Inkanta
Group: Admins
Posts: 1453
Joined: Feb. 2000 |
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Posted: Aug. 13 2006, 21:17 |
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I was rummaging around my old computer files this afternoon and found some tubular recipes—one for Tubular Bells Cookies (several, actually) and a recipe for Sunken Forest Casserole. I developed one of the cookies in honor of the premiere concert of TBIII at Horse Guards Parade, which I couldn't attend. So, I stayed home and baked cookies. Family, friends, and people at work enjoyed them.....but, I'd rather have been at the concert!
Has anyone else created any food recipes based on any of Mike’s work?
Here are the cookie recipes. The first one is my favorite and is modified from a recipe for Kourabiedes that a friend gave me years ago. For the past few years, this is the recipe I follow, but it’s not how I originally made them. Sorry for the quaint units of measurement that we use here in the US—guess I could translate it into metric if anyone wants.
Tubular Bells
1 c. clarified butter ("Clarified" means that you have to melt and just use the yellow part. You may have to melt 3 sticks instead of 2 to achieve this. It is easiest to use unsalted butter, but f you've used salted, skim off the salt when you clarify. I am not on staff at nor do I own stock in Land-o-Lakes, but their butter seems to work the best! )
1/2 c. sifted confectioners sugar
1 egg yoke
2T brandy
1/2 t. almond flavoring
1/3 c. FINELY ground almonds
Mix and add in:
2 1/4 c. sifted flour
Rest the dough for a few minutes. Very lightly grease the cookie sheets (depending on the type of sheet you may not need to do this), preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Scoop up some dough and shape it into a tubular bell. In other words, scoop up a tablespoon of dough and roll into a cylinder. Then, just like for the original tubular bell, pretend you are a giant ape, and bend the thing in two places, as in the picture. Now- you want them to look like bells instead of a kindergarten playdough project gone wrong; therefore, take a knife and cut off the ends so they're not tapered! Place on cookie sheet. After you've prepared a sheet of cookies for baking, place a whole clove in the center of each cookie. Cookies will bake for 15 minutes. They shouldn't be brown on the bottom, just sandy-colored all over. After they cool, roll them in confectioner's sugar. Keep in the clove until just before serving the cookies. The cookies store well in a tight container. The number you make depends on the size of your tubular bells. (-;
Tubular Bells--Original
1/2 c. butter, sofened
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. almond or vanilla favoring
2 eggs
mix, then add:
8 oz. of mini-chocolate chips, then finally,
TUBULAR BELLS! whoops! Actually,
2 1/2 c. flour
Stir in gently. Chill as you would for any soon-to-be-rolled cookie. When you're ready grease some cookie sheets, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Now comes the fun part. There are two paths you can take: the easier one and the more challenging.
Easier way: Scoop up a tablespoon of dough and roll into a cylinder as above. Place on cookie sheet. Bake the bells for 8-10 minutes.
More challenging one: Roll the dough into a square, place on cookie sheet, and bake for 6-7 minutes. When almost done (and wearing gloves! , remove, quickly cut into long strips, roll around greased pastry tube, cut to right size, bend like giant ape, return to sheet and bake a couple of additional minutes. Well...it seemed like a good idea. I had a rough time of it, though. Suggestion: forget this one--save your fingers! Save the dough! Do the easier one. Hint: The less the dough is handled, the more tender the cookies. ((-;
Passing around these cookies can lead to all sorts of conversations. No one should ever utter the following phrase unless accompanied by a plate of tubular bells cookies: "Would you like to sample my tubular bells?"
Tubular Bells II: More mellow - omit the chips and dip them in frosting instead.
Tubular Bells III: Omit the chips and dip them in melted white, milk, semi-sweet, or bittersweet chocolate. Truly decadent!!!
Now, if you consume them when the room is quiet, nothing else can be heard........except for the sound of.....[munching on] TUBULAR BELLS!!!
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"No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From: Moongarden's "Solaris."
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