Stained Glass Cookies

Stained Glass Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen
I make these cookies every year for the holidays with the excuse that the kids love them, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. It never fails, by the time the adults are finished rummaging through the cookies, theirs generally none of these left for the kids. If you can’t find Jolly Rancher candies, I often use left over lollipops for Halloween that I break up into pieces with my kitchen hammer. Talk about a great way get rid stress…

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
7 ounces assorted clear colored hard candies, such as Jolly Rancher, colors separated and finely chopped (about 30)

Directions

1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl; set aside.

2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until smooth, 1 minute. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix until combined. Stir in vanilla.Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate until cold, about 45 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.with racks in upper and lower thirds. Roll out chilled dough on a well-floured surface to a little more than 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes using a 5-inch cookie cutters. Using a metal spatula, space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Using the tip of a paring knife or smaller cookie cutter, make a cutout in center of each cookie for candy filling. Reroll scraps, and cut.

4. Sprinkle candy in a single layer in hole of each cookie, avoiding edges of cookie. Refrigerate until dough is firm, about 15 minutes.

5. Bake cookies until candy has melted and completely filled cutout and cookie edges are just starting to turn pale golden brown, 11 to 12 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown, or the candy centers may become bubbly. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Use a metal spatula to remove cookies from parchment. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

Croquembouche

Croquembouche
Makes about 60 puffs
Croquembouche means "crunch in the mouth" and is a mound of pastry cream-filled puffs stuck together with shiny caramel. Nougat cut into decorative shapes adorns it. Guests pluck off the puffs with their fingers. I prepared this for a Christmas Party this year and got great reviews. However be prepared to have to pull off the first piece as guest are often to shy to tear apart a masterpiece such as this one!

For the Puffs :
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
6 large eggs

For the glaze :
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

For the pastry cream :
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sifted flour
2 cups milk, scalded
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons cognac
Pinch of salt

For the nougat :
2 cups sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 cups toasted finely ground almonds

For the caramel :
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons corn syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To make the puffs, melt the butter in the water with salt and sugar over low heat. Remove from heat and beat in flour with a wooden spoon until completely mixed. Return to heat and stir vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes. Mixture will form a mass, and a film will form on bottom of pan. Remove from heat and, one by one, add eggs, beating vigorously after each addition.

2. Using a pastry tube with 1/2-inch opening, form puffs on a buttered baking sheet. Glaze each puff with the beaten egg and water, using a pastry brush. Smooth the top of each puff. Put in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and pierce each puff with a sharp knife (This allows the steam to escape so that the interior of the puff is not soggy). Return to the oven for 10 minutes more. Cool puffs on a rack. While cooling, prepare pastry cream.

3. To make the cream, beat the egg yolks, gradually adding the sugar, until mixture is thick and pale yellow. Beat in the flour. Add the hot milk in dribbles, reserving 1/2 cup for thinning. Return to pot in which milk was scalded, and stir mixture over high heat until it comes to a boil. It will become lumpy first and then will smooth out with vigorous stirring. Be careful not to scorch the bottom of the pot. The cream should be thick, but add milk if too thick to pipe.

4. Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Flavor with vanilla, cognac, and salt. Cool completely. Inject the pastry cream into the puffs with a 1/4-inch pastry tip.

5. To make the nougat, melt the sugar with the lemon juice in a heavy pot. Do not stir. Boil together until a thick amber syrup is formed. Stir in the almonds and spread the mixture on an oiled marble slab while warm. Cut with a sharp knife into a round for the base, and into small triangles for decoration, Keep nougat warm in a 250 degree oven. (It cannot be cut or shaped if it hardens.)

6. To make the caramel, bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat. Do not stir. Cover pan (allowing steam to dissolve any crystals that might form). Uncover pan and boil several more minutes, until syrup is amber. Reduce heat to keep syrup from hardening.

7. Dip the filled cream puffs, one by one, into the caramel syrup and arrange on the nougat base, forming a cone resembling a pyramid. The caramel holds the cream puffs together.

8. To make the caramel ribbons that adorn the Croquembouche, dip two forks in the caramel that has slightly cooled. Touch the caramel dipped ends together and pull apart to form threads of caramel. Repeat this process as you encircle the Croquembouche, until the entire cone in adorned with threads of caramel ribbon.

Note: Assemble the Croquembouche the day of the party, as it cannot be refrigerated. However, the cream puffs, pastry, and nougat can be prepared in advance.

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread
Makes 2 loaves
This recipe is great for those Sunday morning brunches, plus it makes two so you’ll be able to keep on hand for yourself. The recipe is fairly simple, I’ve chosen to use part whole wheat bread flour and turbinado sugar as these products are unrefined and contain more nutrients, but feel free to use granulated sugar and all-purpose flour. I bake my breads in Stoneware Bread Crocks which I purchased from the Pampered Chef. The bread bakes upright and resembles a mushroom when done, which I later slice horizontally, but the regular bread pans work just fine.

For the dough :
2 cups warm milk (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1 pound whole wheat bread flour
1 pound 2 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Vegetable oil for bowl and plastic wrap

For the filling:
1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons water


Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk, whisk to combine and let stand for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and salt. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until all the ingredients are well combined, about 3 minutes. Raise the speed to medium-low, and continue to mix until the dough is uniformly smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes more.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat out dough into a 9 inch round, about 1 1/4 inches thick. Sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon, and knead until they are just incorporated. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with oiled plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface and pat into a round. Fold in the following manner: Fold the bottom third of the dough up, the top third down, and the right and left sides over, tapping the dough after each fold to release excess flour, and pressing down to seal. Return to the bowl, seam side down, and let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.

Make the filling; Combine sugar, cinnamon and water in a small bowl and stir until combined. Return the dough to lightly floured work surface, and divide in half. Roll out one half to a 12-by-10-inch rectangle; brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with half the filling. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Generously butter two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans; set aside. With the short end of the rectangle facing you, fold in both long sides of the dough, about 1 inch. Then roll the dough toward you, gently pressing as you go to for a tight log. Gently roll the log back and forth to seal the seam. Place he loaf in prepared pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining rectangle. Cover pans loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let rest in a warm place until dough rises just above the rim of the pan, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425∞ F.

Brush the tops of the loaves with beaten egg, and transfer pans to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the loaves are golden brown, about 45 minutes. (If the tops begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.) Turn out the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. The bread can be kept, wrapped in plastic, at room temperature up to 4 days.

Dark Chocolate Filled Truffles

Dark Chocolate Filled Truffles
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen
It’s important when making truffles to use the best quality chocolate and cocoa powder available. Seeing as there are so few ingredients, it isn’t possible to mask the flavor of your chocolate. Truffles made with inexpensive, overly sweet chocolate will taste, well, inexpensive and overly sweet. I prefer to use dark chocolate from Tanzania made by Cacao-Barry, which has a slight bitter cocoa taste and an exotic depth of flavors. The truffles are coated with tempered chocolate, which creates a hard shell to contain a decadent ganache, however the truffles can be simply rolled in cocoa powder if you’re pressed for time.

18 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 oz heavy cream
1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 tablespoon liqueur, such as Cognac, Grand Marnier, or Poire William (optional)
Best-quality cocoa powder
4 oz white chocolate, finely chopped

1. Make the ganache: Place 8 ounces of chocolate and the cream in the top of a double boiler or
a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted; remove from heat. Add
butter and Cognac, and stir until combined.

2. Pour mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until
mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 2 hours.

3. To temper chocolate for coating; melt 6 ounces chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until almost completely melted (chocolate should not reach higher than 115∞ F), remove from heat. Stir in remain chocolate in batches until chocolate temperature comes down to 79∞ F. Place chocolate back over simmering water and bring temperature back up to 89∞ F. Chocolate should never go higher than 95∞ F or you will have to start this process over again. If chocolate gets to cool return to simmering water to rewarm slightly.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Using a 1/4-ounce ice-cream scoop,
drop ganache onto one of the prepared baking sheets. Chill 10 minutes.

5. Coat the palms of your hands with cocoa powder. Roll balls,
one at a time, between your palms until you have a ball. Dip in tempered chocolate and transfer to second baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls, coating your palm with more
cocoa powder as needed. Allow truffles to harden before proceeding.

6. Melt the white chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Using a tablespoon drizzle the white chocolate over the set truffles by rapidly swinging the spoon back and forth. Allow to cool, and harden. Chill until ready to serve. Truffles can be stored, refrigerated in an airtight
container, for up to 2 weeks.

Stollen Wreath

Stollen
Makes 1 large or 2 medium wreaths
Stollen is a dense bread-like cake traditionally made in Germany, usually eaten during the Christmas season as Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen. Stollen (originally Striezel) was created in Dresden in around 1450, and the most famous Stollen is still the Dresdner Stollen, sold, among other places, at the local Striezelmarkt Christmas market. The old name Striezel was from strüzel or stroczel, "awaken" , which came to mean "loaf of bread".The shape of the cake was originally meant to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and was one of a number of baked goods created to represent aspects of the Crucifixion. However, the Stollen reminded Erzgebirge miners of the entrance to a mine tunnel, which is the literal meaning of Stollen, and they renamed it. Stollen is a fruitcake made with yeast, water and flour, and usually dried citrus peel (called "Zitronad(e)"), dried fruit, almonds, and spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon; the dough is quite low in sugar. The finished cake is sprinkled with icing sugar. At a traditional German Christmas table, stollen is likely to appear as a beloved part of breakfast or as a conclusion to the holiday meal.

1 cup currants
1/4 cup rum
1 1/4 cups golden raisins
1/4 cup orange juice
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup milk
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 3 tablespoons, melted
1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 2 oranges
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup chopped citron
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1 1/4 cups blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

In two separate bowls, soak currants in rum and golden raisins in orange juice; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, mace, and nutmeg; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Pour 1/4 cup warm water into a small bowl; sprinkle with yeast, and let stand 2 to 3 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely. Add the dissolved yeast, warm milk mixture, and eggs to the flour mixture. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and knead until fairly smooth. Transfer dough to a large bowl.

Add currants and raisins in their liquid, orange zest, lemon zest, citron, apricots, and almonds, and then work them into the dough with your hands. Transfer dough to work surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, knead in more flour, but be careful not to overwork.

Butter a large bowl with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Punch dough, down divide in two, roll each half into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder. Carefully transfer dough to a Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet; join ends together, pinching with fingers if necessary to make it stick, forming a large circle. Repeat with second half.

Using sharp kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape with all the segments overlapping.

Cover dough with a clean kitchen towel; set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Dough will rise only a little bit. Brush dough with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake until golden brown and crusty, about 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

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Chocolate-Honey Gingerbread

Chocolate-Honey Gingerbread
Makes about 12 slabs.
This recipe was inspired by the Chocolate Gingerbread recipe in Feast by Nigella Lawson. I'll admit the measurements are slightly different than the recipes I usually post therefore a kitchen scale makes this recipe a breeze, however if you don't have one I have put the conversions as well. The advantage to weighing ingredients in a recipe such as this one is that the recipe can be scaled up or down quite easily. I’ve used a mild honey, and a touch of freshly ground nutmeg to give this cake its distinct personality. The nutmeg ads an extra layer of spice very much familiar to the holiday season. The addition of honey to this cake lends a bold flavor that holds up well to the strongly flavored gingerbread and compliments the chocolate beautifully. Make sure to use a large sauce pan which will accommodate the entire cake batter and make clean up a snap. This is a very strongly flavored cake great with a cup of coffee on tea, its perhaps too richly flavored for the kids, but perfect for the rest of us !

For the Cake
175 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
125 g (5/8 cup or 147 ml) dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
200 g (3/5 cup or 135 ml) honey
200 g (3/5 cup or 135 ml) molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons warm water
2 large eggs
250 ml (1 cup) milk
275 g (2 3/4 cup)plain flour
40 g (1/3 cup) cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
175 g (1 cup) chocolate chunks

For the Icing
250 g (1 1/2 cup) icing sugar
30 g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
60 ml (1/4 cup) honey


For the Cake

Preheat the oven to 340° F and tear off a big piece of baking parchment to line the bottom and sides of a roasting tin of approximately 12 x 8 x 2.5 inches deep.

In a decent-sized saucepan, melt the butter along with the sugars, honey, treacle or molasses, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and ground ginger.

In a cup dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the water. Take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and bicarbonate in its water.

Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix.

Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into the lined tin and bake for about 40 minutes until risen and firm. It will be slightly damp underneath the set top and that's the way you want it.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool in the tin. Once cool, get on with the icing.


For the Icing

Sieve the icing sugar.

In a heavy-based saucepan heat the butter, cocoa and honey. Once the butter's melted, whisk in the icing sugar.

Lift the chocolate gingerbread out of the tin and unwrap the paper. Pour over the icing just to cover the top and cut into fat slabs when set.

Soft Glazed Gingerbread

Soft Glazed Gingerbread
Makes 1 to 2 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookies
These cookies are so moist and flavorful you won’t miss the traditional gingerbread cookies one little bit. The additions of nutmeg and black pepper give the subtle kick, and the sweet glaze on top of these not too sweet cookies is the perfect compliment. We use a patterned rolling pin to imprint a design onto the surface of these cookies before baking but you could use cookie molds as well. Keep in mind, if baking in stoneware cookie molds, baking times will vary.

Cookie dough:
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground clove
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the dough, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Set aside. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Slowly add the sugar and mix on medium speed until mixture is pale, fluffy and completely smooth. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg and mix well.

Add the molasses and corn syrup and beat until incorporated. Stop the mixer again and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until a dough forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl and all the ingredients are well incorporated. Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten it on a large piece of plastic wrap into a rectangle about 1 inch thick, cover the dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 ∞F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick liner.

Unwrap the dough and place on a floured work surface. If using a plaque with a design, roll out the dough to 1/3 inch thick, lightly dust the top with flour, press your cookie molds over the dough, and then cut out the shapes with a small knife and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Alternatively, using the mold as a guide, cut around it with a small knife, flip over the mold so the design is facing you, and place the dough over it, pressing the dough into the design. Unmold the shapes onto a prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them.

If using a patterned rolling pin, lightly dust the lined baking sheet with flour and transfer the dough to the pan. Lightly dust the top with flour and roll it into a rectangle about 1/3 inch thick with a plain rolling pin. Then, using the patterned rolling pin, roll over the dough with enough pressure to ensure a clear impression of the design. This works best on a rimless baking sheet. Trim the sides with a small knife. A pastry cutter or pizza cutter also works well for this. Note: it is not necessary to cut into smaller sizes before baking.

Bake the cookies until lightly golden along the sides but still soft to the touch in the centers, 7-15 minutes. The timing will depend on the size of the individual cookies, or if you have made a single large patterned piece that will be cut after baking.

While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water until smooth.

When the cookies are ready, remove from the oven and let cool on the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then, while cookies are still warm, using even stokes, brush a light coat of the glaze on top of each cookie, evenly covering it. Let the cookies cool completely. When the glaze dries, it should leave a shiny, opaque finish. If you have used a patterned rolling to make a single large plaque, cut into the desired sizes using a small knife or pastry wheel. The cookies will keep in airtight container in a cool place for up to 2 weeks. They do not freeze well, however, as glaze becomes water when they are thawed.