City-based chef opens up about being a sweet-tooth, shares winsome recipe

City-based chef and owner of the newly established cloud kitchen and soon-to-open outlet, Kami Hyderabad, Disha Arora fell in love with baking when she was 10 years old. It was a ‘love at first bite’ when she took in the moist crumbs of a Choco chip muffin, particularly when cupcakes were not too popular in India. In 2020, she took a plunge into the profession of culinary arts. Speaking of her impending self-funded outlet in the city, she shares, “My goal is to put a smile on the faces of everyone who takes a bite from the bakery items I offer.” Kami is Japanese for divinity just as it is reflected in Disha’s Eggless Chocolate-dipped Butter Finger Cookies recipe. 

Ingredients

• Cookie dough 
• Unsalted butter (soft) 115 gm 
• Caster sugar 75 gm 
• Vanilla essence 1 teaspoon 
• Flax seed powder 1/2 tablespoon 
• Water 1 and 1/2 tablespoon 
• Maida 140 gm 
• Salt 1/4 teaspoon 
• Milk 1/2 to 1 tablespoon 

Chocolate coating 

• Dark Compound chocolate 100 gm 
• Flavourless oil (such as olive oil, or refined oil) 2-3 tablespoons

Method

• Add flaxseed powder and water in a bowl, mix and keep aside for 10 minutes. Use only after 10 minutes.
• Add butter, sugar and vanilla to a mixing bowl (the butter should be soft, but not melting consistency). Whisk it together using an electric/hand whisk for 3-4 minutes. Add the flaxseed mixture and mix.
• Add the maida and salt to the butter mixture and mix using a spatula (do not overmix), until combined. Slowly start adding milk and mix, keep checking consistency, when it reaches a piping consistency, do not add more milk.
• Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5 cm open star nozzle. Take a baking tray lined with parchment paper and start piping long dough lines, as long as the length of the baking tray. Chill the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (bottom heating element ON, top ON and fan ON) for 15 min.
• Remove the baking tray and cut the frozen dough lines into 8-9 cm long pieces using a sharp knife. Pick up the dough pieces and place them at least 1.5 cm apart (make sure the dough is frozen and chilled).
• Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (bottom heating element ON, top ON and fan ON) for 30-40 min. To check if the cookies are done, the sides of the cookies should be golden brown, and the top and sides of the cookies should feel firm (not solid hard, but firm) when touched with a finger.
• Cool the cookies under a fan for 30 minutes. Make sure to let the cookies cool down.
• For the chocolate coating, place 2 tablespoons of oil and chopped dark chocolate in a pan and place on low heat. Mix until the chocolate has melted. If the chocolate mix looks thick, you can add more oil to it. Dip the tip of the cooled butter finger cookies in the chocolate mix and place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Optionally, sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top of the chocolate-dipped part while it has not been set. Let the chocolate-dipped fingers dry under a fan for 30 minutes to an hour. 

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