Elephant Ears - sweeeeet!

Dessert... Ohhhh this is my weakness. Those who have been invited to my table know that there is often no dessert after the meal... No matter how elaborate the menu is, dessert is often not included!  How wrong is that?! And it gets worse when I am in the presence of friends, who, in their homes, serve the most amazing sweet treats! Hayley and Tim, my ambassadors in Maputo, with their pies - apple, lemon,  pumpkin - Oh my gosh! Beth, my chica bella, concocts these incredible, ginormous candy bars in her oven! How can I compete with that?! Svenja, "mi viejita" and her innate ability to throw together top of the line desserts with whatever she has lying around in her kitchen! I am no match!

So, I could be serving a roasted turkey dinner, a whole indian menu, and, maybe, at the last minute I will yell to my husband, "honey! Go buy ice cream!" How lame!   

So it is a new challenge I have to tackle... Learn to make sweet stuff!

I recently saw this recipe on Food Network (my very favorite channel on tv). Ina Garten (on Barefoot Contessa) made these and they are so simple to make, I couldn't believe how good they turn out, and no hassle! I know it is no latticed apple pie, no scrumptious chocolate-marshmallow-nutty  goodness, and no gorgeous swirled poppy seed cake... but to serve these with the after dinner coffee, or even atop some ice cream, surely does the trick! Elephant ears - funny, though, they look more like mini mouse ears - you will love them!

Elephant Ears

Makes two dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 puff pastry sheet, thawed

1 Cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less depending on taste)

1. Preheat oven to 450F/230C

2. On clean counter sprinkle 1/2 cup of the sugar and the pinch of salt to make a square large enough to place the puff pastry sheet on top. Unroll the puff pastry sheet onto sugar square. 

3. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and the cinnamon on top of the pastry sheet to completely cover it. 

4. With rolling pin, roll the puff pastry until you have a 13 inch/33cm square, more or less. This will press the sugar into the pastry sheet, top and bottom.

5. Fold one side of the sheet just to center of square; do the same to the other side.

6. Again, fold one of the folded sides just to the center, and same to the other folded side.

7. Now fold one of the folded sides completely over the other side. You should have a kind of sushi roll with six layers

8. Slice the roll crosswise into about 24 pieces

9. Place pieces, cut side down, onto greased cookie sheet or lined with parchment paper. 

10. Bake for about 7 minutes until bottoms of ears brown or you see the sugar caramelizing underneath them

11. Turn them over and bake for about 5 more minutes until they brown underneath. (Times of baking vary depending on oven, so you have to watch for that browning without letting the sugar burn)

12. Remove them immediately from oven and from cookie sheet so they don't stick. Place them on cooling rack to cool. 

Now sit back and enjoy with a good cup of coffee...