Cougar Gold Cheese

Christmas is one of those Holidays when you get to eat certain things that you wouldn’t normally prepare (or buy). I find this to be especially true when it comes to appetizers. Christmas is also one of the few days (aside from possibly Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday) that you can simply snack for hours. One of our favorite appetizers requires nothing more than a can opener. No it’s not Spam, it’s Cougar Gold Cheese.

I don’t remember exactly which show I was watching when I first heard about this award winning cheese, but I’m glad I did. Cougar Gold, although called a white cheddar, has a milder, nutty taste more like Gouda, that sharpens and intensifies as it ages. But why the can?

The origns of Cougar Gold, named after the school mascot and N.S. Golding (one of the researchers who developed the recipe) date back to the 1930’s when the US Government wanted to devise a method for storing cheese in a can, so it could be shipped fresh around the world to its Armed Forces. The problem with storing cheddar cheese in a can is that as it ages, it releases carbon diozide, which causes the can to swell. The problem was solved by the addition of a lactobacillus culture, which greatly reduced the amount of carbon dioxide generated.

When you open your first can of Cougar Gold, you may notice two things (depending upon how long you let the cheese age): water, and/or a white coating. When cheddars age, through a process called synerisis, they emit whey and a liquid butterfat. This causes the cheddar to become drier and more crumbly (it doesn’t slice very well). The ‘water’ can simply be poured off. The white coating is calcium lactate, which is typically found on aged cheddars. There is no need to scrape it off (except for cosmetics) as it is harmless and tasteless.

We usually cut out ~1/3 of the full tin (we try to save some for New Year’s but it doesn’t always work), stick a cheese knife in it, surround it with crackers, then watch it disappear (we don’t really just watch, my wife & I eat our fair share of it also). In addition to the basic Cougar Gold, we also love the Crimson Fire – the milder lo fat Viking Cheese spiked with Jalapeno and Cayenne Pepper- YUM!

So unless you’re fortunate enough to live near Washington State University, you must order online at the University’s Creamery website. Order early to avoid delivery delays. Try some this year – you can send me a Thank You post later.

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In the short time we’d been together, we talked about everything, and since at the time we were both living in our own apartments, we both cooked. I always loved to cook, bought cookbbooks, and read cooking magazines, to find new and different recipes to try. So when Christmas rolled around, Cathy already knew that I was pretty competent in the kitchen, so she asked if I would make a dessert (I’d already heard about the dozens of cookies she would be baking with her mom). Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to impress her, and her family, I agreed. I also immediatley knew what I would make, a Buche de Noel (Yule Log).

Now I’ll be the first to admit that baking is not my forte. But, when you’re in love, you want to do something special and out of the ordinary, and this was it. I found the recipe in a recent magazine, read it through a few times, prepared my shopping list and there was no turning back. The 2 days it took to complete were both stressful and fun. Stressful everytime something was mixing or cooking or setting, hoping I’d not forgotten to add anything (I tend to be a little obsessive when I cook). But then fun, once the ‘log’ was completed and the final decorating/presentation began. Mostly there was relief when it was all finished and I realized that it looked almost just like the picture. The only thing I didn’t know was how it tasted, but that would have to wait until Christmas.

Finally, we arrived at Cathy’s sister’s house. I had not taken more than two steps in when I heard “that looks fantastc!”. Everyone was followed me into the kitchen to see what I’d brought, and when Cathy informed them that I had made it – they were all very impressed. I have never posed for so many pictures with a dessert before (or after). Not only did it look good, but it tasted great.

Now that Cathy and I are married and have kids, everyone comes to our house for Christmas, so I no longer have two days to devote to a dessert. But they still ask “what no Yule Log this year?”. Now that the twins are 7 and able to help in the kitchen, who knows, maybe this year.

If you”re interested in preparing a classic Christmas dessert, want to impress someone, or just like tasty desserts, this ones for you…

Chocolate-Orange Buche de Noel

For filling
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For ganache
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

Powdered sugar
10 to 12 purchased chocolate truffles

Bake until cake springs back when pressed in center, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Cool completely. Sift remaining 1 tablespoon cocoa powder over cake. Line baking sheet with foil. Invert cake onto sheet. Peel off paper.

Prepare filling:
Place 2 tablespoons boiling water in small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let soften 10 minutes. Heat 1/4 cup cream in small saucepan over medium-low heat just until warm. Add to gelatin mixture; stir until gelatin dissolves. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 1/4 cups chilled cream, powdered sugar, orange peel and vanilla in large bowl until soft peaks form. Add gelatin mixture. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Spread filling over cake, leaving 1-inch border on sides. Using foil as aid and starting at 1 long side of cake, gently roll up cake, enclosing filling. Arrange roll, seam side down, on platter. Cover tightly and refrigerate until filling is set, at least 8 hours or overnight.

Next Day:

Unwrap roll and with a serrated knife cut ~2inches off one end, at a 45 degree angle. Place the angle side of the cut piece against the side of the log. Once coated, this will give the appearance of a branch protruding from the side of the log.

Make ganache:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, corn syrup and liqueur. Stir until mixture is smooth. Let ganache stand until cool and thick.

Whisk ganache just until soft peaks form (do not overmix). Spread ganache over roll. Using tines of fork, draw lines through ganache to represent tree bark. (Roll can be made 1 day ahead. Tent with foil and refrigerate.)

Sift powdered sugar over roll.

If desired, decorate with white truffles lightly dusted with cocoa (to simulate mushrooms).

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Ingredients:

1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter (no substitutions), softened
1/2 cup(s) sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon(s) vanilla extract
3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
Assorted colored granulated sugars for decorating
Ornamental Frosting, optional (see below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. Increase speed to high, beat until light and creamy. At low speed, beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour and baking powder just until blended.
2. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each piece with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
3. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough 1/8 inch thick. With floured 2- to 3-inch assorted cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible, wrap and refrigerate trimmings. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on large ungreased cookie sheet, sprinkle cookies with colored sugar now if you like, or frost with Ornamental Frosting after baking.
4. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. If you like, brush colored sugar remaining on cookie sheets onto piece of waxed paper to use again. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.
5. When cookies are cool, decorate as desired. If frosting, you can also sprinkle colored sugars as desired on frosting before it dries. Allow frosting to dry completely, about 1 hour. Store cookies in tightly covered container up to 2 weeks.

Makes ~96 cookies

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