Wed, 28th March, 2012

I was once told by a wise teacher of mine, that if you play the triangle or tambourine (which I occasionally have reason to do) with an intention of love, then it will be heard in the sound you make.  I believed it then, and I believe it even more so today.  Let it be said, that what is true for playing percussion is true for baking.

I did not love these cookies.  And they showed me no love in return.

This week's recipe was for heart-shaped chocolate cookies with a coconut-cherry macaroon filling.  Since I don't have heart-shaped cookie cutters, I decided to go with snowflakes.  But I opted for white chocolate, as the idea of a brown snowflake just seemed, well, wrong.

To me, adding coconut to anything is like sprinkling on fun.  So the macaroon filling got some love.  Even cutting out the cookies was enjoyable, not least because I got to use my favourite rolling pin.

But when they came out of the oven, they appeared bland...and my affection for them quickly followed suit.  After a taste test my hunch was confirmed.  I suspected that not even a coconut sprinkle could revitalise them now.  I moodily filled each cookie with macaroon mixture and sat reluctantly for 15 minutes with only the faintest hope of redemption.  It never came. 

Now don't get me wrong, I think they look quite nice, and I'm happy with some of the photos I got. But perhaps its symbolic that in swapping a heart-shaped cookie for a snowflake, my love itself turned cold.

 

 

But next week is another baking day!  And I am postponing it by a couple of days, so that I can make hot cross buns on Good Friday.  I have made them once before, but they more closely resembled the rock that covered the tomb rather than the lightness and joy of the resurrection.  Here's hoping for the latter next week!