Gingerbread granola

My favorite time of the year has arrived and my Christmas tree is already up – I have been thinking of the Christmas Eve menu already, planning the food and the drinks. However, unlike previous years, I don’t think I will be able to have my oh, so beloved Christmas series here on the blog – too much work, other priorities at the moment.

Having said that, I felt I had to bring you at least one recipe with a holiday touch and it is my gingerbread granola: filled with spices it will make your house smell like Christmas immediately.

Even if I am not able to bring you other holiday recipes aside from this granola, there is plenty of inspiration from previous years: it is just a matter of clicking on the Christmas tag here on the blog.

Gingerbread granola
own recipe

2 ½ cups (225g) rolled oats
¼ cup (40g) golden flaxseeds
¼ cup (35g) raw pumpkin seeds
½ cup (60g) flaked almonds
pinch of table salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup (80ml) agave or honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (75g) dried cranberries, chopped in half if too large
½ cup (90g) dried apricots, diced

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the spices, oil, agave/honey and vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients and stir well to coat. Spread mixture over foil and bake for 10 minutes. Stir the granola around and bake for another 10 minutes – the granola will still be soft and will get crunchy once cooled. Remove from the oven and stir in the dried fruit. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Serves 6-8

Apple gingerbread crumble and weekends

Today is Friday (thank you, Universe!), or as I call it the Universal day of people asking each other what they will do on the weekend. :D

I am a very talkative person and luckily I have a good relationship with most people at the office. On Fridays some of them usually stop by my desk and ask me what my big plans for the weekend are, and it is funny to watch the look on their faces when I tell them that I intend to bake and watch Netflix. :D

On Saturday and Sunday afternoons one of the things I like doing the most is making a crumble with whatever fruit I have in the fridge/freezer and then seat comfortably on my couch to watch a movie or a TV show – it relaxes me and makes me happy. I did exactly that last weekend with a handful of apples and since I have been on a Christmas vibe lately I added a few spices to the crumble topping – it turned out delicious, therefore I share it with you now.

Apple gingerbread crumble
own creation

5 Granny Smith apples
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
5 tablespoons demerara sugar
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
70g unsalted butter, cold and diced
6 tablespoons rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Peel, core and dice the apples, then place them into a shallow 4-cup heatproof baking dish (if you prefer, make individual crumbles dividing the apples among four 1-cup heatproof ramekins).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices and salt. Add the butter and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Using a fork, stir in the oats. Sprinkle over the apples and bake for about 25 minutes or until topping is golden and crispy.
Serve with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 4

Spiced cake bars (gewürzschnitten) - flavors of my childhood on a recipe I had never seen before

In my searches for Christmas themed recipes every year I have learned about new types of baked goods, have seen beautiful photos and known gorgeous food blogs and websites. Some of the recipes were completely new to me, some were made of flavors I recognize from my childhood, from the sweets my German grandmother used to make.

These delicious bars, super easy to make, were new to as I did not know their name – gewürzschnitten; however, the taste was no stranger to me: as I bit into a square and tasted the mix of spices, chocolate and lemon from the glaze, my taste buds took a trip down memory lane. I don’t really remember what I ate as a kid that reminded me so much of these bars, but what started as inspiration found on this beautiful blog ended up as wonderful discovery – grandma Frida is no longer around for me to ask her this, but I can start my own tradition and bake gewürzschnitten every December from now on. <3

Spiced cake bars (gewürzschnitten)
slightly adapted from this beautiful blog

Cake:
1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
¾ cup (75g) ground almonds
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
2 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
pinch of salt
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar, divided use
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Amaretto (optional)
100ml whole milk, room temperature

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan, line it with baking paper leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, then butter the paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, cocoa, baking powder and spices. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add half of the granulated sugar (75g), beating until mixture gets thick, silky and shiny. Set aside.
In another large bowl, using again the electric mixer, beat the yolks, butter and remaining sugar until light and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and the Amaretto. Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the egg whites. Spread onto the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.

Glaze: mix the icing sugar and lemon juice until you get a thin glaze. Spread over cooked cake, set aside until set and then cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Chocolate gingerbread cakes, pixie and bob

Besides TV shows and Christmas baking, this month has also been about my decision to grow out my pixie: I’d decided that a month or so ago, then dropped the idea and thought of keeping the pixie, but then I fell in love with Emma Stone’s beautiful bob and now I cannot wait to have that haircut (and I’ve thought of stealing her color, too, since I’ll inevitably have to start dying my hair soon to cover the grey strands).

Food, movies and hair styles – one can definitely find all sorts of things on this blog. ;)

I’ll have to patient for it will take months for my hair to grow that long, and it will certainly be an interesting exercise for me; luckily in the kitchen I don’t have to wait too long to eat something delicious (which is one of the reasons why learning how to cook can be so empowering) and these cakes are proof of that: small as they are, they bake and cool quickly and in no time at all mine were looking beautiful on the wire rack, just waiting for the ganache to set – if you’re impatient like me you can go ahead and eat the cakes as soon as you finish spreading the ganache on top of them: I promise I won’t tell a soul. ;)

Chocolate gingerbread cakes
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Delicious Australia

Cakes:
¼ cup honey
¼ cup molasses
125g brown sugar
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon freshly ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
65g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
crystallized ginger, to garnish

Ganache:
200g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
100ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 12-hole muffin pan and line the bottoms with a circle of baking paper (I cut the bottoms of cupcake liners and used them to line the pan). In a small saucepan, place honey, molasses, sugar and milk and cook over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool.

Place flour, cocoa, baking powder, spices, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add egg, the cooled mixture and vanilla and process until a smooth batter forms. Divide among muffin holes and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ganache: heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble around the sides. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and butter and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. cool to room temperature, then spread over the cooled cakes and garnish with the crystallized ginger – I had some ganache left, so I refrigerated it and rolled into truffles and dusted them with cocoa powder.

Makes 12

Spiced chocolate fudge

It is always a joy for me to do the Christmas series here on the blog: the baked goods are delicious and they make my apartment smell wonderful, too. :)

There is, however, a problem: there are so many great recipes I have a hard time choosing what to prepare. On top of the cookbooks, the Christmas themed magazines start to arrive packed with beautiful suggestions for the holidays and it becomes even more difficult for me to decide which recipes – let’s not forget the time when I saved a recipe for almost a year so I could feature it on the following Xmas series (yes, I am that crazy). :D

I already had a list of recipes to prep this year and wasn’t planning on changing it, but when the Christmas edition of Donna Hay magazine arrived I had to add this fudge to the list: everyone loves chocolate and it goes so well with spices – not to mention the recipe yields a ton, which is fantastic when there are many people to feed.

Donna’s recipe was a bit fiddly, so I borrowed her idea of adding spices to fudge and used a much simpler recipe with great results.

Spiced chocolate fudge
adapted from here and Donna Hay Magazine

335g (120oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon freshly ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
seeds of 4 cardamom pods finely ground
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt

Line a square 20cm (8in) baking pan with baking paper; set aside. Place chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and water in a small saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, spices and salt. Pour mixture onto prepared pan and smooth the surface. Chill fudge about 30 minutes or until firm. Cut into small squares.

Makes 64

Choc chip gingerbread cookies to kick off the holiday season

My favorite time of the year is here already – time does fly, as I wrote a year ago. And, same as last December, this year’s Christmas series start with cookies: they are delicious, easy to make, everyone I know loves them and they’re the perfect homemade gift, that is why I chose this recipe to kick off the holiday celebrations around here.

The recipe comes from Donna Hay, who never disappoints, and chocolate chip cookies are another thing I am grateful to this blog for, learning how to make them myself after watching the cookies being devoured in cartoons and movies for years – a touch of molasses and spices and they’re turned into Christmas cookies in no time.

When I opened the tin a day after baking the cookies to take the photos for this post the smell was to wonderful I had to eat a couple of them before grabbing the camera. ;)

For more holiday posts, click here.

Choc chip gingerbread cookies
slightly adapted from the gorgeous Donna Hay mag

2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup molasses
100g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 70% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy and light. Add the molasses and dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the mixture comes together. Stir in the chocolate.

Using 2 leveled tablespoons of dough for each cookie, roll mixture into balls and place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 25

Carrot muffins (with spelt flour)

One of my favorite cookbooks is Kim Boyce’s wonderful “Good to the Grain” – I have baked delicious things from it (her rhubarb tartlets are unforgettable and so are the whole wheat chocolate chip cookies), but unfortunately I cannot find certain types of flour here in Brazil.

A dear friend of mine spent glorious days in Italy and brought me a bag of spelt flour; these tender muffins were my choice to first use the precious gift – the spelt flour is used both in the topping and in the batter. Delicious, but unlike other muffins I have baked I found these a little on the heavier side once they cooled down – a problem quickly solved by reheating the muffins in a preheated oven for a couple of minutes.

Carrot muffins (with spelt flour)
slightly adapted from the wonderful Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours

Streusel topping:
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (55g) spelt flour
2 tablespoons rolled oats
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons (42g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 6mm (¼in) pieces

Muffins:
1 cup (140g) spelt flour
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup (29g) rolled oats
1/3 cup (58g) dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups coarsely grated carrots, about 2 medium
¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk*
1 large egg

Make the streusel topping: place the flour, oats, sugars, and salt in a small bowl. Add the butter to the dry mixture. Rub the butter between your fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing until the mixture feels coarse, like cornmeal. Place in the refrigerator while you make the muffin batter.

Muffins: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a twelve cup muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity each cavity).
Sift the flours, allspice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the oats and sugars. Stir the carrots into the dry ingredients.
In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla and whisk until thoroughly combined. Using a spatula, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, using a spoon or an ice cream scoop. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the mounds of batter and press it into the batter slightly to adhere.
Bake the muffins for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The muffins are ready to come out when they smell nutty and their bottoms are a dark golden-brown (twist a single muffin out of the pan to check). Cool the muffins in the pan for 5-8 minutes then carefully unmold and transfer to a wire rack.
These are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day. They can also be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or frozen and reheated.

*homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12

Apple and cinnamon hot cross buns for Easter + "Soul Kitchen"

Someone told me once – and I hate it that I cannot remember who it was – that I would love “Soul Kitchen” because it is a movie about a restaurant and there was food involved; since watching the excellent "The Wave" I’d become more interested in German movies, so I rented “Soul Kitchen” and yes, it is a movie about a restaurant and there is food involved, but it’s so much more than that: to me, it’s about relationships and how they affect people’s lives.

* spoilers*

“Soul Kitchen” is full of funny elements – Zinos’ ringtone being one of my favorites – and yet it brings up more dramatic subjects, many of them some of us can relate to: Zinos’ struggle to maintain the restaurant, his need to decide between being with his girlfriend and staying where he feels he belongs to, the brother who causes nothing but trouble (and is a gambling addict, no less)... All of that mixed with images of whipped cream, lamb chops, white chocolate and vanilla beans – I loved it and have added other movies by Fatih Akin to my “to watch” list.

***
Hot cross buns have some interesting story behind them – while researching I found this adorable video with Heston Blumenthal; it was my first time making these buns – I used a recipe from the always beautiful Gourmet Traveller and the buns turned out tender, moist and delicious – the apple compote while cooking had such an amazing smell that I wish there could be a way for it to be trapped in scented candle form. :)

Apple and cinnamon hot cross buns
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Australian Gourmet Traveller

Apple and lemon compote:
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (375ml) water
1 lemon
2 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled, cored, diced
1 cinnamon quill

Dough:
5 cups (700g) all purpose flour + 1/3 cup (46g) extra for the piping mixture
1 cup (155g) golden raisins
80g dried apple, diced
14g (2 sachets/4 ½ teaspoons) dried yeast
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
finely grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
5 ½ tablespoons (65g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (375ml) whole milk
100g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
1 egg

Start with the compote: combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan, then squeeze in juice of half the lemon and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Meanwhile, cut remaining lemon half into 3mm-thick slices, add to saucepan with Granny Smith apples and cinnamon quill. Bring to the simmer, reduce heat to medium and cook until lemon and apple are translucent (20-25 minutes). Strain, reserving fruit and syrup separately. When cool enough to handle, dice lemon, combine with apple. Remove the cinnamon quills, add them to the syrup and set aside.
Combine flour, raisins, dried apple, yeast, ground cinnamon, allspice, zests, sugar, apple compote and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan, warm over low heat until butter melts and mixture is lukewarm. Whisk in egg, then add milk mixture to flour, stirring to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes) – I used my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook to knead the dough; gradually added 1/3 cup flour because the mixture was too wet.
Place in a lightly buttered bowl, cover and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (30-40 minutes). Meanwhile, line a large baking sheet with foil.
Knock back dough, divide into 20 even pieces, then knead each piece into a smooth ball. Arrange dough in a large rectangle, placing balls side by side onto prepared sheet, leaving 1cm between each for dough to expand. Cover with a tea towel and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (30-40 minutes).
Preheat oven to 220°C/428°F. Combine the 1/3 cup extra flour and ¼ cup (60ml) cold water in a bowl and stir to a smooth paste. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle and pipe a cross shape onto each bun. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce oven to 200°C/400°F and bake until golden and buns sound hollow when tapped (10-12 minutes).
Meanwhile, combine reserved syrup and cinnamon quill in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until syrupy. Brush thickly over hot buns, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 20

Cinnamon pound cake with macadamia spice ribbon + "A Single Man"

Keeping up with my 2012 film goal, I watched “A Single Man” last night and what a surprise it was for me: I already expected something good – Colin Firth and Julianne Moore can do no wrong – but the movie is so visually striking that I felt like writing Tom Ford an email, asking him to make another movie soon.

*spoilers*

I love the way Ford works with the colors: a friend of mine called it “obvious” but I honestly disagree – I think it sets the moods in the movie in a very interesting way. The music is equally great – especially in the very beginning of the movie, with such beautiful takes under water – and though it hasn’t blown me away like the music in “Tron Legacy” and “Drive”, I thought it fit the movie like a glove. What a joy it is to see a young actor like Nicholas Hoult taking another risky character – several others his age would be afraid of taking this road, and he does it brilliantly. Julianne Moore doesn’t have much time onscreen, which is a shame, since she’s an amazing actress and looks glorious in 1960s fashion (being pale and freckled like her I was wishing I had that hair color) :). And Firth... Perfect would be the only way to describe his performance. All the pain shown through every muscle in his face (which reminds me of Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” and how much she could tell us by how her face looked, by the movement of her eyebrows). I believe the amazement is even bigger when we think of Firth in movies like “Bridget Jones” or “Love Actually” – how he can go from funny/silly to such a profound character. I was in awe at the end of the movie and strongly believe that the Oscars were given in an inverse order: Firth should have won in 2010 for “A Single Man” while Jeff Bridges should have won in 2011 for “True Grit”.

***

When it comes to pound cakes no one can beat Flo Braker and Lisa Yockelson – the fabulous recipe below comes from Yockelson’s always delicious "Baking by Flavor" and if you do not have macadamias around please, do not let that stop you from making the cake: I believe that walnuts, pecans and even peanuts would be great substitutes here.

Cinnamon pound cake with macadamia spice ribbon
from the always delicious and fantastic Baking by Flavor

Macadamia ribbon:
¾ cup (105g) macadamia nuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Cake:
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups sour cream*
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a plain 25cm (10in) tube pan and line the bottom with a circle of baking paper. Butter the paper as well then dust everything with flour.
In a small bowl, mix together the macadamia nuts, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Set aside.
Make the cake batter: sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves into a medium bowl.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed for 2-3minutes. Add the granulated sugar in two additions, beating well after each addition. Add the brown sugar and then beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Blend in the vanilla.
On low speed, alternately add the sifted ingredients in three additions and the sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Spoon about 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle with half of the macadamia mixture. Cover with half of the remaining batter, followed by the remaining macadamia mixture. Cover with the remaining cake batter. Using a palette knife gently swirl the layer together – do not scrape the sides of the pan. Smooth the surface and bake for 1 hour/1 hour and 10 minutes or until the cake is risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes then, carefully invert onto the rack. Peel off the paper circle then invert again onto another rack. Cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 20

Spiced brown sugar cookies

As much as I love cooking and baking I understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea – so you can imagine how happy I felt when I noticed that my sister loved cooking and baking, too – I swear I never pushed her towards it: it all began with her passion for brownies and cookies. :)

After tasting some of these cookies she told me they were delicious and she needed the recipe “asap”; she also told me she’d already imagined them covered in chocolate, which I thought sounded like an amazing idea – should I be proud of my sister or what? ;)

Spiced brown sugar cookies
from the always beautiful and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

Sugar coating:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cookies:
2 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon (335g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (120g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (175g) brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup (80ml) golden syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Make the cookies: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.
in the large bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup and beat in medium speed for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. In low speed, add the dry ingredients at once and beat until just combined – you might want to finish mixing by hand; the dough was too soft, so I added 1 ½ tablespoons of flour.
Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough into balls and place onto the prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake until lightly golden on the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheets over a wire rack for 10 minutes. Toss the cookies in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat then set on the rack to cool completely.

Makes about 50

Honey and gingerbread cakes

A couple of days ago I was talking here about how the holiday season brings me down - I saw panettones at the supermarket and realized that Christmas is just around the corner. On the other hand, I love holiday food – I’ve been planning a special series of holiday posts, like the one I did last year, but luckily with more recipes this time.

It’s too soon to start the holiday series around here, I know, but I could not resist making these cakes – they’re on the DH mag I received last Friday.

Honey and gingerbread cakes
from Donna Hay magazine

¼ cup honey
¼ cup corn syrup
½ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup whole milk
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
65g unsalted butter, cold and chopped
1 egg
icing sugar, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C; butter twelve 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity mini bundt pans*.
Place the honey, corn syrup, sugar and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool until lukewarm.
Place the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, gradually add the honey mixture and process until smooth. Add the egg and process for 1 minute. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan for 10 minutes then carefully unmold. Cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* I made the exact recipe and used four 1 cup (240ml) capacity bundt pans

Makes 12

Sticky caramel buns

A couple of weeks ago the lovely Ana Elisa and I had coffee together and it was so good! We talked a lot, discovered several things in common... I already liked her in the virtual world and confirmed that she is a dear in the real world, too. :)

Then I saw that she’d drawn me on her Moleskine and that made my day. :)

Breads remind me of Ana – she’s an expert in making them – and that is why I’m posting these buns, which I adapted from here.

Sticky caramel buns
adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Dough:
5g dried yeast
2/3 cup (160ml) lukewarm whole milk
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
7 cloves
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, softened
extra butter and brown sugar, for the pans

Caramel spice mix:
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (82g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (58g) brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Caramel glaze:
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
1 ½ tablespoons (21g) unsalted butter, coarsely chopped

Combine yeast with half the milk (1/3 cup) in a bowl, stir until yeast dissolves, then stir in 2 ½ tablespoons (25g) of the flour until smooth. Cover and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (30 minutes).
Meanwhile, combine cloves and 3 tablespoons boiling water in a heatproof bowl, cover and stand to infuse (15-20 minutes), strain and reserve liquid.
Combine sugar, orange zest, butter, remaining flour, remaining milk and yeast mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix until a rough dough forms (2-3 minutes), then add a little reserved clove liquid at a time, kneading until a smooth sticky dough forms (4-5 minutes; you may not need all the liquid). Transfer to a large buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (45 minutes-1 hour).

Meanwhile, for caramel spice mix, combine ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Knock back dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an 18cm x 50cm (7x20in) rectangle – the dough was very tender, so I rolled it on a large piece of lightly floured baking paper, which was very useful to roll the dough into a cylinder. Spread evenly with caramel spice mix and, with longest side facing you, roll into a cylinder. Cut into 12 even pieces and place each piece, cut-side up, in a canelé mould well buttered and heavily dusted with brown sugar*. Place molds on an oven tray and stand for 10 minutes, then bake until risen and golden (25-30 minutes; cover with foil if buns get too dark). Turn out of moulds immediately (be careful of hot caramel) and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, for caramel glaze, combine sugar and 1/3 cup (80ml) water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook until dark caramel (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat, add butter and ¼ cup (60ml) water (be careful; hot caramel may spit) and stir to combine. Serve buns warm or at room temperature, topped with caramel glaze.
Sticky caramel buns are best eaten on day of making.

* I used twelve 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans

Makes 12

Spiced sable rounds with eggnog glaze

Today’s cookies are a proof that there’s still kindness in the world – people who will do something nice for someone else even though they live on the other side of the planet.

I bookmarked one recipe last January already thinking of making it for the holidays. But when I reached for it on my del.icio.us a couple of weeks ago the link no longer worked... Google showed me someone on Flickr who had made those cookies and I asked her if she had the recipe posted somewhere – she didn’t, but was kind enough to send it to me by email. Isn’t that sweet?

Anastasia, thank you for sending me this great recipe – the cookies turned out delicious! I wish I could send some your way.
xoxo

Spiced sable rounds with eggnog glaze

Cookie dough:
1 ¼ cups (282g) unsalted butter, cold and coarsely chopped
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
2 eggs
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
4 cups + 4 tablespoons (600g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Glaze:
1 egg
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon dark rum - I used white
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
2 cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (300g) icing sugar, sifted
freshly ground nutmeg, for scattering

Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine. Add lemon zest, spices, flour and baking powder and mix until just combined. Divide dough in four equal parts and form each one into a log that is a little more than 3.5cm (1 ½ in) thick. Wrap well in baking paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 180°C; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap one of the dough logs (keep the others in the fridge) and slice it into 6mm (¼-in) rounds. Place onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes or until just golden – mine needed 15 minutes for staying in the fridge for 24 hours.
Repeat with the remaining logs.
Make the glaze: whisk egg, brandy, rum and vanilla paste (if using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds with the back of a knife and add to the bowl) in an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add the sugar and whisk until thick and pale.
Spread icing over warm cookies then scatter with a little nutmeg and cool on a wire rack. Let glaze set completely before storing the cookies.
Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 90 – I halved the recipe and got 48

White chocolate and pecan spice friands for Sugar High Friday

Or, “the poor little friand that stood alone”. Because the friand on the photo was the only one I could remove from the pans – all the other 6 got stuck! :(

I’d just received the book by mail and quickly looked for a recipe calling for spices (because of this month’s Sugar High Friday). I’d been meaning to try friands for ages and thought I’d found a great excuse for that (as if I needed an excuse to bake...) :D

My brand new small brioche pans seemed perfect to prepare such precious treats. Too bad it didn’t turn out as I had planned. I did butter them beyond generously, but...

These friands tasted amazing and were tender. I wish I’d gone the simple way and used my muffin pan.

This is my entry for this Sugar High Friday, a sweet and delicious event created by Jennifer and this month hosted by the talented and lovely Anita, who has become a book author!

White chocolate and pecan spice friands
from Little Cafe Cakes

100g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g white chocolate, chopped
1 cup ground pecans
6 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups (210g) icing sugar
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Grease well – very, very well – 10 individual cake or muffin pans.
Place butter and white chocolate together in a bowl and microwave on medium for 1-2 minutes, mixing in 30 second intervals, or use a double-boiler – you want the ingredients to melt, but do not let the butter burn.
Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until just combined.
Spoon mixture into prepared pans; they should be just over ½ full. Bake for 25 minutes.
Let stand in pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Makes 10 – I halved the recipe and still got 7

Orange-spice glazed cookies and horror movies

My mom did not let me watch horror films when I was a kid. But I usually found a way of peeking, at least for a couple of minutes. Some movies were terrifying, I’ll say - mom was right. Two got stuck in my head and to this day I don’t know their names.

In one of them, a very happy family starts falling apart because the younger daughter is possessed or something. On the scene I remember, there’s been a car crash and all the family get out of the car before it explodes. But the little girl ties up her older sister’s shoe laces together so she can’t move. And she dies. So creepy.

As for the other movie, all I know is that it ends with a man screaming, the camera getting closer to him until it goes down his throat and everything turns black. Then, the credits. Equally scary.

Do you know which movies are those? I keep thinking that they might be really crappy movies and here I am, curious about them for so long.

Like these cookies. I was curious about them for many, many months and when I finally baked the cookies they did not turn out cute like the ones on the original recipe. :(

UPDATE: My good friend C. read the post and got so angry at me! She says that I'm not being honest with you, guys. According to her, I took photos using light colors on purpose to make the cookies look bad and did not mention that they tasted fantastic.
Ok, C. - message delivered!

Orange-spice glazed cookies

Cookies:
1 ¼ cups (175g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of salt

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
a splash of vanilla
2 tablespoons orange juice

Grease two baking sheets well and set aside – I lined the sheets with baking paper.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and vanilla extract, and mix well.

Add the cream of tartar, flour, zest, spices, and salt, and mix on low speed until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth.

Remove the dough from the mixer and form it into a ball. If it's too soft to handle, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it firms up a bit – I refrigerated mine for 1 ½ hours.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and make the glaze by mixing the powered sugar, vanilla, and orange juice until smooth.

On a well-floured board, roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Cut into shapes with the cookie cutters of your choice. Place on the prepared pan and bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately brush each one with a good amount of glaze, then place them back in the oven and bake until the glaze starts to crackle and the cookies are a golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes more. Remove the cookies and let cool on the pan.

Makes about 30 medium-size cookies – I halved the recipe and got 35 cookies with a 5cm flower cutter

Spiced madeleines

Ever since creating the blog, I have tried a huge number of new, different ingredients. I can’t even list them anymore – too many for my poor memory to gather up.

One of those ingredients is allspice. I’d seen it around in several recipes but it only premiered in my kitchen last week, when I baked these tender and light madeleines. For a spice fan like me, it was about time.

Speaking of "premiere" and "fan", “SATC” opened here last Friday and I absolutely loved it! I couldn’t wait to watch the movie – I have all the DVDs and have seen each episode 3-4 times; I like it to the point of knowing lots of lines by heart... :)
All the girls are fantastic, but Samantha is still my favorite – not only she’s the funniest of them all, but also the prettiest. And the oldest!

Spiced madeleines
from here

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon (melted) for greasing molds
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom*
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
pinch of salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Special equipment: a madeleine pan with 12 (7.5x5cm/3-by 2-inch) molds

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Brush molds with some melted butter, then chill until set, about 5 minutes. Brush molds again with some melted butter and chill pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, spices, and a pinch of salt.

Whisk together sugars and eggs until combined well. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined, then stir in remaining butter (6 tablespoons) until just incorporated. Spoon batter into molds, filling them about two thirds full. Bake 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 175ºC/350ºF and bake until springy to the touch and edges are lightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn out onto a rack and cool 15 minutes.
Just before serving, dust with confectioners’ sugar.

*the original recipe calls for ground coriander; I preferred to use cardamom instead.

Makes 12 – I got 12 like the ones on the photos + 15 smaller, traditional-shaped madeleines