Pirouettes with Chocolate-Hazelnut Filling

Many cuisines have their version of this rolled wafer, but the one the bakers sink their teeth into for Cookie Week are pirouettes, so named because of their twirled design. The light biscuit can be enjoyed as is or with a rich and delicately sweetened filling — in this case, hazelnut.

Pirouettes were the Technical Bake for Cookie Week in Season 5 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Ingredients

Cookie Batter:

• ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
• 4 egg whites
• ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp (124 g) all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp (92 g) icing sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cocoa powder

Chocolate-Hazelnut Filling:

• 1 cup (142 g) hazelnuts, roasted and skinned
• ½ cup (57 g) icing sugar
• 3 tbsp (16 g) cocoa powder
• 1 to 3 tbsp vegetable oil (approx.)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ cup (85 g) milk chocolate callets, melted

Preparation

Heat the oven to 365 F. Line three rimmed baking sheets with a silicone baking mat. 

Cookie Batter:

Melt the butter in a saucepan and let cool. Whisk the egg whites by hand in a medium bowl until almost foamy. Whisk in the butter until smooth, then sift in the flour, icing sugar and salt. Chill for 10 minutes.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Filling:

Meanwhile, place the hazelnuts in a food processor and whirl until they begin to liquefy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the icing sugar, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla and salt, and whirl until combined. Add the milk chocolate, and process until smooth and pliable enough to pipe, adding more oil if necessary. Whirl until silky smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the filling to a parchment cone or piping bag with a small round tip.

Cookie:

Remove ⅓ cup of the batter to a small bowl for the chocolate stripes. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Transfer to a small piping bag fitted with a No. 2 (plain fine) tip, and set aside.

Place one of the prepared baking sheets on a work surface with the short end facing you. Drop 2 teaspoons of batter on the top third of the mat and another 2 teaspoons on the bottom third. Using an offset spatula, evenly spread each into a 6-by-3½-inch rectangle. Trim each into a 5-by-2½-inch rectangle, scraping away the excess batter and returning it to the bowl.  

Starting at the bottom left corner of each rectangle, pipe three pairs of diagonal chocolate stripes at a 45-degree angle, evenly spaced apart. Clean the edges.

Bake until light to golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. While the cookies are baking, repeat with the remaining batter on the other lined baking sheets. When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and replace them with one of the sheets prepared with cookie batter.  

Using an offset spatula, quickly flip one baked rectangle so the stripes are face down on the mat. Using a dowel (or the handle of a wooden spoon), roll it up starting from the long edge and pressing on the other edge to seal. Repeat with the remaining cookie, returning the sheet to the oven to soften the cookie if it becomes too hard to work with. 

Remove the silicone mat from the baking sheet to cool. Scrape off any baked batter with an offset spatula and wipe clean with a damp cloth. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Assembly:

Hold the cookie at a slight angle and pipe in the filling, gently shaking the cookie up and down to coat the inside halfway down and using a skewer to distribute evenly if necessary. Repeat on the opposite end.

Makes 26 cookies