Romanian Chocolate Rum Cookies | Paleuri cu Ciocolata
Elegant, vanilla-flavored langues de chat cookies filled with rum-infused chocolate ganache and drizzled with melted chocolate.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 200 g unsalted butter, softened 14 tbsp
- 200 g powdered sugar 1¾ cups
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp dark rum
- 300 g all-purpose flour 2½ cups
- 1 tsp baking powder
Ganache Filling
- 150 ml heavy cream ⅔ cup
- 200 g dark chocolate, broken into pieces 7 oz
- 1-2 tbsp dark rum
Decoration
- 150 g dark chocolate 5 oz
Instructions
Making the Cookies
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and the powdered sugar until it is soft and creamy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating them well after each addition. Once the eggs are mixed in, briefly beat in the vanilla extract and the rum.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the baking powder. Add this to the wet ingredients, and beat just until there are no flour streaks left.
- Transfer the cookie batter to piping bags without a tip attachment. Snip off a ½ inch (13mm) opening. Pipe 1½ inch (4 cm) circles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure to space them 1½ inches (4 cm) apart because they will spread during baking. To pipe them, pipe the batter directly down onto the parchment without moving or swirling the tip. Pull directly upwards with the piping bag when you've reached the desired cookie size. A small peak will form. Once all of the cookies have been piped, dip your finger in water and gently flatten all of the peaks so that they will bake flat in the oven.
- Bake the cookies in a 340℉ / 170℃ pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottoms and edges are a deep golden brown and the centers are pale. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely before filling them.
Making the Filling
- Heat the heavy cream in either a pot on the stove or in the microwave until it gently bubbles around the edges.
- Pour the hot cream over the dark chocolate pieces and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Then, begin stirring until all of the chocolate has melted and the cream and chocolate have emulsified into a syrupy chocolate sauce. Whisk in the rum until it is emulsified with the rest of the mixture.
- Place the ganache in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until it has solidified and has become scoop-able. You can shorten the chilling time by placing it in the freezer, but make sure to check on it and stir often so that it does not freeze.
- Scoop the solidified ganache into a piping bag without a tip attachment. Snip off a ½ inch (13 mm) opening.
Assembling the Cookies
- Pipe 1-1½ teaspoons of ganache onto the bottom side of half of the cookies. Place 1 un-filled cookie onto each filled cookie and gently press down to evenly spread the ganache throughout the center of each cookie sandwich.
Decorating the Cookies
- Melt the remaining dark chocolate in the microwave at 50% power, 15 seconds at a time. Stir after each 15 seconds. Don't let the chocolate get too hot or it will seize and become unusable.
- Transfer the melted chocolate to a piping bag without a tip attachment. Snip off a tiny opening so that it pipes a fine line.
- Pipe the chocolate in a zig zag in one direction and a zig zag in the other direction over the top of each cookie to create a crosshatch pattern.
- Let the chocolate decoration dry before serving the cookies.
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