Joanne Chang's Baking Tip No. 7: Toast your nuts

Toasting nuts too little or not at all is a fairly common and easy-to-fix baking mistake. When I go out to a restaurant or bakery and try a new pastry or dessert, I can taste whether the nuts are properly toasted. When they are, I know someone who is paying attention is in the kitchen making pastries that I want to eat. Untoasted nuts are labeled "raw" and that is exactly how they taste. Taking the time to toast nuts to a proper light golden brown color brings out their natural oils and heightens their nutty flavor. It is easy to do, too: Spread the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and place in a preheated 350-degree-F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are fragrant and have taken on a golden brown color. To make sure they are ready, bite into a nut. For almonds and hazelnuts (which tend to require longer toasting), the interior should be medium brown. For walnuts and pecans (which toast more quickly), the interior should be light brown. In general, the firmer the nut, the longer it should be toasted to bring out its full flavor.

So I prepared the dough for some tasty milk chocolate hazelnut cookies tonight. But in preparing my ingredients I skipped over a step that Chang stresses in the beginning of the book, toasting your nuts. I'm sure the cookies will still be good, but I'm disappointed in myself. I'm not off to a great start with these recipes. With the scones I accidentally put in less flour than was called for and left them in the oven a bit long so they were dry. I didn't bake the cookies tonight though. I left the dough to sit in the refrigerator overnight, so I'll let Phoebe and Genna be the judges of how they taste tomorrow. 

In other news, the electric hand mixer and cake decorating kit that I ordered before Christmas should arrive on my doorstep tomorrow. I'm so excited! Decorate all the cakes! The first recipes I have planned for this are some cupcakes that I intend to bring to a New Years Eve party on Saturday. Flour has a yummy sounding chocolate cupcake with icing recipe which I'll be using. There's also a recipe for a red velvet layer cake which I'll alter to make cupcakes. I tweeted Chang asking how I should change it and responded saying to decrease the temperature of the oven by 25 degrees and halving the time. The cupcakes won't be done in half the time, but I should start poking them with toothpicks around then to test. If I have the time and the courage I might try my hand at making my own icing to complement the red velvet cupcakes.