Mince Pies

Hard to believe but in all the years that I've visited London and the United Kingdom never have I ever tasted the quintessential British Christmas dessert, Mince Pies.  Chalk it up to my fear of the mincemeat filling; something sweet with the name "meat" in it?  Hmmmm...I'll pass, thanks.  It was only after seeing Paul Hollywood's recipe did I figure it was time to give them a try.

 

 

Paul is one of my baking Yodas and I loved how his version took pre-made mincemeat filling and doctored it up with citrus zest and chopped apples.  For the crust I used America's Test Kitchen's recipe for sweet tart pastry or pâte sucrée.

 

 

Because mince pies can be overly sweet I made mine in mini muffin tins to keep the portions small but still cute and dainty.  I  have to say I love how they turned out.  And no soggy bottoms in sight because I made sure to bake them until they were deep golden brown.  A final snowfall of confectioner's sugar was all that was needed.

 

Happy Christmas to All!

Zebra-Striped Shortbread Cookies

I knew I had to make these Zebra-Striped Shortbread Cookies as soon as I saw them pictured in the December 2018 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.   Chocolate and vanilla shortbread are nothing new; I've made a checkerboard version for years each Christmas.  What I love about this version is the fresh and modern take on a classic.  The dough could not have been easier to put together and shape.  Next time I'm going to divide the two colors even more so that the stripes look super realistic!

Kransekake

Making a Kransekake was long overdue for me.  You would think that since I have such strong ties to Norway I would have made this "cookie cake" a lot sooner, but chalk it up to laziness I guess.  My introduction to this glorious confection was at my dear friends' wedding in Bergen almost fifteen years ago.   Kransekake is traditionally served at celebrations like weddings, christenings, Constitution Day (17th of May) and Christmas.  After purchasing these kransekake cake forms I really had no more excuses and was determined to make it this holiday season.  

Luckily I had no trouble finding a great recipe.  One of my favorite Scandinavian baking blogs, Passion for Baking, had one that was very straightforward with minimal ingredients: almond flour, confectioner's sugar, egg whites and vanilla.  I used my stand mixer to bring the dough together and a cookie press to pipe long tubes of the dough.  You can forgo these and do both by hand if you want. 

The kransekake's impressive appearance belies its simplicity  I was shocked at how easy it was to make and assemble.  When finished it's a true show stopper.  I'm planning to make a few more of these to give as holiday gifts.  God Jul to All!

Bagel Bread

No one loves a bagel more than I do so how excited was I when I saw this recipe for Bagel Bread in the Oct/Nov 2018 issue of Cook's Country magazine?  Pure genius!  This was one of those things where you ask yourself, "how come I never thought of it before?"  Even better, I had a small bottle of Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel seasoning blend lying around and thought it would be perfect to use for this recipe.

I ended up making a double batch of this recipe twice, four loaves in total!, over the span of one weekend.  Trust me, I didn't intend on doing this but I found that the first batch of loaves I made were way too salty for my taste.  Back to the drawing board it was!  So for the second batch I cut the amount of kosher salt from the recipe by half the resulting bread came out perfect!

Sliced and toasted and the bagel bread was absolutely delicious.  I think I might be a total convert to the loaf shape!