Stareos
From the (first annual?) Christmas Cookie Exchange, baked by Nicole.
Stareos (from the Stars restaurant in San Francisco)
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen cookies
Cookies:
8 ounces cold sweet cream butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
Pinch salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
The filling:
1 cup mascarpone
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make the chocolate shortbread:
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on
low speed for 15 seconds, using the paddle attachment. Add the flour,
salt, and cocoa powder and continue mixing on low speed for 3 to 5
minutes, until the dough comes together. It will look dry just before
it comes together.
Put the dough on a lightly floured board and roll it out 1/4 inch thick. With a 2-inch star cutter, cut out the cookies. Chill them for 1 hour in the freezer. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cookies so they are not touching on the pan.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Bake the shortbread for about 1 hour, until firm.
To make the filling:
Combine the mascarpone, sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl.
To assemble:
Spread about 1 tablespoon of the mascarpone cream filling on 18 of the
cookies. Put the remaining uncoated cookies on top of the creamed
cookies, making a "sandwich".
Comments and faves
ChrissyJ (67 months ago | reply)
Sorry the description is so long! In preparation for this project, I read up a little on the ins and outs of food photography - seems like something new for the Plus Minus Pro group! Evidently they say "if you can shoot food, you can shoot anything." I don't know that that's true at all, but they do crazy stuff to make "food" look its best, much of which would make it inedible. All my cookie shots from the party are unadulterated, though!
Anyway, since this was my first time doing this kind of photography, I'm interested to hear what people think. This was my favorite aesthetically.
aras01 [deleted] (67 months ago | reply)
I completely believe it. I can't shoot food AT ALL, but my husband's a chef so I suppose I'll have to keep at it. I'll keep my plusses and minuses as no one's commented yet, but I do like this! And the recipe sounds divine. I think we'll try these this year.
Dalmdad Landscape Photography (67 months ago | reply)
Hi Chrissy, I noticed you posted a bunch of food pics...
plus: I like the feel of the cookies...they feel ordered and stacked in a neat way and not just tossed onto the dish.
minus: I would crop a portion of the bottom off. This way some dead space would be gone and the bottom margin would be closer to the top margin.
(from the Plus-Minus Pro group)
cbarnes1 [deleted] (67 months ago | reply)
plus: ___The colors are wonderful as they all compliment each other nicely for a warm even feel to the photo.
minus: ___There are bits of crumbs and frosting that I would try and clean up or shop out that are a distraction to my eye.
(from the Plus-Minus Pro group)
jnconradie (67 months ago | reply)
plus: I am sure if I were to try something like this, I would have fallen into the trap of setting up the collection of cookies very "formally" (structured) and it would probably have looked rather unnatural. So compliments on the random-ness which helps to make it look more natural.
minus: I agree with the crop the bottom recommendation and also the cleaning up of some the crumbs and frosting pieces. As another suggestion for improvement, perhaps another colour background (yellow-orange-ish?) would have helped to turn it into a more eye-catching shot?
Looks good, though, you are off to a good start when it comes to food photography... something I have not even attempted! :-) ~jnconradie
(from the Plus-Minus Pro group)
ChrissyJ (67 months ago | reply)
Thanks for the feedback! Your ideas are always informative, but even more so since this was my first time with food photography. When I took these, I did think (at least to some extent) about background, DOF, lighting and arrangement of the food. It hadn't really occured to me to get rid of stray crumbs! Now it seems really obvious, and will be a first step next time.
By the way, if you are thinking of making some cookies this week, I give my highest recommendation to the Mayan Chocolate Cookies that are nearby in my photostream. They are incredible!!
tamelyn added this photo to her favorites. (66 months ago)
tamelyn (66 months ago | reply)
anything filled with mascarpone has my vote ... yummmmm
pusspaw (66 months ago | reply)
Congratulations! This photo won its 3Way Challenge!
iheartmyshoes, carrietriner, Dalboz17, and Leans added this photo to their favorites.