Today, dessert came first!

Ricci Bejarin's scrumptious Lemon Square!

OVER BREAKFAST today, I was still reeling from the heady overdrive that Ricci Bejarin’s chocolate chip cookies gave me last night.  When, coming at the heels of those scrumptious treats, was a petite confection, loosely ensconced in the requisite pastry paper liner.  It didn’t hurt that this latest one – Ricci Bejarin’s take on the classic Lemon Square – was delivered to me by two demigoddesses who had seemingly descended to the lowly cafeteria and mingle with a mere mortal in the process, just to hand me a treat so divine.

 

“Ricci wants you to try this,” Karen Ann and Maria Velinda lovingly declared.

 

And so I did!  I have to say that I loved it.  Though Ricci was quick to point out – after getting my unabashed, honest opinion first (more like my verdict) – that the response to it was “50/50.”  I guess nothing that she has baked before had ever polarized her consuming public this way.  But I stand by my verdict.  It was good.

 

Why?  Because it was all I expected a lemon square to be.  And I have in my arsenal past experience in enjoying this dessert from establishments as varied as Becky’s Kitchen (I liked!), to hotel coffee shops (50/50!)… to Mary Grace (Sorry, this one flunked with me!).

 

Ricci’s lemon square was the perfect accompaniment to my morning coffee.  I bit all the way through, piercing the many layers.  I also stripped it, layer by layer by my bites.  The crust that formed at the bottom was so thin, almost flaky.  The resulting layer of shortbread on top of it was baked just right – not soggy and had definitely stayed crisp and crumbly.  And everything was topped by the crowning glory that was Ricci’s lemon filling.  It was distinguishable from the shortbread layer while seamlessly blending with it to still form a homogenous body.  The filling had a delicate top film – ‘crust,’ if you will – that revealed under it a really tangy, satisfying gooey lemon ‘sauce.’

 

If there was one thing Ricci volunteered that needed to be improved with the next batch she will make, it would be the height of the pastry (I did say it was rather ‘tall’); and, she really insisted, the tanginess that she will cut back a little.

 

Having taken her own critique into consideration, I still gave the small piece I got my thumbs up!

eNTeNG loved these – Ricci Bejarin’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

It came from the Bejarin family of 'R' - Ronald, Ricci, Riana & Riley.

 

I consider my friend Ricci Bejarin an authority on most things baked.  Even before I got wind of her baking prowess, I have already held her in high regard because, for one, she introduced me to what I had ticked on my short list as probably the best ‘death-by-chocolate’ chocolate chip chocolate muffin there is (that’s a lot of chocolate to say in one breath… whew!).  Quite unexpectedly, it is something available commercially in a major store.  But I’m keeping mum about it for now until I get to buy a box, photograph it, and rave about it here.

 

 

Now, back to Ricci.  Earlier today, she fulfilled a long time promise to give me my own canister of cookies from the batch she lovingly baked herself the night before.  When I found it on my desk upon my return from delivering a two-hour training class on product, product packaging, application and market competition overview to new engineers and technicians in our company, I couldn’t wipe off the smile on my face.

A golden brown edge, chockful of chocolate chips, a crumbly texture - WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?!

Simply irresistible... From the first one I tried, I thought about snapping a shot of the perfectly textured delight. Yummy!

 

Holding the container in my hand, I felt like it was one of those moments when I had to accept the existence of temptation in my life – this time, Ricci Bejarin’s Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I declared it.  I accepted it.  And with a firm resolve, kept it at bay when I decided to save the cookies for later at home.  Besides, I forgot to bring my Canon Digital IXUS 860IS camera with me and I had to have first taken photos before I would have wanted to take the first bite.  Patience is a virtue, it’s true.  And once at home, I made sure the cookies got some sort of special treatment.  For them, I brought out my Lenox Temper-Ware® ‘Freezer-to-Oven-to-Table-to-Dishwasher’ Silhouette plate from a set of 12 that I got in the States.  The plate is in beige with an embossed design, in white, of a forest in the fall or winter, with birds hovering above in the horizon.  Writing this now, I realize that the plate’s stark design that denoted coldness was unintentionally the perfect counterpoint to the warmth personified by Ricci’s chocolate chip cookies.

The cookies on my fall/winter-themed Lenox® plate, one from a set of 12 that I got in the States.

Which brings me to one point – I shall be talking about the warmth these cookies personified, as I experienced it.  I didn’t ask Ricci about the preference with which she made her chocolate chip cookies.  Was she going for a crispy outside with a chewy center?  Or did she want it soft, chewy and gooey through and through?  I wanted to get the whole shebang of it, without any words, just yet, that might influence how I would see the cookies.  I’m saying this because baking cookies to perfection is a matter of personal preference.  And of all the cookies out there, I don’t think there is any other that is more scrutinized, compared, or blunty judged than the chocolate chip.

I broke off one cookie and thought about sharing how yummy the cross-section looked. I could've put vanilla ice cream in between the halves and it could've upped the experience a notch!

 

So here it goes.

 

The cookies had an enticing sheen to them, it was as if they had a special coating that held their shape and size in perfect form.  Instantly, I saw that they were substantially sized, signifying that the dough spread considerably during baking, but just enough to still allow for thick cookies.  I’m loving them already because I do prefer thick cookies.  Without having to take a bite or break them apart, I saw that they were loaded, chockful of chocolate chips (which I later reckon to be semi-sweet) – breathing life to their name.  I couldn’t help but notice that there were a few specks of granulated sugar on the surface (or were they kosher salt?) that gave off glints whenever their facets caught momentary flashes of light.  They were a pretty sight, apart from the fact that they gave the cookies another layer of texture as I chewed.  And yes, believe me, I sensed that layer of texture.  Whether it was deliberate, I’m not sure.  But I loved it!

Piling them up one more time! The crumbly, chewy center was so hard to resist.

 

With my appetite whetted, I broke one in half, ready to munch the treat in just two counts.  But before I could put it in my mouth, I had to admire just how consistent the cookie crumb was.  There weren’t any lumps or any uneven finish.  And the chocolate chips were distributed well, each of them embraced by the perfectly baked, crumbly dough.  The cookie was moist, allowing for a nice chew.  It was kept moist just at the perfect point, without verging on being cake-like, which would have been disastrous for cookie purists.  And Ricci’s cookies’ moistness was a testament to how much she has probably ‘perfected’ her craft.  She showed good control of, of all things, her cookies’ baking time – a couple of minutes under, the cookies could have been annoyingly gooey; a couple of minutes over, they could have been pucks for ice hockey.

 

Once in my mouth, I tried to pick out each of the major components of a classic chocolate chip cookie.  Easiest, I definitely got the butter taste, tamed by the tinge of vanilla.  I let the flavors (sweet crumbs, sweeter with the chocolate chips) and textures (slightly crispy rim, chewy center, smooth and creamy chocolate chips) linger in my mouth.  And one thing I could tell for sure was that Ricci could have only used the freshest and the best ingredients, because only those can bring out a cookie that tasted so good.  There wasn’t any bitter aftertaste.  No discernable unfavorable aftertaste at all.  Definitely, the butter alone that she used could have only been the best.  It could have been French butter for all I know!

 

The cookies were sweet.  But that should be expected.  Besides, the intensity of the sweetness varied.  It was definitely more pronounced when there were chocolate chips with the bite I took.  If there was one thing that I struggled with, it would probably be that some of the five cookies in the canister, stuck together.  But I actually believe that the less-than-careful handling they had to sustain the whole day had more to do with it than anything intrinsic to the cookies.  I actually turned the cookies upside down and all I saw was a perfectly baked bottom – no unslightly discoloration; no tough crust formation.  All I saw was a nice crumb (again!) and a slightly golden brown rim.

Helpless witnesses to the ‘ravages’ that just happened – the crumbs! Right after this photo was taken, I licked all of these off!

 

Suffice it to say, the cookies were heavenly.  That’s coming from the non-dessert person that I am.  And the ultimate testament would be the fact that I did not share them with anybody else.  And I do take pride in the fact that I’m a relatively generous person.

Oh well, there’s always a first time.