Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs, Pink Pepper & Fleur de Sel ~ 巧克力鹽之花胡椒奶油酥餅

Many of you remind me that I should update my blog more regularly but I have been preoccupied with projects and things other than desserts lately. What have been keeping me busy? I have been working on the making of my summer wardrobe, practicing point de croix (cross-stitching), taking dance classes and putting together a friend’s wedding in August; not much but just enough to drain my energy and drag me away from the kitchen for now. Nevertheless, I did manage to squeeze an hour to bake this shortbread, something that has been on my to-bake list for a while. Adopted from a recipe by Elizabeth Falkner in The Essence of Chocolate, this chocolate shortbread is another favorite of mine since I discovered these matcha shortbreads.

I first baked these chocolate shortbreads to nibble on the drive to a friend’s wedding up in Lake Tahoe. Though friends are used to my pick of unusual flavor combinations in desserts & pastries, few were still surprised with this “salty” cookies. Most thought they were too rich and odd with a salty sweet flavor but a few thought the saltiness added a kick to the chocolaty cookie. As for me, these shortbreads are quite intriguing, the perfect balance of sweet and savory. They have an intensely rich buttery chocolate flavor, the sweetness of the chocolate pairs especially well with the mineral notes in fleur de sel sea salt. The fleur de sel and chocolate combination just enticing, seductive and simply brilliant! Bitterness, acidity, sweetness, astringency and saltiness are inherent to chocolate and fleur de sel sea salt brings out and enhances these spectacular dimensions of flavor in chocolate, emphasizing its aromatic and bittersweet note.



Again I baked these chocolate shortbreads this past weekend because I had a craving for it. However, I added another spice to the dough and that is ground pink peppers. It has a sweet, mild taste not pungent like the regular ripe pepper fruits, which I think further enhances the chocolate flavor. I think other spices like cumin, lavender would also work but take care not to add too much because you want to enhance (or balance) not overpower the chocolate flavor. Also, they are quite rich so enjoy them with a cup of good tea or serve with sorbet like I did - click here for the chocolate sorbet recipe ~

Chocolate Shortbread with Cacao Nibs, Pink Pepper & Fleur de Sel – yields 30
Adapted from Elizabeth Falkner’s recipe in The Essence of Chocolate

1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup + 2 tbsp cacao nibs, crushed with a rolling pin
½ tsp pink pepper, finely grinded
1 tsp fleur de sel sea salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

I thought you should know:
- The dough can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 2 months.
- Make sure to press the cookie cutter hard into the dough to get a clean cut. Take care to keep the shape by shaking the cutter slightly before pushing out the dough.
- To preserve the crispiness, shortbreads must be completely cooled before being stored in an airtight container.

Combine flour and cocoa powder then sift the flour mixture into a small bowl. In another bowl, combine the cocoa nibs, sea salt and pink pepper. Preheat the oven to 325°F/165°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the vanilla extract then add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add in the remaining flour mixture, stopping as necessary to scrape down the bowl. Once incorporated, mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, or until well combined. Mix in the nibs + salt + pepper mixture and mix until evenly distributed.

On a lightly floured board or between two pieces of parchment paper, roll the dough into a square ¼ inch (7mm) thick. Cut into 1 by 2.5 inch (2.5cm by 6.5cm)rectangles or stamp out other desired shape using cookie cutters, and place on the prepared pans about 1 inch (2.5cm) apart.

Bake for 20 minutes. It is sometimes difficult to tell when these are done; however, one of the best indications is the smell of baked cookies in the air. When the cookies are nudged, they shouldn’t feel soft, but the bottoms should seem crisp.

Remove from the oven and transfer shortbreads to a cooling rack to cool completely. The shortbreads can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.




不知是夏天的好天氣讓人變的懶散﹐還是少了嘗試新的甜點方子的動力﹐最近進廚房的次數五隻手指可以數的出來。走出廚房﹐阿Vi還是有忙不完的事。忙著做手工﹐忙著做夏天的衣服﹐忙著幫人做嫁衣﹐還有忙著籌備朋友八月的婚禮﹐生活過的頗充實的。

這道簡單的奶油酥餅是繼抹茶餅乾我最愛的小點心。在過去的五月往太浩湖參加朋友的destination婚禮時帶去跟朋友在車上分享﹐可評語是參差不齊。不喜歡它的朋友的評價是酥餅的口感太厚重﹐過於濃郁﹐不喜歡那偏鹹的風味。喜歡它的人卻愛它那淡淡的鹹味跟吃完之後的甘甜餘味。我個人是偏愛鹹酥中帶有淡淡的甜味的這種風味的﹐但也明白大眾普遍喜歡味道甜一點的。我覺得酥餅的味道有深度﹐出色之處在於用料上的組合。可可亞本身帶有甜味﹑苦味﹑酸味及它獨特的香氣﹐海鹽能凝聚及提引它的甜味﹐襯托出它的苦甘味﹐強調它的存在感﹐使它更加鮮明﹐帶出它獨有的風味。

對它的味道念念不忘﹐在剛過去的週末又再次烤了這個酥餅。聽說胡椒﹑鹽跟巧克力是充滿魅力的組合﹐所以加了粉紅胡椒來提味。品嘗酥餅時吃不到辛辣味﹐但巧克力味很濃郁﹗好像是粉紅胡椒辣味不強﹐但帶有獨特的香氣﹐能讓巧克力更出色鮮明的原因吧﹗如果你想嘗試搭配其它的香料﹐注意不要使用過量的香料﹐因為過量反而會干擾巧克力原有的香氣。不得不說口感是有點厚重﹐建議佐杯解膩的好茶又或是像我這樣佐杯巧克力雪酪享用 ~



巧克力鹽之花胡椒奶油酥餅 – 約30塊
食譜摘自The Essence of Chocolate

1杯 麵粉
¾杯 無糖可可粉
¼杯 + 2湯匙 可可豆碎(桿壓成碎末)
½茶匙 粉紅胡椒﹐ 磨碎
1茶匙 鹽之花海鹽
12湯匙 無盬奶油(室溫放軟﹐切丁)
½杯 砂糖
1茶匙 香草精

要注意什麼呢?
- 酥餅麵糰如果不立刻使用﹐用保鮮膜包好﹐再放冰箱存放約1個星期﹐若放冰格可存放2個月。
- 用餅乾模具吸出麵糰時一定要大力的按下出﹐左右搖晃幾下﹐這樣麵糰才會輕易的脫出。
- 酥餅烤好後一定要在鋼架放涼後存放﹐否則就不會有酥脆的口感。

將可可粉和麵粉混合拌勻後﹐篩過備用。將可可豆碎﹑鹽之花﹑磨碎的粉紅胡椒混合倒進另一個容器中﹐攪拌勻後備用。 烤箱預熱至325°F/165°C。在餅乾烤盤上鋪上烤盤紙﹐備用。

將砂糖跟室溫放軟的奶油用電動攪拌器先以低速拌勻﹐改用中速打至蓬鬆且顏色變淡及一致﹐約5分鐘。加入香草精及二份一的可可麵粉﹐以低速拌勻後倒入剩下的可可麵粉﹐再以低速拌勻﹐然後轉中速攪拌2分鐘。將可可豆碎﹑鹽之花﹑胡椒混合物拌入麵糰中﹐用橡皮刀從底部往上翻起的方式切拌至完全混合。

將麵糰放在撒上麵粉的工作台上﹐揉成四方形條狀﹐再輕壓成1寸乘2 ½ 寸(2.5cm乘6.5cm)的長方形狀。將麵糰切成¼寸(7mm)的厚片或是將麵糰桿成約厚¼寸(7mm)後﹐再用餅乾模具吸出麵糰。以1寸/2.5cm之距排放在鋪了烤紙的烤盤上﹐放入烤箱烤20分鐘或是烤到酥餅變硬即可。取出﹐放網架上靜置放涼。酥餅放密閉式容器中可存放1個星期。