Holiday treats (cake, bread, cream, butter)

[vicky3vicky]

So far I have baked over 300 sugar cookies[in the freezer, waiting to be iced and decorated] peanut butter with hersheys kisses, dipped pretzels, toll house chocolate chip, brookies, chocolate covered cherry cookies, gingerbread men, mexican wedding cakes, dipped oreos, pecan mini pies, and chocolate covered peanuts. I am thinking about making spritz cookies but everything I read says they are one of the least liked cookies so I still havn't decided whether to make some or not.

[lunetunelover]

Originally Posted by vicky3vicky

So far I have baked over 300 sugar cookies[in the freezer, waiting to be iced and decorated] peanut butter with hersheys kisses, dipped pretzels, toll house chocolate chip, brookies, chocolate covered cherry cookies, gingerbread men, mexican wedding cakes, dipped oreos, pecan mini pies, and chocolate covered peanuts. I am thinking about making spritz cookies but everything I read says they are one of the least liked cookies so I still havn't decided whether to make some or not.

Do you need my mailing address??

And I love spritz cookies.

[Almrausch]

This years Christmas baking list is...
Marzipan and rum Stollen
Baumkuchen
Gewürzkuchen/spice cake
Nürnberger Lebkuchen
almond crisps
Spekulatius stars
Baseler Leckerli
orange chocolate cookies with orange icing
hazelnut cookies with rum
chocolate cookies
Spritzgebäck
almond crescents
Marzipan hearts and little Marzipan balls covered in cocoa
almond macarons
Linzer squares
Florentiner
Scandinavian snow balls


*Orange chocolate cookies*

100 g Belgium bitter chocolate chopped coarsely or fine ( it is your choice)
125 g butter
pinch of salt
1 egg
rind of 1 orange
200 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g icing sugar
2 to 3 tbsp orange juice


Mix butter with sugar,salt,egg,orange peel.Add mixed flour with baking powder and chopped chocolate.Make a smooth dough,cover in clear wrap, and cool in fridge for about 2 hours.Later roll dough out thickly (5 mm) and shape cookies 5 cm big with cookie shapes.Bake in the oven at 390 F for about 8 to 10 minutes pending on your oven heat.Once cookies are cooled down decorate with orange icing.

[Nonchalance]

Originally Posted by vicky3vicky

So far I have baked over 300 sugar cookies[in the freezer, waiting to be iced and decorated] peanut butter with hersheys kisses, dipped pretzels, toll house chocolate chip, brookies, chocolate covered cherry cookies, gingerbread men, mexican wedding cakes, dipped oreos, pecan mini pies, and chocolate covered peanuts. I am thinking about making spritz cookies but everything I read says they are one of the least liked cookies so I still havn't decided whether to make some or not.

Coming right over to 'help.'

[oldhousegirl]

Originally Posted by phoebesmom

I will make fudge, as usual. But we buy stollen and leibkuchen when we can find them.

I believe I've seen both of those at Lidl grocery store - if you have access to one. And of course the prices are ridiculously inexpensive with pretty good quality.

[puginabug]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

You don't need candied fruits to make fruit cake. I buy one container of the red candied cherries for color and the rest is nuts, raisins, dried apricots, and I also add large flaked coconut. You can use dried cranberries, or dried cherries, or dried apples. A jar of drained maraschino cherries would provide just as much color as the candied cherries and taste better, too. Use a nice recipe for the cake and it is the soaking in booze that makes it a good fruit cake.

For me, this would be much too late to start a fruit cake. There are only 3 weeks to cure the cake before Christmas. That's not a lot of curing time.

I use my best pound cake recipe and my aunt uses her pumpkin cake recipe to make fruit cake.

I have a recipe from my Aunt, quite old. My mom always made the fruitcake way ahead and soaked it in brandy, and I’ve done that, too. But I really don’t care for the taste with the brandy. I prefer it as kind of like a coffee cake.

I remember my mother’s recipe (slightly different than my aunt’s) was from the candied fruit container, S&W Candied Fruits. So it was S&W Fruitcake. Can’t find that brand or that particular recipe. But I do like it with the candied fruits in it.

My mother used to make pfefferneuse cookies too, recipe probably from Joy of Cooking.

[RogueMom]

Originally Posted by puginabug

I may make a fruitcake. The darn candied fruits this year are $$$$$ though! For a smallish container (not sure how many ounces) in Albertson’s it’s $7.99! Yikes.

My daughter and a couple of her friends are coming over one night to make gingerbread man cookies, that will be fun. I am not the best baker, so I don’t usually do cookies other than ggb men, I will leave that to someone else. Our Christmas festivities usually are more focused on the Christmas Eve meal.

I am a fruitcake maker and lover, but yeah, the cost is very high. I buy the candied fruits when they are marked down after the holidays and freeze for the following year. I have been doing this for years. The fruit is just fine a year later after being kept frozen.

[puginabug]

Originally Posted by RogueMom

I am a fruitcake maker and lover, but yeah, the cost is very high. I buy the candied fruits when they are marked down after the holidays and freeze for the following year. I have been doing this for years. The fruit is just fine a year later after being kept frozen.

Oooo. What a good idea! Gonna try that. If I remember after the holidays, lol.

[NYC refugee]

Check out the thread on Bishop's Bread, which uses dried, not candied fruits. I made it one year and it's the only fruitcake I like.

[springfieldva]

Roasted Spiced Pecans