Christmas in the kitchen

Gingerbread man cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

6 tbsp unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup blackstrap molasses or plain

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 In a big bowl mix the dry ingredients, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and ground cloves

2 In another large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat brown sugar and butter (at room temperature) till it is nice and creamy. Add the egg and molasses on low speed.

3 Gradually stir in the dry ingredients and incorporate all as a dough. Gather the dough in hand, divide in two and make it into a ball. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for four hours.

4 Bring dough to room temperature. Preheat oven to 190°C. Line baking sheet with parchment. Roll dough about 1/4-inch thick, cut shapes with cookie cutter. Freeze the cut cookies for 10 minutes. Keep the frozen cookies 8-10 inches apart and bake for 7-9 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely before you decorate them with readymade icing.

Spicy Christmas Macarons

(Makes about 20-25)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup almond flour

2 large egg whites, room temperature

5 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp nutmeg powder

1 To make confectioners’ sugar: For 1 cup, add 1 tbsp of cornflour and blend till the granulated sugar is fine to touch.

2 To make almond flour: grind almonds (whole) in a food processor and sieve it.

3 Preheat oven to 150°C. Pulse powdered sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined.

4 Using an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites until foamy. Slowly add granulated sugar and nutmeg powder. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold dry flour mixture into egg whites. Continue to mix until batter is smooth but still thick. Caution: Do not over mix the batter.

5 Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds an inch apart on parchmentlined baking sheets. Hold the pastry bag at a 90° angle and tap the bottom of each cookie sheet to release air bubbles. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

6 Bake one sheet at a time, each for 12-15 minutes. Wait for the entire batch to cool before sandwiching one or two teaspoons of raspberry chocolate spread between two macarons.

Tips

If there are cracks on the top, let the macarons sit for another 30 minutes before you bake.

Touch the surface of the macarons with your index finger before you put them in the oven. It should not be sticky, a thin film should have formed on the top.

Raspberry chocolate filling for Macarons

3-4 tbsp raspberry jam

1/4 cup fine quality chocolate powder

2 tbsp instant coffee powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 Take the jam in a bowl and whisk in the other ingredients one by one. If the jam is runny (depends on the brand), keep adding chocolate powder till a nice paste is formed. Pipe it or spoon it on to the macarons.

Pistachio Cookies

(Makes about 20-25)

1 cup of unsalted butter

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar

1 large egg

2 lemon zest (from two medium lemons)

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup pistachios finely chopped

1 Preheat oven to 180°C.

2 In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar, add eggs and mix, add the lemon zest followed by all-purpose flour, and fold the dough. The dough should be greasy to touch and pliable.

3 Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, flatten a bit on top. Add pistachio on top and bake for 10-12 minutes, until it is lightly brown at the bottom.

4 Cool on rack, store in airtight container.

Savory Cookies

(Makes about 25-30)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

2-3 green chillies, finely chopped

Coriander leaves, finely chopped

1/3 cup oil

4 tbsp butter (liquid)

1/4 cup or less of warm water

4 tbsp sesame seeds roasted

1 tsp cumin (optional)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 In a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients, followed by onion, green chillies, coriander, oil and butter. The mix should be chunky like breadcrumbs. Then add water to make a dough. Cover and keep for 30 minutes.

2 Preheat oven to 180°C. Roll the dough and cut with a cookie cutter, or even just a small disc. Since the dough is not that firm, make sure you roll it on a non-stick surface, so that it is easier to peel off the cookies.

3 Bake for about 20-30 minutes; make sure they don’t turn too brown, we do not want to burn the onions

Panna-Cotta in mason jars

Eight 120-ml mason jars

For panna cotta:

1 cup half-n-half or full-fat milk

1 cup cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp clove powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 cup or less candied ginger chopped

2 pouches of gelatin (without

flavour); you can use sheets too

For mulled wine jelly:

11/4 cup red wine

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cranberries or berries of your choice

1 cinnamon stick

A pinch of star anise (optional)

1 packet gelatin

For the garnish:

Whipped cream

Candy cane, crushed

1 In a cup, add a little warm water, and then the gelatin and let this sit for a minute; add it to the half-and-half milk and cream and stir well. Add the sugar, spices, candied ginger and transfer to mason jars — do not fill the whole jar, leave room for the jelly. Refrigerate. It takes about 2-3 hours to set or about an hour in the freezer.

2 Add the red wine, water, sugar, spices and cranberries to a saucepan and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Let the mixture cool after all the cranberries are cooked and mushy. It would have reduced to a little more than a cup.

3 Strain the mixture for a clear juice. In a cup, add a little warm water, then the gelatin and let this sit for a minute; add it to the wine juice.

4 If the panna cotta has set, pour the jelly on it and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. I used crushed candy cane (mint flavour) and whipped cream for garnish.

Serve chilled.

Nutmeg Pear Cake

3 eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground nutmeg

A pinch of turmeric

A pinch of salt

2 firm pears

1 Preheat oven to 175°C.

2 Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs and whip till it is soft and creamy. Add the vanilla extract.

3 Mix all the dry ingredients. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar, and fold it gently. Now, add 1/2 cup buttermilk and half the dry ingredients and whip; add the remaining buttermilk and the dry ingredients and mix gently till it becomes a creamy dough.

4 Line a rectangle cake pan with parchment paper, grease the top and bottom. Cut the bottom of the pear, keep the pieces equidistant from each other in the cake pan and pour the cake mix on it. If you do not like the top of the pear showing after the cake is baked, cut it off.

5 Bake for 45-55 minutes, till you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Slice with care, so you get a nice slice of pear with the cake. Enjoy warm.

Simi Jois lives in Chicago and blogs at turmericnspice.com

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