David Leite's Chocolate Chip Cookies, slightly modified

Here's what I had for breakfast today - a large cup of coffee, and two gigantic chocolate chip cookies. Following the famous recipe David Leite's Chocolate Chip Cookies pretty closely, I made up a batch of cookie dough on Monday night, and baked 6 large cookies this morning. They weren't bad - I especially liked the slightly chewy inside and crispy edges, and the sprinkling of Maldon sea salt flakes on top of a chocolate cookie is genious. But if I ever make these again, I drastically reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. I made the mistake of having two of these with my coffee this morning, and that is not something I recommend. I was very close to opening a can of tinned sprats to reduce the effects of all that sugar.

Other than that, I was pretty pleased with the way these spread out and baked. Some foodbloggers mentioned that the cookies were flat - not in my kitchen - they were about 1 cm /just under half an inch/ in the center. I baked large cookies, ca 75 grams each (that's just under 3 oz), which is way larger than what's considered a socially acceptable cookie size outside the US, I'm afraid. I'll share the metric recipe here - if you're cooking and baking in cups and ounces, then please refer to any of the good foodbloggers below.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Ameerika šokolaadiküpsised)
Makes a lot, recipe can be halved and the formed unbaked cookies can be frozen



480 g all-purpose flour
1.25 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
275 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
200 g soft brown sugar (I used 'fariinsuhkur')
300 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
500 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (at least 60% cacao content)
Maldon sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a measuring jug. Put aside.
Using the paddle attachment of a food processor, cream the butter and sugar together for 5 minutes, until it's creamy and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract, and beat until well combined.
Add the flour mixture, and stir just to combine. Fold in the chopped chocolate.
Using your hands, press the dough into a large ball and place in a bowl. Cover with a clingfilm and refridgerate for 36 hours (or up to 72 hours).
Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Using a large ice cream scoop or a similar utensil, scoop out balls of cookie dough, each weighing about 75 grams. Place the cookie dough balls on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space for spreading (I placed 6 cookie dough balls on my large baking sheet). (Return the remaining dough into the fridge!)
Sprinkle lightly with Maldon sea salt flakes.
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 175°C oven for 16-18 minutes, until the cookie looks golden on the edges, but is still just pale tanned in the middle.
Remove from the oven, gently transfer onto a metal rack to cool slightly and firm up.
Repeat with the remaining dough.

Some other foodbloggers have tried and tested the recipe:
Molly @ Orangette
Deb @ SmittenKitchen
Stephanie @ Bay Area Bites
Clotilde @ Chocolate & Zucchini (who was smart enough to halve the recipe)
Kristin @ Kitchen Sink Recipes
Pim @ Chez Pim

Gooseberry Fruit Soup

We went to see my parents last weekend, and I was thrilled to see that both whitecurrants and gooseberries are ripe and ready to be picked! I sneakily picked about a quart of gooseberries, and made a simple fruit soup for dessert that night. I like my fruit soup to be thick enough to hold a large spoonful of whipped cream without collapsing, but thin enough so I could drink a glass when thirsty.

My mum's gooseberries are yellow and rather sweet, so if the ones you've picked or bought are sharp and acidic, you should increase the amount of sugar in the recipe.

Gooseberry Fruit Soup
(Tikrikissell)
Serves 4 to 6

400 g fresh gooseberries (about 1 litre/1 quart)
150 to 200 g sugar
1 l water
cinnamon stick (optional)
3 slightly heaped Tbsp potato starch or cornflour (see note) + some cold water

Wash the gooseberries, top and tail. Place cold water, gooseberries, sugar and cinnamon stick into a medium saucepan and bring slowly into a boil. Cook over moderate heat for 7-10 minutes, until the berries are soft, but not mushy.
Mix potato starch with some cold water into a runny paste, then stir into the hot fruit soup, stirring gently. Bring just into boil again, then remove from the heat and cool. (Sprinkle some sugar on top to avoid the forming of the 'skin').

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream (or a suitable vegan alternative).

NOTE: We tend to use potato starch in Estonia to thicken our desserts. Potato starch needs to be mixed with some cold water, then stirred into the hot soup. Bring just to the boil and remove immediately, avoiding un-necessary stirring when cooling. When you use cornstarch/cornflour, then use the same amount, but cook the fruit soup for a few minutes once it's simmering again to achieve the required/desired thickness.

Other fruit soup recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Rhubarb fruit soup
Raisin fruit soup
Cranberry fruit soup

Tarte aux Myrtilles - a recipe for French Blueberry Tart

What's an Estonian girl to write about French blueberry tart? No real excuse, apart from the fact that I had a box of wild Estonian bilberries in my freezer and I wanted to make something that really highlight these delicious berries. The resulting cake was delicious and elegant in its simplicity, and I wanted to share the recipe with my blog friends :)

Bilberry or European blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L), is related to high-bush blueberries (Vaccinium Cyanococcus) mostly known and cultivated in the US. I must admit I always thought these two were the same thing - until I bought some cultivated blueberries in Scotland and were surprised to see that the berries where greenish-white inside, and not dark purple, as the berries I had always picked in Estonia. So now I know that when it's white inside, it's a blueberry, when it's purple inside, it's a bilberry.

Both work well in this lovely berry tart. Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar, and some whipped cream or creme fraiche on the side.

French Blueberry Tart
(Prantsuse mustikapirukas)
Serves six to eight



300-350 g sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe below)

400 g blueberries or bilberries
75 g sugar
1 Tbsp potato starch or cornflour

icing sugar, to serve

For the pastry:
100 g cold unsalted butter
70 g sugar
1 small egg
1/3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
170 g plain/all-purpose flour

To make the pastry, put all the ingredients into the food processor and process into small crumbs. Using your hands, press into a disk, and place to the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Then roll out and line a 24-25 cm springform tin with it (incl. about 1 inch up the sides). (Or use your favourite sweet tart pastry or pâte sablée recipe - you need about 300-350 g).
For the filling, stir sugar and potato starch/cornflour into blueberries, pour onto the cake tin.
Bake in a pre-heated 200 C oven for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden and baked.
Cool completely before serving - otherwise the filling is a bit runny.