Under the weather, but baking up a storm

I don't know what it is with my family lately, but we're having a tough time keeping ourselves out of the hospital. So far one sister and I have escaped anything serious, but after two (scheduled) cancer surgeries, one case of food poisoning, one almost-tonsillectomy, and one emergency appendectomy in the family, Sister #1 and I are wondering which of the two of us is next. Meanwhile, I'm making up for my avoidance of the emergency room with a series of mild-to-moderate illnesses. They're not awful, but they're keeping me home from work--and keeping Ricola and Vicks in business, not to mention the flower vendors at the farmer's market.

Now, for me, the thing that I most love to do when I'm home ill, aside from reading old favorites and watching the BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice*, is bake. Something about being too ill to go to work but not so ill that I'm completely bed- or couch-ridden gives me a stronger-than-usual urge to bake things. That, and the fact that baked goods make for wonderful comfort food. It's probably not the best of ideas for me to be making food when I'm feeling under the weather, but there's lots of hand-washing in hot, soapy water, and in any case, I'm usually the only one who eats the things I bake at home.

This morning I made yogurt, which doesn't really count as baking, but is a new and interesting bit of kitchen science. I've just placed it in the fridge after its four hours of resting in the oven with the light on, and it seems to have set as advertised. I plan to taste it tomorrow morning, mixed with a bit of the apricot jam I received in my CSA boxes during the winter.

I also made some of Homesick Texan's scrumptious hot cross buns. I love breads studded with dried fruit, whether sweet or savory breads, and these sweet rolls made for some wonderful comfort food. The crosses didn't turn out very distinct, but they sure taste good. I second Homesick Texan's recommendation to put some lemon zest and vanilla in the icing.

And finally, a batch of chocolate crinkle cookies with a dry, crackly outside and a moist, chewy interior. They have an intense chocolate flavor and happen to be gluten-free. Jump below the fold for the recipe.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2008

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups superfine sugar, divided, plus more for rolling
• 2/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or about 4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate, divided
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• large pinch of salt
• nonstick vegetable oil spray

Directions

1. Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400F/205C. Spray a large baking sheet (or two if you have them) with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites to soft peak stage. Gradually beat in 2/3 cup sugar, and continue beating until meringue is thick and shiny, and falls in a nice ribbon.
3. Melt chocolate in a heat-safe bowl, and cool to lukewarm while you prepare the dry ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the other 2/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.
5. Beat the dry ingredients into the meringue, then stir in the melted chocolate.
6. Place the extra sugar in a shallow bowl. Portion out a heaping tablespoon of dough and, dusting your hands with sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a small ball. Roll the ball in the sugar to coat it well, then place the ball on the greased baking sheet. Continue in the same way with the remaining dough, spacing balls about two inches apart.
7. Bake cookies until they are puffed, the tops are cracked, and the edges begin to set, about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 10 further minutes, then transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

• If you don't have superfine (baker's) sugar, use confectioner's sugar.
• Rolling the dough in sugar isn't necessary from a chemical point of view, but I think it highlights the baked cookies' cracks nicely. Using confectioner's sugar rather than superfine granulated sugar would probably highlight the cracks even better; that's an aesthetic choice you can make for yourself.

* and by "watching" I mean "shamelessly reciting virtually all the lines along with it."