Choc Chip & Orange Cookies

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with Spiced Orange Tea

Teatime!

Autumn, and the subdued colours, smells and textures of that most illustrious of seasons, is what these ordinary looking fellows are all about. For me, oranges – and it’s trusty side kicks: coriander and black pepper – vividly represent Fall in the kitchen. The chocolate, although secondary in importance, is a continuous basso profundo underscore that forms one of the foundations of my Autumn kitchen.

Coriander Seed

This recipe combines ordinary milk chocolate chips / nubs with a not so subtle, yet gentle orange kick. And candied (glacé) orange peel is the true force behind the throne. Additionally, the ground, dried coriander – with it’s citrusy, balsamic character – does not overpower, but adds a subtle layer of extra depth. And the salt does what it does best: liven things up in a style similar to a vigorously drunken ballerina at a dazzling, Bohemian-style wedding party...

The combination of black pepper and chocolate have it’s roots in the 15^th century Spanish Court where the lords and ladies experimented lavishly (despite it’s prohibitive cost) with the New World wonder import: cacao beans. Truly there are very little under the sun that is new.

Orange in the company of chocolate also go back a long, long way, at least to the seventeenth century. It is interesting to speculate what the ancient Maya and Aztecs would’ve made of oranges and cacao during the Columbian Exchange had they not mostly received small pox, influenza, typhus and the black rat instead.

Salt – in moderation – improves fresh orange wedges and slices. I learned of this phenomenon while still at school from a neighbour of ours. Of course, being a know it all back then, I didn’t believe him until empirical test results proved the veracity of his claim. Tequila drinkers will know that salt reduces the frank acidity of the traditional lime wedge served with that flaming shot of tequila. Along the same vein, a titbit of salt does wonders for the flavour of fresh Granny Smith apple wedges.

Perversely, in the grand scheme of gustatory things, salt turns out to be the opposite of sour whereas bitter does for sweet. Nobody said the world has to make sense.

Recipe yields: 45 Cookies, ± 3.5cm diameter

Preparation time: ± 60 minutes

Baking time: 12  - 15 minutes

Difficulty level: Easy

Special Equipment Required:

1 x Electrical beaters / Kitchen Aid or Kenwood Chef type mixer with flat ‘K-beater’ attachment.

1 x 3.5cm Round cookie cutter, preferably the thin, sheet metal type.

2 – 3 Silicon baking sheets.

Ingredients:

Butter or full fat margarine	150g
Caster sugar	75g
Plain brown sugar	45g
Salt	1.2ml
Eggs, extra large	2
Vanilla essence	2.5ml
Cake flour	210g
Baking powder	7.5ml
Ground coriander	7.5ml
Fine black pepper	±1.5ml
Milk chocolate chips	110g
Candied orange peel, rough chopped	45ml / 30g

Method:

1. Cream the butter / margarine and both sugars very well together. Add the eggs, salt and vanilla essence. Beat until light and creamy.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, coriander and pepper together. Sift the flour mixture over the creamed egg, sugar and butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips and orange peel and mix well.
3. Scrape the dough out and into a plastic bag. Flatten and shape the dough into a thick tile-like shape. Refrigerate the dough 30 – 45 minutes or until thoroughly chilled.
4. Divide the chilled dough in half and roll out between two heavy duty plastic sheets until ± 2cm thick. Using a 3.5cm ring cutter, cut rounds from the dough sheet and transfer to silicone baking mat covered sheet – or large Swiss roll – pans. Arrange the rounds ±3cm apart on all sides as the baking dough will spread somewhat in the oven.
5. Bake for 12 minutes only at 165°C (330°F) in a preheated convection oven. Turn the pans at 8 minutes to ensure even browning. Check the baking cookies frequently as they tend to overbrown easily. Adjust the oven temperature accordingly if this occurs.
6. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 180°C (350°F) in the upper third of a normal, preheated, static oven. Turn the pans at 8 minutes to ensure even browning. Check frequently to prevent over-browning.
7. Allow the pans to cool for 15 – 20 minutes before storing the cookies in a sealed container away from direct sunlight.

Comments:

• Replace the commercial milk chocolate chips with medium fine chopped dark chocolate shards for a deeper, darker flavour. Increase the quantity of chopped, candied orange peel as desired.
• The quantity of salt may seem excessive, but the saltiness pairs very well with the chopped, glacé orange peel in the final product. Reduce the salt to taste if deemed necessary to reduce the risk of renal failure.
• A good alternative is to eliminate the salt entirely from the batter, but to lightly sprinkle fresh ground Atlantic sea salt over the arrange cookies just prior to baking. The crunch and miniature oral salt explosions will bring an elevated dimension to these simple cookies.

Spiced Orange Tea

Yes, I know, the purists are going to flay me alive and crucify my quivering, bleeding carcass at the entrance of their favourite, hallowed food emporium or delicatessen. I mean, pouring boiling water over tea leaves and then later on reheating the entire atrocity in a microwave?! It’s a sacrilege far greater than necrophilia...

Yet, it actually works. And anyway, it’s only patient, placid old Ceylon tea that is gently and elegantly being transformed into Spiced Orange Tea. The orange peel powder imparts a bright, lively flavour strikingly reminiscent of an Orange Cake. Cumin and orange are of course old, old friends and very comfortable in each other’s company: slippers, smoking jackets, cigars an’ all.

The fact remains that whichever way you prefer to prepare it, Spiced Orange Tea has excellent calming and restorative properties. The calming effect is – in my opinion – quite on par with that of chamomile, but without the exceedingly herby and astringent nature. Try it and see if you agree.

Ingredients:

Sufficient for 2 cups

Good quality Ceylon tea	2 bags
Orange peel powder	2.5ml
Cumin seed, un-roasted	1ml
Salt	Tiny pinch
Boiling water, depending on cup size	400ml - 500ml

Method:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a microwave proof teapot or measuring jug. Add the boiling water and stir well. Set aside 3 – 4 minutes to steep.
2. Re-heat for 90 seconds in a microwave at medium high power before serving. Strain the tea through a fine tea sieve as it is poured.
3. Add milk to taste and sweeten as desired.

© RS Young, 2017

Original cookie recipe from:

VARS EN FLATERVRY; Pienaar, Heilie; Struik Uitgewers; Kaapstad; 2002.

Sources:

1. THE FLAVOUR THESAURUS; Segint, Niki, Bloomsbury Publishing; London; 2010.

2. THE PENGUIN COMPANION TO FOOD; Davidson, Alan; Penguin Books (U.K.);2002.

   [Originally published as the “Oxford Companion To Food” in 1999 by Oxford University Press]

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