On Food Porn. I Mean, Food Photography

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have the time to learn how to shoot food in the way that food’s shot these days. You know, expensive camera aside, I don’t have time for retouching and selective focus and that perfectly perfect mess on the plate. Plus, I want to show that food can be made to look as good as it does in those retouched photos. So with me, you get the shots you get.

But according to this Wall Street Journal article, I’m either way ahead of my time, or so far behind it I’ll never have more than nine readers. As food stylist Alison Attenborough says in the article, “people are interested in small butchers, artisan producers, farmer’s markets—a more handmade look.”  See, I just don’t think that’s enough.  Think about it: You remember those shots from old issues of Gourmet? The Julia Child Menu Cookbook? Do you think Martha Stewart serves lopsided cake?  I mean, really.

I’ll give you an example of the problem.  I was in a local bakery recently to find pastries clearly made by someone who has the right touch for it. But the baker stopped short, and I don’t know why: She obviously handled the dough perfectly, but left it looking hamfisted, as though it was destined for a bake sale for the blind.  I understand that this is the trend, but why wouldn’t you want to do more?

So when you’re that close, people, don’t stop. Then you won’t have to touch up your food shots like a Playboy centerfold, and you can save all that Photoshop time for something more important: Making people happy with your bakery–and being the one who can do the very best.

Walnut Maple-Syrup Cookies, v.3

Please see related posts for more information.

I should first note for you that I’m a bit embarrassed by the photos so far.  I know I mentioned that I didn’t have the time to learn proper food-porn photography, but wow, these are really pretty bad.  Sorry about that, kids.

Anyway, I’ve since posted an untested recipe that I think would produce a well-flavored, crispy and thin maple cookie.  Of course, that’s long after I made the third version of these cookies, which is actually a complete departure from the original recipe.

My reason was this: A thin, crispy cookie just isn’t the best vehicle for maple flavor.  And including my more recent revelation, I still believe that.  Maple is for pancakes and Whitman’s candies; we associate maple flavor with soft, comforting, and familiar food.  And that’s all there is to it.

So I said, Fuck it: I’m making a proper good and happy cookie.  Nothing fancy, just the kind of fairly standard cookie that everyone loves…but also the kind of cookie that’ll carry the maple flavor without being overwhelmed by it.  A well-rounded, loveable cookie.

As a goal, this is a pretty easy, really.  With just about any cookie recipe, if you want to make it a winner, add chocolate.  And if you want to make it irresistible, add oatmeal.  It’s a simple as that.  The best thing about these two cookie staples is that they will at once both complement and counter the maple flavor.  It’s a win-win, except for your waistline, but how often do you get the best cookies you’ve ever had?  Well, if you visit me a lot, I guess you just get fat.  Sorry about that, too.  No, I’m not.  So let’s get started.

Oat and Maple Chocolate-Chip Cookies

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ c. bread flour
2 c. toasted oatmeal (throw into a 350 F for about 10 minutes, or when it smells, then allow time to cool)
1 c. superfine white sugar (process/blend plain white sugar for 30 seconds)
2/3 c. coarsely chopped walnuts
6 oz. semisweet chocolate (around 60%, not more than 70%; Special Dark is always good), chopped into rather large pieces from a regular candy bar, say, not quite a ½” x ½”
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
Raw sugar for decorating

1 lg egg
2 TBL vanilla
2 tsp maple extract
1 TBL light corn syrup
1 TBL pure maple syrup (you’ll have some leftover from the original version)
10 TBL butter, softened
2 TBL browned butter
4 TBL lard

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F and set the rack to the middle position.  While this gets going, you can throw your oats in there on a cookie sheet, and begin doing other things.  Just let those go until you start to smell them.

2. When the oats are finished, increase the heat to 475 F and paper your pan.  You’ll be baking the cookies at this temperature for about a minute to set the raw sugar and outer layer; you’ll then reduce the heat to 375 F for the remainder of the baking time.

3. Melt and brown the 2 TBL of butter.  Set aside to cool.

4. Begin creaming the softened butter, lard, superfine sugar and the salt.  Beat for about 4 minutes on medium, or ‘til it’s fluffy and the color’s lightened a bit.

5. Whisk flour, oats, walnuts, chocolate chunks, and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Set aside.

6. Mix egg, vanilla, maple extract, maple syrup, corn syrup, and browned butter in a separate bowl.  Use a whisk to mix thoroughly, but do not incorporate air.

7. Add your liquids to the creamed butter mixture, then mix on low until just combined, 15-30 seconds at the most.  Remember, it will not look particularly combined, but it is.

8. Add your dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined.  Again, 15-30  seconds at the most.  Use a wooden spatula or stiff rubber spatula to check the bottom of the bowl for stray bits of flour, and incorporate those gently by hand.

9. Use a 1½ TBL scoop (I use a coffee scoop, and become violent when it goes missing), then drop the dough onto the pan.  You’ll find that you’ll need to use a butter knife to get the dough out of the scoop, and this is perfectly fine.  Add some raw sugar to the tops.  You should be able to fit about 12 evenly spaced cookies on your pan.

10. Place in the 475 F oven and bake for one minute; reduce heat to 375 F, then bake for 8 more minutes, rotating midway.  After they’ve cooled for a minute, remove them to a cooling rack.

The interesting interactions here?  I typically despise cookies that spread too much and use lard to counteract some of that.  This means that I can sometimes end up with these short-round little cookies if I’m not careful about shaping them.  But that’s why I insist here on a) candy bar chocolate, which will melt and not retain its shape as chips will; and b) the baking powder, which will cause the cookies to rise quickly in the very high heat, then drop rather suddenly as the heat diminishes.  Both of these interactions will encourage a natural, even spread without looking amateurish or forced.

I also took greater care in the treatment of the butter.  As noted in version two, 12 TBL of browned butter, further activated by adding the recipe’s total quantity salt to it, was too much and contributed mightily to that version’s overwhelming maple flavor.  However, some browned butter is definitely called for, so 2 TBL of browned butter was the perfect amount.  Instead, adding the salt to the creamed butter made more sense.  Again, I didn’t want the same issues of version two, but the creamed butter should be enhanced just a little to best support the maple flavor.  (Think of how butter melts on pancakes:  There’s a difference, but it’s not as strong a flavor as browned butter.)

I decided to use up some of the leftover pure maple syrup in this version as well.  I didn’t want to increase the amount of sweetness in the cookie—maple extract is awfully sweet already—but I wanted to ensure that this cookie wasn’t as cakey as the last batch.  I needed to make sure the tops and edges were a bit crisp, and maple syrup is particularly useful for that. (Only 2 TBL of maple syrup wouldn’t add much sweetness anyway.)

This was really aided, too, by the initial quick blast of high heat; turning it down, along with the lard, kept them soft in the middle.  The corn syrup browned them, while keeping them chewy.  And both the lard and corn syrup helps keep cookies chewy over time.

Finally, an entire teaspoon of salt may seem like too much, but combined with the baking powder it added a welcome saltiness to the very sweet flavors already present in the cookie.  It’s actually quite delicious to taste that tiny burst of salt when you take a bite.  By the by, I had no idea this would happen.  Wait…no, I really didn’t.

They really pretty.  They’re really delicious.  They’re champions, bitches.  And… they’re nothing like the original recipe I set out to rewrite.  But them’s the breaks, man.  Because if you’re going to eat maple-flavored cookies, they should taste—and be—just like this.

Wow. Just wow.

A Note on Photography

When you visit food sites, and even many of those food blogs written by laymen like me, you will find some seriously nice photography. You’ll see food that’s been heavily styled, then shot in selective focus with what I can only gather is a really nice camera. Given that my motivation is absolute excellence in just about everything, you’d think that learning to style and shoot food would be another part of my project.  It isn’t.

I simply do not have the time to figure that shit out. I spend far too much time researching and testing to add professional photography to the list. (It goes without saying that I don’t have the money for that sort of equipment, either.) I’m sure that as we go along, and I get more practice, my shots will get better and better; but you should never expect to see food porn on this site.

Now, if you’re willing to share relatively effortless and free tips for taking better shots, I would love to hear them. You may even get some credit.