Friday, April 5, 2013

FFwD - Pierre Herme’s Olive Sables



It's French Fridays with Dorie, and it is Friday, 5 April.  First up, I wish a very happy birthday to two amazing women whom I admire greatly - Jane Asher and Agnetha Faltskog.  I grew up wanting to be Agnetha during her heyday in ABBA, and Jane Asher is a more recent discovery through her time as a 60s icon (before my time - the Internet is a great research tool) and her more recent adventures in cake entrepreneurship.  (Yes, I know she has done many other things, but these are the reasons that I think she's amazing.) Congratulations ladies, and I hope you both have a marvellous day.

OK, back to our FFwD challenge this week, which was Pierre Herme's Olive Sables. 

I didn't know what to make of this recipe, which contains savoury olives and sweet icing sugar, and uses potato starch (a new to me flour).  Even more weirdly, it contains the grated yolk of a hard boiled egg:

 

Yes, really:


Who knew?

I am not sure what contribution the egg yolk made to the biscuits, but they surprised me.  They are really good - I thought that olives and icing sugar were a terrible match, but they somehow work in these cookies, which are just very slightly savoury.

I'd definitely make these again.  To see what everyone else thought of these biscuits, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website

16 comments:

Mardi Michels said...

I'll make these again - want to see if I can get them to hold together a little more. Also, I'd use saltier olives and or salt because I needed some more savoury. But yes, interesting and a revelation! Who knew?

Cher Rockwell said...

Who knew indeed?

I am still not sure what the purpose of the egg yolk was, but it didn't seem to hurt anything...

These were a oddly pleasant surprise. Go figure.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

That's really interesting using the boiled egg yolk! I must give it a go-there must be a method to the madness! :)

Kayte said...

Now you have us all wondering about the purpose of that egg yolk!! These look interesting, and just the sort of "I have never made anything like this before, so on the list it goes." Yours look fun and tasty!

Johanna GGG said...

those sound crazy - really truly crazy - but intriguing too

Anonymous said...

I was surprised as well! The cookies were unbelievably smooth!

Kathy said...

These were a wonderfully delicious cookie…loved them.
I have seen egg yolks used in cookie recipes before…in fact King Arthur flour has a page dedicated to cookies with egg yolks in the batter. Very interesting!!
Your cookies look lovely…glad you enjoyed them!
Have a great weekend!

Betsy said...

I think a lot of us weren't sure what to make of these when we read the recipe. It seems like most everyone enjoyed the end result. I know I did, and I'm glad you did too. I'm finding them addictive, and I'm glad that I only baked one roll, so there's an end in sight, for now. Have a great weekend!

Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

I may not be a fan of olives but I can change my taste for these cookies :D

Cheers
CCU

Sara said...

These will end up being regulars at my house, I think. So interesting, and so tasty!

leaf (the indolent cook) said...

I like the interesting addition of egg yolk here and would be tempted to skip/reduce the sugar and make it a savoury biscuit!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

So many of us were surprised by this recipe...so glad you enjoyed, too :)

Unknown said...

The egg yolk was surprising to me as well but I read on other blogs that its common in some pastries. Who knew? Your sables look great!

Teresa said...

These cookies were a pleasant surprise. I look forward to bringing them to a potluck some time (perhaps on a tray with seaweed sablés, too.).

Mary Hirsch said...

I didn't know what to make about the combo of many of these ingredients including the egg yolk. I noted Kathy's comment and will check in on King Arthur. But, most of us who baked these little gems liked them a lot. I just like the basic shortbread recipe - using all the weird ingredients - so I also will make them again.

Elaine said...

I'm not sure I could tell a difference with the addition of the hard boiled egg yolk and the corn starch compared to the other sable recipes - they all taste about the same except for the main ingredient. Glad you also enjoyed these!