Tuesday, December 15, 2009

TWD - Cafe Volcano Cookies



This week's Tuesday with Dorie is hosted by MacDuff of The Lonely Sidecar. She has chosen Cafe Volcano Cookies as this week's challenge.

I was glad I read the TWD forum P&Q, because I thought that the photo of the chocolate meringues on the next page were what these were supposed to look like - and so did a few other people!

These biscuits are basically just nuts and egg white and sugar and coffee powder - sounds weird, but they taste delicious! They are crispy and crunchy and meringue-like in flavour. I am not as enamoured of them as Dorie apparently was, but I thought they tasted very nice, and was surprised at how the teaspoonfuls of mixture puffed up in the oven.

If I had leftover eggwhites and nuts, I might make these again - they were quite tasty and very easy to make.

To see how the other TWD bakers went, visit the blogroll, and the recipe will be on MacDuff's site when it is Tuesday her time (she is in the U.S.).
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17 comments:

  1. FlourchildDecember 15, 2009 at 8:14 AM

    Ha I thought they were the picture too until I just read your blog! Thank you for the FYI!! They look and sound good!

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  2. TammyDecember 15, 2009 at 9:44 AM

    was there honey in the recipe? I completely missed that out! My posting will be tomorrow as I forgot to load my photos!

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  3. alvarosaDecember 15, 2009 at 10:16 AM

    I was randomly looking for any other baker who already posted (because I am very sure I did something wrong, so I was looking for pictures...)
    But I found none, so I thought, yeah, at least I am the first to post!! But my time zone is still behind yours... :o]

    Yours look much better, no idea what I left out. And I agree on the taste - they are really good, but not that extraordinary as the accompanying texts promises.

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  4. AnonymousDecember 15, 2009 at 1:06 PM

    They look great! I agree that these were tasty and easy.

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  5. JenniferDecember 15, 2009 at 1:12 PM

    I didn't get around to these cookies-they look really good! Sounds like the texture and flavor were really interesting!

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  6. LeslieDecember 15, 2009 at 4:29 PM

    I feel better about mine after seeing yours...mine are ugly but at least they weren't supposed to look like the photo in the book! These were fun to make.

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  7. nataliaDecember 15, 2009 at 10:56 PM

    Ciao ! Lovely 'brutti ma buoni' (that's how we call them ) they look as they should : delicious !!

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  8. BarbaraDecember 15, 2009 at 11:04 PM

    They look fun to make and taste good, but these sure are ugly cookies! Love reading how all the TWD things turn out.

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  9. HindyDecember 15, 2009 at 11:46 PM

    Your cookies look great! I wish that mine were crispy instead of chewy.

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  10. Gloria BakerDecember 16, 2009 at 12:15 AM

    Love these cookies, yummy!!! gloria

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  11. IvyDecember 16, 2009 at 12:19 AM

    These were quite unusual cookies, I mean the way they are prepared but they sound great.

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  12. NadjiDecember 16, 2009 at 1:09 AM

    Très réussis. BRAVO!!

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  13. UnknownDecember 16, 2009 at 2:12 AM

    Your cookies look great! Too funny--I also thought the photo for choc meringues was what they were supposed to look like and briefly panicked! I didnt love these either--but they really surprised me!

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  14. Nutmeg NannyDecember 16, 2009 at 4:30 AM

    Sounds like such an easy recipe. I should give it a try :)

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  15. CakelawDecember 16, 2009 at 8:59 AM

    Hi Michelle, it woulda been a big gotcha if you were hoping for chocolate meringues!

    Hi Tammy, nope, I made that up - I've fixed it now :)

    Hi AlvaRosa - yours looked pretty good to me. Before I bake the recipes without photos, I often try to find a pic on the Net!

    Thanks Jill.

    Hi Jennifer, later on when Xmas stuff has calmed down, I recommend giving them a burl - they're dead easy and tasty.

    LOL Leslie - I like Natalia's Italian description "ugly but good"!

    Hi Natalia, the Italians have the description down pat - perfect! They are "ugly but good".

    Hi Barbara, that is one of the fun things about TWD - always a surprise when there's no photo.

    Thanks Clivia. I think these would be good any which way.

    Thanks Gloria.

    Hi Ivy, Natalia says that these are the famous Italian "ugly but good" cookies that I have heard of but never had before. They are good!


    Thank you Saveurs!

    Hi Nina, I am glad about the TWD P&Q - otherwise I may have wondered what went wrong!

    Hi Brandy - these are perfect for the days when you think you couldn't be stuffed creaming and buttering and freezing and washing up - they are virtually one pot, really quick, and taste pretty good.

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  16. Lorraine @ Not Quite NigellaDecember 16, 2009 at 9:30 PM

    They sound similar to coconut macaroons but with nuts which sounds great (and easy too!) :)

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  17. margotDecember 17, 2009 at 1:41 PM

    The cookies turned out great, yours puffed very nicely. These got better with age for me, and I agree given that they are simple and utilize leftovers, they may get a repeat performance.

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