Finding Christmas

i have a confession to make.
i have been avoiding my blog.
i just couldn’t find any inspiration. But now I’m back.

***

It was Christmas morning. Traditionally a cheerful day filled with jolly decorations and a plentitude of presents. While this year I admit it was more than just a jovial day, it wasn’t the lavish Christmas of childhood pasts.

The travails of the past year have thrown my family off track, and none of us were able to go shopping, decorate or cook with the usual vigor. No frenzied bouts of shopping. No candy canes or gingerbread. No shiny presents under an elaborately decorated Christmas tree. Rather than a big Christmas Eve feast, we settled for a simple Italian dinner of lasagna and salad (and no I am not Italian). And for the first time, I wasn’t ravenous to tear apart the sparkling wrapping paper and didn’t stuff myself silly at Christmas dinner.

We weren’t Scrooges. No. Instead, we found the meaning of Christmas. This year was truly about the comfort of being with family and friends – an ingredient that should prevail in everyday life. For me, Christmas was not measured by the height of my pile of wrapping paper, but rather in the smiles that blossomed on my mother’s face. No present, whatever the size, can compare in value.

But in all good spirit, I did bake some Christmas cookies.

Fig jam and fig jam swirls, lemon ginger shortbread, double chocolate brownie cookies, gingerbread macarons that weren’t quite up to par and chocolate peanut macarons.

Fig Swirl Sables
Dainty swirls coated in crunchy demera sugar

3 cups flour
7/8 cup (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk

Jam
Demera Sugar

Make the dough in a food processor, stand mixer, or by hand following the same procedure, taking care not to overwork the ingredients. Cream butter. Add the sugar and cream until well mixed. Sift in the flour, mix and then beat in egg yolk. Mix until just combined.

Chill the dough well, at least 30 minutes. Roll out into a rectangle about 1/16 inch thickness. Spread jam over entire rectangle, leaving about ¼-1/2 inch free near the edges. Starting at one end, roll the dough over, jellyroll style, until it is 4 times thick. Cut the log free from the rectangle. Place on a baking tray and continue the process with the rest of the dough. Make an egg wash by whisking 1 egg with 1-2 tablespoons water. Brush egg wash on the cookie logs and then roll logs in the demera sugar to coat. Chill the dough until firm, about 1 hour. Slice ½ inch thick cookies and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 300°F for about 10 minutes, but not golden.

Lemon Ginger Shortbread
Little light-as-air confections that melt on the tip of your tongue

(inspired by jen at use real butter)

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
¼ cup candied ginger, finely minced

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Cream the butter with the sugar, and then add the extract, lemon zest and juice and mix. Add the flour, salt and candied ginger and mix just until the dough comes together.Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and shape into a log (or whatever shape you want) and refrigerate for a couple of hours until firm.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Remove from refrigerator and slice the dough about 1/4 inch thick. Set on baking sheet with enough space for spreading. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they are lightly colored but not too brown.

Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies
Rich morsels evokative of brownies with a fudgy center and studded with white chocolate chips
(adapted from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern)

¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly brewed espresso
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¾ cup white chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, briefly whip the eggs to break them up. Add the sugar, espresso, and vanilla and beat on high speed for 15 minutes, until thick. While the eggs are whipping, place the butter in the top of a double boiler, or in a metal bowl suspended over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water, and scatter the extra bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate on top. Heat until the butter and chocolate melt. Remove the boiler top from the water and stir the butter and chocolate until smooth.

Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until partially combined (there should still be some streaks). Add the flour mixture to the batter and carefully fold it in. Fold in the white chocolate chips. If the batter is very runny, let it rest until it thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Drop the batter by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until puffed and cracked, 8 to 9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before removing from the baking sheet.

gingerbread macarons

peanut macarons

More on the macarons to come… and please excuse the crappy photos. Still no camera.

If there is one resolution I am making for the New Year, it is to simply be present, right here, right now and take pride and joy in what is happening at the very moment.

My sweetest wishes for the New Year.

See more of the Pastry Princess' dessert recipes!

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