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gourmetgaming:

Yoshi’s Cookie – Yoshi Cookies

I first encountered Yoshi’s Cookies on Game and Watch Gallery 3 which I had for my Gameboy Color. The updated, ‘modern’, version of “Egg” on the cartridge involved Yoshi eating some Yoshi Cookies as prepared by Chef Mario. I never did get along very well with the Game and Watch Gallery, it was all about personal bests and high scores, and, as a renowned confident loser of the world, I was always uninterested in competing with myself. One thing I did want to do was eat those cookies though. I had dreams about those cookies against a haunting rendition of that ever panic-inducing music.

This recipe makes 20 cookies.

What you will need: A large bowl, a wooden spoon, a rolling pin, cookie cutters: a flower, a diamond, a heart, a large and a small circle, and a square, a baking tray, and greaseproof/baking paper.

Ingredients:

250g / 1¼ Cup Butter (Room Temperature)

140g / ⅔ Cup Caster/Super Fine Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

1½ Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

300g / 1¼ Cup Plain Flour

½ Tablespoon Cocoa Powder

¼ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

To Garnish:

Jams/Jellys

• Purple
• Red
• Green

Icing/Confectioners Sugar

Water

Ground Cinnamon

Sugar

Making the Cookie Dough:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F, and prepare a flat baking tray by lining it with greaseproof/baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together to butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until well combined. Next add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix again. Sieve in the flour, and gently stir until a dough begins to form.
3. The dough may seem quite sticky and loose, if it’s too soft – place it in the fridge for around 30 minutes to firm it.
4. On a well floured surface and with floured hands, form the dough into a neat ball. Divide the dough evenly into six portions. Put four aside, as these will remain vanilla.
5. Take the left over two balls of dough; add cinnamon powder to one and kneed gently until combined. Add cocoa powder to the other and again, kneed until combined. You will now have four vanilla, one cinnamon and one chocolate dough.

Making the Yoshi Cookies:

Tips: Prepare one type of cookie at a time. With a well floured surface and rolling pin, roll out each portion to about ¼ inch thick, then cut out the desired shapes with the cookie cutters. Place the cookies on the prepared baking tray.

1. Start with three of the vanilla portions – these will be cut into the flower, the diamond and the heart shapes.
2. Next, take the cinnamon portion – cut out a large circle, and then a smaller circle from the middle.
3. You should have one chocolate and one vanilla portion left – these will become the checker-board cookie.
4. You can make the checker-board cookie a few ways. One way is by making a patterned block with 4 rectangular cuboids ‘glued’ together on the joins with egg white. Then slice the block to form the cookies.
5. If that sounds too tricky, try cutting out thin, small squares of dough and laying them on top of a square cookie to make the pattern – whatever you find easier.
6. With your cookies prepared and placed on the baking try, bake them in the oven for around 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Garnishing the Yoshi Cookies:

1. Take your jams/jellys and melt 2 tablespoons of each for about 10-20 seconds to make them a smoother, looser texture.
2. The diamond gets a green garnish, the flowers get a purple and the hearts get a red.
3. Taking a ¼ teaspoon of the appropriate colour, drop it in the middle of the cookie and carefully create an even shape for the centre.
4. For the cinnamon cookie, mix some icing sugar and a little water to make a paste. Brush it over the top of the cookie, then sprinkle with granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.

In Game and Watch Gallery 3 “Egg”, Yoshi saves the cookies from burning by eating them. This is the kind of tactic I like to employ while baking, I can respect Yoshi for this - he’s my kind of person. Delightfully buttery, these cookies are paired perfectly with their tart jammy centres, so it’s totally understandable why the Yoshis are such big fans. As for the Yoshi cookie, I think it might deserve a post of its own…

Like this? You might also enjoy the Pokémon – Lava Cookies.

gourmetgaming:

Request: Devil May Cry 3 - “Dante’s Inferno” Pizza

Recently, our copy of the Devil May Cry HD collection finally found it’s way to us so we’ve been reliving the gaming past. I’m a huge fan of the first Devil May Cry; I played it many times, but never bothered to pick up any of the sequels. It wasn’t until a couple of people started telling me how amazing the third instalment was that I thought I should probably give it a go, and you probably would too if someone told you they quit a job to play the game full-time when it came out. I’ve made pizza twice before for Gourmet Gaming, so this time I thought I’d kick it up a notch with this “Dante’s Inferno” recipe. A chilli base, with chilli sauce and chilli cheese, topped with spicy pepperoni and Dante’s detested black olives – one bite is sure to drag you to hell. At least your tears will prove your humanity.

This recipe makes 4 pizzas.

What you will need: A large mixing bowl, a sieve, a rolling pin and a pizza tray or pizza stone.

For the Chilli Dough:

500g / 3⅓ Cups ‘00’ or Strong White Flour

½ Teaspoon Salt

325ml / 1⅓ Cups Warm Water

1 Sachet (7g) Dried Fast Action Yeast

½ Tablespoon Sugar

2 Tablespoons Chilli Infused Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Chilli powder

For the Topping:

150g / 1 Cup Tomato Purée

¼ Teaspoon Dried Chilli Flakes

Salt & Pepper

½ Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Red Birdseye Chilli (Finely Chopped)

250g / 1½ Cup Hard Mozarella (Grated)

75g / ½ Cup Spicy Hard Cheese (Grated)

20 Medium Pepperoni Slices

50g / ½ Cup Pitted Black Olives (Sliced)

Making the Pizza Dough:

1. Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile, in a jug, pour in the warm water and add the yeast, sugar and olive oil to it. Mix well, and allow the the mixture to stand for a few minutes.
2. Make a well in the flour, and pour the water and yeast into the middle. Sprinkle in the chilli powder. Using a fork, mix the flour into the water until the dough begins to come together.
3. Once a ball has formed, turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and with floured hands kneed the dough well for about 10 minutes. It should be warm, and make a smooth ball when ready.
4. Return the dough to the large bowl, cover and sit in a warm place to rise for about an hour.

Making the “Dante’s Inferno” Pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to as high it goes, usually about 250C/480F. Place your pizza tray/stone in the oven to warm up.
2. Meanwhile, roll out a portion of the dough into a rough circle to fit your tray – the ideal base should be very thin. Carefully remove the warm tray from the oven, and line the tray with the rolled out dough. Trim any excess edges so that you have an even circle.
3. Next, cover the top of the pizza with some tomato purée, and use the back of a spoon to spread it around. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then sprinkle on the dried chilli flakes, oregano and fresh, finely chopped red chillies.
4. Next cover with a layer of cheese, combining the mozzarella and chilli cheese. Finally, place the pepperoni and black olives before putting in the oven until golden brown and crisp.

Most people will get injuries from sports growing up, I got them from playing Devil May Cry in the form of chronic wrist and arm cramps; “Dante Must Die” seems to be more a case of “Dani Must Die” - and this is pretty much how this fiery dish will make you feel. Hot to its very core, but still flavoursome and subtle (a little like Dante himself), “Dante’s Inferno” is truly the nine circles of hell. And remember; devils never cry.

Like this? You might also enjoy punching yourself in the face. 

gourmetgaming:

Request: Pokémon – Lava Cookies

Lavaridge Town’s speciality, and now a Gourmet Gaming speciality too! Originally, the Lava Cookie is referred to as a “rice cracker” which frankly doesn’t sound too exciting, so I turned to the awesome poké visual appeal of this trusty status heal for inspiration. Combining the idea of an Asian “rice cracker” and a “cookie”, I was pleasantly surprised by my rash decision to create the Lava Cookie as an “East meets West” fusion of strong, bitter chocolate chips and aromatic, salty nori in a sweet and chewy all-American cookie. Perfectly restoring and unusually delicious, for pokémon and trainer alike.

This recipe makes 12 Lava Cookies.

What you will need: A large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, a pair of scissors, a small bowl, and a baking tray.

For the Lava Cookies:

85g / ⅓ Cup Butter (Melted)

125g / ⅔ Cup Dark Brown Soft Sugar

50g / ¼ Cup White Granulated Sugar

1 Large Egg (Room Temperature)

½ Teaspoon High Quality Vanilla Extract

125-150g / ¾ - 1 Cup Plain Flour

¼ Teaspoon Baking/Bicarbonate Soda

¼ Teaspoon Salt

75g / ¾ Cup Dark Chocolate (Chips or Chunks)

1 Sheet of Nori (Cut into small pieces)

To Garnish:

25g / ¼ Cup Dark Chocolate (Chips or Chunks)

1 Sheet of Nori (Cut into strips)

Making the Lava Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F and have a baking tray ready.
2. Cream the melted butter, soft brown sugar and granulated sugar together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
3. Sieve in the flour, baking/bicarbonate of soda and salt. Stir gently with a wooden spoon, then add the chocolate chips and nori, and mix gently once again.
4. The dough should come together, and still be very moist/sticky, but able to be handled. If too loose, add more flour a tablespoon at a time. Add more melted butter a teaspoon at a time if it’s too solid.
5. Once at the right consistency, take a tablespoon of the dough, roll it in your hands into a ball, then place it on the prepared baking tray. Make sure the cookies have enough room to spread; I only baked 4 at a time.
6. Bake the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes, then remove them from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before removing them from the tray, and setting aside to cool completely.

Garnishing the Lava Cookies:

1. Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate in a clean bowl. Add a small blob of the warm chocolate near the bottom of each cookie, to act as a glue, then attach the strip of nori.
2. Once the chocolate has cooled, and the nori is stuck, turn the cookies over and repeat the process. Tuck the remainder of the nori strip up around the back of the cookie, and neatly press it against the chocolate to help the nori stick.
3. Once the chocolate has set, enjoy your Lava Cookies and feel your status refresh!

I really was impressed with how these cookies turned out! They’re ultra sweet, but the nori adds a fresh, sharp contrast. Feel free to try these with white or milk chocolate too. In the winter, or if in need of a little extra ‘fire’, a dash of ginger would be great for a warming touch. Certainly, the Lava Cookie recipe will act as my base from here on in when baking cookies, they’re so delicious, I’ve gotta nom ‘em all!

Like this? You might also enjoy the Pokémon – Poffins.