Holiday baking photo/recipe share! [Recipes]
2015 Dec 3
I haven't done any holiday baking yet this year, but I'm going to shamelessly plug my sister's business Dolci Cookies www.dolcibakeshop.com. In addition to her regular gluten free options, she's doing sets of decorated sugar cookies (not gluten free) that can be customized with your own images or logos. Great gifts for your company, clients, employees, etc., or if you just appreciate her handiwork! This photo of her holiday cookies was featured in The Ottawa Citizen recently.
2015 Dec 20
I finally did my holiday baking extravaganza today - a little late but still got it done before Christmas. These are baci di dama, from David Lebovitz's recipe:
www.davidlebovitz.com
www.davidlebovitz.com
2015 Dec 23
Ok, so the first fail was cheese. Yeah, I know. Not really holiday baking, but I like to make a batch of that soft, gooey inside mold-ripened cheese for Christmas. I usually make Coulommier, which is kinda like Brie, but originates from some other part of France. Don’t ask me where, because I’ll just have to google it.
The problem with the cheese is I should have started it about 10 days ago. It might be ready for New Years Eve, but I doubt it. So no fancy pants cheese for me this Christmas. Boo. :-(
The problem with the cheese is I should have started it about 10 days ago. It might be ready for New Years Eve, but I doubt it. So no fancy pants cheese for me this Christmas. Boo. :-(
2015 Dec 23
The second fail was a Christmas treat my family call ‘Buckeyes’. My aunt used to make them, and they not only tasted good, but always looked perfect. Tastes like Reeces peanut butter cups, but it’s a round ball dipped in chocolate so it looks like a buckeye, hence the name I guess.
I asked my hubby to bring home chocolate chips for this (I didn’t get them on my last ONFC order before the holidays), and he came home with chips from some bulk place. Could have been bulk barn, could have been anywhere. I dunno.
The chips looked sketchy to me, and when I melted them, they did melt, then they turned into a weird mass of something fudge-like. Didn’t matter what I did, there would be no dipping happening with this chocolate. This was not the organic fair trade chocolate I was accustomed to.
So I flattened all the peanut butter balls with a spoon, filled a piping bag with the hot fudge stuff, and not only did I burn my hands, the damn stuff could not be squeezed through the end of the bag. I should say that I have freakishly strong hands thanks to milking cows, so there was certainly something sketchy about this chocolate. I let my kids eat the pot of weird fudge. They were overjoyed.
The next day I sent dear hubby out again for chocolate chips. Try the PC kind, I said, the 'Decadent' ones. He did bring those home, but milk chocolate. Didn't know there were options with these. Not the end of the world, but I think the sweetness of the peanut butter ball does much better with darker chocolate. I piped the chocolate over the squooshed balls, and they actually don’t look too bad, but taste a bit too sweet for my liking.
I asked my hubby to bring home chocolate chips for this (I didn’t get them on my last ONFC order before the holidays), and he came home with chips from some bulk place. Could have been bulk barn, could have been anywhere. I dunno.
The chips looked sketchy to me, and when I melted them, they did melt, then they turned into a weird mass of something fudge-like. Didn’t matter what I did, there would be no dipping happening with this chocolate. This was not the organic fair trade chocolate I was accustomed to.
So I flattened all the peanut butter balls with a spoon, filled a piping bag with the hot fudge stuff, and not only did I burn my hands, the damn stuff could not be squeezed through the end of the bag. I should say that I have freakishly strong hands thanks to milking cows, so there was certainly something sketchy about this chocolate. I let my kids eat the pot of weird fudge. They were overjoyed.
The next day I sent dear hubby out again for chocolate chips. Try the PC kind, I said, the 'Decadent' ones. He did bring those home, but milk chocolate. Didn't know there were options with these. Not the end of the world, but I think the sweetness of the peanut butter ball does much better with darker chocolate. I piped the chocolate over the squooshed balls, and they actually don’t look too bad, but taste a bit too sweet for my liking.
2015 Dec 23
Fail number 3. I had more peanut mixture and more chocolate, so I had my kids roll up more balls, which was maddening because they were so excited about the prospect of another pot of ruined chocolate it was like watching a bunch of out of control drunken fighting kids scrabbling about my kitchen. I melted more chocolate, then we tried dipping the balls.
I don’t know how or where my aunt learned to dunk buckeyes so perfectly, but I discovered tonight, it’s clearly a skill my mother never taught me. The first few I tried to dip were hideous, so I decided to dunk and cover them completely in chocolate, and then swore each time the darn things would not come off the fork and go onto the pan. There must be a better way to make these things.
I don’t know how or where my aunt learned to dunk buckeyes so perfectly, but I discovered tonight, it’s clearly a skill my mother never taught me. The first few I tried to dip were hideous, so I decided to dunk and cover them completely in chocolate, and then swore each time the darn things would not come off the fork and go onto the pan. There must be a better way to make these things.
2015 Dec 24
Eggnog success! Made just shy of a gallon of it. Super easy, super tasty. The picture doesn't show the yellowy-ness of it, but it is yellowy thanks to the egg yolks.
Method for 1 gallon of eggnog:
Take the jar you want full of eggnog, and add milk and cream so the jar is more than 1/2 full but not quite 2/3's full. I like my eggnog on the creamy side, so after I've skimmed the cream off other gallon jars of milk, I'll add cream to the eggnog jar until it's about 40% milk and 60% cream.
Take a dozen eggs, and whip the heck out of them until they are frothy. Add anywhere from 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar. You can also use maple syrup instead of sugar if it strikes your fancy.
Add your eggnog spices to the eggs. I like lots of cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg, with a teeny tiny sprinkle of cloves and allspice.
Pour in the creamy milk into the eggs, and whip it all together.
Pour it all back into your eggnog jar and chill so the spices have time to flavour the nog.
Yum!!!
Method for 1 gallon of eggnog:
Take the jar you want full of eggnog, and add milk and cream so the jar is more than 1/2 full but not quite 2/3's full. I like my eggnog on the creamy side, so after I've skimmed the cream off other gallon jars of milk, I'll add cream to the eggnog jar until it's about 40% milk and 60% cream.
Take a dozen eggs, and whip the heck out of them until they are frothy. Add anywhere from 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar. You can also use maple syrup instead of sugar if it strikes your fancy.
Add your eggnog spices to the eggs. I like lots of cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg, with a teeny tiny sprinkle of cloves and allspice.
Pour in the creamy milk into the eggs, and whip it all together.
Pour it all back into your eggnog jar and chill so the spices have time to flavour the nog.
Yum!!!
2016 May 9
So many delicious recipes in this thread. Loved the way everyone made such sweet goodies. Usually I order sweets from www.loveandquiches.com since for any festive we need sweets in bulk. Though I am not good at baking I would like to give a try to any of recipes but not the hard one.
2016 May 9
Thank you for the ad, MaryW80. Nothing specific said about the content on the page? Check. First post? Check. 6 month old thread? Check.
Most of the people on this site aren't going to pay to have a cake or quiche or box of pre-packaged brownies (commercially branded) airdropped here from Freeport, NY from the company you are shilling for. We tend to spend our money in the area.
I could be totally wrong though.
Most of the people on this site aren't going to pay to have a cake or quiche or box of pre-packaged brownies (commercially branded) airdropped here from Freeport, NY from the company you are shilling for. We tend to spend our money in the area.
I could be totally wrong though.
SushiStevie
This weekend I made some shortbread using one of my favourite recipes from the Betty Crocker Best Christmas Cookbook!
1 cup of soft butter (not margarine!!!!! unless you're vegan then I recommend using Earth Balance Buttery Spread as I find it is really more comparable in flavour than just whatever brand margarine)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I substituted it this time with a full teaspoon of Kahlua)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of All Purpose Flour (give or take a bit for flouring surface and dough consistency)
Heat your oven to 350°F.
Beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on low/medium speed until it gets kind of fluffy. Add almond extract (or whatever extract/liqueur you like) and the salt and contnue to mix until well blended.
Beat in the flour gradually on low speed (unless you want a flour cloud) until a nice soft dough begins to take shape.
Shape the dough into a ball. (at this stage I like to let it chill out for about 20-30 before I get rolling but the recipe doesn't call for this)
Lightly flour a flat surface (baking mat or counter, table etc) & roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness.
Using a cookie cutter of your choice (I prefer smaller for shortbread) to cut out cookies, gently pressing back together and rerolling the scraps until you are done (try not to handle it or knead it to much as it can make for a tougher cookie as you get near the end of cutting and rolling).
Place on parchmant sheets on ungreased cookie sheets, place the cookies leaving about an inch between (they don't expand very much). I add sprinkle or granulated sugar at this point.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes (I check after 8 Min just to be sure depending on size of the cutter) until edges are just beginning to show that tasty golden brown.
Remove from cookie sheets to your cookie cooling rack. Cool completely before decorating with icing or dipping in chocolate if you wish! Personally I'm all about the sprinkles.