Cookie

Dane Hart
Dane Hart
Sep 6, 2018 · 8 min read

Final Idea: Strawberry Milkshake with Fries

In regards to the entire culinary history of mankind, few edible combinations have stood the test of time. This exclusive group consists of duos such as peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, and finally coffee and creamer. However, none of these delicious unions provide such an interesting contrast of taste the way that a salted french fry, dipped in a sweet strawberry milkshake does. Inspired by this magical relationship and my love of diner food, the Strawberry Milkshake with Fries cookie provides a re-interpretation of an American classic. Due to its cohesive complexity, maintaining many parts that work well together, this cookie is very creative. The entire cookie itself is composed of two different flavors. The base is composed of a salted shortbread cookie meanwhile the top is flavored with strawberry. Holding the two together in perfect unison is a thin layer of strawberry cream cheese, further salted to emphasize the combination. To tie the concept together, a section of a candy straw is placed on top accompanied by a dash of powdered sugar.

Recipe:

Milkshake Portion:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
  • 2 cups of powdered sugar
  • 1 packet of strawberry cake mix (moist)
  • 1/2 tsp of sea salt
  • 1 tsp of imitation vanilla
  • 1 tbsp of strawberry cream cheese

Shortbread Portion:

  • 1 3/4 cups of flour
  • 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp of vanilla
  • 1 1/2 sticks of melted unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp of sea salt

Instructions

  • Compile ingredients to be readily accessible.
  • Preheat oven to 340°F.
  • Follow each recipe above in the order of ingredients listed (construct each dough in two separate mixing bowls).
  • Mix the ingredients well into dough using a whisk or spoon.
  • Place the two types of dough onto two separate trays, rolled into identically sized dough balls.
  • Place each in the oven for approximately 15 minutes.
  • Since the strawberry dough spreads out, once cooled, use a knife to trim the edges of the strawberry cookies to the size of the shortbread.
  • Spread a layer of strawberry cream cheese on top of the baked shortbread cookies
  • Salt the top of the cream cheese with a dash of sea salt.
  • Place the baked strawberry cookie on top of the salted cream cheese/shortbread cookie.
  • Top off the strawberry cookie with a pinch of powdered sugar and a section of a chocolate candy straw approximately an inch long.

Idea Generation:

In order to develop a creative and tasty cookie, I primarily focused my idea generation on recipes that would have an overarching theme. Ultimately, I chose a diner theme, however, I had created a plethora of various other promising concepts such as a fall cornucopia (containing the flavors of fall), fourth of July (contained pop rocks), a diner inspired cookie (strawberry and salted shortbread), and a cafe theme (containing espresso and chocolate). Besides the themed cookies, I generated a list of potential ingredients which may have an interesting flavor if present in a cookie.

Journal page documenting various ingredients and ideas.
Study of potential cookie shapes and textures.

When settling upon my two final concepts, I decided to go with the fall themed cookie and the diner themed cookie. The diner theme particularly appealed to me because the idea itself seemed both unique and delicious. Furthermore, I chose the strawberry flavor over other classic milkshake flavors such as chocolate or vanilla because I thought strawberry would contrast the salted shortbread the most. On the other hand, the fall cookie seemed fairly straight forward in terms of construction and recipe. However, since pumpkin cookies most certainly already exist, I implemented a milk dud center and shaped the cookie into a triangle in order to refer back to the “cornucopia” idea.

Journal page containing final concepts notes.

Shortly after deciding on my physical concepts, I needed to gain an understanding of what will make up the cookies. Thus, in order to make an edible cookie, I needed to conduct research regarding per-existing recipes. Once research had been concluded, I was able to generate a rough list of ingredients and quantities for each cookie recipe.

Lists of per-existing recipes. Basic reoccurring ingredients, such as flour and sugar, are highlighted.
Journal page documenting general ingredients and supplies needed. Boxes were checked when the product was acquired.

Idea Test 1: Cornucopia/Fall Cookie

The cornucopia cookies finished.

While creating this cookie, I strove to present a flavorful fall experience. Before baking, I visited my dormitory kitchens in order to assess what supplies I needed to acquire. Unfortunately, the kitchens were barren and I had to purchase all of my supplies. After gathering my ingredients and supplies, I began my journey to create the ultimate autumn cookie. In the pursuit of this goal, I combined natural pumpkin in with pumpkin pie spice and a multitude of cinnamon. I had to However, after finishing the baking, the cookies were fairly flavorful, dense, and downright uninteresting. After completing this first idea, I have learned a few details about attempting to bake an edible concept into reality. Firstly, cookies expand in unpredictable ways. When I took these cookies out of the oven, I was surprised to see how large the dough had become. Furthermore, the ingredients and flavors in which I intended to bring forth, became substantially subtler after the baking had finished. Lastly, I had not considered how the density of the cookie may affect the consumer. Due to the weight of the cookie, every person I had survey had concluded that they could only eat one.

Top view of various ingredients acquired. Not all ingredients pictured above were present in the fall cookie.
Freshly mixed batter with all ingredients present.
Cookies before baking, shaped in a triangle fashion, containing a single milk dud.
The cookies out of the oven. Afterwards the cookies were cut into triangles and covered in cinnamon sugar.
Post baking observations and notes.

Idea Test 2: Strawberry Milkshake and Fries Cookie

Final “Strawberry Milkshake with Fries” cookies.

The Strawberry Milkshake with Fries cookie provided a unique challenge to my baking skills. The initial idea stemmed from a journal brainstorming session in which I wrote, “diner theme”. From this broad idea, I decided to embody the atmosphere of a diner using one of my favorite culinary combinations: a fry dipped in a strawberry milkshake. Besides being my own personal favorite flavor of milkshake, I believed a light pink cookie would emphasize the pastel palette of the classic retro drive-in diner. Furthermore, in order to give the cookie more textural dimension and flavor, I adorned the top of the cookie with an edible chocolate cookie straw. Because the concept is comprised of multiple parts rather than one batter, the production process is significantly more complicated then my other ideas. As a result of this complexity, this cookie is significantly more creative than my other ideas. However, as a result, turning this concept into a reality was a bit of a challenging process.

The first hurdle I had to jump was discovering how to create two original doughs which would work well together. In pursuit of complete adaptability, I decided to make both doughs from scratch. Fortunately, this portion of the creative process wasn’t entirely alien to me. Throughout the past summer I worked as a cook for a summer camp where I baked approximately 400 cookies every week. As a result, I had a general idea of what defined a cookie. However, since I was not well acquainted with each dough, I had to keep constant vigilance regarding the bake times in order to prevent any burning.

Top view of various ingredients acquired. Not all ingredients pictured above were present in this cookie.
Mixed strawberry cookie dough.
Strawberry cookies before baking. The dough was pretty viscous and difficult to shape uniformly.

Once the dough was evenly distributed upon the cookie sheet tray, I began to watch carefully as the cookies baked. Unaware of how long I should bake them, I would check the consistency every couple of minutes. Due to the use of cake mix, the cookies were incredibly soft for a prolonged period of time. Having a soft cookie would require a delicate delivery process. In reaction to this aspect, I baked the cookies until they were stiff.

Strawberry cookies after baking. The dough flattened and expanded quite a bit.
Shortbread cookies after baking. These had not expanded to the size of the strawberry.

Containing only five ingredients, the shortbread cookies were relatively straight forward to create. Surprisingly, I found the shortbread cookies baked for approximately the same amount of time. Once the shortbread were finished, I could begin the physical construction of the entire cookie and inspect the flaws.

Post baking observations and notes in order to improve the overall cookie.

Iteration:

The primary problem with my first attempt was that the strawberry cookies were quite a bit bigger than my shortbread cookies. Adjusting this detail was crucial to my final execution because I needed the strawberry cookie to sit on top of the short bread in order to maintain the full concept. In order to achieve the desired size, I simply cut the strawberry cookies down to size.

Strawberry cookie (bottom) is substantially larger than the shortbread (top).
Strawberry cookie after being hand trimmed by a knife.

After trimming the strawberry cookie, strawberry cream cheese is used to bind the two independent cookies together. However, upon trying this combination, I have discovered that the salt in the shortbread is not strong enough. In order to emphasize the salty taste, I employ sea salt directly upon the cream cheese.

Salt is placed onto the cream cheese.

Timeline:

  • Tuesday 9/4/18: Begin Medium blog post outlining schedule. Brain storm various recipes and ingredients. Start conversing with fellow classmates in order to generate new ideas.
  • Wednesday 9/5/18: Gain basic understanding of flavor profiles. Continue to generate ideas surrounding information gathered. Develop legitimate recipes with qualitative numbers attached.
  • Thursday 9/6/18: Narrow down potential recipes. Brush up on baking tips. Add Document creative workflow and maintain notes in an organized fashion. Begin to discover locations to purchase ingredients.
  • Friday 9/7/18: Continue to research. Find locations to purchase ingredients. Proceed to purchase ingredients. Document ingredients and prices.
  • Saturday 9/8/18: Use this day as a time for research and development. Bake many iterations of the cookie recipe. Decide on general recipe by the end of this day. Survey friends in pursuit of the best recipe.
  • Sunday 9/9/18: Begin blogging process by gathering notes, images, and writings. Continue to develop cookie recipe.
  • Monday 9/10/18: Finalize the cookie recipe. Survey peers in pursuit of potential last minute changes.
  • Tuesday 9/11/18: Finish and publish blog surrounding the cookie making process. Detail the post with pictures that depict the design work flow.
  • Wednesday 9/12/18: Cookie assignment due. Have cookies prepared for following class.
  • Thursday 9/13/18: Present one dozen cookies to the class. Have six of the 12 cut into pieces for 24 people to try.
Dane Hart

Written by

Dane Hart

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade