I was looking for a new crumb topping to add to our cluster doughnuts. We started with a cocoa crumb recipe from Eric Plescha over at Charcoal BYOB. When we follow a recipe we can become blind to the opportunities it offers. When we break a recipe apart and disregard the ingredients, instructions, and direction we miss out on the story being told. We started with the original. Then we broke it to suit our vision. Both versions were tasty. And not quite right for us. It is in the tinkering where we discover. As we tasted and observed the results we began to see clearly. Our biggest breakthrough was blending brown sugar and cocoa. The other key was using whole eggs in the mix. As I reflect on the crumbs it appears we took a streusel and evolved it into a cookie. And the idea of cookie crumbs is one we had been planning to get to but hadn't, till we had.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
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