Kulich

When I was little I hated panettone – all those crystallized fruits and raisins drove me nuts! My mom used to remove them all from the bread so I could eat it (mom was a saint, wasn’t she? :D). Years later the industry came up with the chocottone and that pretty much solved my problem. :)

Nowadays I love crystallized fruits and raisins and adore sweet breads studded with those ingredients. When I saw this kulich on Gourmet Traveller I couldn’t wait to make it, and it would be a good way to use the saffron I’d bought long ago and that was sadly sitting in my pantry – I tend to accumulate ingredients, I believe you’ve noticed that. :D
The saffron adds a nice yellowish tone to the dough, but I am sure the kulich would be wonderful without it anyway, so don’t let that stop you from making this great recipe.

Kulich
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Gourmet Traveller

7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
½ tablespoon granulated sugar
140ml whole milk, lukewarm
½ cup (55g) golden raisins
2 tablespoons dark rum
pinch saffron threads
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4 egg yolks, room temperature
360g all purpose flour
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
50g almonds, coarsely chopped
50g candied orange peel, diced
1/8 teaspoon salt
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing
icing sugar, extra, for dusting

Combine yeast, sugar and 100ml of the milk in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve, then stand in a warm place until foamy (5-10 minutes).
Meanwhile, combine raisins and rum in a small saucepan over medium heat until rum starts to boil. Remove from the heat and set aside until raisins are plump (4-5 minutes), strain liquid into a bowl (reserve raisins), then add saffron, vanilla, yolks and remaining milk to rum, whisking to combine.
Combine flour, icing sugar, almonds, candied orange and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre, add yeast mixture, rum mixture and reserved raisins. Stir to combine, add butter and, mix with your hands to combine. Turn onto a well floured surface, knead until smooth, dusting with extra flour if dough is too sticky (5-6 minutes) – I did the whole thing using a stand mixer with the dough hook.
Place in a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1-1½ hours).
Divide dough into two, roll each piece into a 50cm-long cylinder. Twist two cylinders together, join ends to form a ring shape, place on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and stand until risen (35-40 minutes).
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 120°C/250°F. Brush kulich with the beaten egg, bake for 15 minutes, increase oven to 180°C/350°F and bake until golden and an inserted skewer withdraws clean (25-30 minutes), then cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 8-10

Colomba Pasquale

My husband is not into sweets – I guess that the Universe knows better, right? :) – but he likes certain baked goods, like panettone and Colomba Pasquale. However, the store-bought versions are so heavily scented with artificial essences that he no longer eats them – he says those baked goods are not what they used to be when he was younger anymore and that all those artificial ingredients disagree with his stomach. Therefore, he was very excited about my homemade Colomba, and after having a slice of the freshly baked bread he said that not only it tasted delicious – like “the real deal” – he felt absolutely fine after eating it.

The picky-eater hubby enjoying my Colomba Pasquale really made my weekend, and reading that the production on season 2 of “House of Cards” is expected to start this month was the icing on the cake. \0/

Colomba Pasquale
slightly adapted from the always delicious and beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

Starter:
¾ cup + ½ tablespoon (110g) all purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon dried yeast
90ml water, room temperature

Colomba:
1 ½ cups + 1 ½ tablespoons (225g) all purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (62g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, whole
1 large egg, yolk and white separated
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 orange
½ cup (75g) golden raisins
1/3 cup (35g) dried cranberries
75g dried apricots, finely diced
60g finely chopped candied orange peel

Topping:
1/3 cup (66g) demerara sugar
1/3 cup (33g) almond meal
30g flaked almonds

For starter, stir ingredients in a bowl until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and stand at room temperature for 12 hours.
Transfer starter to an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add flour, granulated sugar, butter, the whole eggs, the yolk, yeast, vanilla and orange zest and mix on medium speed until dough is smooth and shiny and starts to leave sides of bowl (about 8 minutes). Add dried fruit and candied peel, mix to combine, then cover and stand until doubled in size (1-2 hours).
Knock down dough and divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Shape the larger piece into a 30cm-(12in) long cylinder, tapering slightly at one end, and place on a large baking sheet lined with foil. Form remaining piece into a 20cm-(8in) long cylinder and lay across the larger cylinder, about one-third of the way down from the tapered end. Cover with a tea towel and stand until slightly risen (35-40 minutes). In the meantime, preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.
Topping: combine demerara sugar, almond meal, almonds and egg white in a bowl, scatter over dough, bake for 15 minutes, reduce oven to 160°C/320°F and bake until golden and cooked through, 15-20 minutes (cover with foil if colomba gets too brown). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 10

Nougat flavored financiers

I might have been oh, so brave facing the heat and making pastry anyway but that, folks, was pretty much it: when it came to making nougat I gave up. :S However, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a nougat flavored baked good, right? When I looked at the egg whites left from making the eggnog frosting I instantly thought of financiers, and the candied orange zest left from the panforte inspired me to make these treats – they are tender, delicious and unlike real nougat, they’re very easy and quick to make.

Nougat flavored financiers
adapted from Bill’s wonderful financier recipe

2/3 cup (67g) almond meal*
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar + plus extra for dusting
1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
4 egg whites
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon orange blossom water
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly warm
1/3 cup (43g) unsalted pistachios, slightly toasted, cooled and chopped
¼ cup chopped candied orange zest
1/3 cup (36g) dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter and flour eight 1/3-capacity muffin pans (mine were silicon, so I just buttered them).
In a large bowl, sift together the ground almonds, icing sugar, flour and salt. Stir in the egg whites until just combined, followed by the vanilla and orange flower water. Stir in the melted butter, then the pistachios, candied zest and cranberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans over a wire rack for 5 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

* I had 2 tablespoons very finely ground pistachios left from another recipe and I used it mixed with the almond meal

Makes 8

White chocolate, honey and almond panforte

Back in my college days, I had a classmate that was ten years older than me (I was 16 then) and we used to disagree about music preferences: she loved Brazilian music while I preferred American and British rock bands. She used to tell me that when I got older I would begin enjoying the kind of music she did back then. Well, eighteen years have passed and nothing has changed: I still don’t listen to MPB and American and British bands are still favorites (with a pinch of French and Canadian bands here and there). :)
I might not have changed my music preferences, but all those years have brought me something I lacked in the past: patience – in my case that virtue is very much liked to getting older. I am sure that if I had baked this panforte years ago I would have thrown the whole thing in the garbage the minute I unmolded it and saw that the baking paper had stuck on the bottom of the candy – but now at 34 I serenely removed it, little by little, with a sharp knife and tons of patience.

White chocolate, honey and almond panforte
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Delicious - Australia

300g white chocolate, chopped
¾ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups (185g) all purpose flour, sifted
¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
¼ cup dried apricots, finely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped candied orange peel
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
200g whole almonds, toasted and cooled
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Line a 22cm (9in) springform cake pan with baking paper*.
Place chocolate, honey and vanilla in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water), stirring until melted and smooth. Set aside.
Combine flour, crystallized ginger, apricots, orange peel, spices, salt, black pepper and almonds in a bowl. Stir in melted chocolate mixture until combined.
Pour into the cake pan and press down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden but soft to touch (cover loosely with foil if it is browning too quickly). Cool in pan, then turn out and dust with icing sugar, slice and serve.

* I used a regular 22cm baking pan, buttered, bottom lined with a circle of baking paper buttered as well. It was easy to remove the panforte from the pan, but the problem is that the paper got stuck on the sweet! I had to remove it with a sharp knife and it was a pain in the neck to do it (and it took me half an hour). I haven’t tested it yet but I believe foil would be a better alternative (buttered as well)

Serves 12-14

Lebkuchen

These delicious and beautiful cookies should have been included in last year’s holiday series – at least that was my idea – but here they are, a year later.
My birthday is in November and Martha’s book was a gift from a very dear friend – after receiving it I immediately started looking for cookies with a Christmassy feel and the lebkuchen seemed perfect. However, I somehow kept forgetting to buy all the necessary ingredients – me and my poor list making skills – and when I finally got the dates but forgot the apricot jam I simply gave up and ended up baking the almond spice wafers from the same cookbook (which, by the way, are fantastic).

So now, without further delay, I bring you the cookies I would love to eat from now up until next Christmas, nonstop. :D

Lebkuchen
slightly adapted from the wonderful Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share (Martha Stewart Living Magazine)

Cookies:
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour*
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
100g blanched whole almonds toasted + more untoasted for decorating the cookies
1/3 cup diced candied orange zest
4 dates, pitted and chopped
85g (3oz) almond paste, crumbled into small pieces – I used homemade, recipe here
1/3 cup apricot jam
3 large eggs
¾ cup (131g) packed light-brown sugar

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons whole milk

Cookie: whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Pulse almonds in a food processor until very finely chopped. Add candied orange zest and dates, and pulse until finely chopped. Add almond paste, and pulse to combine. Add jam, and pulse. Add eggs and brown sugar, and pulse. Add flour mixture, and pulse. Transfer dough to an airtight container, and refrigerate overnight (or up to 3 days).
Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F (I baked my cookies at 180°C/350°F). Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop (¼ cup), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 7.5cm (3in) inches apart. Place 3 almonds close together on top of each cookie. Bake until golden brown, about 14 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
Whisk together confectioners' sugar and milk, and brush over cooled cookies. Let stand until set. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

* the batter was too liquid (even after one night in the refrigerator) and after testing it by baking one cookie – which spread like crazy – I added more flour to the batter; that way I ended up using 170g flour total

Makes 18 – I used a 3-tablespoon capacity ice cream scoop and got 15 cookies

Orange cardamom pound cake with candied orange peel + a question

I made this cake months ago but waited until now to publish it to avoid bothering you with my too-much-candied-orange-peel drama. The recipe was a simple orange cake – which is something I love – spiced with a bit of cardamom – which is something I’ve learned to love – and I just added the bits of candied peel because I no longer wanted to look at them every time I opened my fridge. So it is completely up to you to decide how you want to bake this cake – I just urge you to do it, because it is delicious and oh, so tender.

And speaking of pound cakes, I’m looking for a good 9x5in loaf pan and would love to know there’s a brand you would recommend; I’ve browsed some at Amazon but haven’t chosen yet – your opinion would be very useful to me. Thanks!

Orange cardamom pound cake with candied orange peel
slightly adapted from the great The Art and Soul of Baking

Cake:
2 cups (240g) cake flour*
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks/170g) unsalted butter, softened
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream**
1/3 cup drained and chopped candied orange peel (optional – recipe here)

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) confectioners’ sugar
½ to 1 tablespoon orange juice, or more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and position an oven rack in the center. Butter a 21x11cm (8½x4½ in) loaf pan and line with baking paper; butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar, zest and cardamom until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl with the spatula.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape the bowl occasionally. On low speed, add the sifted ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream in two additions (begin and end with the dry ingredients). Stir in the candied orange zest (if using). Transfer batter to prepared pan, smooth the top then bake for 45-55 minutes, until firm to touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. When cool, remove from the pan and peel off the paper.

Glaze: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl and gradually add the orange juice, stirring until desired consistency. Pour over the cooled cake. Set aside for 30 minutes before serving.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

** 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 6-8

Le gibassier

I was just searching for a recipe to use some of the candied orange peel left in my fridge from making the almost mother-in-law cake, but what I found was the most beautiful bread I’d ever seen, a type of bread I’d never heard of before. I adore it when certain things lead to great discoveries, and I felt this way again a week ago, when after watching the fantastic "The Fall" I made my usual trip to IMDb: going through Lee Pace’s profile I found this movie, which I’d never heard of before and looks exactly like the type of drama I love.

Le gibassier
from the always glorious and delicious Australian Gourmet Traveller

1/3 cup (80ml) lukewarm whole milk
14g (2 sachets/4 ½ teaspoons) dried yeast
6 tablespoons (72g) granulated sugar, divided use
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons orange-blossom water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (70g) softened unsalted butter
100g candied orange peel, drained and finely chopped – I used homemade, recipe here
icing sugar, sifted, for dusting

Stir milk, yeast and 3 ½ tablespoons of the sugar in a small bowl and stand until foamy (10 minutes).
Combine flour and remaining sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add eggs, oil, orange-blossom water, vanilla and yeast mixture and mix until smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes), then, mixing continuously, gradually add softened butter until incorporated. Add candied peel, knead to incorporate, then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1½-2 hours).
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Knock back dough and divide in half. Roll out each half into a rough leaf shape, cut slits in bread, gently pull slits slightly open, and set onto the prepared sheet. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen tower and place in a draught-free place until doubled in size (1 hour) – after this period of time the slits I’d previously made on the breads were almost invisible, so I cut the breads again before baking them.
Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Bake gibassier until dark golden and cooked through (10-12 minutes). Dust with icing sugar and serve warm (I thought it tasted great at room temperature, too).

Serves 8

Almost mother-in-law cake – a cake that was baked because of its name (but turned out delicious)

Despite my promises of not buying new cookbooks I ended up with a handful of new titles at home; one of them is “From Season to Season – a Year in Recipes” and after going through the beautiful book I chose this delicious cake to be the first recipe to be tried from it, and I even made my own candied orange zest to use in it: after all, how can one resist a cake with a name like that? ;)

Almost mother-in-law cake
slightly adapted from the beautiful “From Season to Season – a Year in Recipes” (mine was bought here)

Cake:
1 1/3 cups (300g) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups (500g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour, sifted
75g unsweetened cocoa, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ cup (120ml) boiling water
finely grated zest + juice of 1 orange
1 cup (110g) pecans, chopped

Chocolate ganache:
¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
75g dark chocolate, chopped
½ tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
candied orange zest, to decorate – recipe here

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 25cm (10in) springform cake pan, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Make the cake: in the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla. In low speed, beat in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, milk, water, orange zest and juice. Beat until smooth, fold in the pecans then pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake completely in the pan over a wire rack, then carefully unmold, removing the baking paper. Turn the cake onto a serving plate.
Make the ganache: heat the cream over medium heat in a small saucepan until it starts to boil. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and butter and set aside for 1 minute. Mix until melted and smooth. Pour over the cake. When the ganache is set, top the cake with the candied orange zest.

Serves 8-10 – I made 2/3 of the cake recipe above using a 20cm (8in) round cake pan

Christmas cookies

This blog could not have a Christmas series without cookies, right? ;)

These were absolutely delicious and made me feel bad for not liking hazelnuts – the nuts were wonderful combined with the chocolate, the candied orange peel and the spices.

Christmas cookies
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) brown sugar, packed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
1 egg, lightly whisked
90g roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup (180g) dark chocolate chips
80g candied orange peel, coarsely chopped – recipe here

Beat butter in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle until creamy, add sugar and salt, then add flour and spices and mix until combined. Add the egg, beat in low speed to combine, then stir through de hazelnuts, chocolate chips and orange peel. Divide mixture in two, spoon onto a large piece of baking paper, roll away from you to form a cylinder – like Martha does here – twist ends to seal and refrigerate until firm (1 hour).
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Remove baking paper from cookie mixture, slice mixture into 1cm-thick slices* and place on prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake, swapping sheets halfway through cooking time, until golden (10-12 minutes). Cool in baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cookies will keep stored in an airtight container for 5 days.

* the logs were impossible to slice even after 3 hours in the fridge, so I made balls with the dough – 1 leveled tablespoon per cookie – placed onto prepared baking sheets and pressed lightly before baking

Makes about 50 if using 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie

Dark and bitter orange chocolate cookies

I’m not a chocoholic but love chocolate and orange together.
I know the thought of making the candied orange strips might make some of you discard this recipe, but let me tell you: these cookies are absolutely worth the “trouble”. :D

From U.E.’s blog – and I already have another recipe of his on my "to try" list. :D

Dark and bitter orange chocolate cookies

Candied orange peel:
3 oranges, preferably organic
2 cups (400g) caster sugar
2 cups (480ml) water

Cookies:
224g (8oz) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all-purpose flour
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (57g) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (224g) caster sugar
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
½ batch candied orange peel, chopped (recipe follows)

Start by making the candied orange peel: remove the rind from the oranges by slicing off the two polar ends (stem and blossom ends). Score the fruit in wide strips from one polar end to the other, cutting through the rind and the white pith, but stopping just shy of the flesh of the fruit. Peel the rind and reserve the fruit for other use.
Put the rind in a small sauce pan. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Drain the rind and return them to the sauce pan. Repeat the boiling process twice more. Set the rind aside to cool. If there is an inordinate amount of fleshy, white pith, gently scrape it away with a spoon. Slice the wide strips into thin strips – about the thickness of a chopstick.

In a medium sauce pan, combine the water and sugar. Place this over medium heat and bring it to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the orange rind strips and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook the rind over a simmer until the strips of rind become translucent. The cooking time can vary depending on the thickness of the rind. This will generally not occur until the sugar syrup has sufficiently thickened. However, if the syrup has become too thick, add a little bit of water. If the white of the pith is still opaque, keep cooking. At no time should the temperature of the sugar syrup exceed 110°C/230°F (use a candying thermometer to check the temperature from time to time).
Once the rind is sufficiently candied, remove the pan from the heat and pour the contents into a heatproof container. Let cool completely. Store the zest in the cooking syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. When you are ready to use the rind, drain them from the syrup and let them dry on a baking rack for no less than 6 hours, but no more than 12 hours. In addition to using them in cakes, cookies, and ice creams, they can be dipped in chocolate.

Now, the cookies: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Pour water to a depth of about 5cm (2in) into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Put the chocolate into a stainless-steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of the pan and place it over, not touching, the water. Make sure that the bowl is completely dry before you add the chocolate and that no moisture gets into the chocolate. Moisture will cause the chocolate to seize, or develop lumps. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until the chocolate melts and is smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy. Slowly add the sugar and mix until the mixture is completely smooth and soft. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until incorporated before adding the next egg. Beat in the salt and vanilla, and then add the melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Add the milk and chopped candied orange peel and beat until combined. Finally, add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2.5cm (1in) apart. Bake the cookies until they are just barely firm on top when lightly touched by are still very soft underneath, about 7 minutes - mine needed 10 minutes. They will get firmer as they cool. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool. They will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.

Makes 36 – I halved the cookie recipe and made 1/3 of the candied orange peel for it (got 26 cookies)

Candied orange sugar cookies

Taste is very a personal thing – thank heavens! – and that sometimes results in funny/curious things: I love UB40, even though I can’t stand reggae music; the smell of coffee is one of my favorite smells in the world, but I don’t drink it (don’t like its flavor). My friend, for instance, doesn’t like candied citrus peel but she adored these cookies. :D

Don’t be intimidated by making your own candied orange peel – it’s not difficult; you just need a sharp knife and an extra dose of patience.

Candied orange sugar cookies
from Food & Wine magazine

1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons julienned candied orange peel (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add ¾ cup (150g) of the sugar and beat at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. At low speed, beat in the flour and salt. Gather the dough into a ball and shape it into 2 logs, each about 1 ½ inches (3.75cm) in diameter. Roll the logs in the remaining ¼ cup (50g) of sugar*. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Using a thin, sharp knife, slice the logs ¼ inch (0.6cm) thick. Arrange the slices on prepared sheets and press a few slivers of candied orange peel in the center of each. Bake the cookies on the upper and lower racks of the oven for about 22 minutes, until golden around the edges and on the bottom; shift the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking - I preferred to bake one sheet at a time. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 1 month. The baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

* the dough was too sticky to be rolled in sugar so I just sprinkled it around the baking paper and shaped the dough into a log, sprinkling a little extra over the log before wrapping it – I ended up using less than ¼ cup sugar.

Makes 4 dozen cookies – I halved the recipe and got 28

Candied orange peel
from The Perfect Scoop

4 large oranges, preferably unsprayed
2 cups (480ml) water
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
pinch of salt

With a vegetable peeler, remove strips of peel 1 inch (2.5cm) wide from the oranges, cutting lengthwise down the fruit. Remove just the colorful outer peel, leaving behind the bitter white pith. using a very sharp knife, slice the peel lengthwise into very thin strips no wider than a toothpick.
Put the strips of peel in a small, nonreactive saucepan, add enough water to cover them by a few inches and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain the peel and rinse with fresh water.
Combine the 2 cups water, sugar, corn syrup and salt in the saucepan. Fit the pan with a candy thermometer and bring to a boil. Add the blanched peel, reduce the heat and cook at a very low boil for about 25 minutes, until the thermometer reads 110ºC/230ºF. Turn off the heat and let the peel cool in the syrup.
Once cool, lift the peel out of the syrup with a fork, letting the syrup drain away – some of the peel got stuck in the bottom of the pan and I could remove them by quickly reheating the syrup.
Place the strips separately, side by side, on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper and let them dry overnight – if you won’t use all the peel, leave them in the syrup and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Makes about 1 cup (200g drained)