From My Kitchen: Decorative Shortbread cookies

There are some labor involved in making this one, but the result is really pretty, well worth it.

I just love Jacques Torres’s work and his style, first got to know him from his show on Food Network. His work is always like a piece of art.

Source: Jacques Torres

Ingredients

Plain Dough

Chocolate Dough

Instructions

Plain Dough

Using a sharp knife, slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Separate the seeds from the outside skin by scraping the blade of the knife along the inside of the bean.
Place the vanilla bean seeds, butter, sugar, egg yolks, and orange zest in a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
Combine the baking powder, salt, and flour and add to the butter mixture all at once. Beat on low speed just until combined, about 1 minute. Do not overmix the dough or it will become tough.
Do not overmix the dough or it will become tough. Remove the dough from the bowl. Form it into a 4 by-9-inch rectangle, wrap in plastic, and place in the refrigerator.

Chocolatge Dough

Repeat the exact same procedure as for the plain dough, combining the cocoa powder with the flour and adding it to the butter mixture.
Let each dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. (I prefer to make the dough a day in advance and let it rest overnight.) Overnight, all of the flavors (orange, vanilla, chocolate, butter) mature and the flour and butter absorb the flavor of the cocoa. The next day, the chocolate dough will be darker in color.

Spiral Cookie

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide each piece in half. Place one piece of each color on a work surface and put the other two back in the refrigerateor. The dough will be hard, so give it a few quick raps with a rolling pin to make it easier to roll.
Lightly flour both sides of each dough. Roll both doughs into a 7 by 6-inch rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Place one rectangle on top of the other and roll it out to an 8 by 20-inch rectangle.
Brush the rectangle with a thin coat of water to help the dough stick to itself. Roll the dough into a cylinder that is 20 inches long and 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inches in diameter. Cut the cylinder into 1/2-inch thick round slices.
Lay the cookies, cut side down, on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet about 1/2-inch apart. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Checkboard Cookie

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. It will be hard, so give it a few quick raps with a rolling pin to make it easier to roll.
Lightly flour both sides of each dough. Roll both doughs into a 5 by 10-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. If either dough breaks, just push it back togher. Lightly brush the surface of one rectangle with water. Lay the other rectangle on top of it.
Cut four strips from the stack dough. Set the scrapes of the dough aside. lay two stripes of alterating colors next to eachother. Add second layer, place a plain strip on top of the chocolate stripe and chocolate strip on top of a plain stripe. Repeat with the remaining stripes. Work fast so the dough doesn’t get too soft.
Mix the dough scrapes together to obtain a marbled effect and roll them into a 7×10square. Cut the square in half, brush each half with a thin coat of water(this will help it stick to the checkboard). Place one checkboard lengthwise in the center of each of marbled rectangle halves and wrap the dough around each checkboard to form a roll. Cut the rolls into 1/2 inch thich slices.
Lay the cookies, cut side down, on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet about 1/2-inch apart. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Notes

When the dough gets too soft, return it to the refrigerator/freezer for 5 minutes.

From My Kitchen