Just discovered: Click the photo to see a close-up of the amaretti crannies—food pornography at its finest.There is nothing nostalgic about these cookies. "Chewy amaretti" doesn't exactly scream "childhood," and thank goodness because I am perfectly sick of nostalgia these days—no disrespect to my previously reverential posts. Simple and satisfying but wearing a fancy dress, the cookies provide respite from wanderlust and from your urgent desire to get back home. These will snap you into shape, reminding you that new good things are at your fingertips all the time, and that San Francisco is not a panacea, though it is a nice idea.
This is a delicious and welcome change from the everyday cookie—make them. Fill them with lemon curd or cherry jam. I think the chocolate ganache was a little overwhelming and that an almond-complementing jelly (raspberry or even strawberry if you have a sweet tooth) or custard (vanilla) would work best. And don't worry if you don't actually own a food processor—my housemate's coffee grinder and some of my most unheard of patience worked just fine.
I had no idea what amaretti meant before I made these. I thought it was a liqueur. If your taste-testers need help understanding what exactly it is you are foisting upon them, say these are "Italian macarons" and you'll be on the more right, less booze-guided track than I was on. Also, as you can tell from the photos, I baked cookies that were both well-done and medium-rare. I ended up preferring the lighter set, but the almond flavor is more pronounced in the darker ones. I'd say make 'em both ways.
No-Nostalgia Chewy Amaretti
Adapted from Gourmet, January 2009
1 (7-ounce) tube pure almond paste (not marzipan)
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
2 large egg whites at room temperature for at least 30 minutes
1. Preheat oven to 300°F and line two large sheet pans with parchment paper (splurge for the parchment paper if you don't already have any!).
2. Pulse almond paste, sugar, and salt in a food processor until sandy, then add egg whites and puree until smooth. If you're me, you'll do this step in a coffee grinder, meaning that egg whites should be added in a large, separate bowl and mixed with an egg beater.
3. Transfer batter to pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch tip and pipe 3/4-inch rounds (1/3 inch high) about 1-inch apart in pans. Dip a fingertip in water and gently tamp down any peaks. When I read that step, I saw a bunch of numbers flying at me and decided to just cut the corner off a sandwich bag and pipe out rounds through that until I thought they were big enough—about the size of quarters.
4. Bake, rotating and switching position of pans halfway through (but only if you don't want to test the light-dark thing), until golden and puffed, 15 to 18 minutes.
5. Let cookies cool almost completely in their pans. Once cool, lift the parchment off the pans and slide the cookies off with a spatula. Sandwich the cookies using jam (cherry! apricot!), ganache (about 4 ounces semi-sweet chips to 2 tablespoons heavy cream), or a custard.
Eat, enjoy, and forget about San Francisco—they don't have chewy amaretti cookies there anyway.
