Ingredients

• 1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 2/3 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. walnuts, very finely chopped
• 1/3 c. jam/jelly/preserve/fruit butter/etc.

Preparation

1. Cream butter using a mixer with a paddle attachment on medium. Add sugar, beat until smooth. Add egg, yolk, vanilla one at a time, mix until incorporated.

2. Combine flour, salt, and ground walnuts in a separate bow and mix. Slowly add to the butter. Mix until dough pulls away from the slide of the bowl. Knead a few times, wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or parchment a cookie sheet.

4. Roll dough into 1" balls. Place on cookie sheet 2" apart. Make an indentation in the center of each with your thumb. Fill with a generous 1/4 tsp. of jam.

5. Bake until edges are golden brown, 14-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for a minute before transferring to a rack to cool. Top with additional jam if desired.

Makes 3 dozen.

Stonewall Kitchen

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• Raw sugar

Preparation

Whisk flour, cardamom, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in finely grated orange peel and vanilla. Add egg; beat to blend. Add 1/3 of flour mixture; beat on low speed just to blend. Add remaining flour in 2 additions, beating on low speed just until blended. Refrigerate until firm enough to shape, about 1 hour.

Divide dough in half. Form each half into ball. Flatten into disks and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm enough to roll out, about 45 minutes. DO AHEAD: Dough can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let chilled dough stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll out, about 15 minutes.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to generous 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using festive cookie cutters. Carefully transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Gather dough scraps into ball. Flatten, cover, and freeze dough until firm enough to roll out again, about 10 minutes.

Bake cookies until light golden brown, about 16 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking for even cooking. Carefully slide parchment paper with cookies onto racks to cool completely. Let baking sheets cool completely, then repeat process with remaining dough, lining sheets with fresh parchment between batches. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be made 3 days ahead. Store cookies in airtight containers at room temperature.

Bon Appetit, December 2009

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Zest of one orange
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup walnuts, ground coarsely
• Ground cinnamon for sprinkling

For the syrup:

• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3-4 whole cloves
• 1-2-inch piece lemon rind
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, using your fingers, combine the orange zest with the sugar – rubbing the grains as if you were playing with sand to release the orange oils into the sugar.

Using an electric mixer, beat the oil with the orange sugar until well mixed. In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the orange juice and brandy to mixer and mix well.

Slowly incorporate the flour cup by cup until the mixture forms a dough that is not too loose but not quite firm either. It will be dense and wet but not sticky. Once the flour is incorporated fully stop mixing.

To roll cookies, pinch a portion of dough off about the size of a walnut. Shape in your palms into a smooth oblong shape, almost like a small egg. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Shape and roll cookies until the sheet is filled.

Press the tines of a large fork in a crosshatch pattern in the center of each cookie. This will flatten them slightly in the center. The cookies should resemble lightly flattened ovals when they go in the oven.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes until lightly browned. (The cookies will darken when submerged in syrup.)

While the cookies are baking, prepare the syrup.

In a saucepan, combine the honey, sugar, water, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon rind. Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon, cloves, and lemon rind and stir in lemon juice.

Place the ground walnuts in a shallow plate or bowl next to the stove top. When the cookies come out of the oven and while they are still very warm, carefully float the cookies in the syrup and allow the cookies to absorb syrup on both sides.

Using a fork or small spatula, remove the cookie from the syrup and place on a platter or plate. Press ground walnuts lightly into the tops of the cookies (syrup will help it adhere) and sprinkle lightly with ground cinnamon.

Do not refrigerate Melomakarona as they will harden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Lynn Livanos Athan, About.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 2 c. heavy cream
• 3 egg yolks
• pinch salt
• 1/4 c. plus 8-12 tsp. sugar

Preparation

Preheat an oven to 300F. Have a saucepan of boiling water ready. Line a shallow baking pan with a small kitchen towel.

Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise down the middle and scrape the seeds into a 2-quart saucepan. Add the cream and the split vanilla bean, stir to mix and set the pan over medium-low heat. Warm the cream until bubbles form around the edges and steam begins to rise from the surface. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, salt, and the 1/4 c. sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and thick ribbons fall from the whisk, about 5 minutes. Gradually pour the cream into the egg mixture, stirring until well blended. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl.

Divide the custard among four 6-oz. ramekins and place the ramekins in the prepared baking pan. Add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are just set around the edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Just before serving, sprinkle 2 to 3 tsp. sugar over each custard. Set the crème brûlée flat on a work surface and ignite the torch. Adjust the intensity of the flame. Hold the flame close to the surface until the sugar begins to melt quickly. Move the flame gradually in small circles over the surface of the custard, heating until it is evenly melted and golden. The sugar will harden in a few seconds. Serve immediately.

Williams-Sonoma Blowtorch Instructions

Ingredients

• vegetable oil or oil spray
• 200g/7oz butter, softened
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 4 free-range eggs
• 140g/5oz plain flour
• 60g/2½oz cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 400g/14oz plain, milk, or white chocolate cigarillos (about 75–80 in total)

For the buttercream

• 250g/9oz butter, softened
• 500g/1lb 2oz icing sugar
• 100g/3½oz good dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids), melted and slightly cooled

For the decoration

• fresh flowers, for a Christening cake
• strawberries or raspberries, for the girls
• figs, quartered, for the boys

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180/C/350F/Gas 4 and line a 20cm/8in round deep cake tin with baking paper and brush or spray with oil.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until they begin to go pale. Add half of the eggs and half of the flour and mix well. Add the rest of the eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder and beat for a minute or two until the mixture is uniform. Dollop into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30–40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

3. Meanwhile, make the buttercream: put the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk together until the mixture goes fluffy. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and whisk for a further two minutes.

4. Once the cake is completely cool, remove it from the tin. Carefully cut the top flat with a large serrated knife. (Eat this bit as a chef’s perk!)

5. Turn the cake upside down on a 20cm/8in cake board so that the bottom now becomes a nice flat top. Split the cake horizontally and sandwich the top and bottom together with a 1cm/½in layer of buttercream.

6. Spread half of the remaining buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake, making it as smooth as possible. Put it in the fridge to set before doing another layer - this makes it much easier to get neat squared-off edges.

7. Gently push the cigarillos vertically onto the sides of the cake, positioning them as straight as possible and making sure they touch the bottom.

8. The next step is up to you - I can’t tell you the wide-eyed looks you’ll get when you walk into a room holding this finished cake. Serve with a self-satisfied grin.

BBC Food

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tbsp. Earl Grey tea leaves (about 5 tea bags)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• Pinch salt

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring cream and milk just to a boil over medium heat. Turn off heat and stir in tea. Cover and let steep for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Arrange six 4-ounce oven-proof ramekins in a roasting pan and add water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest and salt. Strain infused cream into the egg yolks. Extract as much liquid as possible without pressing on tea leaves. Discard tea. Whisk thoroughly to combine.

Divide custard mixture among cups. Cover pan tightly with foil, poking a few holes to let steam escape. Carefully transfer pan to oven. Bake until custards are set but still slightly wobbly in centers, about 3o minutes. Transfer ramekins to a wire rack to cool, then refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Martha Stewart, via Austin American Statesman

Ingredients

• About 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, for the pan
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour, for the pan
• 6 ounces (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (gently packed) fresh chocolate mint or peppermint leaves [CP: we used more, more like 1 cup]
• 12 ounces premium bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp. granulated sugar
• Garnish with powdered sugar

Preparation

Preparing the pan: Generously butter a 9 inch springform pan and lightly dust the interior with the flour. Turn the pan upside down and bang out the excess flour. Wrap a large square of heavy-duty aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan and partially up the sides. Turn the pan right side up and set it in a shallow baking pan or on a half-sheet pan.

Infusing the butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the mint leaves and let the butter sit in a warm place for about 30 minutes to absorb the flavor of the leaves.

Butter and chocolate mixture: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Create a double boiler by selecting a medium (10-12") stainless-steel mixing bowl that will rest on top of large (6-quart) pot. The top of the bowl can extend beyond the rim of the pot, but the bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Put about 2" water in the pot and bring it to a simmer. If the butter has cooled, heat it again to thin it. Pour the butter through a fine sieve into the mixing bowl and press the leaves with the back of a spoon to extract all the butter. Add the chocolate to the bowl and place it over the simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted, then remove the bowl from the water.

Eggs: Beat the eggs and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for a full 10 minutes. They should quadruple in volume and become light colored, very thick and fluffy. Fold 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then very gently fold in the remaining egg mixture until completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Baking: Put the baking pan with the cake on the center oven rack and pour in enough water to come about 1/2" up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until an instant-thermometer inserted in the center of the cake register 155 to 160 F, 25 to 30 minutes. The top of the cake will lose its glossiness and be slightly mounded, but it should not bake so long that it rises and cracks. If you insert a skewer into the center, it should come out gooey. Let the cake cool completely in its pan on a wire rack. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and remove the outer ring. The cake will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream, ice cream or custard sauce.

Recipe from “The Herbfarm Cookbook,” via the GardenWeb Herbs Forum

Ingredients

Waffles:

• 300 g caster/superfine sugar
• 450 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 600 g flour
• cinnamon
• salt

Syrup:

• 600 g cane-sugar syrup (or light corn syrup)
• 300 g butter

Preparation

Mix the sugar with the eggs, milk, flower, cinnamon, salt and the butter sliced in pieces. Make 12 small balls.

Preheat the waffle iron [CP: this needs to be an old-fashioned, cast iron waffle iron that makes relatively thin waffles, not a Belgian/American waffle iron]. Squeeze a paste ball in the iron. Bake the waffle in about 30 seconds.

Cut the waffle in two thin waffles and spread the waffle with the mix of syrup and butter.

www.stroopwafelshop.com

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 TBSP butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• (kosher salt)

Preparation

You know what to do. Sprinkle with salt after spreading in pan.

Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 envelopes (4 1/2 tsp.) active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. very warm water
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. cold milk
• 2 eggs
• 4 1/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 lb. (4 sticks) butter
• flour

Preparation

1. Sprinkle yeast into very warm water in a 1-cup measure. (Very warm water should feel comfortably warm when dropped on wrist.) Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar. Stir until yeast dissolves. Let stand until bubbly and double in volume, about 10 minutes.

2. Combine remaining sugar, milk, eggs, 3 cups of the flour, salt and yeast mixture in large bowl. Beat, with electric mixer at medium speed, for 3 minutes (or beat 300 vigorous strokes by hand). Beat in remaining flour with a wooden spoon until dough is shiny and elastic. Dough will be soft. Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough 3o minutes.

3. Place the sticks of butter 1 inch apart, between 2 sheets of waxed paper; roll out to a 12-inch square. Chill on a cooky sheet until ready to use.

4. Sprinkle working surface heavily with flour, about 1/3 cup; turn dough out onto flour; sprinkle flour on top of dough. Roll out to an 18x12-inch rectangle. Brush off the excess flour with a soft pastry brush.

5. Peel off top sheet of waxed paper from butter; place butter paper-side up, on one end of dough to cover two-thirds of dough; peel off the remaining sheet of waxed paper. For easy folding, carefully score butter lengthwise down center. without cutting into dough. Fold uncovered third of dough over middle third of dough and butter; brush off excess flour; then fold remaining third of dough and butter over middle third to enclose butter completely. Turn the dough clockwise so open side is away from you.

6. Roll out to 24x12-inch rectangle using enough flour to keep the dough from sticking. Fold ends in to meet in center; then fold in half to make 4 layers. Turn again so open side is away from you. Repeat rolling and folding 2 more times. Keep the dough to a perfect rectangle by rolling straight up and down and from side to side. (When it is necessary, chill the dough between rollings. Clean off the working surface each time and dust lightly with flour.)

7. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or longer (or even overnight, if you wish, to relax dough and firm up the butter layers). When you are ready to fill and bake the pastry, cut dough in half and work with only half the recipe at a time. Keep the other half refrigerated until ready to use. Makes 2 large pastries, or about 24 individual pastries, or 1 large pastry and 12 individual pastries.

Tips

1. It is important to keep butter enclosed in dough. If it oozes out, immediately sprinkle with flour. If dough becomes too sticky to handle, butter has probably softened. Just chill 30 minutes before continuing rolling and folding.

2. Use more flour than you normally would to roll out pastries; brush off excess with soft brush before folding or filling; this way flour will not build up in pastry.

3. Since dough is very rich, it is best to let pastries rise at room temperature. Do not try to hasten the rising by using heat; doing so would melt the butter and spoil the texture of the pastry.

4. Have ready a rolling pin, a soft pastry brush, ruler and a working surface large enough to roll dough to 30 inches.

For freezing: Place shaped Danish on cooky sheets. Don’t glaze or decorate until ready to bake. Cover with foil or plastic wrap, freeze. Use within 4 weeks.

To bake: Remove the Danish from the freezer the night before and place in refrigerator. Next morning, let rise at room temperature, away from draft, until double in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. Brush with egg; sprinkle with topping; bake following individual recipes.

For refrigerating: Place the shaped Danish on cooky sheets; cover; refrigerate. Bake within 48 hours. To bake: Remove Danish from refrigerator; let rise; bake as above.

Family Circle Cookbook