Damiers
Damiers are one of my sis's favorite cookies when we were in secondary school. She used to head to the bakery across the road from school to buy 100 g of it. I remembered as a teen, paying $3 for 100 g of cookies seemed somewhat indulgent. But it was an occasional treat and my sis was always good about saving money for it and also sharing it with me, though I don't appreciate buttery or chocolaty stuff as much as she does. It wasn't until a couple of years ago when I saw Martha Stewart make damiers on Food network and it brought back all those memories of following my sis to the bakery to get these cookies. So I decided to try out the recipe. The process is time consuming but it's good fun, rolling and laying the pattern. It almost felt like playing with plastercine / play dough in preschool. I think I had always enjoyed that, so that's why this was fun and best of all, edible. I am giving you the original recipe as it is because I think in terms of sweetness, it doesn't require any adjustments. Oh, and get ready a ruler to measure :D
Prep time - 1 hour
Cook time - 15 minutes
Makes about 6 dozen cookies
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
Generous cup of confectioners sugar (aka icing sugar), sifted
Pinch of salt
3 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
3 tbs cocoa powder, sifted
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
In a bowl, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add flour, and beat on low speed until dough forms around paddle. Turn dough out onto floured work surface and divide into 3 parts. Sprinkle cocoa over 1 piece. Blend the cocoa into the piece by pushing it away from you with the palm of the hand. Keep kneading until cocoa is incorporated and you have a nice evenly brown piece of dough. Shape each piece of dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for about 1 hour or until firm.
Remove disks from fridge and set aside 1 blond disk. Divide the other blond disk into 3 equal pieces and roll each of these into a long thin rope (about 20 1/2 inches long and 3/8 inches in diameter). Divide the chocolate piece into 5 pieces and roll each of these into a long thin rope of the same dimensions as the blond ropes. Arrange the ropes in a checkerboard design: Lay 1 chocolate rope, place a blond rope next to it, then lay another chocolate rope next to it. Push together gently so that they will stick together. Set aside. Lay a blond rope, then a chocolate rope, then a blond rope. Place and push gently on top of the 1st set of ropes. Next, lay 1 chocolate rope, place a blond rope, then a chocolate rope next to it, push together gently and place on top of the 2nd set of ropes.
Roll out the reserved blond disk to a 21 1/2 by 6 inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges and brush dough with egg white. Place your 3 layered log in the center of the rectangle. Fold dough up and encompass the log with the dough. Press lightly and seal. Halve crosswise and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in fridge for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 375 deg. F. Line baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. Remove dough from fridge and start slicing crosswise into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Place on sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
I've tried making these ahead of time and freezing them. It keeps pretty well and it allows you to have freshly baked cookies as and when you want them.