BAKE!

Iced Sweet Taralli for Easter

(Later today I'll post what you'll need for the sourdough starter ferment-along we'll begin later this week.)

Photo credit:  Tom Eckerle

Taralli are the ultimate southern Italian Easter pastry; they come in at least a dozen different varieties, sweet and savory, large and small, made with olive oil or lard (butter for the sweet ones today), leavened with yeast, baking powder, or just eggs.  Yeast-risen taralli are boiled before baking like bagels, then baked on racks so they become shatteringly crisp.  The ones here are a particular favorite of mine, based on a recipe shared by Marie Ciampi about 15 years ago.  I used it in my book, Cookies Unlimited, and make them every Easter.

Neapolitan Easter Pie

I haven't been here for a while due to computer woes (all settled now) and edits on BREAD! due out in the fall.  Things are finally starting to lighten up.  Watch for complete instructions on cultivating your own sourdough starter beginning Tuesday.

Photo credit:  Charles Schiller

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA

NEAPOLITAN EASTER PIE WITH RICOTTA AND WHEAT

Though the official name of this pie is Pastiera Napoletana, many Italian Americans also refer to it as Pizza di Grano, grain or wheat pie.  It’s a sweet crust filled with ricotta, pastry cream, and cooked wheat berries, and scented with orange flower water.  Please be careful when you purchase the wheat.  If you live near an Italian grocery store, they will always have it around Easter – you just need to ask for wheat or grain.  Or you can buy it even more easily in a health food store.  The wheat berries you need to buy are white, not brown or red.  White wheat berries cook relatively quickly whereas the unhulled darker ones take forever to cook.  If no wheat berries are available, substitute an equal amount of long-grain rice (boil it like pasta until tender, about 15 minutes) or pearl barley, which is cooked exactly like the wheat berries.

Buccellato: A Sicilian Christmas Wreath

Photo by Sandy Leonard

This is one of the treats I never fail to bake at Christmas, especially because it keeps well and may be prepared in advance.  The photo is from last year's Christmas Day dessert table.  Now it's time for me to get back to the kitchen and start baking.

Truffle Brownies = Chocolate Heaven

Pictured here with Ginger Squares (see November 7 post)                                     Photo credit:  Quentin Bacon

Today was brownie day when Mario Bosquez of Martha Stewart Living Radio featured these Truffle Brownies as his monthly Facebook baking challenge.  Members sent in great photos of their brownies including one decorated with a single squiggle of red and white ribbon candy for an extra holiday touch.  Seriously, though, brownies are not only easy to prepare, they're really practical for this last week of holiday madness.  Bake a batch today, wrap and freeze them, and thaw, cut and serve for Christmas.  Get ready:  everyone will ask for the recipe.

Makes twenty-four 2-inch square brownies 

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% to 62% cocoa solids) cut into 1/4-inch  pieces

2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

One 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan lined with buttered parchment or foil 

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350˚F.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter get hot and start to sizzle after it’s melted. Off heat, add the chocolate all at once and gently shake the pan to submerge all the chocolate in the butter. Set aside.
3. Combine the brown sugar, flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle. Beat on lowest speed until evenly mixed together.
4. Add 2 eggs to the mixer and continue to beat just until they are absorbed. Stop and scrape the bowl and beater
5. Repeat step 4.
6. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the vanilla.
7. Whisk the butter and chocolate smooth and scrape it into the bowl. Use a large rubber spatula to mix it in thoroughly.
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
9. Bake the brownies until they are firm, but not dry, and the point of a paring knife inserted in the center of the pan emerges with moist crumbs clinging to it, about 30 minutes.
10. Cool in the pan on a rack.
11. Invert the brownies to a cutting board and remove the pan and paper. Cover with another board and invert the whole stack. Remove the top board and wrap the brownies on their board in a double thickness of plastic wrap. Keep the brownies at a cool room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight before cutting.
12. Use a ruler to mark, then cut the brownies into 2-inch squares. 

WALNUT OR PECAN BROWNIES: Fold 2 cups (about 8 ounces) coarsely chopped walnut or pecan pieces into the batter right before scraping it into the pan.

Smart Cookies in Saveur

 
Photo courtesy of Todd Coleman|Saveur

A couple of months ago Saveur test kitchen baking maven Ben Mims contacted me for some holiday cookie recipes.  I quickly put together some favorites from around the world and sent them over along with my precious 19th century Dutch speculaas mold (cookies made from it are pictured at the bottom right above).  Here's the result, a link to the article:

Holiday Cookies for Saveur

I hope some of them will become your favorites too.

Now it's back to the kitchen for me and a couple of new holiday recipes for later in the week.

Christmas Cookies without Tears

 

Getting organized in advance makes holiday cookie baking a breeze.  Here are a few hints to help make baking Christmas cookies an easy and pleasurable experience:

1. Choose you recipes well in advance.  Make a list, then eliminate a third of the recipes.  Paging through cookbooks looking for recipes makes us all overly ambitious.
2. Make a photocopy of each recipe – then you won’t have to bring books into the kitchen, especially if your counter space is cramped.
3. Make a physical inventory of your ingredients.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened a cupboard and seen that the ginger or baking powder are sitting on the shelf, only to discover later on when I was ready to use them, that the container or jar only had a little bit left in the bottom.  Open jars, bags, and other containers to make sure how much is there.  Sniff spices to make sure they haven’t become too old to impart the flavor you need.
4. Inventory equipment, too.  Make sure you have the correct sizes of pans, especially for bar cookies which would bake up too thick or too thin if you change the pan size.  Check that you have cutters and any other specialty equipment required.  Take a look at the parchment paper or non-stick foil to make sure you have enough.  And don’t forget the containers you’ll need for storing the baked cookies.
5. Over-estimate your use of staples such as flour, sugar, butter, and eggs.  You might taste a new recipe and decide you need another batch or two.
6. Clean the refrigerator and freezer – make sure you’ll have room to chill doughs and freeze baked cookies.
7. Get a buddy:  Enlist the help of a friend so you can bake together and be twice as productive.  Decide on how you’ll slit the baked cookies beforehand, though.
8. If you are preparing any recipes that require room temperature ingredients, take them out late the night before so they’ll be at the right temperature for mixing.
9. Get an early start: Have a good breakfast and start baking early in the day.  I like to start in the pre-dawn hours to make sure I won’t be distracted by the phone during the first few critical hours.
10. Measure out all the ingredients before starting a recipe, then go back and check that they’re all there.  Nothing is worse than putting a pan of cookies into the oven and realizing that you never put in the baking powder or you missed one of spices.
11. When pans need to be buttered, use soft, not melted, butter – it coats more thickly assuring a good release.  Just put a stick of butter into a small pan or bowl with a brush and place it near the stove.
12. Wear comfortable shoes that give you good support, especially if you’re not accustomed to spending an entire day on your feet.
13. Plan on a nourishing and easy lunch before you start baking – this can be as easy as making a sandwich and wrapping it up.  You’ll be happy you did when you get hungry and don’t need to stop to decide what to eat, or worse, start picking on the nuts and chocolate and wind up with an upset stomach and still have hours of baking ahead of you.
14. Unless you have a really large kitchen, plan on a place for cooling baked cookies.  Cover your dining table with a heatproof pad and set out some racks.  I use a couple of cheap folding tables that are stored in a closet most of the time.  For heavy baking days, I use one to hold ingredients waiting to be used and another to hold the cooling racks and finished cookies.
15. Use a ruler:  If you need to cut bar cookies into 2-inch squares, measure the correct distance so they’ll look neat and all be the same size.
16. Above all, enjoy the process – holiday baking should provide you with as much pleasure as the results will to their recipients.

Happy holiday baking!