Confetti Cookies

.... and why I'm glad AI can't bake

I came across this New York Times IG post and had to laugh at the caption.

The New York Times

The New York Times on Instagram: “A group of industry leaders is planning to warn on Tuesday that the artificial intelligence technology they are building may one day pose an existential threat to humanity and should be considered a societal risk on par with pandemics and nuclear wars. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks, such as pandemics and nuclear war,” reads a one-sentence statement expected to be released by the Center for AI Safety, a nonprofit organization. The open letter has been signed by more than 350 executives, researchers and engineers working in AI. The signatories included top executives from three of the leading AI companies: Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI; Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google DeepMind; and Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic. The statement comes at a time of growing concern about the potential harms of artificial intelligence. Recent advancements in so-called large language models — the type of AI system used by ChatGPT and other chatbots — have raised fears that AI could soon be used at scale to spread misinformation and propaganda, or that it could eliminate millions of white-collar jobs. Read the full story at the link in our bio.”

May 30, 2023

It is interesting that when tech eliminates blue collar jobs, government, business and major media seem to say eh that’s show biz, baby. But now that it’s coming for white collar jobs, it’s a big problem. And it *is* a big problem. But, in the long run, certain job extinctions or overhauls might not be the worst of our AI concerns. That distinction is probably saved for the inability to tell what’s real and what’s not online and AI’s role in cyber warfare.

I do feel for anyone who’s job is in jeopardy. And I also feel kind of smug about the folks who told young people like me that my journalism degree was useless and I “should learn to code.” Because coding is one of the endangered tasks that gets tossed around a lot when people talk about the potential threats of AI.

Job security has been on my mind ever since generative AI started replacing NFT’s and blockchain as the tech boogeyman/savior du jour. Will companies pay for photographers if AI can produce suitable images? Will AI video become so advanced (it’s already threatening to put special effects artists and digital illustrators out of business) that short form video food content will just produce itself? So far AI hasn’t been great at generating recipes … but it will likely get better.

I try to remind myself that there are already millions of recipes online and you could choose to use any one of them, but if you’re reading this, you’ve likely used one of mine. That’s because you trust that I’m a human who has tested these recipes thoroughly, sometimes up to eight or nine (or 15) times. And if you’ve made a recipe and loved it, hopefully that means I’ve earned your trust.

Being called a “content creator” is sometimes inevitable, and even I use it as shorthand when I’m meeting someone or describing my title for an interview. But it kind of makes me cringe: What is content other than simply the matter that fills up a void? Should our titles really be reduced to factories churning out the stuffing social platforms need in between pillow ads on their feeds?

I mention this because I have been trying to combat my AInxiety by keeping top of mind what I actually do. Which is a lot of things. I write, test and *create* recipes, host, teach, bake, style, photograph, record and videos, collaborate, build community. That doesn’t fit nicely in a TikTok profile bio, but I hope many of those things will last long after these social platforms or the AI job reckoning. I try to remember that AI can’t create; it can only regurgitate. And I think in their hearts people want newness and a relationship to the work and the creator.

Okay that went on for much longer than I thought it would let’s get to the fun stuff.

EGO Recommends

📱Social Media: Elizabeth Minchilli on TikTok
Now that I have properly maligned social platforms, I have a TikTok account I want you to watch. Elizabeth Minchilli has written about travel and food and Italy for more than 30 years. She lives and works in Italy and also leads food tours, and she makes TikToks of her days foraging for wild asparagus near her countryside home or leading a drool-worthy food tour in Sicily. It’s all very much a more accessible, wholesome episode of The White Lotus Season 2. Her tips and recommendations seem like the kind you’d get from a local (because she is one!) and the food always looks incredible. If I ever plan a trip to Italy, I’m starting with a long scroll down her page. It is one of the few accounts that, despite her life seeming very cool, does not inspire within me a sense of envy, but instead makes me strive to live, eat and drink as well as she does. She also has a Substack!

@elizabeth_minchilliI love being in the countryside this time of year, but since it’s only an hour and a half drive to Rome, its easy to hop in the car, drive down to see friends, and make it back in tone for dinner. #dailyroutine #dolcefarniente #dailyvlog

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🥕Groceries: Trader Joe’s Curry Chicken Salad
I don’t love TJ’s regular pint of chicken salad, and I’m not always the biggest fan of prepared foods that have been sitting in a cooler for a long time. But I simply can’t quit getting this every time I go shopping. It has carrots, raisins (which normally I’m against but not here), cashews, and a sweet and spiced dressing. I get their “naan” crackers and dip them straight into the little tub or I mix it into a bowl of arugula for lunch. It makes me want to develop a copycat version….

Updates:

No updates this week — only vibes.

This Week’s Recipe

I have had a confetti cookie on my “to develop” list for over a year now (note, I don’t use the term “Funfetti” because that trademark is owned by Pillsbury.) Another fun fact: Pillsbury also owns the trademark on “bake off” which is why in the UK it’s The Great British Bake Off but in the United States we have The Great British Baking Show or The Great American Baking Show. Now you know!

I love making cookies with melted butter. The first pro is you don’t have to wait for butter to come to room temperature or fiddle with shortcuts to soften it. The second is the melted butter can hydrate the flour well, making the resulting cookie chewy and moist and not dry or crumbly. The one con is using melted butter makes a slack dough, so you do have to chill it, but I usually chill my cookies anyway to develop more flavor and improve texture.

I recommend using a cookie scoop to dole them out then chill them, uncovered, for about two hours. This actually creates a crisp outer layer that adds great texture and cracks open as it bakes. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, just chill the dough for around 30 minutes or until it’s set enough so you can divide it into equal balls.

Rainbow nonpareils are not a good candidate for mixing into confetti cookies or cakes, as they shed their colorful coatings which then mixes into a spectrum of sludge in the dough. The waxiness of rainbow sprinkles mean they hold onto their color and don’t evaporate into the dough when baked.

Since theses cookies have no brown sugar, they are slightly prone to over-baking. Their yellowish-white color may look underbaked in the oven, but they set up fast after baking and can get too crispy on the edges if they get too much color. They also have no brown sugar, which means no molasses, an ingredient that helps keep cookies chewy. We’ve made up for some of that with the similar corn syrup, but these cookies will not be as forgiving as a chocolate chip cookie to two extra minutes in the oven. You want to pull them out when the outsides are just barely getting light golden brown and the centers still look slightly underdone.

Confetti Cookies

Makes about 18 medium cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (293 grams)

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon corn starch 

• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (288 grams)

• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (197 grams)

• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (20 grams)

• 1 large egg

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/2-3/4 cup rainbow sprinkles (not nonpareils) (about 3-4 ounces)

Directions

1. Gently melt the butter just until liquified. Set aside to cool until just warm.

2. Whisk in the sugar and corn syrup until combined.

3. Whisk in the egg and vanilla.

4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and corn starch.

5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. When they’re about 90 percent combined, stop and add in the sprinkles. Continue mixing until the last streaks of flour disappear and the sprinkles are evenly distributed.

6. If the dough isn’t firm enough to scoop and form into balls, let it chill in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

7. Measure out about 2.5 tablespoons for each cookie, or use a 1.5-ounce cookie scoop, to form about 18 dough balls. Chill the dough balls, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

8. When the cookies are almost done chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Line two half-sheet trays with parchment paper and place 6 or 7 dough balls on each.

9. Bake the cookies for 5 minutes, then take each tray and bang it on the racks or the top of the stove to deflate them. Switch their positions in the oven and continue baking for 4 more minutes, banging them two more times, once after two minutes, and once when you take them out of the oven. The cookies should be crisp and just barely golden on the edges, and their centers should be underdone.

10. Allow the cookies to set up on their trays for a minute before transferring them to a wire rack to complete cooling.

11. Repeat with the remaining dough balls or store them, covered, in the fridge or freezer to bake later.