Emily Gaspard Cart
Emily Cart's crème brûleé cookies
Emily, who is a native of Crowley, walked away with the number one spot in Rouse’s 2012 Top Cookie Contest in December.
Contestants first had to submit a dozen cookies, along with their recipes, to The Daily Advertiser in mid-November. Out of dozens of submissions, judges narrowed down the entries to the Top 12 submissions.
The dozen finalists then advanced to a new level of scrutiny on Dec. 13, when a select panel of judges, including two children from the community, rated each cookie based on taste, texture and overall appearance.
A “very surprised” Emily Cart came out on top.
Emily, who grew up in Crowley and graduated from Notre Dame High School of Acadia Parish, is the daughter of Donnie and Anne Gaspard, and she is married to Jeremy Cart, the son of Bruce and Lynda John Cart.
Emily learned to bake from her mother Anne and has been baking for as long as she can remember. She is now baking with her daughter Olivia, who is 12, and says she is “starting to enjoy it all over again for a different reason.”
After entering the contest the year before and not placing in the Top 12, Emily immediately started thinking about what kind of cookie she would enter for 2012.
Being a crème brûleé lover, Emily started searching for a way to turn her favorite dessert into a cookie. After finding several good recipes, she combined them and honed the final product into a winner.
Emily attributes her winning, at least in part, to growing up in Crowley and to her Cajun heritage, saying, “That’s what we do. We get together and cook.”
Emily Cart’s Crème Brûleé Cookies
Ingredients: Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 tablespoons (2 sticks)
of unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
8 oz. bag toffee pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
raw sugar
Ingredients: Vanilla Pudding Icing
1 (3 oz.) package vanilla pudding
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions: Cookies
Place flour and baking soda together in a bowl and whisk together; set aside.
Place 10 tablespoons butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Continue cooking and swirl butter in the pan until it becomes a dark golden brown in color, about 1-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter into a large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 6 tablespoons of butter into hot butter until melted.
Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to brown butter mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Add eggs and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Rest mixture for 3 minutes then whisk for another 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking two more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.
Stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in toffee pieces giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
Scoop rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake 8 minutes, turning pan half way through.
Cool on pan 3 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
Top with Vanilla Pudding Icing and sprinkle with raw sugar.
Directions: Vanilla Pudding Icing
Cook pudding and milk until thick. Let cool. Mix butter, Crisco, and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add pudding and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. Chill to set.
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