Let me just put it out there… I think this will be pretty much a universal favorite. Maybe a bit more for some than others, but this is really a fun, tasty treat. Oh, and did I mention easy?
Last night I had some people coming over for dinner – didn’t really know how many, wasn’t sure if the dessert would actually show up, and I was already cooking, so I thought why not go ahead and make the break-ups, you can always hide them if a fabulous dessert walks through the door! And besides, I was already practicing being flexible after a semi-last-minute reminder that one of my guests doesn’t eat meat (I knew that!) – out with the hachis parmentier, in with the scallops in caramel orange sauce! Oh, but that’s next week’s story…
The only bad part is that when I’m cooking for people, rather than my blog, I can sometimes get out of sequence… oops! I kind of already started when I remembered that I should be taking pictures. Hmmm.
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| simplest of ingredients… butter, sugar, flour salt, water |
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| my lovely gray salt I love, love it! of course, it’s nice enough to share it’s space with some regular sea salt sneak preview – it’s totally worth using your fancier salt and I did use the full 1t, since I’d read others talking about wanting a bit more |

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| dry ingredients mixed, and ready for the butter! my poor, 30-year-old Cuisinart! I keep thinking of getting a new one, but then… I just don’t |
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| I was a little afraid I’d added too much water (it was the 5 T from the recipe) but it turned out exactly as Dorie described: malleable (here’s the missing photo part…) I plopped the dough onto a parchment sheet, topped it with another, flattened it out a bit and put it in the freezer while I worked on other things took it from the freezer, rolled it out a bit, did the whole egg wash thing, and then I used a knife (!) to make the markings. I am not sure I believe that the markings shown in the book were made by a fork – look at the next picture – and you decide! |
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| the baked and cooling break-up smells wonderfully of butter, and looks pretty ok, I think! |
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| as you can see, the break-up made it’s way to the table after all |
These turned out exactly as described: “the perfect break-up is crisp on the outside and still tender within”. I loved the salty-sweet combination. I think that the gray salt was, if not necessary, then very desireable. This was such a fun confection to make, and so incredibly easy and fast, that I will surely make it again. 
The knife was a great idea for the cross hatching!
Love your salt container! So pretty!
I think a knife makes a better pattern too but my lines will probably be all crooked! 🙂 I'll have to get some sel gris the next time I make this!
Your cookie looks perfectly baked! Yum! And, I love your grey salt container!
I skipped this week, but oh they look good!!
wow – that cuisinart is a workhorse!!! I'm still playing FFWD catchup, so I made the cheese bread this week.Buttercreambarbie
Love the salt holder! My cuisinart has definitely put up with a lot of abuse from me. I was eyeing one of the new ones, but figured I could wait until this one died… So many kitchen gadgets, so little time. Sounds like you did a great job changing things up on the fly.
Your cookies look beautiful. I'm a little envious of your perfectly straight lines! and your salt cellar!
Great looking cookie! It turned out perfect. Your cross hatching was some of the best I've seen. And…I love that your Cuisinart is 30.
Your cookie does look perfect. I love your salt cellar! Where did you find it?
@Candy Girl – I got the salt cellar at Sur la Table. I liked that I could keep two types of salt handy!@Kris & Cher – this one has been great, but it's really getting on it's last legs. The new ones are gigantic though! I'm afraid it would be too big to have out/too big to get it "out" to use. Oh well!
So glad that I am running behind posting comments – this got me to your blog AFTER you posted where you got the salt holder….because I was going to ask 🙂 And even better that it is from Sur la Table – we have one locally and Nana and I are overdue for a trip !! Glad to hear it worked out so well for your company- sounds like a lovely lovely night.
Cathy, fun post! I too am not convinced the marks in Dorie's book are from an actual fork.
I love what I've seen of your kitchen!! Just a foodie fetish I guess! That and pure envy! LOL!Your Break Up looks fabulous! Love the idea of cross-hatching with a knife…I'm thinking of using a pastry-ravioli cutter… Can't wait to give this a try!