Baltimore has a well kept little secret. It’s a wonderful cookie made at the DeBaufre Bakery called the Berger Cookie, named after the original founders of the bakery, the Berger brothers from Germany . It’s really a very simple cookie and is much like the Black and White cookie in New York and New Jersey. It has a simple soft sugar cookie base. But the topping! Oh My! The topping is outrageous! It is as thick as the cookie and is a thick, fudgy chocolate that is soft and yet firm. It doesn’t melt in your hand, but there is more chocolate in every bite than any candy bar you have ever eaten.
Recently, I was doing a catering job for the opening Gala Fund Raiser for the show “Hairspray”, which takes place in Baltimore. The menu reflected the low country Southern cuisine that is featured in the show. But in a nod to Baltimore, I had to include the Berger Cookie for dessert. A phenomenon that most people here were unacquainted with. I couldn’t afford to order enough cookies directly from Baltimore (you can order them on line) with the budget I had, so I determined to make them myself.
Once again, I had to experiment with the recipes I found on line. Other people have also attempted to recreate the cookie in their own kitchen, which in itself is a challenge, because bakeries have access to ingredients and equipment that the home baker does not. After a couple of tries I found the cookie base that seemed most authentic. But the topping was more illusive. People on line seemed to feel that it was a ganache. I disagreed, though I tried it with the ganache at first. It was clearly not a plain ganache of chocolate and cream. That was too thin and too soft, not the chewy texture of the real thing. I tried adding corn syrup, which improved the thickness, but it was too sweet and again too soft.
One day it dawned on me that it might be fudge instead of ganache. I made a few batches of fudge. It had to be a dark chocolate, not milk chocolate fudge. At about this time, a friend of Walt’s from Baltimore sent him a couple packages of Berger cookies. I was able to taste the cookie alongside my different versions. I had finally found a fudge that matched the flavor of their topping pretty closely. And finally, I have the perfect Berger Cookie recipe that I can make at home when I can’t have the real thing (which is still a tad better than the homemade version, I admit).
So here then is my version of the Berger Cookie. It’s easy and decadent. Don’t be stingy with the fudge topping, it is supposed to be at least as thick as the cookie.
Cookies: Makes approx 30 cookies
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 ½ tsp salt
1 TBS Baking Powder
2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup milk
4 ½ cups flour
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
Cream butter, vanilla, sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Add eggs til incorporated. Scrape down sides. Add vanilla.
Alternately add milk and flour mixture just to incorporate.
Chill batter for at least 10 minutes. Dough must be cold before handling.
Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 2" rounds and place on parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes.
The topping is more difficult to figure out. People on line suggested a ganache. I think it is more of a fudge. I am including both recipes here.
Fudge:
½ cup whipping cream
½ cup light corn syrup
3 cups (18 0z) semi sweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
Bring cream and corn syrup to a boil in a heavy 2 qt sauce pan over medium heat. Boil 1 minute. Stir in chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.
Place cookies single layered, flat side up, on a cooling rack set over a cookie sheet.
When fudge is slightly cooled and thickened, but still thin enough to pour, pour over cooled cookies. Refrigerate til set.
Ganache:
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 TBS unsalted butter
1/3 c + 2 TBS light corn syrup
Melt all ingredients in a pot on low.
Remove from heat when melted and let sit til it comes to room temp.
Frost each cookie on bottom or flat side of cookie with a very thick layer of frosting (equal to the thickness of the cookie).
Note: Frost when frosting has set up but is shiny and still spreadable. If it sits too long it becomes too set and though it is spreadable it loses it’s shininess.
Let cookies sit over night to reach proper density.
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