Orange-Cranberry-Nut Fruit Cake

Are you all ready for Christmas?  I am!  We always have a mellow Christmas celebration and my husband and I always emphasize the importance of the birth of Jesus instead of having lots of gifts under the tree.  It helps with all the craziness that's going on around the season.  It really doesn't matter if we have many gifts or only one.  We tell our son that the important things is to be with family and enjoy the season by doing something good.  I digress.

Every Christmas I try to bake a fruitcake.  I have a couple of favorite recipes but this year I wanted to try something new.  This recipe is a keeper.  As it stated in the original King Arthur Flour website, this is more of a cake than a traditional fruitcake.  I do like the light version of fruitcake but I don't mind the dark one if it's being offered to me :)

My family likes fruitcake as well so they're looking forward to it every year.  And even my son commented that this was a good one!

Orange-Cranberry-Nut Fruit Cake

Fruit:
2 cups dried cranberries
2 cups dried fruits (I chose a combination of golden raisins, dried currants, dried apricots, and candied citron)
1/2 cup orange liqueur
1 3/4 cups candied red cherries

Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon orange oil
4 large eggs
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup orange juice
2 cups diced pecans

Glaze:
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup suagr

Icing:
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Enough milk to make a thick but pourable icing


Prepare the fruit:  Combine dried fruits with orange liqueur in a bowl.  Cover and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes, stir, then set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325 degree F.

Prepare the cake:  In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light-colored and fluffy.  Beat in the baking powder, salt, and flavors.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat again briefly, to incorporate any sticky residue.

Stir in the flour alternately with the orange juice.

Stir in the undrained fruit, the candied cherries, and pecans.

Lightly grease two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans.

Spoon batter into the lightly greased baking pans, filling them about three-quarters full.

Bake the cakes for 50 to 70 minutes.  When done, the cakes will be a light golden brown all over, and a long skewer inserted into the center will come out clean.  If cakes brown too quickly during baking, cover lightly with aluminum foil.

Make the glaze:  Stir together the orange juice and sugar while the cakes are baking.  Warm briefly in the microwave; about 45 seconds.  Stir to help dissolve the sugar.  Set aside to rest at room temperature, stirring occasionally to continue dissolving the sugar.

Remove the cakes from the oven, place on the cooling rack.  Let cool for 10 minutes then turn them out onto the rack.  Brush the warm cakes all over with the glaze, continuing to brush until you've used it all.

When completely cooled, wrap well and let "age" at least 24 hours; the cake improves with a 24-hour rest.

Drizzle with icing just before serving.

Store cake, well wrapped, at room temperature; it should keep for a couple of weeks.  Freeze for longer storage.


Source:  adapted from King Arthur Flour website

Merry Christmas!

I don't think I can post any recipe at this moment but I want to share this plate of cookies with you.  All of those were made these past weeks, my family would be so happy to devour them tomorrow.  Hopefully in the coming days I'll be able to post the recipes.

As of now, I just want to say to you, my readers,  may the spirit of Christmas bring joy to your heart and happiness to your home!

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Bars

This is my last post on Christmas cookies that I made these past weeks.  Since it's the last, it's also my favorite!  I love anything peppermint this time of year; I've eaten peppermint bark candies and thin mint cookies, drunk peppermint tea and peppermint mocha coffee.  These bars have buttery base, then it's the sweet and peppermint layer, and lastly it's the smooth dark chocolate top.  Ah, so heavenly!  

With this post, I'm sending a Merry Christmas to you all!  I'll be busy tomorrow and Christmas day, enjoying time with my family.

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Bars

Makes 30, 2 ½-x-¾"-bars

For shortbread crust:

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

For peppermint and chocolate layers:

3 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

4 Tablespoons boiling water

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

⅓ cups peppermint candy, such as starlight mints, crushed

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly spray 8 x 8" pan with oil.  Line pan with parchment paper to the top edges of the pan.  With a stand or handheld mixer, cream butter, sugar, and salt until fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom.  Add yolks, one at a time, then vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Add flour all at once and mix at low speed until combined; do not overwork.  Press dough into prepared pan and level the surface.  Prick with a fork in several places and bake 15-18 minutes, until edges are golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before proceeding with next steps.

Make peppermint layer:  Place powdered sugar in a bowl, add boiling water and extract then mix with a rubber spatula until smooth.  Add crushed candy and mix well.  Working quickly, spread over cooled crust and level.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Chop chocolate and place into microwaveable bowl.  Heat 1 minute on 60% power.  Mix with a rubber spatula then heat again 30 seconds, mix, then heat another 30 seconds.  Add oil and blend well.  If there are lumps, heat again 30 seconds, being careful not to scorch.  When smooth, pour over peppermint and quickly spread into an even layer to cover.  Allow chocolate to harden.

Lift parchment paper to remove the pan.  Using a large, sharp knife, slice into bars of desired size and serve.

Note:  be sure to use genuine peppermint extract or oil and good quality bittersweet chocolate.  They make the difference in these bars.

Source:  adapted from Market of Choice website

Chocolate Crinkles and Merry Christmas!

Christmas is here!  Though my chosen color is blue, I'm not having a blue Christmas at all.  In fact, I'll be somewhere near the ocean, having a great time with family and friends.

Here's to my readers, chocolate crinkles, to end a sweet Christmas...

Chocolate Crinkles

Makes 60 to 72 cookies



2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Confectioners' sugar



Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.

In the top of a double boiler over hot but not boiling water, melt the shortening and chocolate.  Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and, with an electric mixer, beat in the granulated sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Stir in the vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or butter them.

Form the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter and roll each ball in confectioners' sugar.  Place the balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets, flattening the ball slightly.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are firm around the edges but still soft in the center.  For crisper cookies, bake a little longer.



Source:  The Christmas Cookie Book by Judy Knipe and Barbara Marks

Ricotta Fruitcake

Christmas is in a few days and as a tradition I've always baked a variety of sweets during this festive month.  I've baked my cookies which are consumed daily by my family members, and I've also baked fruitcakes.  There's people who don't like fruitcakes but there's a few who likes them and that includes me and my family.  For me, fruitcake is like a cake with lots of fruits and nuts in them with a healthy dose of liquor.  Now, how good a fruitcake is, I conclude, depends on the recipe and who's making it :)

This particular recipe has a ricotta cheese pound cake as the base.  The cake itself is already flavorful and moist, so adding fruits and nuts is actually enhancing those qualities.  I agree that a lot of fruitcake is hard and could be dry at times; I don't quite like that in my fruitcake either.  And believe me, once this cake is made, it will never be kept for a long time and passed down to other people!  Quite the contrary, the cake has disappeared slice by slice before Christmas has even come.

Ricotta Fruitcake

Makes 4 loaves (about 8 servings per loaf)



1 cup chopped candied pineapple

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/3 cup dark rum

1 recipe Ricotta Cheese Pound Cake

2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut or sweetened flaked coconut

2 tablespoons unbleached flour



At least an hour before baking, preferably longer, combine the candied pineapple, raisins, pecans, and rum in a mixing bowl.  Stir, then cover, periodically stirring to saturate the mixture thoroughly.  In the meantime butter 4 3 3/4-x 7 3/4-inch loaf pans and line them with buttered wax paper, buttered side out, letting the paper come over the edge by about an inch so you can pull the cakes out easily later.  Set aside.  When you start to prepare the cake, preheat the oven to 350F.

Prepare the cake as usual.  Mix the coconut with the dried fruit and rum, then mix in the 2 tablespoons flour.  Fold the fruit mixture into the batter, then divide the batter evenly among the pans.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool the cakes in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then lift them out by the wax paper.  Cool for another 30 minutes, then carefully peel off wax paper.  As soon as the cakes no longer feel warm, wrap them in plastic wrap and overwrap in foil.  Store in a cool location in an airtight container.

Ricotta Cheese Pound Cake--adapted for the fruitcake

Makes 1 large cake



1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups packed light brown sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

2 cups unbleached flour

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 3/4 cups milk or light cream

1 cup ricotta cheese



In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer, gradually beating in the brown sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.  Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.

Sift the flours, baking powder, salt, and ginger into another bowl, adding any pieces of bran that remain in the sifter; set aside.  Puree the milk or cream and the ricotta cheese in a blender.

Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk/ricotta; do this in several stages, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Proceed with the making of the fruitcakes as described above.



Source:  Country Baking by Ken Haedrich

Christmas Greeting

Merry Christmas dear readers!

This is the second Christmas cookie I made with the help of my son.  He actually picked it out about a month ago because it looked so cute.  Making this type of cookies was like playing with playdough :)

Snowball Trees

Makes about 36 cookies



1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Green paste food coloring

1 recipe Powdered Sugar icing (below)

Red & green or multicolor confetti sprinkles



In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add granulated sugar.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in milk and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.  Remove 1/2 cup of the dough.  Tint the remaining dough with green food coloring.

Preheat oven to 325°.  For each cookies, use the green dough to shape ten 1/2-inch balls.  On an ungreased cookie sheet arrange balls in a row of four, topped by a row of three, then two, then one on top.  As you arrange balls, gently press them into each other.  Use the plain dough to make a 3/4-inch ball; place it at the bottom of the tree for a trunk.  Repeat with remaining dough, leaving 2 inches between cookies.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light brown.  Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.  Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

Pipe or drizzle Powdered Sugar Icing back and forth over cookies to look like strings for lights.  Add sprinkles to icing for lights.  Let stand until icing sets.



Powdered Sugar Icing

In a medium bowl stir together 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and enough milk (3 to 4 tablespoons) to make icing piping or drizzling consistency.



To store:  Layer cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover.  Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.



Source:  Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Baking 2011.

Christmas Stollen

The darkness of winter is closing in and with that, the Christmas of 2011 is almost over.  Last night we had dinner with a family friend; their kids played with mine, the adults talked in front of the fireplace.  It's the most peaceful moment during the week leading to Christmas.  The food was superb, the desserts were equally delicious.  My panettone obviously needed tinkering, but the stollen came out beautifully.  It will no doubt be one bread that make it to my Christmas baking ritual.  To prove that I can make stollen, to prove to my walking friends that stollen is not an ordinary dried fruit-nut bread :)

And the kids, who were happily entertained by Tintin comic books.

Stollen

Makes 2 large breads



Fruit:

3/4 cup dark raisins

3/4 cup golden raisins

4 ounces whole candied citron, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 cup dark rum or brandy



Sponge:

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 packages (1 1/2 tablespoons) rapid-rise yeast

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature



Dough:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom, preferably freshly ground

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved

3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup blanched whole almonds, chopped into medium-sized pieces

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

12 ounces marzipan, homemade or canned

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Confectioners' sugar for dusting



The night before or even 2 or 3 days ahead, combine the raisins, candied citron, and liquor in a 2-pint jar with a screw-cap lid or in a resealable plastic bag.  Turn the container several times to distribute the liquor evenly.  Set aside at room temperature to soak.

To make the sponge:  scald the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat-you will see steam rising from the surface and small bubbles forming around the edges.  Remove the pan from the heat and let milk cool to between 120 degree and 130 degree F.

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer.  Whisk in the yeast and sugar.  Add the milk and whisk briskly to make a smooth batter.  Add the egg and whisk to combine well.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the sponge rise until it more than doubles in volume and then collapses on itself, about 2 hours.

To make the dough with a stand mixer:  attach the flat beater and beat the butter into the sponge in 2-tablespoon installment on medium speed, beating until incorporated after each addition.  Add the sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla seeds, almond extract, and salt and beat on low to medium-low speed until the dough masses on the blade, abut 5 minutes.  Scrape the bowl and beater, and stir in the raisins and citron, along with any unabsorbed liquor.  Add the almonds.  Switch to the dough hook.  Beating on low speed, gradually 2 cups of the flour and then knead for 3 to 5 minutes.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour on your work surface and scrape the dough onto it.  Knead the dough until all the flour has been incorporated.  The dough should feel fairly firm and only a bit tacky.  If it is too sticky, knead in up to 1/4 cup more flour.  Push any fruit that falls from the dough during kneading back into the dough.

Wash and dry the bowl and either oil it lightly or coat it with cooking spray.  Shape the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl, turning to coat all surfaces.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out onto an unfloured work surface and divide it in half with a pastry scraper or sharp knife.  Shape each piece into a all, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

To shape the stollen:  divide the marzipan into 2 pieces.  Roll each under your palms into a cylinder about 11 inches long.  Pat or roll each piece of dough into an oval measuring 12 inches long and about 9 inches wide at the widest point.  If the dough sticks at any point, dust it very lightly with flour.  Make a shallow depression down the center of each oval with the handle of a wooden spoon.  Place a roll of marzipan in each depression.  Lift one side of dough over the marzipan, covering it completely.  The edge of the top flap of dough should just reach the other edge of dough.

Line a large baking sheet (18 x 12 x 1 inch) with a silicone baking pan liner or cooking parchment.  Put the stollen crosswise on the prepared sheet, placing them about 3 inches from each end of the sheet and leaving about 4 inches of space between them.  Coat the stollen with cooking spray and cover them loosely with plastic wrap.  Let rise just until they have increased in volume by about half, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

When the stollen are ready, remove the plastic wrap and place the pan in the oven.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the stollen are nicely browned.  An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part should register 195 degree F.  Remove the pan from the oven and immediately brush each stollen with half the melted butter.  Put the confectioners' sugar in a fine-meshed sieve and sift a generous layer all over the top of the stollen.  Repeat in a few minutes if you see the sugar melting in spots.  Cool the stollen completely on wire cooling racks.  To serve, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices with a sharp serrated knife.

Notes:  to age the stollen, bake in advance before Christmas arrives!



Source:  A Baker's Odyssey by Greg Patent