Little Mince Pies at Christmas

I made these darling individual mince pies as part of my Christmas baking this year. I got the idea to buy a jar of Cross and Blackwell mincemeat and enhanced it with fresh chopped apple and orange from Paul Hollywood of the Great British Bake Off. The BBC has posted his recipe here.

This bake was also influenced by another famous British personality, Nigella Lawson. She cuts her pastry into stars to top her holiday mince pies, so I knew I had to too. Before I slid them in the oven, I brushed them with an egg wash and sprinkled them with white sanding sugar. It gave the crust a delicious sweet crunch.

Can you see the little slips of parchment paper? I learned this tip by watching the Great British Baking Show. Individual desserts can stick in metal tins that are small and deep. If you crisscross strips of parchment paper in each tin before you fit the crust in, the strips will remain and provide a handle to lift the baked pastry out of the hot tin. It worked like a charm.

They didn't take long to bake and when they were ready, the three of us ate warm mince pies and watched an episode of the British series, Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix. When Dan started in on his second pie he said, "You have to make these every year now." Success!

#christmasdessert #englishsweets #christmas #britishinfluence #britishchristmas #mincemeat #christmasdinner #baking

Fresh Cranberry Cake is lovely at Christmastime

I was first introduced to the idea of a rich buttery cranberry cake by my friend Kathleen. I was so taken with it, in fact, that I urged her to offer it for sale in addition to her famous scones. I didn't want to bother her for the recipe, so I started searching online for something that sounded similar so that I could bake it for Christmas.

This recipe is my go-to for fresh cranberry cake and was published by a woman named Alena in Spain. We were halfway through this cake (above) when Dan announced that he'd like me to make it again. Immediately. Please note that I do not make the sugar/nut topping that she states is optional. 

Gingerbread Men: Big and Small

 

Yesterday I began my holiday baking. An army of gingerbread men have been baked and decorated and are all ready for my new book club's holiday cookie exchange tonight. 

My secret recipe is actually an adaptation of the Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cake Mix that was published by the company years ago. To the box mix, add 1/4 cup hot water, 2 Tablespoons melted butter and 2 Tablespoons of all purpose flour. Mix together and roll out on a floured surface. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-9 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

I wanted to show you my "life imitating art, imitating life" photo above. This year I found a dollhouse-size baking gingerbread scene (in the mini section) at Michael's Craft and I have it nestled as a gift for Day 7 in my tin advent calendar.  When I started rolling out the dough for this first batch of gingerbread men, I realized how great it would look next to the teeny-tiny version. Voila!

Do you bake gingerbread men?

Baking Event: Christmas Cookies with Friends

Oh the grand plans we had for this event!  My friends and I were going to get ahead on our holiday baking.  It was to be a blitz of flour, sugar and salt.

I bought tons of ingredients, pulled out all of my sprinkles and made a pot of white bean chicken chili to bolster my friends after a long day at their real jobs.  

How did my first baking event go?  Well it wasn't a bake-tastrophe, but we didn't accomplish nearly what I thought we would. My three friends and I ate dinner together, talked all about the cookies we love and ended up with only 2 hours to actually mix and bake.  How did we think we could do this on a weeknight?   

Next year (yes, we've already decided to make it a tradition) we are going to pick at Saturday in November and really get to it.

The funny thing is that the one cookie we did mix and bake were so delicious that we ate them all.  The green "Spritz" trees were the best I've ever tasted. We mixed a double batch of this Almond Spritz recipe from Better Homes and Garden (add green food coloring to the dough) and used an electric cookie press, which was finicky, but effective, to press them out.

We had to press the button on the electric Spritz for just the right amount of time (experiment) to get a perfect cookie.  Once we mastered the timing, it was a breeze and we easily spritzed and baked 150 cookies.  Then we divided by 3 and packaged them in freezer Ziploc bags.  Then Dan and I ate or gave away most of our allotment.  These were so good I will make them again in the next week or so.

We also made to two batches of dough that we personalized with a variety of mix-ins.  The recipe can be made and frozen, then sliced and baked later.  Our base was Martha Stewart's basic vanilla dough.  The first batch was vanilla dough, so I added unsweetened coconut, white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  I shaped the dough into a log and rolled it in large sugar crystals. Then I wrapped the log in waxed paper, slide it into a freezer bag and labeled it with the instructions (Slice and Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 min.)  I can't wait to try them!

Our second batch of this dough we followed the direction in the recipe to customize it and make chocolate dough.  I had Valrhona cocoa powder on hand and we knew that it would make the very best chocolatey base. I had a lot of choices, but settled on white chocolate chips.  These cookies should taste delicious - plus a chocolate cookie will add some variety the cookie plate. Yum.

So it is December 3 and I have 2 frozen doughs and a lot of Gingerbread men. Not nearly enough for all of the guests I am having over this season.  I'd been preheat the oven and get back to work!

Fall Cookie Cutters

Look what I'm planning!  The cutest Fall cookie ever!  Okay, a moose doesn't really represent Autumn, but if I am going to make gingerbread dough for squirrels, I want to get a few gingerbread moose out of the deal.

If you don't know by now, I collect cookie cutters.  They tug at my "love of baking" heartstrings and I simply can't resist getting a new one when I'm in a shop.  My next challenge is finding a cute way to display and protect them. 

The sweet pine tree on the left is my latest aquisition.  I see thick shortbread trees made with pale green cookie dough, with a chocolate chip for the trunk.

Do you collect cookie cutters?

Festive Cakes

When my friend called me for directions to our "Euchre Night," she asked what I was bringing.  It was a holiday-themed card party and she was curious to hear what I was up to.

I told her that I was making a cake, but that it was less about the cake and "All about the stencil."  Can you blame me?  Look at this masterpiece!  Anything that can look this good just by shaking powdered sugar on it, is a dream come true.

The stencil is by Martha Stewart and you can get one here.  I used a yellow box cake mix and made homemade chocolate butter cream icing.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole or 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.  Add additional milk, if needed to be spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla.  Spread on cake smoothly.  Put in refrigerator for a while to let the icing set, this allows the stencil to be placed on the icing, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and then lifted gently away, leaving a gorgeous image.  Voila!

Christmas Cake Stencils

Yodel Eh Hee Hoo....Okay, that may not be how you spell a yodel, but you get the idea.  In my mind, I am in the middle of Switzerland and I have the cake to prove it.

Actually, my dear friend just had a baby and I am bringing her dinner tonight, complete with this alpine-inspired cake.  I find that nothing perks up a gingerbread cake mix like a few cocoa reindeer.

This food-safe cake stencil is part of the new Martha Stewart holiday collection at Michael's.  If you can't bear to leave the kitchen during your pre-Thanksgiving preparations, you can also follow this link to purchase Martha Stewart Holiday Cake Stencils online.

I'll say it again, "Yodel Eh Hee Hoo..................."

Hot Cross Buns

Yesterday was Palm Sunday and I felt compelled to do some "Easter" baking. I had a box of hot roll mix in the cupboard and was inspired to make Hot Cross Buns for the first time - yum!

I followed the directions on a box of Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix and simply added 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup chopped fruit bits during mixing. They taste delicious, but I realized after the fact that 1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon would make them perfect (next time!). I made the icing from 1 cup of powered sugar mixed with a few tablespoons of hot water.

The box made 18 hot cross buns...and we've already eaten 6! Happy Easter.

Reindeer Games

I was having people over for the holidays and decided to serve my ginger cakes as a sweet treat. The last time I baked them, a friend pulled me aside in the kitchen and confessed that she'd eaten four! That was all I needed to hear.

In the back of my mind, I remembered seeing a really cute white cupcake topped with a plastic reindeer in a magazine (Country Living, Dec 2008). So when I stopped at the cake decorating store to pick up some mini-cupcake liners, I asked the salesgirl, "Do you have any realistic plastic deer?"

She thought about it, hesitated, then walked over to a cluttered shelf. "Well...we have these," she said as if there was no way that they had what I wanted. It was the exact reindeer from the magazine and was the best $2 I've ever spent. They took my box mix cupcakes to a whole new level, and became an unexpected party favor - no one wanted to leave without their reindeer! I tell you, delight is everywhere.