TWD-Linzer Sables turned into Cookie Cups with Chocolate Pastry Cream and Marionberry Jam

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe- Linzer Sables, was chosen by noskos over at Living the Life. You can find the recipe on his blog. They are a pretty little cookie, made with ground nuts and filled with jam or chocolate ganache. I love decorating cookies and cutting out shapes, but I wanted to do something different. Plus, I had 4 egg yolks in the fridge leftover from a meringue I made and I needed to use them. I decided I was going to make cookie cups and make some kind of pastry cream or filling with those yolks. I flipped through Dorie's book and found that chocolate pastry cream used 4 egg yolks and I know chocolate and hazelnuts are a tasty combination, so there you go. I only had skim milk, but the pastry cream turned out perfectly.

I halved the cookie recipe and used roasted hazelnuts for my cookie dough. I rolled it into a log and then stuck it into the fridge for a few hours. Then, in went the chocolate pastry cream to chill.

I cut the cookie dough into slices and used a regular sized muffin tin and a mini muffin tin to make my cookie cups, pressing the dough into little cups. The mini muffin tin worked best. I baked them for about 11 minutes and when they were cool, piped the chocolate pastry cream into some of them, topped with a dab of whipped cream. I also filled some with marionberry jam and sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. Pretty yummy! Go see everyone's cookies by checking out the Tuesday's with Dorie Blogroll.

Chocolate Pastry Cream-from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours

2 cups milk (I used skim milk because that is all I had and it worked great!)

4 large egg yolks

6 Tbls sugar

3 Tbls cornstarch, sifted

pinch of salt

7 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted (I used half semi-sweet and half bittersweet)

3 Tbls unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into bits

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, until thick and thoroughly combined. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture, to temper the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisk constantly, pour the rest of the hot milk in a steady stream into the egg mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil, over medium-heat, whisking continually, making sure to get the sides and bottom of the pan. When the mixture starts to boil, keep whisking for 1-2 minutes more. Then, remove from the heat, and whisk in the melted chocolate. Let the cream sit for 5 minutes and then whisk in the butter, until the cream is silky and smooth.

Scrape the cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing against the surface of the cream. Refrigerate until completely chilled. Use as desired.

Coming Tomorrow- You Want Pies with That? Holiday Songs- It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas- Lime Cream and Mango Meringue Pie