Eggnog Gingerbread Tart

The garnish on these tarts is my favorite part. They are darling to look at and surprisingly easy to make. The hardest part is messing up two mixing bowls: one for the vanilla cookie batter and one for the chocolate.

Bake just a few - like three or four - cookies at a time. When they come out of the oven, drape them over something lickety-split. I put them on two wooden spoons. I wanted the banner cookies to have a gentle drape and give the suggestion of them blowing in a light wind.


Gingerbread Sable Tarts (recipe from here)

- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger (adjust spices based on your personal preference)
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons dark molasses + raw rice or beans for weighting the crust

1. Using the paddle attachment, lightly cream together butter, sugar, vanilla and molasses in a mixing bowl.

2. Scrape down sides and add egg and mix until combined. Sift flour and spices together, and add to the mixture just until incorporated. Do not over mix or you will end up with a tough dough.

3. Bring dough together on a lightly flour dusted surface. Divide the dough into two, shape into disks, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least half hour before you move on to the next steps. You can freeze the dough for up to two months if you want to use it at a later time.

4. To roll out the dough: sandwich the dough between two pieces of parchment paper (or plastic wrap), and roll out to 1/8″ thick. Make sure that your dough is rolled out enough to fit the size of your tart pan. The dough should be used as soon as it has been rolled out.

5. Mold your pastry into your tart pan and refrigerate– refrigerating the dough prior to baking guards against excessive shrinking during baking. Using a fork, gently prick the bottom of the dough. Be careful not to fully puncture the dough or else any fillings might leak through. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, while your oven preheats to 350′F

6. Line tart with parchment paper (or cupcake liners if they fit), and fill with dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove the shells from the oven, allow to cool for 3-5 minutes and remove the parchment paper and beans. Return to the oven for 8-10 minutes to fully bake the base.

Filling (recipe from here)
Just so you know, this recipe calls for instant vanilla pudding. I know. Me, too. I tried this filling recipe first, with its 7 egg yolks and sheets of gelatin. The result was a chewy filling. I don't know if there is anything more terrifying than chewy filling for a tart.

3/4 cup cold heavy cream
1 cup eggnog
1/2 cup milk
1 box instant vanilla pudding
freshly grated nutmeg

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Set in refrigerator until ready to use.

Whisk eggnog, milk and instant vanilla pudding together until smooth. Let it thicken 3-5 minutes.

Fold half the whipped cream into eggnog pudding and pour into cooled pie shell. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 or more hours.

Banner Tuiles Recipe by Martha Stewart.

• 7 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• Pinch of salt
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• Nonstick cooking spray

Draw a banner onto 12-by-18 inch piece of foam board (I used leftover posterboard from a reading fair project); cut out with a pair of sharp scissors. Set template aside.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat) (Good grief, Martha. You can use parchment paper from the Kroger and not an imported kitchen accessory). Coat with cooking spray.

Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 4 egg whites and 1 cup superfine sugar; beat on medium 30 seconds. Add 1 cup flour and the salt; mix well. Add melted butter, 3 tablespoons cream, and the almond extract; beat until combined, 1 minute.


Transfer batter to an airtight container; refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

 Meanwhile, make chocolate batter. For the chocolate batter, in a saucepan over low heat, melt the remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons butter; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine remaining 2 egg whites and 1/2 cup superfine sugar. Beat on medium until combined, about 30 seconds. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour and the cocoa powder; beat well. Pour in melted butter and remaining 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Beat on medium until combined, 1 minute. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a number 1 plain round tip; set aside.

Lay two rolling pins parallel to one another on work surface. Place the foam-board template onto the Silpat. Using an offset spatula, spread the chilled batter onto the template. Lift template, and repeat several more times on the Silpat, wiping the template after each use.

With the chocolate batter, pipe out desired words directly onto banners. Bake four banners at a time, until edges begin to brown, about 6 minutes.

Carefully remove from baking sheet; drape over two rolling pins to form undulating shapes. Remove when cooled, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batters.

Store in a single layer, in an airtight container, until ready to use.

Star Spangled Cookies

Aren't these fun? Easy, too!


Sugar Cookies:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar*
1 egg
2 3/4 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt

* After I scraped the seeds from a vanilla bean for the Watermelon Sweet Tea Granita, I put the vanilla bean in a jar with sugar. It smells so good - sweet and vanilla-y! I used the vanilla sugar for these cookies.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg and beat until fluffy.

Add vanilla, sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate. (Dough can be refrigerated for several days.)

When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350°.

Roll dough to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutter. I used a 2 1/2-inch star cookie cutter.

Bake cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are just beginning to brown on the edges.

Cool on pan for a minute or two, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling.

This recipe yielded something like 30 cookies.


I love this part...the cookie glaze:

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
scant 1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring (or you can use more vanilla, or a 1/2 teaspoon of almond or lemon extract if you prefer)
red and blue food coloring

Before you start, place a couple of wire racks on top of baking sheets. It will make cleanup easier later; any drips and dribbles from the cookies lands on the baking sheets and not on your counters. (Some concentrated food pastes can stain!)

Put the water in a small bowl and gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Stir until smooth. Beat in the corn syrup and vanilla until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

Divide the glaze among three shallow dishes. Pie plates work great.

Tint one container of cookie glaze red, one blue, and leave the last one white.

Dip the cookies in the glaze and shake gently to remove the excess. Place the cookie on a wire rack to harden, which takes several hours.

This amount of cookie glaze covered all the cookies I made just right - I didn't run out and didn't have tons of left over. Just the right amount!


If you make these, I'd love to see your pictures!

More springtime cookies

It's not hard to beat a good sugar cookie, especially when it's frosted, decorated, and packaged for fun.

I made my favorite sugar cookies (recipe below) and frosted them using the all new icing glaze I came across. Love that icing. Best thing since sliced bread.



Classic Sugar Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
2 3/4 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy.

Add vanilla, sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate. (Dough can be refrigerated for several days.)

When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350°.

Roll small pieces of dough into balls and place them on an ungreased baking sheet.


Bake cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are just beginning to brown on the edges.

Cool on pan for a minute or two, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

Now comes the fun part: decorating them with the magical cookie glaze.

Icing Glaze for Cookies

I love to bake rolled cookies. I love decorating them, too.


But I don't really enjoy making royal icing. It's a high maintenance ordeal: one batch to outline and do detail work, another batch to fill the cookies. It seems like a fair amount of trouble.

Plus royal icing doesn't taste good. It doesn't taste bad, exactly, but it's not good, either. It's kind of like fondant in that way: pretty to look at, not so much to eat.

This icing recipe is it. Easy, I mean, super easy. The icing dries hard enough so that cookies can be packaged in cellophane bags or stacked. The color stays true after the cookies dry, too.

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk or water (I used water. I'm always leering of leaving anything that has dairy product out at room temperature for any amount of time.)
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted food coloring

Put the water or milk in a small bowl and gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Stir until smooth. (I had to add another teaspoon or two of water.) Beat in the corn syrup and vanilla until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

Divide the icing into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity.

Place wire cooking racks over paper towels. Dip cookies into the icing and place the cookies on the wire racks. Any excess icing will drip onto the paper towel.

While the icing is still wet, you can embellish them with sanding sugars and sprinkles. You can spoon a bit of other colors onto the cookie and use a toothpick to swirl the colors around. It makes a marbelized-tie-dyed effect.

The cookies need to dry several hours before they will be hard enough to package or stack.

But you can eat them right away.

Easter Egg Sugar Cookies

Perfect for filling Easter baskets!

Start with your favorite sugar cookie recipe.

The one I use:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 to 3 cups sifted flour (2 1/2 to start, because the dough will pick up flour during rolling)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until fluffy.

Add vanilla, sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
Cover and refrigerate. (Dough can be refrigerated for several days.)

When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350°.

Roll out cookies and put them on baking sheets. I like to put cut-out cookies in the fridge to chill for a bit so they’ll hold their shape while baking. I slide them in the fridge and then turn on the oven to preheat. By the time the oven is ready, the cookies are chilled just about the right amount of time.


The copper cookie cutters come from Kitchen Collectables. Their web site has step-by-step lessons, recipes, and lots of fun baking supplies.


Bake cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are just beginning to brown on the edges.

Cool on the pan for a minute or two, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

Start with a batch of royal icing to outline the cookies. It can also be used for detail work, such as polka dots, stripes, writing a monogram or name on a cookie.

1 pound confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder*
4-6 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons flavoring (such as vanilla, lemon, butter, or almond)

*Meringue powder is available at cake decorating supply shops as well as many craft stores and large discount stores.

Sift powdered sugar into large mixing bowl. Add meringue powder and combine. With mixer running on medium, add about 3 tablespoons warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add desired flavorings and additional water as needed.

To outline cookies and pipe details, icing should be fairly stiff. After outlining and piping, simply return any unused icing to the bowl, mix, and add more water until icing is thin enough to spread or pour easily.


Tip: Royal icing is like glue. When it dries, it’s like really, really hard glue. In fact, royal icing is the “mortar” that’s used to build gingerbread houses. So when you’re not working with an icing that’s in a pastry bag, store it upright in a drinking glass, into which you’ve first put a dampened paper towel in the bottom. Rest the tip on that and it won’t dry out.

Next make a batch of royal icing that is "flow consistency." To make flow consistency, add water a tablespoon at a time, until the icing falls from a spoon about the same way cake batter does. It needs to be good and thin.

Divide the icing into bowls and use food coloring to tint each bowl the colors of your dreams. Spoon a bit of icing in the center of each cookie and use an offset spatula to get it even.

To quickly fill in large portions of cookies that have been outlined, fill a squeeze bottle (like ketchup and mustard come in at hamburger joints) with icing and use it to fill in the areas. This is a quick method, great especially if you are making a large quantity of cookies. Be careful not to overfill the cookie, causing the icing to run over the “dam” created when you outlined the cookies.

Now we can get creative. While the icing is still wet dust some with colored sugar or sprinkles. Add small dabs of icing to the base color and use a toothpick to swirl the colors around - it will produce a marbelized look.


Use the outline consistency icing to layer on stripes or polka dots.





Allow cookies to dry completely, several hours. After they are dry, cookies can be stacked or wrapped in cellophane bags.


Place a bit of Easter basket grass in the bottom of a cellophane bag and top with the cookie. Tie with ribbon. I love this part.

Chocolate Brownies with Dried Cherries and Pecans

A day or so before baking, soak 3/4 cup dried Bing cherries, roughly chopped, in 1/3 cup coffee liqueur, such as Khalua

6 (1-ounce) squares of semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place the chocolate squares and the butter in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, pecans, and cherries until well blended.

Spread into greased 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. Or into a dozen or miniature heart-shaped pans.



Bake 22 to 25 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack.

You can melt a handful of candy disks in a zip-top bag in the microwave, snip off one corner with a pair of scissors, and drizzle over the brownies.



These make neat teachers' gifts: put a brownie heart, drizzled or no, in a clear plastic bag, tie with ribbon, and attach a little card. This won't happen at our house until sometime Sunday, otherwise I'd post a picture.

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

The traditional twice-baked potato reinvented using the sweet potato, perfect for fall meals.

4 sweet potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
½ cup fresh pineapple or 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
1 to 2 teaspoons orange zest
splash of almond flavoring or Amaretto
nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350.

Scrub sweet potatoes and bake until tender, probably 45 to 60 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.

Slice the potatoes in half and scoop out insides. Place the cooked sweet potato in a large bowl. Add the salt, butter, drained pineapple, orange zest, and almond flavoring or Amaretto. Stir well and put mixture back in potato shells or, if you'd rather, in a greased casserole dish. Top mixture with a sprinkling of fresh nutmeg.

Can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated for a day or two. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes 8 servings.

Brown Sugar and Pecan Brussels Sprouts

1 ½ pounds fresh Brussel sprouts or 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons butter
¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Core fresh Brussel sprouts and steam them until just soft.

If using frozen packages, cook them according to the package directions or: bring 1 cup water to boil and add the Brussels sprouts. Return to boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 5 minutes, until sprouts are tender. Drain and set aside.

You can slice each sprout in two, which will help them soak up more of the yummy sauce.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, pecans, nutmeg and salt over low heat until the butter is melted.

Toss Brussels sprouts with pecans. Just before serving, pour the buttery sauce over the Brussels sprouts, tossing to coat. Serve warm.

This tasty way to serve Brussels sprouts has won over real Brussels sprouts haters.


Serves 6.

Easter Cupcakes

Perfect for Easter: spring-colored tie dyed cupcakes with cream cheese icing.


I love cake. I love icing.


For the icing, I mixed together 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter and 8 ounces of cream cheese. I stirred in confectioners' sugar by the spoonful. I'm not sure how much - probably about a pound (1 box). I added a couple of teaspoons of vanilla.

After frosting two dozen cupcakes, I had plenty left over. I covered and refrigerated the leftover icing and plan to ice sugar cookies later this week with it.

Icebox Cookie: Orange Sable Cookies

From Martha Stewart. Hers are much prettier than mine. That's okay; they all taste good.

1 1/4 cups whole blanched almonds
1 cup confectioners' sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons finely grated orange zest (2 to 3 oranges)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sanding or granulated sugar, for rolling

Place almonds and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal; set aside.

Place butter and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. On low, add almond mixture; beat until combined, 10 to 15 seconds. Add egg and orange juice; combine. Add flour; combine.

Place two 12-by-16-inch pieces of parchment on a clean work surface. Divide dough in half. Form a rough log with each half; place on parchment. Fold parchment over dough; use a ruler to roll and press dough into 1 1/2-inch-diameter logs. Wrap. Chill for at least 3 hours.

If desired, finely chop candied ginger and put in a wide, shallow container. Place chilled cookie dough roll in the ginger and roll, pressing ginger into the dough. I also added a sprinkle of crunchy raw sugar, too.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Spread sanding sugar in a baking pan. Unwrap logs; roll in sugar to coat. Cut into scant 1/4-inch-thick rounds; place on sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake until edges turn golden, about 15 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Bake or freeze remaining dough.

Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Rose's Crescents

These cookies may not be the showiest cookies on the table. No sparkles or glittering red and green sugar. But one bite...

They are delicate and melt in the mouth. I wish I had one right now.

After baking they do a little roll in a bowl of superfine sugar with a hint of cinnamon is perfect. I had thought about adding a bit of freshly grated nutmeg to the mixture but didn't; the first time I make a recipe I like to go exactly by the directions before I add my own touches and twists. I'm glad I didn't add anything else - it was just right.

Recipe from Rose's Christmas Cookies, a fabulous cookbook.


Cookies:
2/3 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/3 cup sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) softened unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups of flour

Topping:
1/2 cup superfine sugar*
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

*Make your own superfine sugar by whirling granulated sugar in the food processor a bit.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl and set aside.

Soften the butter. Grind the almonds very finely. In a large mixing bowl, combine the almonds, butter, and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour and salt and beat them into the mixture on low speed until incorporated.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Divide the dough into 8 portions. Work with 1 section at a time, keeping the remainder of the dough refrigerated. Knead the dough between floured hands until malleable. Pinch off a portion and roll it into a 3/4-inch round ball. On a lightly floured surface roll each ball into a cylinder with tapered ends, about 3 inches long by 1/2-inch thick. Form each cylinder into a crescent shape and place on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies for 14 to 16 minutes, rotating cookie sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

Cool the cookies on sheets for 10 minutes. While still warm, lift cookies from the baking sheet and dip them, one at a time, in the cinnamon mixture, turning gently to coat all over. Finish cooling the cookies on wire racks.

Cookies keep 1 month at room temperature, 1 month refrigerated, or several months frozen.

Makes 5 dozen.

Toffee

You may have seen this toffee recipe before, like last year at Christmas.

It's a classic.

1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped blanched almonds (or coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts)
1 cup unsalted butter (do not substitute)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coarsely chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

Butter a 9x13” pan. Sprinkle half of nuts in greased pan and set aside.

Melt butter, sugar, and water together over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often until temperature reaches 300°. Remove from heat and quickly stir in baking soda. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and let harden. Sprinkle chocolate over the top and let stand for 5 minutes. Spread chocolate over the top and sprinkle with additional chopped nuts while chocolate is still warm.

Let cool completely and break into pieces.

Keeps well in an airtight container. Can also be frozen; wrap well and place in airtight container.

Chocolate Mocha Cookies

I make these year 'round although Christmas seems especially appropriate for cookies.

What I like about these is that you can mix up the dough, shape into a log and slice and bake the cookies or you can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters. This cookie dough works with you. You can pinch off a bit, shape it into a ball, and roll it in sugar before placing it on the baking pan and gently smooshing it down.

2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cocoa
4 tablespoons instant coffee
heaping 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

If you’d like to make your own slice and bake cookies, after dough is well chilled, shape into a log shape, about two inches or so in diameter. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in aluminum foil and place in a freezer zip-top bag.

When ready to bake, slice off rounds about 1/4-inch thick and place on ungreased baking sheet. No need to thaw first.

Dough can also be rolled out on a lightly floured surface and cut out with cookie cutters.)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake for about 8 minutes or until set. Cool slightly on baking sheet; remove and cool completely on wire rack.

Bourbon Pecan Pie

From Ezra Poundcake, this pie is deep and rich and went perfectly with coffee after the holiday meal.

Toasting pecans with cinnamon - that is genuis!

I made one change in the recipe; there was not a bottle of dark Karo syrup to be found anywhere in town so I used 1/2 cup molasses for the 1/2 cup dark corn syrup instead. It complimented the bourbon nicely.

Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Spiced Sugar Glaze

I made this cake a couple of years ago and likely vowed not to ever make it again. I killed my garbage disposal by stuffing sweet potato peel in it.

This time the process went much more smoothly. I love this cake: the glaze is toffee-like and the cake is moist with a great texture and tastes of the holidays.

Recipe from the novel Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray.

Cake:
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dark rum, plus more if needed
3 cups flour, plus more for the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for salting the water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 large sweet potatoes
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup toasted nuts, such as pecans or walnuts (optional)

Glaze:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon reserved rum from cake recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted Bundt pan.

2. In a nonreactive bowl, soak raisins in the rum for at least 30 minutes. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices.

3. Peel sweet potatoes, cut them into chunks, place in salted water, bring to a simmer and cook until tender when pierced with a knife. Drain and let dry for a few minutes, then mash coarsely. Measure 2 cups of sweet potatoes and reserve.


4. In a mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the eggs to break them up, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vegetable oil and vanilla. Drain the raisins, reserving the liquid. Add 1/4 cup of the rum to the batter. Add the sweet potatoes and mix until thoroughly combined.

5. Add the flour mixture to the batter in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk (start and finish with the flour). Fold in raisins and nuts, if using. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake for 80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack.

6. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze: Mix the sugar, butter and cream in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil until the mixture thickens somewhat, 3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and add about 1 tablespoon of reserved rum (add fresh rum, if needed).

7. Set the cake and cooling rack over a baking sheet. With a toothpick, punch holes all over the cake. Pour 1/3 of the glaze over the cake. Wait 15 minutes, then pour the remaining glaze on top. You must glaze the cake while it's hot. Allow cake to cool completely.

Candy Corn Bark

All sweet, all sugar -- perfect for Halloween.


16 Halloween-colored chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped
1 1/2 cups broken small pretzels
1 1/2 pounds white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 cups candy corn

(If I were making this for me, I'd add chopped peanuts since I think nuts (peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts) enhance pretty much any sweet dish. Since it's for kids who may or may not have peanut allergies I didn't add any. If I were making this for me, I'd also use semi-sweet chocolate instead of white chocolate since white chocolate is not chocolate at all. It's candy and that's great but it's not chocolate.)

Line a medium-ish sized baking sheet with parchment paper, waxed paper, or a silpat.

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over low heat. Or melt it in your microwave if you know your microwave really well and you're on good terms with it. I put the chopped white chocolate in a bowl and microwaved it for about 20 seconds, then stirred, then another 20 seconds, then stirred, repeat, repeat. White chocolate can burn - it gets all clumpy and gray looking - in a second so watch it closely. Take it out before it's completely melted and stir it for a bit and it should be fine.

While you're negotiating with the microwave, spread the pretzels and cookie pieces on the prepared baking sheet.

Pour the melted chocolate over the pretzel and cookie pieces. Spread with a spatula (don't worry about getting it smooth) and top with candy corn. Let sit until it hardens and and break or cut into pieces.


I filled clear cellophane bags with a few pieces and tied them with orange and black raffia, which I then failed to take a photo of. The kids seemed to like them at the Trunk or Treat.

Peanut Butter Fudge, aka, The Best Easiest Thing to Make for Christmas or Any Other Day

Every family has recipes that show up each year at Christmas. Traditions. Peanut Butter Fudge is one of my family's. For as long as I can remember, there has been Peanut Butter Fudge around at Christmas.

Mom makes it and keeps it in a tin to snack on, takes it to friends, takes it to work. It's always a hit.

Besides the fact that the fudge is creamy and tasty, it is really, truly easy to make. The recipe has never failed me.*

Peanut Butter Fudge
3 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup (1/2 of a stick) of butter (do not substitute)
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 teaspoon vanilla
chopped peanuts (optional)

Lightly butter a 10 to 12” round dish and set aside.

Using a candy thermometer, cook sugar, buttermilk, and butter over medium heat until mixture reaches soft boil stage. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Beat until the peanut butter is dissolved and mixture is slightly thick.

Pour into prepared dish. If you like you can sprinkle chopped peanuts and lightly press them down. Let set up and cut into squares.


*This weekend I had a kitchen disaster, wherein I dumped a cup of brown sugar, meant for the mixing bowl that had butter and sugar in it for the pound cake, in the pan on the stove that had the butter, sugar, and buttermilk for the fudge. We had to throw it out and start over. By "we" I mean The Fiance, who took over the peanut butter fudge making job and mastered it in one try.

Sugar Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
4 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 scant cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
dash salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy.

Add vanilla, sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

Cover and refrigerate. (Dough can be refrigerated for several days.)

When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350°.


Working with small portion of dough at a time, roll out on floured board until about 1/4-inch thick.


Dip cutter in flour and cut out shapes.


Place on ungreased baking sheets


and refrigerate while working on the next batch; this will keep cookies from spreading, making their shapes more defined. (For best results, put cookies of the same size on each sheet.)

Bake cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are just beginning to brown on the edges.

Cool on pan for a minute or two, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

We decorated these cookies one night last week. We were aiming for fun and for tasty cookies, so how they looked wasn't so much important.

That's why we used a simple buttercream rather than royal icing, which turns out gorgeous cookies but doesn't taste as good as buttercream and wouldn't have been nearly as much for a seven year old.

I creamed a stick of softened butter and added a few cups - about one box - of confectioner's sugar, then a teaspoon or two of vanilla. I love vanilla so you may not need that much. Then add water or milk (I used water because the faucet was closer than the fridge), a tablespoon at a time until it's the consistency you'd want on your sugar cookies.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

I first heard of this cake from Ezra Poundcake.


Only after I'd double-wrapped the cake, a gift for The Child's sitter, did it occur to me to take a photo.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

Adapted from Paula Deen’s “The Lady & Sons Just Desserts”

Cake:
· 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
· 1/2 cup shortening
· 1 16-ounce box dark brown sugar
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· 5 eggs
· 3 1/2 cups cake flour
· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
· 1 cup milk
· 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
· 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and shortening, and add the sugars, 1 cup at a time, continuing to beat. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift flour and baking powder together in another bowl, and add alternately with milk to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add vanilla and mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 2 hours.


I had a kitchen disaster at this point and when the cake came out of the oven, I read over the frosting recipe and said, "Forget this." Only maybe in not quite those words.

After the cake cooled, I dusted it with powdered sugar.

Frosting:
· 1 egg, beaten
· 1 cup milk
· 3 cups granulated sugar
· 1/2 cup water, room temperature
· 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
· 1 teaspoon white vinegar
· 1/8 teaspoon salt

To prepare frosting, mix together egg and milk and set aside. Place 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until melted and brown. Slowly and carefully, add lukewarm water, and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Add remaining 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar. Mix egg with milk, and stir into sugar mixture.

Add butter, vinegar, and salt. Cook to soft-ball stage (236 degrees F on a candy thermometer), stirring constantly. (A small amount dropped in a glass of water will form a soft ball. If you remove it from the water, it will flatten out.) Cool to lukewarm. Beat until creamy and spread on cake.

Toffee

I almost called this “No Fail Toffee.” Then I remembered the time I was in college at the University of Southern Mississippi, studying hospitality management, namely catering and food service and such. The irony, it abounds. It was near Christmas and I wanted to make my grandmother’s toffee. I called and got the recipe. It sounded easy enough.

The recipe called for two sticks of butter. Do not substitute, Mee Maw said. I had one stick of butter and one stick of margarine. I had already been to the store once that day, or that week, whatever. I really used to hate going to the grocery store. I still kind of do. I’d rather do all the dishes afterward than go to the store before. So I’d already been to the store and the thought of battling Hardy Street in Hattiesburg, an overdeveloped busy thoroughfare with a jillion stoplights and lots of traffic, was more than I could stand. I probably stomped my foot and whined before deciding to tough it out with what I had.

Since I had one stick of butter and one stick of margarine I decided to use them. I was substituting only half. After all, I thought, how bad could it be?

Let me tell you. Really, really bad. Real bad. I have instant recall to this day as to how that mass of burned butter-margarine smelled. And how it tasted. Oh, yeah, like a fool I tasted that foul stuff. I had to.

Lesson learned. I don’t ever substitute anything when a recipe calls for butter. Sometimes I put butter in a recipe that specifies margarine or shortening, that’s how well that lesson was learned.

Toffee

1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped blanched almonds (or coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, pistachios, or hazelnuts or whatever kind of nuts you prefer)
1 cup unsalted butter (do not substitute) (No joking about that.)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coarsely chopped chocolate

Butter a pan. The recipe calls for 9x13 pyrex dish; I’ve used that and I’ve also used half baking sheets. Anything heatproof works fine.

Sprinkle half of nuts in greased pan and set aside.

Melt butter, sugar, and water together over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often until temperature reaches 300 degrees. Remove from heat and quickly stir in baking soda. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and let harden.

(If you’re going to freeze the toffee, stop here. Let toffee get completely cool and hard, break into pieces, and put in a freezer zip top bag and freeze.)

Sprinkle chocolate over the top and let stand for 5 minutes. Spread chocolate over the top and sprinkle with additional chopped nuts while chocolate is still warm.

Let cool completely and break into pieces.

Keeps well in an airtight container.

When ready to serve or give away, take toffee from freezer and let come to room temperature and thaw – a few hours or so.

Melt chocolate – dark chocolate, milk chocolate, whatever you like – and pour over toffee, smoothing with an offset spatula. You can sprinkle the wet chocolate with chopped nuts and/or drizzle with melted green and red candy melts. I have umpteen pictures of this technique drizzled over sugar cookies or chocolate-dipped pretzel rods or what have you and I can’t find any of them.

You can play around with different combinations – white chocolate and toasted macadamia nuts, bittersweet chocolate and hazelnuts, milk chocolate and peanuts.