Black Walnuts and What?
I am writing this article to accompany my Black Walnut Maple Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing. I wanted to show the process of how I matched the flavors for this cookie.
Well since finding a new source, Flavor Bible for matching flavors I am having fun with turning all the flavors over in my mind and imagining how it will taste. My main ingredient is black walnuts and building on that flavor.
I did have a little head start since I am basing this cookie on a long-ago memory. A black walnut cake from my family repository of baked goodies. Yummm!
Matching the flavors!
Pure Maple Syrup
Black walnuts can be a little bitter so I needed a complementing flavor to balance the slight bitterness. I decided on pure maple syrup. Maple syrup was in bold text in the Flavor Bible so I knew it would pair nicely. Maple syrup is such a mellow flavor and makes me think of the New England states. You must use a quality maple syrup. Some of the good ones come from Vermont or Canada.
Brown Sugar
I knew that the brown sugar was in the icing but which should I use light or dark? Brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added just different intensities for light and dark. For me, the dark brown sugar was going to be too intense of a molasses taste for my brown sugar icing which left me the milder light brown sugar.
You should be careful mixing dark brown sugar with maple syrup because it can create a strong flavor. This is another reason I am using light brown sugar for this brown sugar icing.
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