Damiers Recipes

DAMIERS

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour, and beat on low speed until dough forms around paddle.
• Turn dough out onto work surface, and divide into thirds. Sprinkle cocoa powder over one piece. Gather dough together, and blend by pushing it away from you with the palm of your hand. Continue kneading the dough until it is smooth and the cocoa is completely incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. (The process is messy and will take several minutes, but the dough will ultimately absorb the cocoa powder.) Shape each piece into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Remove chilled dough from refrigerator. Set one blond disk aside. Divide remaining blond disk into four equal pieces. Divide chocolate disk into five equal pieces. Roll chocolate dough into five long, thin ropes (20 1/2 inches long and about 3/8 inch in diameter). Roll blond dough into four long, thin ropes of the same dimensions as the chocolate ropes.
• Arrange ropes in a checkerboard design: Lay one rope of chocolate dough lengthwise on work surface. Place a blond strip adjacent to chocolate, and push together gently so that they will adhere to each other. Repeat with a second chocolate strip. There will be a layer of three ropes of dough (chocolate/blond/chocolate). Brush top of layer with egg white. Repeat, alternating colors so that a blond strip is over chocolate strip, chocolate over blond, and blond over chocolate. To form third layer, repeat process, alternating colors. Press to form a square log.
• Roll out reserved blonde dough to a 21 1/2-by-6-inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges. Brush with egg white. Place checkerboard log in center of rectangle. Fold dough up and over log to completely encompass it. Press lightly to seal. Halve crosswise. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpats; set aside. Remove chilled log from refrigerator, and slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick sections. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until light golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool.

PALMIERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Combine the sugar and kosher salt. Pour 1 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on a flat surface such as wooden board or marble. Unfold each sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar. With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's 13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Then fold 1 half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers. Slice the dough into 3/8-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place the second sheet of pastry on the sugared board, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar mixture, and continue as above. (There will be quite a bit of sugar left over on the board.) Slice and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment.
• Bake the cookies for 6 minutes until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

PALMIERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Sprinkle a surface with 1/4 cup sugar; unfold puff pastry sheet on surface. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Roll into a 14x10-in. rectangle. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar to within 1/2 in. of edges. Lightly press into pastry., With a knife, very lightly score a line crosswise across the middle of the pastry. Starting at a short side, roll up jelly-roll style, stopping at the score mark in the middle. Starting at the other side, roll up pastry jelly-roll style to score mark. Freeze until firm, 20-30 minutes. Cut into 3/8-in. slices., Place cut side up 2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets; sprinkle lightly with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn pastries over and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake until golden brown and glazed, about 3 minutes longer. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.