chocolate lab - chocolate shortbread cookies + raspberry italianbuttercream + randall's issues

i love chocolate, but then again, who doesn't? okay, there's a small section in our society who are allergic to them or simply just doesn't like to be happy - confession: i don't talk or stare at those people.

obviously, i'm just kidding. i am not that much of a bitch.

so let's talk about chocolate from my point of view... maybe i should change that to - let me talk about chocolate (that rolls off the tongue a lot better). chocolate is a very versatile ingredient and can be used in both savory and sweet dishes, but for many of us, we immediately associate chocolate with sweet concoctions we call dessert.
a few months ago, shawn suggested that i make a section in the blog that features our not-so-little baby boy, randall. i thought, why not. i think he needs little bit more exposure in this blog ( as if he doesn't already). the first thing that came to mind was to focus on chocolate recipes and filing it under Chocolate Lab. i know the title is not at all creative, but it was straightforward, so i guess we're sticking to it... for now. so what do you want to know about out 80 pound hunk of love? well, let me tell you that he's a little bit of a prima donna. he loves attention and is he doesn't get it when he wants it, he'll look at you funny/force you to pet him/not-so-slyly close your laptop and pretend he's trying to sleep on your lap. does your dog do that? tell me what crazy things your dog does because i would love to know if our dog is the only one who's a stone's throw away from having a bitch fit if he realizes he's not the center of attention.
randall also loves the snow, a fact that we found out when we took him to lake tahoe for thanksgiving in 2010 and his love for it served as the inspiration for this recipe. when shawn found these at sur la table in berkeley, we immediately picked up two, went to the counter and paid for it. i already had an idea on what to use it for and after all the crazy schedule we had during the holiday season, i made sure that idea materialized.

chocolate shortbread cookies seemed like the perfect way to start this new project, because it was quick enough to make, it did not require me to stay in the kitchen for hours and still be post-worthy. the next thing i had to do was figure out what i can use as snow, then it came to me, buttercream!
i have never made good buttercream before. most of my attempts ended up in tears, so i kind of gave up on it. also, most of the recipes i saw were too sugar laden that it any flavoring added to it would just be a background to the extreme sweetness of the the buttercream. when i saw the recipe for italian buttercream, i noticed that it didn't use as much sugar as the other ones i have seen, i went for it and it yielded amazing results. light, airy, perfectly sweet and not too rich. these are just a few adjectives that would describe my new favorite - italian buttercream.
putting two cookies together with frosting in between them seemed like a no-brainer, so that's what i did, cookie sandwiches. also, i took some of the cookies i shaped into doggies stuck them on the frosting i spread out on the plate so that it could act as randall in the snow. it turned out so cute. anyway, i know you're getting sick of reading about our dog so let me just give you the recipe so you can go and do it.

*** OMG, before i forget, these are not for you dogs. chocolate is bad, very bad for you dog!!!

also, there's more photos here.

chocolate shortbread cookies

what you need:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

what to do:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. in a large bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, cocoa, flour and salt until well blended. cut in the butter until lumps are no larger than peas. add eggs and vanilla and mix until a stiff dough forms. make sure you don't overwork your dough, because your cookies will be very, very tough and nobody wants a cookie that's hard as a rock.

3. on a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. if the dough is too sticky, chill for a little bit. place cookies 1 inch apart onto an parchment lined baking sheet.

4. bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the surface appears dry. allow cookies to cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

5. once cooled, get two cookies, put buttercream (recipe below) on one of them and stick the other one to make a sandwich. you can refrigerate the cookies to make the buttercream firm, some said that the buttercream tasted like ice cream after it got firm.

raspberry italian buttercream
adapted from marthastewart.com

what you need:

1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup raspberry preserves/jam/puree

what to do:

1. in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and 2/3 cup water to a boil. Continue boiling until syrup reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage).

2. meanwhile, place egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff but not dry; do not overbeat.

3. with mixer running, add syrup to whites in a stream, beating on high speed until no longer steaming, about 3 minutes. Add butter bit by bit, beating until spreadable, 3 to 5 minutes; beat in vanilla. If icing curdles, keep beating until smooth.

4. add raspberry preserves/jam/puree and beat until fully incorporated.