Black and White Cookies

A cookie (which I personally find delicious) which is generally in the shape of a circle about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. It is made with a simple sugar cookie base, and then topped half with thick vanilla and chocolate frosting, divided by a diameter of the circle. On a good Black & White, the frosting will be slightly shiny due to the addition of a small amount of oil to the frosting mix. The thin layer is slightly hardened, giving it a nice texture without melting immediately or chipping one's teeth.

The black & white cookie is often seen at bakeries and delis in New York, and Jerry Seinfeld once used it as a metaphor for racial harmony on an episode of Seinfeld. The black and the white come together in one perfect circle, totally unified. However, when Seinfeld gets an upset stomach and vomits after eating the cookie, he blames racial inequality for the illness.

Black and White Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups (14 fl oz) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) (1 fl oz) butter
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup (1 fl oz) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) lemon extract
• 2 ½ cups (1 pint) cake flour
• 2 ½ cups (1 pint) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder

Frosting

• 4 cups (32 fl oz) confectioners' sugar
• ½ cup (4 fl oz)boiling water
• 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate

How to make it all come together:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two baking sheets and set them aside for later. I find butter to be the best for this process (tastiest too!).

2. Make the cookies: In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and butter and mix thoroughly until fluffy. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and lemon extracts and mix until smooth. (The batter needs to be blended very well at this stage. If the butter isn't totally worked into the batter, the cookies that are made from the dough at the bottom of the bowl will be thin and look like fried eggs).

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt and stir until mixed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches, stirring well to combine. (Make sure you turn the blender on gradually in this stage, otherwise you'll spend the next 10 minutes cleaning up the snow storm you created in your kitchen. At least that's what I hear... I'd never do anything as dumb as that in real life...) Using a spoon, drop spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the greased baking sheets. Bake until the edges begin to brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely. It's hard to wait, but if the cookies don't cool enough, the frosting won't look as nice.

4. Make the frosting: Place the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Gradually add enough of the boiling water to the sugar, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and spreadable.

5. Remove half of the frosting to the top half of a double boiler set over simmering water and add the chocolate. Warm the mixture, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and the frosting is smooth. Remove from the heat. With a brush, coat half the cookie with chocolate frosting and the other half with white frosting. Makes 2 dozen cookies.