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

Chocolate gingerbread bites

The Internet can be a great source of inspiration, I am sure you all agree with me – not only for food, obviously, but let’s focus on that now: there are so many great recipes out there it is hard to choose which one to make, but depending on what we see it gets easier to take our pick.

I saw these bars on Rebecca’s blog and immediately felt like baking them: chocolate, spices, and molasses beautifully combined. Very Christmassy, exactly what I wanted at the moment. When I wrote to her about it, she told me she’d gotten the recipe on another blog, and that person had gotten the recipe from Martha. I then remembered I’d seen the recipe on Martha’s website more than once and thought “well, Martha did not inspire me to make these, Rebecca did”. So these delicious bars, a sort of cake perfumed with spices and moist with the addition of sour cream, have become part of my repertoire of great recipes thanks to a search online – a beautiful blog inspired me to make them, and I hope my blog can inspire some of you to make them, too.

Chocolate gingerbread bites
from Rebecca's blog

¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup (22g) unsweetened cocoa powder + about ½ tablespoon for dusting the pan
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup (60ml) unsulphured molasses
1 large egg
¼ cup (60ml) sour cream*
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (85g) dark chocolate chips
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil and butter it as well. Dust it all with cocoa and tap out the excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, spices, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter, egg, molasses, sour cream and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares to serve.

* 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)

Makes 16

Almond gingerbread puffs

I work for a Swiss company, and some of my coworkers have discovered how much I love sweets – every now and then I get Lindt chocolates, which make my days a lot sweeter. :)

I have to say that I love getting food as gifts – I believe that food = love, and I love giving food as gifts, too, especially at this time of the year. Cookies are easy to make and to package, most people like them therefore they are the perfect present. These almond puffs taste delicious and they get more intense as days go by, especially if kept in an airtight container, but they might not last that long. :)

Almond gingerbread puffs
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Delicious magazine

1 cup minus 1 tablespoon (140g) almond meal
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
generous pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Amaretto (optional)
about 3 tablespoons icing sugar, for dusting the cookies

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond meal, flour, spices and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and honey until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and the Amaretto. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until a dough forms – it mixture is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water and mix again.

Using leveled 2 tablespoons of dough per cookies, roll balls and place them onto prepared baking sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Sift icing sugar over the cookies and return them to the oven for 2 more minutes. Cool on sheets over a wire rack.

The cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes about 30

Gingerbread and peanut caramel bars

Having rediscovered the pleasure I used to feel in the kitchen I keep having ideas and imagining things to cook and bake – I can’t wait for the weekends, not only to get some rest but also to prepare something tasty. I made a broccolini pesto the other day that turned out wonderful – even my not-so-into-pesto husband liked it a lot. But right now we are in Christmas mode around here, therefore I bring you these bars: I saw them on the latest issue of Donna Hay magazine and since I am a sucker for gingerbread, caramel and peanuts I had to make them.

They might seem a bit time-consuming, but it is just a matter of respecting the fridge time for each layer – there is also a serious risk of eating the entire saucepan of caramel before pouring it over the gingerbread base, but that is a completely different matter. ;)

Gingerbread and peanut caramel bars
from the always delicious Donna Hay Magazine

Base:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
90g light brown sugar
1/3 cup golden syrup – I used corn syrup
1/3 cup molasses
375g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
175g unsalted butter, softened
220g light brown sugar
½ cup golden syrup
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
200g unsalted toasted peanuts

Lightly butter a 20x30cm baking pan (use a deep pan, or make only 3/4 of the caramel recipe), line it with foil leaving an overhand on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup, molasses, flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and vanilla and beat just until a dough starts to form. Press the mixture into the prepared pan, prick it all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake the gingerbread for about 15 minutes or until golden – remove from the oven but keep it on.

Make the caramel: place butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Bring to the boil then cook for 8-10 minutes or until mixture reaches 140°C (285°F) on a sugar thermometer. Carefully add cream – mixture will spit furiously – and stir until dissolved, then cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in the peanuts, remove from the heat and pour over the gingerbread base. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until caramel is slightly set around the edges (caramel will set as it cools). Cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars to serve. Keep the bars in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Makes 24

Gingerbread pepper cookies

So you know that I decided to bake for the Christmas series, got carried away and made cookies beside this cake – I have to tell you, without false modesty, that the cookies turned out wonderful! Soft, packed with oats and perfumed with spices, they were a hit with my family and also my coworkers.

I used to take my baked goods to work all the time in the past, but this was the first time I baked for my new coworkers and I did not know if the girls would like the cookies – they loved them and now I want to bake more delicious things for them. <3

Gingerbread pepper cookies
slightly adapted from the wonderful and beautiful Home Baked: More Than 150 Recipes for Sweet and Savory Goodies

200g all purpose flour
150g rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Cointreau (optional)

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

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, pepper and spices. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and Cointreau. On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until combined (do not overmix).

Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop drop portions of dough per cookie onto prepared sheets, spacing 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are golden around the edges. Cool on sheet over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then slide the paper onto the rack and cool completely.

Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

Makes about 28

Gingerbread honey cake because Christmas is coming

I was sitting home the other day, thinking about Christmas and how it is my favorite time of the year. I thought about my Christmas tree, and how I would be decorating it in a few days and felt miserable because this year I would not be able to prepare the Christmas recipes for the blog like I’d done in previous years.

I decided that there would be at least one recipe for the Christmas series this year, went to the kitchen and baked this cake – actually, I baked some cookies, too. ;)

This gingerbread cake is super tender, smells and tastes delicious and will perfume your entire home while in the oven and even after cooled down. It is, in fact, a loaf cake, but the one I used was a bit smaller and I ended up with a loaf + a small round cake (I used a 1-cup capacity pan). Since the mini cake looked so adorable that was the one I used for the photo – I hope the cake’s cuteness entices you to bake it, too, and you can thank me later. ;)

Gingerbread honey cake
slightly adapted from the beautiful Home Baked: More Than 150 Recipes for Sweet and Savory Goodies

85g crystallized ginger
50g crystallized orange peel
220g (1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon) all purpose flour
½ cup (50g) almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
100g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 ¼ cups (300ml) whole milk, room temperature
100g light brown sugar
150ml honey
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Cointreau (optional)
¼ teaspoon Amaretto (optional)
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 6-cup capacity loaf pan, line it with baking paper leaving an overhang in two opposite sides and butter it as well.

Chop the crystallized ginger and crystallized peel, place in a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the flour. Set aside.
Combine remaining flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt and spices in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the butter and on low speed mix the ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in crystallized ginger and orange peel. In the meantime, heat together over low heat milk, brown sugar and honey until honey and sugar are dissolved (mixture should not get too hot, otherwise it might cook the eggs). Pour over the flour mixture and stir until just combined – do not overmix. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla, Cointreau and Amaretto.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold and cool completely over the rack before peeling off the paper.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 8-10

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

Gingerbread brownies and a movie I should have seen in 2006

While there are movies I keep watching over and over again, I can’t find a way to watch others, no matter how much I want to: if it’s on TV, I’ll probably have to be somewhere else at the same time (or it will be aired at 3 in the morning), or the weekend I brought the DVD home I didn’t have the time to sit and watch it – you name it. One of those movies was Children of Men, and a couple of days ago I could finally watch it, and what a magnificent movie it is. Alfonso Cuarón had already won me over with the excellent Gravity, and in Children of Men his work is pure perfection – what he does as a director in this movie is beyond words and it’s just ridiculous that he wasn’t nominated for Best Achievement in Directing; actually, the movie had only three Oscar nominations (while The Help, for instance, had four, for crying out loud), and Clive Owen was ignored while Forest Whitaker took the award home – I can’t even.

So here I am, seven years later, hating myself for having waited so long to watch such a masterpiece. Since I don’t want that kind of thing to happen when it comes to food, I present you some delicious and super easy to make gingerbread brownies – I wasn’t sure I was going to bake these, after all my Christmas series this year is pretty chocolaty already, but why wait? Not seven years, not even seven days. :D

Gingerbread brownies
slightly adapted from the wonderful Delicious Australia

185g unsalted butter, chopped
150g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
200g brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, sifted
100g dark chocolate, chopped or in chips, extra

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a square 20cm (8in) baking pan, line it with foil, leaving a 5cm (2in) overhang on 2 opposite sides, then butter the foil as well.
In a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water), melt butter and 150g chopped chocolate. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
Add the sugar and stir to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt, spices and cocoa and stir until incorporated. Fold in the remaining 100g chocolate. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake until brownies are set around the edges and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let brownies cool in the pan over a wire rack.
Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Gingerbread stars because Christmas is around the corner

One of the things I hear the most these days is that time flies and I couldn’t agree more – I cannot believe that December has already arrived; it’s time to decorate the Christmas tree, to buy gifts for the loved ones and to start thinking about the food – since it’s too early for turkey I kicked things off with these cute and delicious gingerbread stars. :)

I usually shy away from cut out cookies at this time of the year because of the insane heat, but days ago the sun wasn’t so harsh and I managed to make these without much trouble, just refrigerating the cookies before actually baking them. A sprinkling of icing sugar to mimic snow and my Christmas series begins now (and if you’re looking for inspiration and can’t wait there are several posts from previous years here). :)

Gingerbread stars
slightly adapted from Mowie’s beautiful blog

130g unsalted butter
4 tablespoons corn syrup
110g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
330g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
icing sugar, for sprinkling

Place the butter, sugar and syrup in a small saucepan and melt together over a medium heat. Cool, then stir in the vanilla.
Place flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, add the melted mixture and mix until a dough forms – I used an electric mixer for that but the mixture wouldn’t come together no matter how much I mixed it; therefore, I cracked an egg in a small bowl, lightly beat it with a fork and, with the mixer on, l added the egg gradually until the dough came together (I used nearly half the egg).
Divide the dough into half, form a disk with each half and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll out the dough onto a floured surface to 5mm thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes and place onto the prepared baking sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on the sheets over a wire rack, then sprinkle generously with icing sugar. Reroll dough scraps once.

Makes about 4 dozen using a 5cm (2in) star cookie cutter

Gingerbread marshmallows

I’ve been baking lots of cookies lately – these books have been at my kitchen counter all the time – but I wanted something else for the people at work, something that to them would sound unusual. Marshmallows were the perfect choice: upon delivering some of the small plastic bags filled with the candy some of my coworkers were really intrigued by the idea of homemade marshmallows, and “did you actually make these???” was the sentence I heard the most throughout that day. :)
Besides that, there were other reasons behind the choice: I hadn’t made marshmallows in a very long time, they have a Christmassy feel, the recipe yields a lot – that way many, many goodie bags would be made with it – and I also wanted to please my sister, who is absolutely crazy about them. I waited for her feedback, thinking that she might find them too spicy, or too gingery, but she said they were fantastic – she’s a grown up now and bold flavors don’t scare her anymore (but she still won’t eat bacon, which is something I’ll never understand). :D

Gingerbread marshmallows
adapted from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

4 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup (240ml) warm water
3 ¼ cups (650g) granulated sugar
¾ cup corn syrup or golden syrup
½ cup + 1 tablespoon molasses
2/3 cup (160ml) water, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
vegetable oil and icing sugar, for the pan

For rolling the marshmallows:
1 ½ cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20x30cm (8x12in) cake pan and dust it generously with icing sugar*.
Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose, molasses and extra water in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat without stirring. Bring to the boil and cook for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage: 115°C/240°F on a sugar thermometer.
With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture – carefully because the mixture may splash. Add the vanilla and the spices and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into prepared pan and leave at room temperature overnight.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Sprinkle some of the mixture onto a surface and unmold the marshmallow onto it (loosen it from the sides of the pan with a sharp knife). Using a lightly oiled knife, cut into squares and roll into the icing sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

* the recipe yielded so much that I was able to fill two 20x30cm (8x12in) pans with it, and in the end I got 110 marshmallows

Makes about 50 marshmallows

Gingerbread linzer tartlets

So I decided to grab the hot weather by the horns and make Christmas tartlets anyway, but with my dried fruit stash reduced to a sad handful I dropped the fruit mince tarts idea and went for something else: the beautiful gingerbread linzertorte I’d seen on Martha’s website, which was the perfect choice since I had a couple of jars of jam in my pantry. The good thing is: I made the recipe into tartlets, which looked adorable and were a hit with my husband, my sister and my one of my sisters-in-law. The bad thing is: the dough is ultra-mega-soft, kind of hard to work with, and it would have been better to make one large tart (less work). I’m stubborn and didn’t give up on my tartlet idea, but I’ll admit it that while shaping the dough I felt like banging my head against the wall, Heathcliff style. :)

Gingerbread linzer tartlets
slightly adapted from Martha

2 ¼ cups (315g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (88g) packed dark-brown sugar
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup unsulfured molasses
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg white
1 ¼ cups raspberry jam – I used cherry jam

Sift flour, baking powder, spices, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar; mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add butter; mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add molasses and egg yolks; mix until dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll two-thirds of the dough into a 30cm (12in) round, 6mm (¼in) thick. Fit into a lightly buttered 25cm (10in) tart pan with a removable bottom. Prick bottom all over with a fork. Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
Roll out remaining dough between pieces of floured parchment paper to a 30cm (12in) round, 6mm (¼in) thick. Transfer round with parchment to a baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut out shapes from round with dot and snowflake-shape cookie cutters. (If desired, reserve snowflake cutouts - bake for 10 minutes at 180°C/350°F and sprinkle tops with confectioners' sugar.). Spread jam over bottom of shell. Lightly beat egg white; brush over rim of tart shell. Carefully slide dough round over shell; press edges to adhere. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 165°C/325°F with rack in lowest position (I baked my tartlets at 180°C/350°F).
Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Serves 8 – I made the exact recipe above using 10cm (4in) tartlet pans and got 5 tartlets

Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins - it's Christmas time around here!

Spices are ingredients I love – to the point of buying a cookbook devoted to them – and I use them throughout the year, but this time of the year is when I reach for them the most: lots of ginger, cinnamon and cloves to set the mood for Christmas. My holiday series starts now, with super tender muffins perfumed with ginger, both fresh and ground – and to make everything even more delicious, there’s chocolate, too.

Gingerbread chocolate chip muffins
slightly adapted from the super beautiful More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle's Popular Neighborhood Bakery

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (58g) brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup molasses
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk*

Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F (I baked my muffins at 180°C/350°F). Line 8 cups of standard muffin pan with paper cases.
Toss the chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and fresh ginger until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beat well, then add the yolk, beating well – if the mixture looks curdled, beat in ¼ cup of the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla.
At low speed, drizzle in the molasses and mix until combined. With a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk – do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

* 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 8 – I made the exact recipe above using this pan and got 8 muffins

Apple, pecan and gingerbread loaf + "Top Chef"

There are shows and series I adore but never have the time to watch; “Top Chef” is one of them – I watched the first season back in the day but then never got to watch the following seasons, therefore it’s been wonderful to watch the reruns at Sony for the past months.

* spoilers – seasons 1 through 7 *

Apart from Howard, which I thought truly deserved winning “Top Chef”, I did not like all the other winners, up to season 7; by the end of each season I would promise myself not to watch the following season, but I guess that some TV shows are like bad habits we can’t quit. :)
For some reason Sony went from season 5 to 7, so I can’t comment on Voltaggio, but watching the season 7 finale a couple of days ago made me dislike Ilan even more (I was team Sam) while at the same time Hung grew on me – to watch him work like a horse to help someone else was really cool.
And you? Do you think the “Top Chef” wins have been fair? I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.

* end of spoilers *

Like pears apples are at their best now, in the fall, therefore this delicious gingerbread loaf could not wait until the end of the year to be part of my Christmas series; the loaf was easy to make and tasted even better two days later.

Apple, pecan and gingerbread loaf
from the absolutely beautiful Delicious - Australia

2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter
150g soft dark brown sugar
½ cup minus 1 tablespoon (150g) golden syrup – I used corn syrup
200ml whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoon (250g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup (75g) pecans, roughly chopped
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm (½in) pieces

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 1.5l loaf pan*, line with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat combine the butter, sugar, and syrup and stir until melted. Stir through the milk and vanilla and allow to cool.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, make a well in the center and pour in the cooled milk mixture. Mix until smooth, then fold in the eggs, pecans, crystallized ginger and apple.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack to cool completely (peel off the paper after the cake has cooled, because it’s too soft while warm).

* I made the exact recipe above but there was too much batter for the 1.5l pan; I ended up baking the excess batter in a 4-cup capacity loaf pan

Serves 10-12

Gingerbread, pear and almond tart

I got hypnotized by this tart when I first saw it on the DH mag – it looked so beautiful and delicious! My first thought was to make it at the end of the year and post the recipe as part of my Christmas series, but then I remembered that pears are at their peak now, and I had a small amount of marmalade in the fridge (left from a cake I’d made a couple of weeks before) that ended up being the exact ¼ cup called for in the tart recipe; as the universe had conspired in my kitchen before and the results were wonderful, I went ahead and made the tart, and that turned out to be a very smart decision. ;)

Gingerbread, pear and almond tart
from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup golden syrup (I used corn syrup)
2 2/3 cups (373g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 firm pears, halved lengthwise, each half cut in 4-5 slices
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup orange marmalade
icing sugar, for dusting
whipped cream, for serving

Place the butter and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup, flour, ginger, baking soda and salt and beat until mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Divide in two equal portions and form each one into a rough rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
In a small bowl, mix together the almond meal and the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside. Place the pears, extra sugar, vanilla and marmalade in a large bowl and mix to combine.
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Roll each portion of dough between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you get a 20x30cm (12x8in) rectangle. Sprinkle the almond meal mixture down the center of each dough rectangle, leaving a 5cm (2in) border. Place the pear filling on top of the almond meal and fold the edges of dough over the pears. Transfer to the prepared sheet. Refrigerate the tarts for 20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked and golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack – you can serve the tarts warm or at room temperature.
Dust with the icing sugar and serve.

Makes 2 tarts, each serving 4-6

Gingerbread chocolate madeleines

My last holiday post almost turned out like a big FAIL: after baking these delicious and oh, so tender madeleines I decided to deep them on a chocolate glaze I’d seen in one of my cookbooks. But the problem was that the glaze never set. Not ever. So I recommend dipping them in tempered chocolate to avoid that problem (just so you know it, the madeleines are great without the chocolate coating, too).
There was one good thing about the whole story, though: I adapted the madeleine recipe from my newest cookbook love. :D

Happy Holidays!

Gingerbread chocolate madeleines
adapted from Short and Sweet - mine was bought here

Madeleines:
2 large eggs
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (73g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Chocolate coating:
75g dark chocolate, melted and tempered

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Butter thirty 1-tablespoon capacity madeleine molds.
Place the eggs and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer and whisk for 3-4 minutes or until thick and doubled in volume. Add the vanilla.
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves into the bowl and gently fold into the egg mixture. Gently fold in the butter and crystallized ginger. Spoon the batter into the molds until they’re ¾ full. Bake for about 10 minutes or until risen and lightly golden. Remove from the oven and unmold the madeleines onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Deep them in chocolate if desired.
Keep the madeleines in an airtight container to keep them from drying out.

Makes 30

Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake

It’s not every day you’ll hear me say (or read me write, for that matter) that I would choose an almond cake over a lemon one: this delicious and very moist cake made me believe that ginger has found a better friend in nuts rather than in citrus.

This loaf cake did not rise and split in the center like I expected it to (and I’ve made it twice already), that is why I drizzled it with the icing – in the end it looked like snow. :)

Marbled gingerbread almond loaf cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so gorgeous Gingerbread

Cake:
1 ¼ cups (150g) cake flour*
¾ cup (75g) almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) dark molasses
1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Icing:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons water

Make the cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22.5x12.5x7.5cm (9x5x3in) loaf pan**.
Whisk together the cake flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Place butter in a large bowl and beat in medium speed until creamy. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition (scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally). Reduce the speed to low and alternately incorporate the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Remove half of the batter and transfer to a medium bowl. Stir the vanilla extract into one bowl and the molasses and spices into the other. Drop large dollops of both batters into the prepared pan. Using a paring knife or wooden skewer, swirl the batters together to get a marbled effect – do not overmix.tap the pan gently once or twice on the work surface to remove any air bubbles.
Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15-20 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely.
Make the icing: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, gradually add the lemon juice and water and mix until desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

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

** I made ¾ of the recipe above using a 20x9cm (8x3½ in)

Serves 6-8

Pear gingerbread cakes

On the couch, trying to find something nice on TV the other day, the hubby asks: “have you watched ‘The Painted Veil’?” – “Yes, four times already. But I would not mind watching it again if you’re in the mood”. What can I say? When I like something, I really like it. That’s just me. ;)

Not only did I learn to love ginger, I also bought a whole book devoted to this ingredient. That’s just me. ;)

Pear gingerbread cakes
adapted from the beautiful Gingerbread

1 1/3 cups (186g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup (58g) packed brown sugar
½ cup (120ml) molasses
1 large egg
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
2 pears

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line eight 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans with high paper cases*.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in the molasses and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until incorporated, stopping at least once to scrape the bowl. Reduce the mixing speed to medium-low and alternately incorporate the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Increase to medium speed and beat until smooth.
Divide each pear lengthwise into quarters and remove the seeds. Divide the batter among the prepared pan and place ¼ of pear into each, sinking the pear pieces a little into the batter. Before placing the pan in the oven, fill the empty cavities halfway with water.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then carefully remove and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.

* if using regular paper cases you’ll probably get 12 cakes (and will need an extra pear)

Makes 8

Vanilla flan with gingerbread crumbs

Those of you who – sometimes – devour lunch with an eye on dessert, please, raise your hand. 0/

I made a beautiful, delicious salad with tuna – from this book – for lunch and, even though I happily savored each bite of it, I was really interested in trying this flan. :)

And since I know you are all so dear and won’t judge me, there goes the recipe. :D

Vanilla flan with gingerbread crumbs
adapted from the wonderful Bon Appetit Desserts and the beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

Gingerbread cookies:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup (50g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup molasses

Flan:
1 ¾ cups (420ml) heavy cream
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed with the back of the knife
1 cup (200g) + 7 tablespoons (84g) caster (superfine) sugar, divided
1/3 cup (80ml) water
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks

Start with the gingerbread: in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy, add egg yolk and beat until combined. Add molasses, beat to combine, then add sifted ingredients and stir until just combined. Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper; shape dough into a log. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 4cm log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line a large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap log. Cut into 6mm (¼in) thick rounds; space 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake until golden, 15-17 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on the sheet over a wire rack.
Store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Makes 20

Now, the flans: place cream, milk and salt in a heavy medium saucepan and mix to combine. Add the vanilla seeds and bean and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and let infuse for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine 1 cup (200g) sugar and water in a heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and cook without stirring until syrup is deep amber color, swirling the pan a couple of times. Occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Immediately pour caramel into six ¾ cup (180ml) capacity ramekins. Using oven mitts, tilt each ramekin to coat sides with caramel. Place ramekins in a 20x30cm metal baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, egg yolks and remaining 7 tablespoons sugar. Gradually add the cream mixture, whisking without creating a lot of foam. Pour custard through a small sieve into the prepared ramekins. Add enough hot water to the baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake flans until center is gently set, about 40 minutes – do not overbake. Carefully remove from the oven, transfer ramekins to a wire rack and cool completely. Refrigerate, lightly covered, overnight.
When ready to serve, place some of the gingerbread cookies in a bag and crush with a rolling pin (or use a food processor). Sprinkle each flan with some of the gingerbread crumbs and serve.

Serves 6

White chocolate gingerbread blondies

I’m a sucker for spices – you’ve probably noticed that – and the word “gingerbread” gets me drooling already; can you guess what I felt when I found Martha’s gingerbread recipe collection? :)

The only problem was choosing ONE recipe to make - luckily for me the bag of white chocolate chips in my pantry helped me out a little. ;)

White chocolate gingerbread blondies
from here

2 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon (395g) all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks/282g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (218g) packed light-brown sugar
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (124g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80ml) unsulfured molasses
280g (10oz) white chocolate, coarsely chopped - I used chips

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 42x30cm (17x12in) rimmed baking sheet, line with foil and butter the foil as well.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.
Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes*. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 5cm (2in) squares or desired shape.
The blondies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

* I needed to bake mine for 35 minutes, the mixture puffed while in the oven then flattened in the center after cooling

Makes 4 dozen 5cm (2in) squares – I made 2/3 of the recipe above, used a 20cm (8in) square pan and got 16 squares

Gingerbread caramels

My friend Ana Elisa’s adventure in making torrone reminded me of how much work these caramels were: it took forever for the mixture to achieve the desired temperature, and I was melting in my kitchen while stirring it; after that, another century went by before I finished cutting them, oiled knife and all. Not to mention they were super soft and hard to wrap, too.

You’ll probably ask me why on earth I am posting such recipe – well, all the trouble slipped my mind the minute I tasted one caramel. :)

Gingerbread caramels
adapted from Pure Dessert, flavor idea from here

¾ cup corn syrup
¼ cup molasses
2 cups (400g) caster (superfine) sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups (480ml) heavy cream
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

Line the bottom and sides of a 22cm (9in) square pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil. Combine the corn syrup, molasses, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3 liter (3-quart) saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. (Meanwhile, rinse the spatula or spoon before using it again later.) Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 150°C/305°F. Meanwhile, heat the cream with the spices in a small saucepan until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot.

When the sugar mixture reaches 150°C/305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually stir in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 118°C/245°F. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 126°C/260°F for soft, chewy caramels or 129°C/265°F for firmer chewy caramels.

Remove the pan from the heat pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let set for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight until firm.

Lift the pan liner from the pan and invert the sheet of caramel onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the liner. Cut the caramels with an oiled knife. Wrap each caramel individually in wax paper or cellophane.

* the flavor of the spices was very discreet in the finished caramels, so you might want to increase the amounts for a real gingerbread kick

Makes about 80 – I got 100