Rose-Hibiscus Shortbread Fans

Rose - Hibiscus Shortbread from Dorie's Cookies was my project for this week's Tuesdays With Dorie.

My hibiscus tea also contains organic peel, cinnamon, cranberries, lemon verbena, and rosehips with natural organic flavour.  I decided to leave out the rose extract or rose water called for in the recipe.  It seemed like there would be a lot happening flavour wise just with the tea.

I didn't have rice flour on hand and made the All-Purpose Shortbread variation with all-purpose white flour.

The recipe has a short ingredient list and was easy to put together.  I wondered as I patted the dough into the round cake pan, pricked it and crimped it as instructed, if it would break after baking.  I baked the shortbread for 23 minutes and followed the cutting and pan removal directions exactly as written.  I'm happy to say nothing crumbled and we ended up with 16 slim wedges of delicately flavoured shortbread.

Sunday in Paris Chocolate Cake

I made Sunday in Paris Chocolate Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie posting.
Inspired by a Paris pastry shop, Dorie's recipe uses an ingredient which is unusual in France - peanut butter.
The batter features both bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and cocoa along with peanut butter and chopped peanuts.
I chose to bake the cake in a square pan so that I could decorate it for Valentines Day.  To amp up the peanut butter flavour I replaced the heavy cream in the ganache with peanut butter.  The cake looks rustic and not at all Parisian, perfect for an at home celebration.

Valentine's Day Share-a-Heart

Valentine's Day Share a Heart is a roll and cut chocolate cookie made with cocoa powder in the food processor.
Rather than doing a giant heart I chose to have some fun and cut out medium big hearts free hand.
The cookies have a nice brownie flavour and will be great for sharing with neighbours.