The Three Pazes
July 21, 2008 | Filed Under Baking
As I recuperate from surgery, please help me welcome our first guest blogger, Mischief Mari of Cha No Ma-ri. Thanks, Mari! To see other cookies Mari has made for me, look here and here.
Paz
2008 © Mari Pfeiffer – All Rights Reserved
I did it. I tricked Paz into showing herself to the world.
If you have been a regular reader of our beloved Paz’s cooking adventures, you’re probably aware of the fact that she is not enamored with the idea of revealing what she looks like. I have seen numerous comments on her Monday New York photos from readers hinting that a photo of herself in the city would be highly desirable. And each time, she has either politely disregarded those requests or outright refused.
Lucky for you Paz admirers today!
I thought it might be interesting to design a cookie with her silhouette on it. Through an email in which I expressed my deep admiration and regard for our Lady Paz, I tried to convince her to send me a photo of herself. Not surprisingly, she was reluctant. “I look horrible. I don’t want to take my photo. Do I really have to?” she protested. But I persevered. “I want to immortalize you in a cookie,” was my reply.
I was pleasantly surprised, when, in less than a day, I received a photo of her which confirmed what I knew already: she’s lovely!
Making a silhouette cookie is very easy. I opened Paz’s photograph in Photoshop, desaturated it to transform it into a black-and-white picture, ratcheted up the contrast, resized it to about 2.5 square inches and printed it out. I traced her outline onto a piece of thick plastic and carefully cut it out to create a stencil.
After baking these large sugar cookies, I first covered them with a base layer of white icing. Once the base was dry, I placed the stencil over the cookie, and using an offset spatula, wiped a layer of stiff black icing over the top. I gently pulled the stencil off, and there was Paz. The details on each cookie were hand-piped.
If you want to try this yourself, I have a more detailed tutorial at my website (http://mischiefmari.com/jane_
I’ve never met Chef Paz in person. But as I’ve gotten to know her through our blogs and email, I believe that this combination of decorated silhouette cookies and Maida Heatter’s ‘Positively-the-Absolutely Best Chocolate Chip Cookies’ captures the essence of what I believe is Paz: casually elegant.
Thank you Paz, for letting me fill in this week.
Maida Heatter’s ‘Positively-the-Absolutely Best Chocolate Chip Cookies’
(from Maida Heatter’s Brand-New Book of Great Cookies)
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract [2 teaspoons]
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs graded “large”
2 1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon hot water
8 ounces (2 generous cups) walnuts, broken into medium-sized pieces
12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate morsels [16 ounces semisweet
or bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces]
Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or with aluminum foil, shiny side up. In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until soft. Add the salt, vanilla, and both sugars and beat to mix. Add the eggs and beat to mix. On low speed add about half the flour and, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, beat until incorporated. In a small cup stir the baking soda into the hot water, then mix into the dough. Add the remaining flour and beat only until incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in the walnuts and the chocolate. Spread out a large piece of aluminum foil next to the sink. Use a rounded tablespoonful of the dough for each cookie and place the mounds any which way on the foil. Then wet your hands with cold water, shake off excess, but do not dry your hands. Pick up a mound of dough and roll it between your wet hands into a ball, then press it between your hands to flatten it to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Place the cookies on the lined sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake two sheets at a time, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back as necessary to ensure even browning. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are browned all over. (If you bake one sheet alone, bake
it on the upper rack.) The cookies must be crisp; do not underbake. Let the cookies stand for a few seconds, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Note: If you use 16 ounces of chocolate (see introduction to recipe) you will think it is too much to be incorporated into the dough. Just be patient. It’s not too much.
P.S. I was told that this is a big secret. Mrs. Fields refrigerates her chocolate chip cookie dough before shaping and baking. (Actually, Ruth Wakefield, who created this recipe at Toll House, did also.) The dough should be cold when the cookies go into the oven. I tried it. It’s great. The cookies have a much nicer and more even golden brown color.
2008 © Mari Pfeiffer – All Rights Reserved
Comments
29 Responses to “The Three Pazes”
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LOL! Mari: You did trick me! I LOVE my cookies. Thank you so much!
Paz
Your cookies are so beautiful! Paz, get well soon!
Beautiful cookies picturing the beautiful Paz! Best wishes for a very speedy recovery.
Those cookies are works of art! Just beautiful. I know Paz is cherring up during her recovery with these lovely gifts.
Those cookies are really art. I don’t know if I could eat them! You look just lovely Paz. Great idea for the silhouette in the cookie, very creative!
Now that’s going to be a very hard act to follow, Mari! Good job. And I agree, Paz is just as lovely in sillouette as she is in print and through the photos she takes.
Those cookies look wonderful! Paz’s silhouette is very harmonious… Great job!
Get well soon and cheers,
Rosa
Mischief Mari, you lived up to your name! Those are beautiful and works of art!
Paz, you’ve got a classic profile, now show us some flesh and blood!
YUMMY! Those cookies look great and what a great idea! I know they are like art but I would still eat them!
I think ‘casually elegant’ is a very apt description of Paz. I had a pleasure of meeting her in early June in New York, and she was lovely!!
Beautiful, beautiful cookies!!
What a Wonderful tribute to our wonderful Chef Paz! I’m so glad you ‘tricked’ her, you are indeed full of mischief, Mari.
Thanks too for the directions on how to create these – such a perfect gift.
Thanks for the compliments, everyone! And yes, I’d still rather see Paz in flesh and blood. This was fun, and I’m looking forward to the next guest post! cheers, mari
Wow! What a great post. The cookies are amazing.
“If you use 16 ounces of chocolate (see introduction to recipe) you will think it is too much to be incorporated into the dough…” NEVER!!!
This is a wonderful post! The cookies are works of art.
Those cookies are gorgeous, in fact, a real piece of art. And you Paz, my best wishes for a very speedy recovery.
At last…a view of our dear Paz!! Splendid, beautiful work, Mari! Those cookies are truly artworks…mini masterpieces. Thanks so much for sharing! And Paz, be taking good care and get well soon. We miss you! Thank you so much for your email…So glad you are doing ok. I will write soon. ((BIG HUGS))
What beautiful cookies! And what a great idea!
Paz is a lovely woman both inside and out.
I love the cookies, and I have no doubt that Paz is lovely. I’m jealous that Pille got to meet her, but someday I am going to make it to New York!
Paz–and Mari, these cookies are fantastic! I love silouhettes, and have a collection of them, and now there’s an edible version-divine. Hope you are having a speedy recovery, Paz, lots of healing energy coming your way. xo
Mari & Paz, the cookies are works of art! Too pretty to eat, that’s for sure! I’m going to try the cookie recipe, they look wonderful. Thanks for the great post. Hope your recovery is going well Paz!
Rhonda
The Paz Cookie!! Wow!! I love Paz. She is a sweetheart. She most certainly deserves an Mischief ~ Mari ~ Original!
She is beautiful and so are the cookies you create!!!
How kind of you!!!
xox
Constance
Thanks everyone for stopping by and your kind comments. Mari, thanks again for your wonderful post. The cookies are all gone now.
Paz
Oh my! The silhouette cookies look stunning!
I would not have have had the heart to eat ‘em.
Hope you are feeling better now, Paz.
Hi TBC: I have to agree that the cookies are stunning. Since they are made to be eaten, I had no problem popping them in my mouth, though. Mari did a great job! Everyday, I continue to feel better, thanks.
Paz
: )
Catherine Chernow
Hi Catherine: Fabulous, aren’t they!
Paz
Oh that’s pretty seriously adorable – as is your silhouette
LOL! Hi Jeanne: Thanks so much!
Paz
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