Double- and triple-creme cheeses have a distinctive texture (very creamy) and flavor (buttery). Extra cream is added before the curd is formed, creating the heavenly richness.
 
 
DOUBLE CRÈME CHEESES

According to Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins, the first double-crème cheese was made in Normandy in 1850 by a cheesemaker whose name has been lost to history. He was a short man of Swiss extraction, and called his cheese Petit-Suisse (possibly his nickname!).

By law, a French double-crème cheese has between 60% and 75% butterfat. Note that this is the percentage of fat in the dry matter of the cheese. Most double- and triple-crèmes have about 50% moisture, so a Brie that has 60% butterfat in the dry matter is actually 31% total fat.

Decorate your Brie for a party. Photo courtesy WisDairy.com.

Double-crème examples include:

 
 
TRIPLE CRÈME CHEESES

Like the first double-crème, the first triple-crème cheese was also made in Normandy (France’s dairy heartland), 75 years after Petit-Suisse was introduced. Called Le Magnum, it was made by the Dubuc family and was the ancestor of Brillat-Savarin*. By law, French triple-crème cheeses must have a butterfat content of 75% or more.

Pick up this luscious Brillat-Savarin, a triple-crème cheese, at Whole Foods Markets (photo © Whole Foods Market).

A Brillat-Savarin with 75% butterfat in the dry matter actually has 39% total fat.

 
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*The cheese was named for the French epicure (and also a lawyer and politician) Brillat-Savarin, who famously said, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”

HOW TO SERVE A DOUBLE-CREME OR TRIPLE CRÈME CHEESE

You can go from basic (fruit) to gourmet (truffles):

Fresh Fruits

Grapes, mango, raspberries or strawberries are the best matches.

Truffles

This is a quick recipe using refrigerated cookie dough and a container of frosting. You can of course use your own homemade recipes. You can also use gingerbread cookie dough like Pillsbury Create ‘n Bake.

Just shape the cookie dough into a triangular log, and slice for fun reindeer cookies ready in a flash.

Prep time 40 minutes, total time 55 minutes
 
RECIPE: REINDEER SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients For 32 Cookies

1. BREAK UP cookie dough in a large bowl. Stir or knead in the flour until well blended. Reshape into a triangle-shaped log. If it’s too soft to cut into slices, refrigerate up to 30 minutes.

2. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. With a thin sharp knife, cut dough into 32 (1/4-inch) triangular slices. On an ungreased cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart.

3. BAKE 7 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

4. FROST cookies. For antlers, place 2 pretzel twists on each triangle near the corners. Lightly press 2 chocolate chips into each cookie for eyes and press in 1 halved gumdrop for nose. Store cookies between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.

Yes, the recipe will still work if you use a yellow onion instead of a red onion; but using the right onion for that recipe will produce the flavor that the recipe writer intended.

Here are tips from Katie Waldeck, one of our favorite food writers. They are adapted from her original article on Care2.com.

TYPE OF ONIONS & HOW TO USE THEM

Red Onions

Red onions tend to be pungent and spicy for most of the year; the fresh summer red onions are much more mild. They are best used raw. If you find the taste too sharp, soak the sliced onions in water for 30 to 60 minutes (this works for any type of onion).

The most colorful onion, the red onion. Photo courtesy Burpee.com.

Sweet Onions

Sweet onions tend to be larger, with thinner skin. Familiar varieties include Maui onions, Texas sweet onions, Vidalia onions and Walla Walla onions. The sweetness is largely due to the low-sulfur soil in which they are grown. Sweet onions have minimal pungency and can be eaten without fear of “onion breath.” However, they break down quickly in cooking and aren’t very complex in flavor, so they should not be used in place of yellow onions. Unlike other varieties, sweet onions spoil quickly and should be stored in the fridge.

Use Them For: gratins, grilled/roasted vegetables, onion rings and any raw uses (see uses for Red Onions, above).

This “standard” onion is usually the least expensive variety. If the recipe doesn’t specify a type of onion, a yellow onion is your best bet. Yellow onions have a complex and spicy flavor, but they have more sulfur than other onion varieties, so they’re much more pungent and tear-inducing and can be overly assertive for eating raw. They are particularly hardy and keep for a longer time than other varieties.

Use Them For: Dishes that cook for a long time on low heat: sauces, soup, stews, stocks, risotto, sautéed onions.

White Onions

Sharper than yellow onions, crisp and clean in flavor, white onions can be used both raw and cooked. Cook them as you would yellow onions, serve them raw as you would red onions. White onions have a slightly shorter storage life than yellow onions.

Use Them For: Mexican food (including chili), white sauces and for the raw uses above.
 
STORING & SLICING ONIONS

Onions should be stored in a cool, dry place away from light, with the exception of the more fragile sweet onions, which should be stored in the fridge.

Here are seven ways to slice onions.

What happens when you mix hot coffee, milk, bourbon and Marshmallow Fluff? You get The Dirty Santa cocktail (hey, we don’t name them!).

Given the number of people who love a good cup of coffee, this could be a holiday hit.

The drink is on the menu of Joe and Misses Doe, a casual restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village.

RECIPE: DIRTY SANTA COFFEE COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Drink

The Dirty Santa served in a trendy, pint-size drinking jar. Libbey sells a dozen for just $16.50.

1. FILL a microwaveable safe mug 3/4 of the way with coffee. Add milk, and syrup.

2. COVER the whole top of the mug with Fluff to seal in the liquid.

3. MICROWAVE for 2 minutes.

4. POKE a hole in fluff and pour in bourbon.
 
EDITOR’S NOTE

We have a responsibility to maintain the accuracy of the English language, even if few other people seem to care about it. So Joe: It’s not Misses Doe, it’s Missus Doe.

Misses are what happens when you fail to hit the ball, or overlook opportunities.

Missus, or the missus, is the informal term of address for a wife.

Teaching moment: Don’t carve anything in stone until you check a dictionary. Dictionary.com is an easy click away.
  

Dana is the creative force behind Dana’s Bakery, specializing in macarons. Her macarons rock—even more than other good macarons, because she’s quite the flavor artist as well as a designer, creating beautiful “painted” custom macarons.

This is the second career for the honors graduate of the Pastry and Baking program at New York’s Institute of Culinary Education. Photography’s loss is macaron lovers’ gain. (If you want learn how to bake your own, Dana gives classes in her northern New Jersey bakery.)

While many macaron specialists stick with the classics—chocolate, coffee, lemon, pistachio, raspberry and vanilla—Dana takes a page from the cookbook of Parisian macaron masters Ladurée and Pierre Hermé, who continue to bring forth new flavors to tempt foodie palates. A Dana’s Bakery bonus: Her macarons are certified kosher (and all macarons are gluten-free, made with almond flour).

Dana’s vision was to create an artisanal line of American flavor-inspired macarons. No raspberry and vanilla for her; instead, think of all your favorite sweet flavors, from Banana Split and Key Lime to Strawberry Shortcake and Watermelon.
 
There are seasonal flavors, too: Imagine Caramel Apple or Candy Corn Macarons for Halloween, the latter with a kernel of candy corn on top of the ganache. (“I could eat these every day of my life, literally,” says Dana.)

HOLIDAY FLAVORS

For the holidays, there are Gingerbread Man, White Peppermint Bark and Chocolate Molten Mac.

In addition to the holiday flavors, the current lineup includes Birthday Cake, Cookie Dough, Cup of Joe, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Fruity Cereal, Red Velvet, Thin Mint, S’mores.
 
CUSTOM MACARONS

Dana’s impressive macarons have attracted such prestigious corporate clients as Chanel, Martha Stewart Weddings and Vogue, where she creates custom designs from leopard-spotted macarons to gold or silver beauties. Your corporate logo can grace the top of the macarons.

Need a wedding favor? Silver macs with Champagne ganache sounds good to us!

TIME FOR A TREAT

What can we say about these melt-in-your-mouth bites of heaven except GET YOURS TODAY. Head to DanasBakery.com.

 
All macarons are gluten-free, made with almond flour, egg whites, sugar and flavors; the line is certified kosher by KOF-K.
 

MORE ON MACARONS

The history of macaroons and the difference between macaroons and macarons.