Christmas Stollen with Marzipan

The title of this post is a bit of a mouthful, I know. But I didn’t want you to think this was just any old stollen. First, I baked this stollen in honor of the Bon Appetit holiday bake-off and party, which I was super thrilled to be asked to participate in. Second, I think that this stollen has lots going for it. Candied fruit, tons of butter, marzipan, and a delicious almond-rum filling. Some of you may be asking, “But what is stollen, anyway??” Well, I’m here to tell you. Stollen is a German yeasted sweetbread-cake thingy that is traditionally served for Christmas. It was apparently invented in Dresden, Germany, and is said to resemble the baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes. (I’m not so sure about how much my stollen resembled the baby Jesus, but it makes me giggle a little bit.)  Sometimes stollen has a yummy rope of marzipan hidden in the center (I loooove marzipan), sometimes not. It almost always has candied citrus peel (e.g., candied orange, lemon, and citron), candied cherries, and raisins. And some form of booze – usually rum, but sometimes brandy or cognac.

Find yourself some high-quality candied and dried fruit – if you can, try not to use supermarket brands of candied fruit (unless you have access to a really, really good supermarket with really, really good candied fruit). This is not to be snobbish but because the candied and dried fruit form the flavor base of the stollen. You could make your own candied peel using this Bon Appetit recipe. You can even make your own marzipan if you’re feeling really ambitious. Also – I didn’t use my stand mixer for the dough; I mixed and kneaded everything by hand. (It doesn’t take very long to make the stollen dough by hand, just a bit more effort in kneading.) I did use a stand mixer for the frangipane filling.

My stollen is based on several recipes all mashed together. The first is from an old-ish German cookbook that I found in a yard sale (and that smells, deliciously, of 50 year old stale cigarettes) from 1969 called The Cooking of Germany. It’s a Time-Life book from their series “Foods of the World,” favorite classics of mine. The second is the Luchow’s German Cookbook, originally printed in 1952. Luchow’s was a famous New York City restaurant opened in 1882. (No, it’s not a Chinese restaurant – there are supposed to be umlauts over the “u”, but I’m too lazy to add them in. I’ve baked a lot of stollen over the last couple of days, OK? I’m tired.) Finally, I used elements of Richard Bertinet’s recipe, which can be found here.

It’s common to “age” stollen, wrapped tightly, for a couple of weeks before Christmas. I think this recipe won’t last for more than 5-6 days at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap. You can also freeze your stollen for up to 3 months, but freezing may affect the texture a bit (i.e., it will likely get a bit dry). Stale stollen can be toasted and spread with (even more) butter.

Lastly, just know that making stollen is an all-day project (or at least a half-day project) due to the various risings that the dough needs to go through.

Ingredients:
Makes 4 medium-sized stollen

For the Stollen Dough:
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried currants
1 cup mixed candied citrus peel (I used equal amounts of candied citron, orange, and lemon peel)
1/2 cup candied cherries, quartered (if your cherries are really syrup-y, rinse them in cold water first)
1/2 cup golden rum
1/4 cup lukewarm water
Two 1/4-oz. packages active dry yeast (I used Red Star brand)
1/2 cup plus a pinch of granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon peel
5 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (one and a half sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small bits and softened
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon butter, melted

For the Rum Frangipane:
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup finely-ground almond meal or almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons golden rum

To Assemble and Fill the Stollen:
Rum Frangipane filling (see above)
14 oz. marzipan, cut into small chunks
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter

For the Glaze and Topping:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons golden rum
Confectioners sugar

Procedure:

For the Stollen Dough:

1. At least an hour before you start baking: Combine the raisins, currants, candied citrus peels, and candied cherries in a medium bowl. Pour the rum over the fruit, tossing to coat. Soak for an hour, and up to 2 hours.
2. Pour the lukewarm water into a small bowl and sprinkle with the yeast and a pinch of sugar, stirring gently to combine. Let the mixture stand in a warm place for 5 minutes or so, or until the mixture gets frothy and doubles in volume.
3. Meanwhile, drain the fruit mixture and reserve the rum. Pat the fruit dry using paper towels. Place the fruit into a clean medium bowl and toss evenly with the 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Set aside.
4. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the milk, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and the salt. Heat over medium heat to lukewarm (110-115 degrees), stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the reserved rum, the vanilla extract, the almond extract, and the fresh lemon peel.
5. Add the yeast mixture to the milk mixture, stirring gently to combine.
6. Measure 5 cups of the flour into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast-milk mixture with a fork, about a cup at a time.
7. Beat the eggs with a balloon whisk until frothy. Stir them into the dough.
8. Using a wooden spoon, work in the bits of softened butter several tablespoons at a time. The dough will be very wet and buttery.
9. Spread your counter top or work board with the remaining 1/2 cup of flour. Flour your hands lightly, gather the dough into a loose ball, and place on the floured board. Knead the dough for 15 minutes, flouring your hands from time to time if necessary, until the dough is smooth and elastic. (The dough will be uniform in texture, all of the butter and flour will be incorporated, and it will feel very smooth to the touch.)
10. Add the slivered almonds to the reserved fruit mixture and toss briefly to combine.
11. Flatten the dough into a rectangle shape (the actual size is not important) and press in half of the almond-fruit mixture. Fold the dough over onto itself and again press out into a rectangular shape. Press in the remaining half of the almond-fruit mixture. Knead the dough very briefly to distribute the fruit and almonds. (Don’t knead for too long or the dough will discolor.)
12. Coat a deep bowl or rising container with melted butter. Add the dough to the bowl. Brush the top of the dough with additional melted butter. Drape a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) over the bowl and let rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in bulk.

For the Rum Frangipane:

1. Combine butter and sugar in a stand mixer (or using an electric mixer) on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
2. Add the almond meal/flour and mix until incorporated.
3. Mix in all-purpose flour, then add eggs and rum. Mix on medium speed until the mixture is light and creamy.
4. Set mixture aside in a cool spot (do not refrigerate) until ready.

To Assemble and Fill the Stollen:

1. Lightly flour a work board or counter top. Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Let rest for 10 minutes.
2. With your fingertips, shape the dough into rectangles approximately 9 inches by 6 inches.
3. Spread the rum frangipane filling onto each rectangle, leaving an inch border all the way around. Sprinkle each dough rectangle with the bits of marzipan.
4. Fold the stollen: bring one long side of the dough rectangle to the center and press the edge down lightly. Then carefully fold the other side over to the center of the rectangle, overlapping the seam down the center by about an inch. (Like a letter.) Press the edges gently. Lightly flour your hands and taper the ends of each loaf sightly, pinching gently to seal the ends of the dough. Don’t worry if some of the filling seeps out a bit – just wipe off with your fingertips.
5. Brush two 11-by-17 inch sheet pans with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Gently transfer two loaves of stollen to each sheet pan, leaving at least 4 inches between the loaves. Brush the loaves with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon melted butter.
6. Set the loaves aside in a warm place for about an hour, or until almost doubled in bulk. (You do not need to cover the loaves with a towel if you buttered them in step 5, above.)

To Bake, Glaze, and Top the Stollen:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the breads, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, 35-40 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
2. Make the glaze: Just before the stollen loaves finish baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the rum.
3. Take the stollen out of the oven and immediately brush with the melted butter-rum glaze, then thickly dust with sifted confectioners sugar.
4. Cool stollen completely on a wire wrack.

Starters and Nibbles

Spicy Crock-Pot Apple Butter – Serve with cheddar or brie (or any cheese that is cheddar-or-brie-like) and crackers. Can be made several days in advance. Uses the crock-pot, which frees up your stovetop and oven. Would also be a nice sauce with turkey. And a nice host(-ess) gift.

Spicy Crock-Pot Apple Butter

Chicken Liver Mousse – Quick and easy to make. Can be made several days in advance. Serve with toast squares, crackers, or sliced baguette.

Chicken Liver Mousse on a crunchy little toast square

Manchego Cheese, Quince, and Walnut Crostini – Make the quince jam (or buy it) in advance. Toast the bread in advance. Easy to assemble.

Manchego, Quince, and Walnut Crostini

First Course

Easy Golden Beet Soup with Buttery Croutons - Serve as a first course. Beets can be roasted several days in advance. Soup can be made and refrigerated 1-2 days in advance (without the croutons, of course). Swirl a bit of heavy cream or yogurt on top for an elegant little touch. When I make a large meal like Thanksgiving dinner, I serve creamy soups like this in teacups – it’s just the right amount of soup so your guests aren’t stuffed before the main course.

Golden Beet Soup with Buttery Croutons

Quick Breads

Bacon Muffins – quick and easy to bake. Can be made 1 day in advance.

Bacon Muffins

Irish Soda Bread with Brown Butter, Rosemary, and Black Pepper – Quickbread (no yeast) – takes only a few minutes to mix. Can be made 1-2 days in advance.

Irish Soda Bread with Brown Butter, Rosemary, and Black Pepper

Cheddar-Sage Biscuits – Can be made 1 day in advance and re-heated. Sage goes nicely with turkey.

Cheddar Sage Biscuits

Sides

Broccoli Raab with Pecans – can be made 1-2 day in advance and re-heated.

Broccoli Raab with Pecans

Mashed Potatoes - can be made several hours in advance. Hold in a metal bowl over simmering water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Add more cream or milk before serving if the potatoes have dried out a bit.

Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce with Bourbon – can be made up to a week in advance. Made in the oven so it frees up your stovetop. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Cranberry Sauce with Bourbon

Roasted Romanesco Cauliflower – can be made several hours in advance. Pop back in the oven for a few minutes to re-heat. Grate some Parmesan over the cauliflower for a little more richness.

Roasted Romanesco Cauliflower

Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad – believe it or not, this salad can be made several days in advance. Unlike lettuce, the kale is hearty enough to not get slimy under the weight of the vinaigrette. Flavors actually get better if made a day in advance. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

Raw lacitano kale for Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad

Dessert

Apple Pie with Boiled Cider – pie can be made one day in advance. I usually serve apple pie with this Calvados Ice Cream (it’s heaven). You can omit the boiled cider to save time. Add a bit more sugar to compensate.

Apple Pie with Boiled Cider

Bourbon Milkshakes – can’t really be made in advance, but really easy to make using store-bought ingredients. And a perfect ending to your fabulous Thanksgiving meal. Give yourself a round of (bourbon-y) applause!

Bourbon Milkshake

Spicy Crock-Pot Apple Butter

My family’s farm, Fernwood Springs, in Westampton, New Jersey, has a lovely little apple orchard. The trees go mostly untended now because it’s just my grandma and my uncle working the farm (and my grandma is 87!), but the Red Delicious apples are still…well…delicious, even without much tending. I picked a boatload the other day and decided to make apple butter with them in my shiny new-ish crockpot.

I’m filing this recipe under “Kitchen Projects” because it takes a looooong time to make. Traditionally, apple butter is cooked over an open flame for like, 4 days, but I managed to a) eliminate the open flame (not so legal in Brooklyn) and b) reduce the cooking time to about 12 hours or so. I added a couple of dried chilies to the recipe after being inspired by a friend who put up a billion jars of cayenne-spiced apple sauce this year – the chile/apple combo is a good one. It may seem a little weird to boil apple cores in a bag along with the apple/water/sugar mixture, but the cores contain a ton of pectin which will give your finished butter a nice jam-y consistency.

Ingredients:
(makes about 2 pints)

12 cups apples, chopped (I used Red Delicious, but other varieties of apples will work). Reserve 5-6 apple cores – see below
2 cups raw sugar
2 cups water
1 lemon
5-6 apple cores
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole cloves
3-4 whole cardamom pods
2-3 small dried chilies
4-5 pods star anise
1/2 vanilla bean, split

Special Equipment: Crock-pot, cheesecloth, kitchen twine, hand blender (optional)

Procedure:

1. Combine the chopped apples, sugar, 2 cups of water, and the juice of 1 lemon in a large crock pot. (Reserve the squeezed lemon.)
2. Wrap the juiced lemon, the apple cores, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom pods, chilies, star anise, and vanilla bean in cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine. Add to the apple/sugar mixture.
3. Cook the mixture on high in the crockpot for 2 hours. If the water starts evaporating too quickly, add more, 1/4 cup at a time.
4. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10-12 hours. The mixture should turn a dark caramel brown and the apples should start to fall apart.
5. After 10-12 hours in the crockpot, check the mixture for consistency. This will depend on what variety of apple you use,  how hot your crockpot gets, and whether you added additional water to the mixture. The mixture should start looking jam-y, with little to no apple chunks in the mix.
6. If the mixture is too chunky for your liking, remove the cheesecloth bag and blend the mixture using a hand blender until the apple chunks have been incorporated. If the mixture isn’t thick enough for your liking, remove the mixture from the crockpot and add to a medium, heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat until thickened. (Keep an eye on the mixture at this point – it will splatter everywhere if left unattended. Trust me.) I both blended with a hand blender and continued to cook the mixture on top of the stove to get the consistency I wanted.
7. Once the apple butter is as thick as you’d like it, ladle into jars or another clean, glass container. Cool completely, then refrigerate. You can also can (that sounds kind of weird) the apple butter at this point, but I didn’t want to bother – the mixture will keep in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks without canning.

Muffin-Tin Cherry Pies

I wanted a pie version of the cupcake. That is to say, a portable, easy to eat in a couple of bites, cute-as-a-button version of a slice of pie. I didn’t think that little pie tins would allow easy release of said imaginary mini-pie, so I decided to use a muffin tin. Now, I’m not going to lie. Assembling these little tiny pies is a bit of an ordeal. But in the end, you will be rewarded with little, tiny pies that are absolutely perfect for a picnic. I am going to try blueberry or peach mini-pies next.

I used King Arthur Flour’s Mellow Pastry Blend, and I have to say that I’m going to find it hard to go back to using regular all-purpose flour in my pie crusts – the pastry flour made such a difference in the flakiness and tenderness of the crust, even after re-rolling the scraps several times.  A little pie-dough making tutorial is here.  Also – don’t be tempted to substitute sweet cherries for the sour cherries. While sweet cherries are delicious in pies, no doubt, there is no substitute for the tart zinginess of sour cherries. Combined with the flaky buttery-ness of the crust, you’ll be in heaven. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream….don’t even get me started.

Ingredients:
(Makes 12 mini-pies)

For the crust:
2 1/2 cups pastry flour or all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and well-chilled
6-8 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
3 cups sour cherries, washed, stemmed, and pitted
3/4 cup raw or granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Special Equipment: Food processor, 12-cup muffin tin, 4-inch biscuit or other cutter, 3-inch biscuit or other cutter

Procedure:
For the crust:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse once or twice to blend.
2. Add the butter and pulse several times, or until the the mixture has a course, sandy texture but still has chunks of fat about the size of a pea.
3. Add 6 tablespoons of the ice water, and pulse again to combine. Pinch a bit of the dough mixture between your fingers. If it holds together, the dough is ready. If not, add additional tablespoons of ice water, one tablespoon at a time. The dough will not form a ball (you will do that later).
4. Dump the mixture on a large piece of parchment or wax paper and divide the pile roughly in half. Combine each half of the dough bits into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Roll the disks’ sides on the counter to smooth (this will keep your dough from forming cracks when you roll it out).
5. Wrap each dough disk in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray, or lightly butter each muffin cup.

For the filling:

1. Combine the pitted cherries, the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl. Stir gently to combine.

To assemble and bake:

1. After the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, take one dough disk out.
2. Roll out to 12-inches in diameter (I roll my dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to make life a little bit easier).
3. Cut out as many 4-inch circles as you can, then re-roll the scraps and cut additional circles until you have 12. If it is very hot in your kitchen, you may have to periodically refrigerate your dough to keep it from sticking. (Note: if you don’t have enough dough with the first disk to make 12 four-inch circles – it’s OK. You can use the second dough disk to finish making the rest.)
4. Fit each 4-inch dough disk into the muffin cups, gently fitting the dough into the corners of each cup. Refrigerate the muffin tin while you roll the remaining dough.
5. Take the remaining dough disk out of the refrigerator. Roll to 12-inches in diameter.
6. Cut out as many 3-inch circles as you can, then re-roll the scraps and cut out additional circles until you have 12. Refrigerate the dough disks if they become too soft to work with.
7. Remove the dough-lined muffin tin from the refrigerator. Spoon in the prepared filling (I used a size 40 ice cream scoop).
8. Top each cup with a disk of dough. As best you can, pinch together the top and the bottom dough disks. (I just sort of gently pushed them together as best I could.)
9. Cut vents in the top of the dough with a sharp knife.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the crust is golden brown.
11. Cool completely on a wire rack. Run a flexible, sharp knife around the sides of the muffin tin to release your mini-pies.

Honey Caramels

Honey Caramels come to you in honor of NYC’s Pollinator Week (this week!), which is coordinated by Just Food. Beekeeping is currently illegal in New York City (sign a petition to make it legal here), although there are quite a few rogue beekeepers in Brooklyn and in the rest of New York City. Read more about urban beekeeping here.

I found this recipe in the Puerto Rican Cookbook by Elizabeth B.K. Dooley, an antique cookbook that is part of my growing collection of ye olde cookbooks. It dates from the mid-40s, and is a fascinating collection of Puerto Rican food from the era of American colonization (i.e, prior to Puerto Rico becoming a Commonwealth). It’s got an entire chapter dedicated to recipes made with honey; pretty interesting coming from an island that grew a heck of a lot of sugar cane.

If you’re a novice candy maker, it really, really helps to have a candy thermometer on hand. The various stages of candy making (soft ball, firm ball, hard ball, etc.) tend to happen really, really quickly – you can take your candy from firm ball to hard ball in just seconds and then be totally screwed (mind out of the gutter, people). Without a proper candy thermometer, you will have to drop a bit of your candy into ice water to determine its stage in the candy making process. Don’t be intimidated – it’s really not that difficult, you just have to pay close attention to what’s going on in your pot.  Also – hot sugar is one of the hottest, most dangerous things you’ll come across in the kitchen. I kid you not. If you get hot caramel on your skin, it just keeps on burning and burning. (Speaking from experience here.) So be careful, OK?

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 cup honey (mild honey works best here)
1 cup raw sugar (or granulated sugar)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Fleur de sel or other sea salt for topping

Special Equipment: 8×8 pan, candy thermometer (optional)

Procedure:

1. Line an 8×8 pan with aluminum foil, letting the edges of the foil hang over the side of the pan, and spray with cooking spray, or butter generously.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan.
3. Add the honey, sugar, and heavy cream. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has mostly dissolved.
4. Turn the heat to medium low. Clip your candy thermometer onto the side of the pan….carefully.
5. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches firm ball stage, which you can determine in one of two ways: a. the mixture reaches 248ºF (give or take a degree or two) on a candy thermometer (it will be marked with “FB” or “firm ball”) or b. Drop a bit of the mixture into a small bowl filled with ice water. It should immediately form a ball that you can squeeze together with your fingers without it dissipating.
6. Immediately remove from the heat, quickly stir in the vanilla (it will bubble slightly) and pour the mixture into your greased pan. Sprinkle with fleur de sel or other sea salt.
7. Let cool, lift out of the pan using the foil, then cut into squares and wrap in squares of parchment paper or cellophane.

Note: If you happen to accidentally take your caramels past the firm ball stage (i.e., if the caramel mixture gets a little too hard after it has cooled), remelt the candy over low heat with 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Stir until the mixture is totally combined, then do the ice water test to check the consistency of the mixture (dropping the mixture into cold water is a reliable indicator of what the texture/consistency of the caramels will be when cool). Immediately pour into a newly-foil lined and greased pan, and cool completely.

Bourbon Milkshake

Brooklyn Farmhouse has had a sweet tooth lately, but I couldn’t resist sharing yet another dessert recipe with you – albeit a rather more grownup dessert. I totally stole this idea from a restaurant in Portland, Maine called Fore Street; after having my first bourbon milkshake there, I wondered why this idea had never crossed my mind before. It’s so deliciously simple and so deliciously boozy. I made my own vanilla ice cream using milk and cream from the fantastic Milk Thistle Farm in Columbia County, NY – seriously, seriously some of the best milk, cream, and yogurt I’ve ever tasted. Ice cream made from their products is undeniably a step above even super-premium commercial ice creams. (Another benefit to making your own ice cream at home: many commercial ice creams have air whipped into them to increase the volume of the product, so you’re sometimes paying as much for air as for ice cream. Very little air is incorporated into homemade ice cream.) If you can find local milk, cream, and eggs in your area, try to use in your ice cream – you’ll notice a big difference in richness, texture, and taste.

I know my dad is a big fan of good bourbon – dare I say that Bourbon Milkshakes would make a fun ending to a Father’s Day dinner? With possibly a bottle of bourbon as an accompanying present? If my dad didn’t live all the way in Washington State, I’d make these for him for Father’s Day.

If you don’t have time (or an ice cream maker) to make your own ice cream, get yourself some good vanilla ice cream and add a half-teaspoon of high-quality vanilla extract to it when you’re blending in the blender, just to kick the flavor up a notch.

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Ice Cream:
(Makes 1 quart)

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split
1 cup raw sugar or granulated sugar, divided
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon liquor of choice (I used Liquor 43, a vanilla-flavored liquor; rum or bourbon would be nice) (optional)

For the Bourbon Milkshakes:
(Makes 4-5 small milkshakes)

3 ounces of bourbon (3 shots)
1 quart vanilla ice cream
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract (if using store-bought vanilla ice cream)
Splash of milk (optional)

Special Equipment: ice cream maker, blender

Procedure:

For the Vanilla Ice Cream:

1. Combine the cream and milk in a medium heavy saucepot. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pot and add the bean. Add half of the sugar (1/2 cup) to the pot and stir briefly to combine.
2. Turn the heat to medium and bring the milk-cream mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
3. Return the milk-cream mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat.
4. Ready an ice bath: add a generous amount of ice to a large bowl. Add cold water to the ice, and place another large bowl on top of the ice bath. Have a fine-mesh strainer ready to go.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until the sugar starts to dissolve and the mixture lightens in color.
6. Temper the egg mixture by adding a small ladleful of the hot milk-cream mixture to the egg mixture, whisking quickly to combine. Add more of the hot milk-cream mixture to the egg mixture, a ladleful at a time, whisking constantly, until you’ve used about 1/3 of the milk-cream mixture.
7. Add the egg mixture to the remaining milk-cream mixture in your saucepot. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. (Do not boil!)
8. Immediately pour the mixture through your waiting fine-mesh strainer into the bowl over the ice bath. Stir the mixture to cool it down. Cool the mixture completely. (Discard the vanilla bean, or rinse thoroughly and use for vanilla sugar.)
9. Stir in the optional tablespoon of liquor.
10. Freeze the mixture according to your ice cream-maker’s instructions, then freeze completely until very firm.

For the Bourbon Milkshakes:

1. Combine the bourbon and ice cream in a blender. Blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add a splash of milk.
2. Serve in small old-fashioned (lowball) glasses or wine glasses.

Buttermilk Shortcakes with Strawberry Sorbet and Vanilla Creme Fraiche Sauce

Whoa – two strawberry posts in a row! I should’ve planned this whole blogging thing out a little bit better. Because strawberries are so delightful and so in-season right now, I guess I don’t really care that I have two strawberry posts in a row. Really, I don’t.

This is Thomas Keller’s recipe from the French Laundry Cookbook, with some minor modifications. I find that some celebrity chefs’ cookbooks are not as fool-proof as I’d want them to be (I won’t name names), but the French Laundry Cookbook is amazing. If you don’t want to go all-out and make the shortcakes and the crème fraîche sauce, at least make the strawberry sorbet. It is truly the essence of strawberry – so delicious and such a good way to use up lots of strawberries that you may have on hand from obsessively going to the farmer’s market and buying strawberries from at least 4 different vendors. There is no way that this sorbet will be good with regular-old conventional store-bought strawberries. They simply do not have the strawberry flavor that locally-grown berries do. So really, don’t waste your time because it’s a big pain to hull 2 1/2 pounds of strawberries. I’m just sayin’.

My flour of choice for biscuits, White Lily, has sadly been bought by Smuckers and the mill shut down. I found an excellent alternative from King Arthur Flour called “Mellow Pastry Blend“, which (gasp!) I liked better than White Lily – it is unbleached and made the most delicious, tender shortcakes. Exciting!

A fun little kitchen project aside: Instead of wasting the seeds and pulp that remain from the straining process (when making the sorbet), you can make fruit leather with the remains: oil a small baking sheet with cooking spray, very thinly spread the leftover strawberry pulp onto the baking sheet using an offset spatula, and bake in a 150°F oven for about 30 minutes, or until the leather is still pliable but no longer super sticky. If you can’t get your oven as low as 150°F, set to 200°F and prop open the door a bit. Keep an eye on the temperature because you don’t want your strawberry leather to caramelize.

Ingredients:

For the Strawberry Sorbet:
(Makes 1 quart)

2 1/2 pounds fresh strawberries
1/4 cup honey
1 cup raw sugar (as fine as you can find it) or superfine sugar
1 tablespoon rum

For the Shortcakes:
(Makes 8 two-inch shortcakes)

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Mellow Pastry Blend flour or all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading and rolling
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons raw sugar or granulated sugar
4 tablespoons butter, very cold and cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken, plus extra for brushing
1 tablespoon demerara sugar, for topping

For the Vanilla Bean Crème Fraîche Sauce:
(Makes 3/4 cup)

3/4 cup crème fraîche
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, split

To Assemble:
(for 8 servings)
1 cup diced fresh, ripe strawberries

Special Equipment: blender, fine-mesh strainer, ice cream maker, 8-or 9-inch round cake pan, 2-inch biscuit cutter

Procedure:
For the Strawberry Sorbet:

1. Wash and hull the strawberries. Place strawberries in a blender and blend until smooth (you may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender). Add the honey and the sugar and blend briefly.
2. Force the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Stir in rum.
3. Freeze sorbet according to your ice cream maker’s instructions, then transfer to the freezer to freeze completely.

For the Shortcakes:

1. Lightly grease an 8-or 9-inch round cake pan or a small baking sheet. Preheat oven to 500°F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
3. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, work quickly to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs interspersed with small pea-size lumps of butter.
4. Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough seems too dry, add more buttermilk. If too wet, add just a touch of flour. (Remember: you can always add more but you can’t take it away.)
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead 2-3 times until the dough comes together. Roll out to 3/4-inch thickness and stamp out 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter. Take care not to twist the cutter as you stamp out the biscuits (um, I mean shortcakes).
6. Transfer shortcakes to the cake pan or baking sheet, with sides touching.
7. Brush with 1 teaspoon additional buttermilk and sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. Cool on a wire rack.

For the Vanilla Bean Crème Fraîche Sauce:

1. Combine the crème fraîche and the sugar in a small saucepan. Scrape the contents of the vanilla bean into the pan.
2. Whisk over medium-low heat until the mixture just barely simmers and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Keep warm if using immediately, otherwise cool and refrigerate.

To Assemble:

1. Briefly rewarm the crème fraîche sauce and shortcakes, if necessary. Spoon a bit of the sauce onto a plate. Split a shortcake horizontally and place the bottom half on the sauce.
2. Top the shortcake bottom with chopped strawberries, a small scoop of the strawberry sorbet, and the top of the shortcake. Eat immediately.

Pink Peppercorn-Yogurt Panna Cotta with Strawberries

Pink peppercorns are fruity and floral – not at all spicy like black (or even white) peppercorns. That’s because they are actually a kind of rosehip (i.e., fruit from a type of rose bush). I’ve made this pink peppercorn ice cream a few times (it’s amazing with chocolate cake), but I thought that the delicate pink peppercorn flavor would pair well with a delicate fruit like strawberries. It does.

“Panna cotta” literally means “cooked cream” in Italian, and you’ll be happy to know that there is very little work to do in the kitchen for panna cotta except to heat up a bit of cream and pour it into ramekins. And seriously, I have no idea why I haven’t thought to make panna cotta for every single dinner party I’ve ever had. It is a) unbelievably easy to make and b) you can make it way ahead of time. Perfect party food.

A few things about ingredients. Try to find grass-fed cream and yogurt. It’s good. Seriously, trust me. Plus, supporting small dairy farmers is something to think about. I had a hard time finding organic gelatin, though. In fact, I couldn’t find any in person anywhere, but have since found a source online here. I’ve also been experimenting with different kinds of sugar, like sugar in the raw and demarara after stupidly discovering that the food co-op that I’ve belonged to for years carries all sorts of fair trade sugars in bulk. Demerara sugar is especially delicious with strawberries.

Ingredients:
For the Panna Cotta:
One 1/4 ounce envelope of gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup yogurt (I used low-fat)
2 1/2 tablespoons raw sugar (granulated sugar is OK, too)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons pink peppercorns, lightly crushed

For the Strawberries:
1 pint very fresh, local strawberries, hulled and sliced
1-2 tablespoons demerara sugar (granulated sugar is OK, too)
Splash of orange juice, rum, Grand Marnier, or other liqueur (I used Liquor 43, a Spanish vanilla-flavored liqueur)

Special Equipment: Four 3-ounce ramekins

Procedure:
For the Panna Cotta:

1. Lightly oil ramekins or spray with cooking spray.
2. Add the cold water to a medium bowl. Sprinkle gelatin on top and let stand to soften.
3. In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the heavy cream, yogurt, sugar, and pink peppercorns.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove pot from heat and let steep for 20-30 minutes.
5. Return cream mixture to a boil. Using a fine-meshed strainer, quickly strain the mixture into a medium bowl.
6. Add 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the gelatin and whisk until gelatin is fully incorporated.
7. Add the gelatin-cream mixture to the remaining cream mixture. Stir in vanilla.
8. Divide the mixture among four ramekins. Let cool for 20-30 minutes, then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until set (this will take 2-3 hours).

For the Strawberries:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a potato masher or large spoon, very lightly crush the strawberries.
2. Let sit (at room temperature or refrigerated) until ready to serve.

To Serve:

1. To unmold panna cotta: very carefully, run a thin, flexible knife around the edge of the ramekin. Dip ramekins (one at a time) into a bowl of hot water. Invert ramekin onto the center of a serving plate and unmold. (You can also give both plate and ramekin one firm shake, holding both at an angle in front of your body. Did that make sense?)
2. Top panna cotta with strawberries and a bit of the strawberry juices.

Panettone Ice Cream

Panettone is a yeasted sweet bread that is usually made for Christmas and New Year’s in Italy. The bread is originally Milanese in origin, but it has spread to the far corners of the world – it’s just that delicious. I try to make at least one every Christmas season, but this year I failed big time: not a single panettone was made casa Brooklyn Farmhouse.  I did, however, purchase all of the candied citrus peels (orange and citron) necessary for a good panettone, not to mention beautiful panettone wrappers.  The containers of candied citron and orange have been eyeballing me ever since, crying out (in a little, tiny voice) to be used. Because I couldn’t bring myself to make panettone now, with the temperature going up to almost 65 today – it would be a little like baking Christmas cookies in the middle of summer – I hit upon a solution. Panettone Ice Cream! Tastes like panettone, but it’s ice cream!  This is not an April Fool’s joke.

When I bake panettone, I use an extract called Fiori di Sicilia, which is citrus-y and vanilla-y all at once, without tasting creamsicle-y. It’s really worth seeking out (you can order it online at King Arthur Flour).  As a substitution, you can combine vanilla extract and orange peel. As usual, using the best quality (i.e., not factory farmed) eggs, cream, and milk is really important when you make ice cream at home.  It’s a little more expensive, but then again, you won’t have to pay $3.00 – $4.00 a pint for premium ice cream!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons sweet marsala wine or rum
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon fiori di sicilia extract or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract plus 1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
One three-inch length (one inch wide) piece of lemon peel, cut with a swiveling vegetable peeler
3 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup candied (glazed) citron peel
1/4 cup candied orange peel

Special Equipment: Ice cream maker

Procedure:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the marsala (or rum) and the raisins. Simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the milk, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the fiore di sicilia extract (or vanilla extract and orange peel), and the lemon peel. Heat over medium heat until barely simmering. Turn off the heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
3. Bring the milk mixture back to a simmer over medium heat.
4. Have ready a large bowl of ice water with another large bowl set atop the ice bath. Also have ready a fine-mesh strainer.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Temper the egg-sugar mixture by adding a small ladleful of the hot milk mixture, whisking to combine. Add about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture, one ladleful at a time.
6. Combine the milk-egg mixture with the remaining simmering milk. Heat over medium, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.
7. Immediately pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer over the bowl set over the ice bath. Discard the lemon peel. Stir to cool the mixture, then cool completely.
8. Stir in the heavy cream.
9. Process the mixture according to the ice cream maker manufacturer’s directions. In the last 5 minutes of churning, add the raisins and any marsala (or rum) and the candied citron and orange peel.
10. Freeze completely.

Makes slightly less than 1 quart.

Homemade Candied Ginger

A trifecta of ginger deliciousness! Actually, the candied ginger is a byproduct of the ginger syrup (or is ginger syrup the byproduct of candied ginger??): you can’t create one without the other.  I had a bit of a hankering for homemade ginger ale, because it’s so much spicier than store bought and I felt like something a little tingly. Oh, but I can think of so many other ways to use ginger syrup…on pancakes, in cocktails, in ice cream…and, of course, candied ginger is good in lots of baked goods (scones? cookies? muffins?) and as a sweet nibble.

Slice your ginger into very, very thin disks if you want a more chewy candied ginger. Because I was looking for a more al dente candied ginger, like the kind you find packaged in grocery stores, I chopped my ginger into small-ish (about 1/2-inch) squares. Just note that it will take quite a bit longer to soften ginger cut into chunks than ginger sliced into thin disks. If you can find young ginger, which has a much thinner skin and is often a bit pink in color, definitely use it instead of regular (read: old) ginger. Older ginger, like the kind I used, tends to be more fibrous, so you won’t have the creamier interior consistency that you will get if you can get your hands on young ginger.

Homemade Ginger Ale

Ingredients:

For the Candied Ginger and Ginger Syrup:

1/2 pound ginger (8 oz.), about 2 large knobs, peeled
2 cups granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup extra for coating the ginger pieces
2 cups water

For the Ginger Ale:

Seltzer or sparkling water
Ginger syrup (recipe above)
Lime slices (optional)

Procedure:

1. Slice or chop the ginger (as discussed above).
2. In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and the water over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Add the ginger pieces.
3. Simmer over medium heat for 1 hour if you’ve sliced your ginger very thin, and at least twice that if you’ve cut your ginger into larger chunks. (Check on them occasionally to make sure they aren’t drying out and that the water isn’t evaporating too quickly.)
4. Meanwhile, line a small sheet pan with wax or parchment paper, or with tinfoil. Spread the remaining 1/4 cup sugar on the lined sheet pan.
5. When the ginger is done (it will be soft), remove with a slotted spoon to the prepared sheet pan. Toss the ginger pieces in the sugar and spread them out. Let dry for several hours, or overnight. Let the ginger syrup cool, then refrigerate. If you want a thicker ginger syrup, continue to cook over medium-low heat until it reaches the consistency you want.
6. To make homemade ginger ale: add 3-4 generous tablespoons (or more, to taste) of ginger syrup to a large pint glass. Top with seltzer or other sparkling water. (I also like to add a bit of lime. Uh, and a bit of rum.) Garnish with candied ginger, if desired.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups ginger syrup and approximately a cup of candied ginger.