EVER EATEN mushroom cookies? Nah, not that kind. These cookies will only give you a sugar high.
Candy caps (Lactarius rubidus) are smallish gilled mushrooms that bleed a latex-like fluid when cut, a characteristic of the Lactarius genus. In the case of candy caps, the fluid has a thin skim milk consistency. The mushrooms are generally orangish to cinnamon-colored and hollow-stemmed—not exactly useful identifiers for West Coast species of Lactarius, since there are many that fit this bill, most of which you wouldn’t want to eat. The best field mark I’ve come across involves touch. Run a finger over the pileus of a candy cap and feel a cool, slightly bumpy texture, not unlike a tangerine peel. The sweet smell is another characteristic, though not diagnostic.
The center of their strike zone is the coastal mixed forest of Northern California, where I’ve found them among redwoods and Douglas-fir interspersed with oaks and madrones, usually in damp areas with lots of moss and decaying wood, often near forest edges, trails, and road cuts.
Mushrooms, with their deep umami, are generally thought of in terms of savory dishes. The candy cap, as its common name suggests, is a break from this tradition. Its singular culinary attribute is most obvious after the mushroom has been dried: an aroma redolent of maple syrup.
This is a basic refrigerator cookie recipe from David Arora’s All that the Rain Promises that’s goosed with candy caps—a good way to showcase the unusual flavor of the mushrooms.
1 cup dried candy cap mushrooms
1 cup butter, softened, plus extra for sauté
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1. Rehydrate dried mushrooms for 20 minutes in enough warm water to cover. Wring out excess liquid, pat dry with paper towel, chop, and sauté several minutes with a nob of butter over medium heat. Save stock for another use.
2. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Slowly add flour while stirring, then chopped nuts and sautéed candy caps.
3. Roll cookie dough into three logs, each about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I use wax paper and a sushi roller. Wrap logs in wax paper and freeze.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice cookies about 1/4 inch thick and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until bottoms of cookies are golden brown.
Serve to mycophobic friends with a tall glass of milk.
Mushroom cookies! Seriously unusual. And the maple syrupy-ness of it is even weirder. I can see them being good in a Christmas pudding or mince pie. Will have to investigate mushrooms in British dessert. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh man, I love candy caps! Last year was a banner year in the areas I most often frequent in the SF Bay Area, but as good as last year was is as bad as this year has been, unfortunately. I was already craving candies, but this post has pushed me over the top! I’m going to have to put a concerted effort into finding a patch that’s holding in the coming days I suspect. Thanks for the inspiration to switch my focus away from the black trumpets and tubies I’ve been picking recently and get back to my bay area-local varieties! Mmm, candy cap ice cream, here I come!
So… how did they taste? How was the texture of the mushroom in the cookie? I have a few quarts of dried candy caps and am plotting a few desserts with them, but I was thinking about powdering them, not chopping because of the texture. Thoughts?
Mrs Flitter – Christmas pudding would be an ideal use of these mushrooms. Please report back on your findings.
Carter – Yeah, not a great mushroom year for Cali. I just got back from the North Coast and the lack of rain (until the other day!) has taken a toll. That’s why we put up candy caps, black trumpets, and the rest for an unrainy day!
Hank – The mushrooms are diced up, sautéed, and then baked, so the texture isn’t too prominent, a little chewy. The nuts add much more texture. But the maple syrup flavor is strong. In the end, these cookies are mostly a novelty.