Cones that Unroll in the Night (Con't)

Cones Filled with Whipped Cream (first attempted June 5th, 2010)

Egg cookies rolled into cones, dipped in chocolate, and filled with lightly sweetened cream

THE COOKIES: I dropped an egg right off the bat when I went to make these, and found myself wondering: could it be a bad omen?

Ms. Reich did give me two warnings. First, she said to bake no more than eight at a time, or they'd harden before I had a chance to fold them. Second, she said that they tend to unfold, so it's important to keep them seam side down while they cool. She even gave me permission to use a toothpick "as an emergency measure" if things got really bad (p. 46).

Nevertheless, I kept calm and carried on. The batter itself is very simple - just a couple of eggs, some sugar and water, and some flour. It's dropped by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, then flattened into circles with the back of a spoon till each cookie is thin and three inches wide. The cookies are baked for 3-5 minutes, then folded and left to cool.

ROUND ONE: The first bake time was tense. I soon learned that the best way to fold cookies is to loosen and fold them on the cookie sheet - airlifting to the wire rack leaves them hopelessly stiff. Even so, I could only fold four cookies max before they hardened too much and splintered instead. I lost a couple that way, but my brother convinced me they'd be useful for quality control, so I wasn't too disappointed. On their own, the cookies are sweet, eggy, and chewy - very much like fortune cookies.

ROUND TWO: I made the second batch bigger and thinner, but big cones are just not as pretty as little ones.

ROUND THREE: I went back to the perfect three-inch size, but left them in just a minute too long. I couldn't fold them cause their edges kept cracking! (See tragedy below).

ROUND FOUR: All in all, I ended up with twelve cones to dip in chocolate and fill with cream. Final notes? The cookies have to be small and have an even thickness; they won't fold unless they're really hot and not too brown; and toothpicks might be useful in emergencies, but they do leave pretty obvious holes.

THE CHOCOLATE ICING: I used the recipe called Chocolate Icing II (p. 319). It's not really icing at all, just melted chocolate mixed with simple syrup and unsalted butter. But that's not to say it's not absolutely delicious. The best part is that it covers any ragged edges and gives the cookies a certain evening-wear polish.

THE WHIPPED CREAM: Obviously an icing bag works best to fill cones, but be warned: filling the bag is a two-person job, and filling the cones is a full-contact sport! My hands were covered in whipped cream and icing sugar by the end. I know, just imagine how awful that must have been.

THE VERDICT: They're rather like cream puffs. The whipped cream adds lightness and balances the eggy flavour, and they're fun to eat, cause the cream will get everywhere if you're not careful. But honestly? Too finicky for me.

Thank you, helpers and taste-testers!

...I am now on the lookout for hazelnuts.