2024 Holiday Cookie Box

  

I know I've done a crap job of updating my blog in the past several months but I would be remiss if I ended the year without posting my 2024 Holiday Cookie Box.  I think it's a nice variety that caters to many different tastes.  Hopefully the people who receive it will agree.

Stella Parks Gingerbread Cookies

Pierre Hermé Viennois (Raspberry Jam Filled or Chocolate Dipped Fingers)

Ginger Molasses

Walnut Snowballs

Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies

Clotted Cream Shortbread 

 

Bakery Boxes

 

 

Checkerboard and Marble Sablés

 

French butter cookies are a personal favorite of mine and this year I made them as Checkerboard and Marble Sablés.  Don't be intimidated, the checkerboard pattern isn't as difficult as it may appear.   I made two batches of Cook's Illustrated sablés recipe, one flavored vanilla and the other chocolate, to create these beauties.  For the design I turned to this King Arthur's video which was super helpful.  As you cut the rods of dough to make the checkerboard you inevitably end up with many scraps.  Don't throw them away!  When you smoosh the scraps together you get the marbled cookies.

  

These cookies will impress anyone and they taste fantastic too.  Not too sweet, buttery and crunchy.  They will be the stars in this year's holiday cookie box.

Bien Cuit Shortbread

Four simple ingredients: butter, powdered sugar, flour and kosher salt.  Basic staples found in any pantry that triumphantly come together in these delicious Bien Cuit Shortbread.  I've never been to the eponymous New York bakery where the recipe comes from but, fortunately, now I don't have to make the cross-country trek. 

I first saw the shortbread featured on Food 52's Instagram account.  To be honest, it was their finger-like shape that really caught my attention.  When I read Amanda Hesser's testimony that they were the world's best shortbread I couldn't not make them.  Indeed, she was absolutely correct...the cookies were so delicious: short, buttery and just a hint of sweetness.   I think they will be a strong contender for this year's holiday cookie box.

Lemon Curd Gooey Butter Cookies

 

Pardon the extended hiatus from my blog but I was enjoying a long overdue sabbatical for most of the summer.  I missed my kitchen and baking to be sure, but I kept myself busy with traveling and relaxing...a perfect way to recharge. Now that I'm home I'm easing back into the swing of things.

First up are these Lemon Curd Gooey Butter Cookies, which I'd seen pop up on my Instagram feed from Butternut Bakery.  I've made gooey butter cookies before on this blog, but I loved the idea of combining lemon curd with the chewy, citrus cookie.  Propitiously I had all the ingredients I needed, including homemade meyer lemon curd, and the cookies came together easily.  My only other enhancement was to add a few tablespoons of poppy seeds to the cookie dough.  

One bite of the finished cookie and I was a goner; the perfect marriage of tart, sweet and chewy.

Raspberry-Filled Viennois

 

Here's another recipe to add to your holiday cookie arsenal, Raspberry Filled Viennois.  The cookie recipe comes from pastry chef extraordinaire Pierre Hermé so you know it's absolutely fantastic.  Last year he published the recipe on his Instagram account and I saved it straight away.  I shaped my cookies into stars and embellished them further by adding a dollop of raspberry jam in the center. 

The main tip I would offer when making these cookies is to ensure the dough is really soft.  You'll pipe the dough by hand using a decorating bag and tip so you want it to be as pliable as possible.  Otherwise your hand will be aching, trust me on that!

These viennois are utterly delicious - so buttery, with a tender crumb and a burst of fruit in the center.   Everyone I know loves them.  Make them as a gift and your recipient will be forever thankful.

Viennese Swirls

One of my favorite bakers to follow on Instagram is Thida Bevington.   I don't remember how I came upon her account but I'm so glad I did.  She is an unbelievable talent and I am constantly inspired by all of her bakes.  The breads, cakes, cookies and tarts she makes are absolutely stunning!    Check out her feed and you'll see what I mean.

Out of all of her amazing creations it was the Viennese Swirls that I had to attempt.   These biscuits (Thida is English, btw) are right up my alley and everything I love in a cookie - buttery and not too sweet.   I'd also seen something similar on The Great British Bake Off so that was extra motivation to give them a try.

After watching the step-by-step instructions on Thida's Instagram highlights more than a few times I had no trouble mixing the dough.  The most important thing is for your butter to be very soft, otherwise the finished dough will be difficult to pipe. 

When the first tray came out of the oven I couldn't help myself and had to have a little sample.  Mmmmm...the texture is so short (i.e., very tender) and buttery.  Absolute heaven in a bite I tell you.  To finish them off I dipped the swirls in some tempered milk chocolate which sent these cookies to another stratosphere!  

Zebra Bundt Cake

If you peeked in to my pantry you'd think I was trying to set up my own kitchen housewares shop.  I can't help it - I'm the first to admit I'm a total addict.  Call me a sucker for the latest cake pan or baking equipment out there.  

The inspiration for this Zebra Bundt Cake stemmed from my recent acquisition of NordicWare's Kugelhopf pan.  I'm a huge fan of this company and love all their bundt pans.  Over the years I've amassed quite a collection because they never seem to fail in terms of quality and aesthetic.  I call it effortless baking when the pan does all the cake decorating work for you.   

My intention was to make a marble cake and when I happened upon Bakers Royale's Zebra Bundt on Pinterest it immediately caught my eye.  I just love how the alternating stripes of vanilla and chocolate batter make the cake look so interesting and inviting.  When I took a closer look at the recipe I was even more pleased because it was based on one from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book.   Tish's cookbook is one of my favorites so I knew it was going to be a winner.  I wasn't wrong.

The crumb on this cake is really incredible, so tender, moist and melt in your mouth.  I was a tad bit concerned that the depth of the bundt pan would require extra baking time, leading to a drier cake, but this was not the case at all.  I'll definitely be making this recipe again!

Monkey Bread

This is my last post of 2015 and I think I'm ending the year on a really high note.  I don't exaggerate when I proclaim this Monkey Bread is absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  I'm kicking myself for never trying to make it before.  Dare I say I may even prefer it over cinnamon rolls because it's so simple to make and so fun to eat.   

I've seen versions that use store bought bread dough but it's so much more delicious when you make it from scratch yourself.  This recipe from Cook's Country is easy to follow and would be great for the little ones to help with.

The yeasted dough is divided in to small pieces, rolled in melted butter, tossed in brown sugar and cinnamon and finally baked in a bundt pan.  The brown sugar and butter melts in to a yummy, gooey caramel that perfectly coats the bread.   How perfect would it be for breakfast or brunch?  

For those of you who want a smaller bread you can easily cut the recipe in half and bake in a small bundt pan.  That's what I did for the monkey bread in these pictures.  

Wishing everyone a wonderful new year!  Happy 2016!!!!

Butter Cookies and a Lesson in Tempering Chocolate

When I was a kid and it was Tết or the holidays I could normally count on a relative or family friend to bring a tin of Delacre Belgian Cookies to the house.  They were such a treat and my favorite cookie from the assortment was the long butter cookie dipped in chocolate.  I'm elated to report that I think I've been able to make a Butter Cookie that is a very legitimate replica at home.

I refrained from making these types of cookies for a long time because I knew it required tempered chocolate.  Believe me when I say chocolate work is my Archilles heel in the realm of baking.  Tempering just seemed to involve too much science, not to mention all the mess that goes along with chocolate.  

But it was while watching an episode of The Great British Bake Off that I finally gathered up the courage to give it a go.  The contestants were working on a chocolate challenge and I noticed that several bakers were using infrared thermometers to temper. Yep, the kind of infrared thermometer found in a  hardware or home improvement store.  How cool!

  

From a google search I found several techniques to temper chocolate on Valrhona's website, found here.  I ended up using the "seeding" method and got fantastic results.  It is true what they say - the tempered chocolate hardened in mere minutes at room temperature and was shiny and not tacky to the touch.  Why did I avoid it for so long when it was so easy?  Even better, there was no mess to clean up, just one glass bowl.     

The butter cookie recipe is from Gretchen's Bakery and is a basic spritz cookie, a holiday favorite of mine.  To shape the cookies you need either a cookie press or sturdy piping bag and decorating tip.  Just a forewarning though that if you use the piping bag, like I did,  make sure your hands and arms are strong because the dough is stiff.   Good exercise I say!

With my newfound confidence in tempering it's like a whole new world is opening up to me.   I'll say one thing though, these cookies will definitely be making it on this year's Christmas cookie list.

Butter Toffee Popcorn

My brother seems to think he's the king of caramel popcorn and while that may be true, in his mind at least, I will arrogantly declare that I am the queen of Butter Toffee Popcorn.  I had previously posted a recipe on this blog for caramel popcorn that, in retrospect, just wasn't up to par.   Then I found this recipe for butter toffee popcorn on Cook's Country and that all changed.  Thus began my self-proclaimed reign as popcorn sovereign.  Long live the queen!

This recipe is fantastic.  The only tweak I made was to substitute cashews for the peanuts.  I wanted to add a little extra decadence but I think using any kind of nut will work just as well.   

A note on the popcorn: I find I get the best results using fresh popped corn, not microwave popcorn.  My favorite way to make homemade popcorn is with the Whirley-Pop.  Just two ingredients, kernels and vegetable oil, and in less than 5 minutes you've got fluffy, crispy popcorn. 

I'm thinking of making this popcorn to give as gifts during the holidays - what a more appropriate accompaniment to my popular cashew toffee.  

Kouign Amann 2.0

My first attempt at making Kouign Amann was five years ago and unfortunately I didn't have much success.  You can see my first blog post about them here.  At the time I just couldn't get the laminated dough right which resulted in squat and dense pastries.  C'est pas bon. 

But now I'm very happy to report that after all this time I finally found a recipe that REALLY works!!!  And the hero of this story is none other than Paul Hollywood, celebrity baker from England and a judge on my favorite baking show The Great British Bake Off.  These Breton beauties were the featured technical challenge in the "Pastries" episode of Season 5.

Little did I know that the key to success was to only add sugar to the very last turn of the laminated dough.  My problem in previous attempts was that I was putting sugar in every turn which ended up melting in between the dough/butter layers.  

The pastry rose and puffed up beautifully in the oven and the sugar melted to a lovely caramel.  I admit I baked them a bit too long (notice the burnt looking bits) and they got darker than I would like so next time I'll take them out about 3-5 minutes earlier.   

This recipe may not be for everyone, but anyone who wants to learn more about laminated dough should give it a go.  Find the link to the kouign amann recipe on BBC's website here.

Cream Cheese Butter Cake with Raspberry Buttercream

Recently I received "The Baking Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum as a birthday gift from my sister and I tell you I couldn't wait to dig in.  I already own one of her other famous tomes, "The Cake Bible" and I knew her latest publication would be equally fantastic.  

The first recipe that caught my attention was for Cream Cheese Butter Cake.  The accompanying photo in the book looked so simple and inviting - a small square piece of white cake frosted with lemon curd buttercream.   No one does a white cake better than Rose.  She uses a reverse creaming method which produces a fine, moist and tender crumb that tastes surprisingly light. 

Unfortunately I didn't have much success with the lemon curd buttercream included in the recipe.  It didn't quite set up to the firm texture that I was hoping for.  Probably because I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have when I was making the recipe.  Oh well, I'll definitely need to revisit it another time.  But luckily I had some leftover vanilla buttercream that I embellished with fresh raspberry puree to frost the cake with.    All it needed was a fresh raspberry on top and I had the perfect snack cake.

Soft Pretzels

I had a craving for soft pretzels - you know, like the kind you get at the mall.   But since I didn't want to make the long trek to the galleria I figured I'd make them myself.   Found a recipe online and in about two hours I managed to satisfy my craving for carbs and salt.   Eat your heart out Auntie Anne's!

TWD Pecan Sticky Buns

Caveat comedentis: this week's TWD recipe, Pecan Sticky Buns, should probably be saved for special occasions.  Regular consumption of this much butter and sugar will have your doctor prescribing Lipitor and insulin to you in a heart beat, trust me. 

The sticky buns start with a rich, egg-y brioche dough that is laminated with butter.  (Laminate - just a fancy schmancy pastry term for creating layers in the dough with butter.) The dough was a dream to work with and super easy to roll out.  But with its 15 minutes of non-stop kneading I have to tell you it really did test the strength of my Kitchen-Aid professional stand mixer.  I'm happy to report that in the battle of dough versus machine, the machine prevailed.  A true workhorse, I tell you!

Rather than baking the buns on the same day I ended up freezing the cinnamon and nut filled brioche logs to finish at a later time.  Unfortunately I found that postponing the baking inhibited the dough's ability to proof and rise in a timely manner.   It took over 24 hours for the buns to expand enough to fill the entire 9-inch cake pan.

Once baked all was right with the world - the buns puffed and browned beautifully.  Sadly, I found the topping disappointing.  The butter and brown sugar separated and didn't meld in to the thick and gooey caramel that I was expecting.  Next time I think I'll reduce the butter used from 8 tablespoons to 6 tablespoons (per cake pan), substitute dark brown sugar for light and pre-cook it before pouring in the the cake pan.  This recipe wasn't necessarily a home run for me, more like a work in progress.

Head on over to Eat Drink Man Woman Dogs Cat and Cookies on Friday if you'd like to try the recipe for yourself.

Pistachio Pound Cake

Pistachio has to be one of my all-time favorite flavors so when I saw this version of Tish Boyle's marble pound cake on Kokken69's blog I instantly wanted to replicate it, with just a few tweaks.  I recently bought a bavarian bundt pan but had yet to use it and thought this cake would be the perfect inauguration.  Furthermore I wanted to take another crack at making a cake with a zebra stripe pattern.

Kokken69's adaption calls for using pistachio paste instead of a cocoa mixture to achieve the marble effect.   After finishing a massive macaron order for my brother my supply of pistachio paste was completely exhausted.   Necessity is the mother of invention so I found the next best thing I could, Jell-O instant pistachio pudding mix.  I sifted out the pistachio nut bits before mixing the powder with 3 cups of the vanilla cake batter.

Unfortunately the zebra pattern I was after wasn't happening.  Rather than creating stripes, the two colors of batter blended together.   But, the cake itself was really delicious with a moist, tender crumb.   The pudding mix didn't provide nearly enough pistachio flavor so next time I'm going to use paste and also stick with the marble design!