The springerle chronicles -- EPIC fail

[lblanchard]

And I do mean epic. First of all, I misremembered the recipe and beat NINE eggs instead of SIX, and then wondered why I had batter instead of dough after adding an entire box of cake flour. Second, instead of doing my lavender experiment with 1/4 tsp or less, I put in a full tsp.

I tasted the batter and yecch. So I added enough all-purpose flour to make a drop-cookie type dough and baked a test batch of six to see if baking improved the flavor. It didn't -- it was a bit the way I imagine cookies made of pine needles might taste. But the texture of cookies made with cake flour, hartshorn, and 10x sugar was pretty nifty and I think I might experiment with that.

After that fiasco, something snapped, and I watched movies on Netflix for the rest of the night. An A&E biography of Charles Dickens, followed by the entire 2005 Bleak House in one gulp. I finally turned off the computer at 2:00 and wiped down the upstairs kitchen counter. The lavender-scented dishes are still in the sink.

Today is packed to the rafters -- dentist at 8:45, scamper up to Temple University and then back to the Academy of Natural Sciences meeting at 11:00 that will ease into lunch, followed by another meeting at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. All work-related, all on less than four hours' sleep.

I'm too old for such shenanigans. Well, at least I've finished my Christmas shopping for Roy -- on Amazon. So I can relax and ruin several more batches of cookies between now and Christmas.

My mouth still tastes of lavender. No more lavender springerle experiments!

Comments

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I can't stand lavender oil/essence in anything so I wouldn't have know if they were good or bad because I wouldn't try them. Aren't they supposed to have almond extract? Or nothing at all? I really know nothing about advanced cookie baking.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Canonical flavoring is anise seed (you sprinkle it on the cookie sheet before letting them cure) and lemon zest. I've decided I don't like lavender oil either, at least not in quantity. I've also baked almond ones and liked them, and chocolate ones, with cocoa in the dough and the backs brushed with melted dark stuff.