I did it. I thought out my recipe. Wrote it down. Researched to see if there was anything exactly like it already. I couldn't find one. So i decided to go ahead with it. My goal was to make a chocolate chip cookie with a bit of cinnamon and a bite on the tongue. A touch of spice. I did find cookies like that but they were not exactly like what I was thinking of. I added dark brown sugar with the white and a touch of cayenne. The batter came together nicely. It all looked great. I mean, look at the pictures! Gorgeous batter, right?
It tasted fine too. The batter was good. I swear. I cross my heart. Scouts honor (if I were a scout). Something happened in the oven. When the flavors all came together it was different than when it was a dough rather than cookie. At first bite there wasn't anything wrong. I couldn't decide if they were actually good but I didn't think they were bad right off. They were sweet, chocolatey, with definate cinnamon, and a bite. Exactly what my goal was, really. Just not terribly delicious. And then it came. The most horrible, awful, dreadful, and offensive aftertaste I have ever had from a cookie- or any desert, really. It was just disgusting. Kind of spicy. Kind of bitter. I can't even do it justice. But the best part is that it lingered for hours. I swear to god I can still taste it.
The good news is that I learned several lessons.
1. I need to taste a lot more food before I go throwing things together. I am positive that there is a pepper that would work nicely. I am positive someone somewhere, out of the reach of my Google skills, is already doing it. I am not giving up.
2. I can construct a good cookie. I mean the shape and texture were great. Perfect! Crisp around the edge, chewy in the center, thin, but not too thin. Again, look at the pictures!
3. Taste the first batch and if I am not sure, STOP baking anymore until I am. I spent an awful lot of time baking cookies that went to the trash. I was afraid my guests would see them and think "Oooh! cookies!" and eat one before I could stop them. I would have been mortified.
If I do any baking today it will be something from a book. Something I am pretty sure can not go wrong. but I think I am taking the day off. Unless i feel compelled not to. Sometimes I just can't help myself. I get an itch to make something and I simply must do it. I think it is part of my obsessive nature. But I think it is an okay thing to be obsessive about. There is this plum cake that I have thinking an awful lot about.
2 comments:
Now that it's legal, you might do a little research on Sichuan pepper, which isn't really pepper, but kind of a cool thing all it's own. It behaves very differently than peppercorns.
Thanks, Joe. I will look into that!
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