviously want to track down their baking admirer to thank you and probably propose.

Just click the small images below and download the templates, then print them onto any colour card you desire. Cut them out, fold and stick them in place and then load them up with cookies - love in a box!

Langues Du Chat or 'Cat's Tongue' Cookies
Makes 20-30 (depending how big you pipe them)

Ingredients
75g butter, softened
115g icing sugar
2 large egg whites
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
75g plain flour, sifted

a piping bag with a 8-10mm round nozzle

100g white chocolate, roughly chopped
assorted sprinkles, dragees, sugar decorations (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter and icing sugar together for 2-3 minutes until it's pale and fluffy then set aside for a moment while you whisk the egg whites to soft peak stage, now add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time mixing well after each addition. When you have a glossy meringue like mixture that will hold peaks pour it into the bowl with the butter mix and extracts and fold together gently for a minute or so until most of the lumps are gone. Now add the plain flour in three parts mixing after each. Keep folding together until you have a lump free batter - it will feel a little elastic.

Spoon the batter into the piping bag and pipe onto the baking sheet in 6-7cm lines - try and keep them as straight as possible so they cook up neatly and leave around 5cm space between each one.

Bake in batches for 5-7 minutes turning the baking sheet halfway through so they cook evenly. They should have lightly browned edges but still be pale golden in the middle. Remove to a rack to cool down.

Melt the chopped white chocolate in the microwave or a bain marie and then dip one end of each cookie into it and place back onto the cooling rack. If you are using decorations you will need to use them quickly after dipping each one - if you are too slow the chocolate will set before you get to put them on and won't stick.

Let dry and then place into the box and give to your true love!

If you aren't eating them within the first day you'll need to store them in an air tight container so they don't soften - they'll keep for up to three days.

Lychee Cupcakes with Rose & Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting and Rose Syrup Tuile Curls

Ladies and gents, prepare yourselves for a seriously girly recipe. Pink in colour with a creamy floral flavour, these are some very ladylike treats. Reminiscent of turkish delight, but with a cheesecakey edge to the frosting thanks to the mascarpone and whipped cream. The pureed lychees keep the sponge cake wonderfully moist, although I must admit that their perfume like flavour didn't come across as much as I'd like, so I added some to the frosting to amp it up a little. I do find it difficult to get more delicate fruit flavours to come through in cake batter - watermelon is another flavour that baking seems to cancel out.

The rose syrup tuile curls are like little flowery brandy snaps. Unfortunately they don't hold their crispness for too long so it is best to bake these and add them to the cakes just before serving so they keep their shape and crunch.

It may seem silly to some people to bake a batch of little cookies just to decorate some cupcakes, but that's just how I roll. A dessert on top of another dessert? Yes please! To be honest though, they were more of an experiment to see if I could make a rose version of this cookie from Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book Baking: From My Home To Yours. A real treasury of delicious treats and a must have for the avid baker, Dorie's book shows how to prepare these little cookies using maple syrup; but seeing as I had a lovely bottle of rose syrup on hand I thought it a good chance to have a play around and hopefully make a tasty and unusual cupcake topper. I think I succeeded!

I quartered the recipe from the book and still came up with too many tuile cookies, but adjusting it to make any fewer cookies would result in some seriously difficult ingredient measuring and I would never be averse to eating ten or so little leftover rosey curls...

The curl batter needs to be made the evening or morning before as it needs to refrigerate for at least 3 hours before baking. Of course they are optional, and could be replaced with a simple icing rose if anything at all, although the glitter is a must to create the required ludicrously girly visage.

Lychee Cupcakes with Rose & Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting and Rose Syrup Tuile Curls
Makes 12 standard American sized cupcakes

Rose Syrup Tuile Curl Ingredients
15g unsalted butter, at room temperature
15g light brown muscovado sugar, packed
30ml rose syrup
15g plain flour, sifted

Lychee Cupcake Ingredients
180ml pureed lychees (skinned and pitted)
60ml milk, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
110g butter, softened
400g caster sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature

Rose & Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting Ingredients
80ml pureed lychees
1 tbsp rose syrup (or see notes for an alternative)
75g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100ml double cream
300g icing sugar, sifted

Rose Syrup Tuile Curl Method
Mix the butter, sugar and rose syrup until well combined and then gently stir in the flour until just incorporated. Cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 1 week.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F while you line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and then wrap some more greaseproof around a rolling pin.

Spoon small hazelnut size scoops of the tuile batter onto the tray leaving around 2 inches space between them (they spread a lot) and then bake for 5-7 minutes until the edges turn golden brown but the centres are still a deep pink.

Remove the tray from the oven and leave the cookies to cool for about 10 seconds. Then take a thin flat palette (such as you use to smooth frosting) and gently slide it under a cookie seperating it from the paper. Gently life the cookie from the sheet and place it over the greaseproofed rolling pin - it will wrap around it making the required curl shape. If the cookies on the sheet become solid before you can curl them over the pin, just place the tray back in the oven for a few seconds so they soften up and become pliable again.

Repeat with the other cookies and leave them to cool on the rolling pin while you bake the next batch. When cool place on a piece of greaseproof paper in a safe area where they won't get knocked or broken while you bake the cupcakes.

Lychee Cupcakes Method
Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F and line a tin with a dozen standard American cupcake liners or muffin liners.

Mix the pureed lychees withthe milk and vanilla extract and set aside. In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes and then gradually add the sugar. When well combined and fluffy add the egg and egg whites and mix until just combined. Now add half of the flour mixture and blend, then add the lychee and milk mixture and combine before adding the final portion of flour. Mix until just combined.

Divide the batter between the cupcake liners and bake for 22-25 minutes until the tops are lightly golden and spring back to the touch. Leave to cool for ten minutes in the tray, then remove to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Rose & Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting Method
Whip the double cream to stiff peaks and set aside. Beat the pureed lychees, rose syrup, mascarpone and vanilla extract and then gently stir in the whipped cream until just combined. Now fold in the sifted icing sugar until you reach the required spreadable/pipeable consistency - you may not need it all.

Spread over the completely cooled cupcakes and top with a tuile curl or your decoration of choice.

And a sprinkle of glitter. Don't forget the glitter.

Notes
I bought the rose syrup from my local supermarket in the ethnic foods section. It can also be found in many Asian and Indian supermarkets.

The rose syrup is necessary to make the tuile curls but for the frosting you could substitute the same quantity of rose water and a few drops of pink food colouring.

I think these would look beautiful with little fresh pink rose petals or buds on top, or a little cube of turkish delight would also be very fitting.

I know these seem outrageously feminine, but they got the thumbs up from some nice gents in my office. If you like turkish delight, I'm pretty sure you'll like these.

Nancy's Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Cookies are not something I make very often. I think it's a combination of the fact that I always get distracted by cake recipes and that Pete and I will sit and eat a whole big batch in one sitting as they are so moreish. I wish my metabolism would allow me to do this with no ill effects on my already suffering waistline, but it just won't. I get ridiculously jealous of those lucky lucky women who can plough through dozens of cupcakes and cookies and stay thin and gorgeous (cough... Natalie of Bake and Destroy... cough) but for me, those treats go straight to my thighs. But, my green eyed monster being pushed aside, these cookies really are worth an extra half hour on the cross trainer.

The perfect cookie recipe is one of the holy grails of baking and I think this gets pretty close - it has taken long enough to develop! Chopped cold butter? Room temperature butter? Melted butter? A mix of sugars? Which kinds of chocolate? Nuts or no nuts? So many ingredient decisions to make and quantities to change! The cooking time is also a very important part of a perfect cookie. I am definitely a chewy gooey fan, but I do know some crispy cookie lovers so have given cooking times for both styles. I have used walnuts in my recipe also but if you are allergic or just plain hate nuts feel free to leave them out altogether, you could add in another 50g of chocolate if you so desire.

Nancy's Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes 20 large cookies

Ingredients
125g slightly salted butter, melted
100g caster sugar
200g dark muscovado sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
200g milk chocolate, roughly chopped
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100g walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 170 C / 338 F and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Beat together the melted butter, caster and muscovado sugars until no lumps remain, then add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix until light and creamy - around 2-3 minutes.

Mix in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt until just blended and then stir in the chocolate and walnut chunky by hand with a wooden spoon - the mixture is very thick and chunky now and therefore it may damage your hand beaters or stand mixer.

Drop very heaped tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the baking sheets leaving around 8cm between them (I baked four cookies on each tray at a time).

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 13 minutes for chewy cookies or 16 to 17 minutes for crisp cookies. Remove and let cool for a few minutes on the baking tray before removing to a cooling rack and baking the next batch. Try one warm out of he oven - so so good!

Notes
I like to chop the dark chocolate quite finely and the milk chocolate into pretty big chunks, that way the dark chocolate is distributed better through the dough so the cocoa flavour is always present, and then you'll hit a big milk chocolate chunk deposit every now and again which is always nice!

Try and use the best chocolate you can get, after all, it is the star of the recipe.

The dark muscovado gives a real caramelly taste to the cookies which the walnuts accent really well, but as I said before, the nuts are optional but highly recommended!

And look how pretty they are wrapped up as a present - who wouldn't be thrilled to be given this as a gift...?

And a side note...
Today I was drinking some cream soda and decided I needed some ice cubes so I grabbed some from the freezer. It was only after throwing them in that I realised I had grabbed the white wine cubes that I always keep in the freezer in case I need a little wine for a recipe and don't feel like drinking the rest of the bottle. As it turns out, cream soda and white wine go together really well! I think it's my new summer drink of choice. Second to Pimms of course...