Whisk egg yolk in large bowl until they begin to turn light yellow. Add sugar and a pinch of salt, whisk until thick and pale yellow.
Whisk in rum, bourbon, and cognac until well combined.
Whisk in milk, cream, nutmeg and vanilla until well combined.
Chill covered for 4 hours or overnight.
Optional: Whip egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into chilled yolk mixture for ligher eggnog.
Melt chocolate, Amaretto and coffee until smooth, whisk in butter one tablespoon at a time. Then add vanilla, and finally beat in the pulverized cookies.
Set over ice bath and stir until chilled and fairly firm.
Form into truffle shape and roll in the cocoa powder.
Heat wok very hot, add oil, garlic, pause for garlic to brown,
Add onion, scallion, pause again
Add tomatoes, squid, fish sauce, naam pink pao, chilies and basil.
Stir. Cook until everything is hot. Serve immediately.
Bring the sugar and 2 cups water to a boil in a 1 quart saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat. Add rosemary, cover and steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain the syrup into a pitcher and stir in the lemon juice and 4 cups of water. Adjust lemon to taste by adding additional juice. Chill.
Additional ingredients for a Pear, Bacon, and Walnut Salad
2 slices diced bacon, rendered
1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
1 large head of butter lettuce
1 large red Anjou pear, unpeeled, cored, sliced
Toast coriander seeds over medium heat until aromatic, about 2 min. Transfer to mortar and grind coarsely with pestle. Transfer to small bowl. Mix in lemon juice and shallot. Gradually whisk in oils. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
Toss lettuce with dressing. Top with pear slices, then walnuts, and bacon.
Cream butter until soft in mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1/4 cup sugar and mix until incorporated.
Stir flour, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl.
Add dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix at low speed just until all ingredients are almost incorporated. Then add lavender and mint and zest if used and mix until dough starts to come together.
Flour work surface and knead by hand until the dough is smooth.
Roll dough into 1 1/4 thick sausage and slice off cookies with serrated knife trying to keep the round shape.
Prepare cookie sheet with Silpat. Distribute cookies and prick the shortbread all over with a fork to prevent any buckling or shrinking. Sprinkle surface with remainding sugar.
Bake 20 – 25 minutes until golden and very lightly browned.
As soon as cookies come out of the oven sprinkle again with a bit of sugar.
Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat and set aside.
Using a medium-mesh sieve, sift the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour into a large bowl and set aside.
In a clean stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy, and the wires of the beater(s) leave a trail, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 Tbs. of the granulated sugar and whip for another 30 to 45 seconds. Repeat 3 times with the remaining granulated sugar. Once all of the sugar is mixed in, continue whipping the whites until they turn glossy and stiff (when you lift the beater(s) from the bowl, the whites should hold a straight peak that doesn’t curl at the tip, about 2 minutes more. Add vanilla and stir lightly.
Fold in half of the confectioners’ sugar mixture with a large rubber spatula. Once most of it has been incorporated, fold in the remaining mixture until just combined. When you run out of flour, press and spread the batter against the bowl’s sides. Scoop the batter from the bottom and turn it upside down. Repeat this process about 15 times.
Pipe the cookies using a piping bag fitted with a 1/2- to 3/4-inch round tip (Ateco#806 to #809); pipe the batter onto the prepared sheets in rounds that are about 1 inch in diameter and 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, spaced about 11/2 inches apart. As you pipe, hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet and flick the tip of the bag as you finish each cookie to minimize the peaks.
Rap the sheet against the counter several times to flatten the mounds and pop any large air bubbles. Dry the batter at room temperature, uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes until it is no longer tacky. The drying process is completed if the cookies no longer stick to your fingers.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325°F, using convection to circulate air. Stack the baking sheet with the cookies into an empty baking sheet and slide both into the oven. Immediately reduce the temperature to 300°F. Bake until the meringues are very pale golden for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheets on wire racks.
Ingredients for Butter Cream Filling
7 Tbsp (100 g) unsalted butter
3 Tbsp (45 ml) water
3 Tbsp (40 g) granulated sugar
1 egg
flavoring options:
drop or two vanilla extract or
1 or 2 Tbsp Grand Manier, or Rye, or Rum or
2 Tbsp instant coffee powder into the same amount of hot water
Cut butter into smaller pieces and place them in a heat-resistant bowl. Heat for 30 sec. in the microwave to soften but not melt. Stir the butter with a spatula until it becomes smooth and creamy, like mayonnaise.
Put the water and granulated sugar in a heat-resistant container and stir well. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Stir again. Heat in microwave for another 3 minutes.
While heating the syrup, break an egg into a bowl and beat lightly. Pour hot syrup like a thread into the bowl while beating at high speed. Reduce speed as the mixture becomes white and heavy.
Divide the butter and add it to the mixture in three batches. Beat at medium speed. When the butter is well mixed, the process is done. It may seem that the butter separates from the syrup. You may think you have made a mistake but keep beating unit the mixture becomes creamy. Stir in flavorings.
Spread the cream between the cookies.
The cookies are best the day they’re made, but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, in the fridge in a sealed container for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
Lemon Curd In a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan, heat the lemon juice and butter over medium-high heat until just under a boil.
In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk and then slowly whisk in the sugar until combined. Gradually whisk the hot lemon juice mixture into the sugar and eggs.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom of the pan frequently, until the curd thickens and coats the spoon, 2 to 4 minutes. Draw your finger along the back of the spoon; when the curd is done, it should hold the trail.
Remove the curd from the heat and strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic onto the surface of the curd, and chill for 1 to 2 hours before using. Make
Ahead Tips The curd can be made up to 5 days ahead; or kept refrigerated in an airtight container
Making the crust
Combine 5 first ingredients into a dough. Roll into thin layer and cut-out with 2 inch cutter to fit into greased muffin form. Preheat oven to 350°F and place pre-bake crust for 10 minutes
Fill crusts with Lemon Curd and bake for another 15 minutes.
