Conscious Choice: Visions of Sugarplums

December 1999

Visions of Sugarplums

Tempting Holiday Sweets and Treats from Your Kitchen

by Colette Christian

This probably will not come as a big surprise to any of you but I do a lot of holiday baking. I collect jars and tins all year, pack them full of delicious homemade treats, and then give them away to family and friends. Now, I’m not overly sentimental nor am I Martha Stewart. But there is a practical reason for all this: homemade gifts are always more appreciated and usually less expensive to produce then store-bought gifts. And baking doesn’t take any more time than shopping does — but I hate shopping. There is nothing worse then running around a mall searching for gifts. Stores are hot and overcrowded; the frenzy is too much for me. I’d rather be home and safe in my kitchen.

Creating gifts from your kitchen takes a little organization, a fair amount of butter, and a few uninterrupted hours. Cookies can be frozen successfully up to one month. Cakes also freeze well, and chutneys and vinegars improve with a few weeks on a shelf. Years ago, I taught a class called Gifts from Your Kitchen. The following are some of my students’ favorite recipes. These recipes are easy and the results look and taste terrific. Your friends will wonder just when you took that advanced pastry course.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie Squares
Pack in a foiled-lined box for a pretty holiday gift. Yield: 24 squares

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided in half
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups pecans
1 cup flour
Pinch salt
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon rum or 2 teaspoons vanilla
Confectioner’s sugar for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a nine-by thirteen-inch pan with aluminum foil; allow foil to hang one inch beyond opposite sides of pan. Grease and flour foil.

2. In a small heavy saucepan, place half of the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup and sugar. Melt over medium heat until smooth. Stir constantly. Remove pan from heat and cool slightly.

3. In a small bowl stir together pecans, flour, salt, and remaining chocolate chips. In another bowl beat together eggs and rum. Stir egg mixture into cooled chocolate mixture. Stir pecan flour mixture into egg-chocolate mixture. Spread batter into prepared pan and smooth surface with a spatula.

4. Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes until a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. It can have a few crumbs clinging to it.

5. Cool on a wire rack. Use the ends of the foil to lift bars out of the pan. Cut into squares when cool.

Jam Pinwheels
Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen cookies; recipe may be halved

1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoon water
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
Jam of choice for filling (do not use fruit spreads)
Extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, mix thirty seconds to incorporate. Add the egg and water and blend well.

3. Add the flour mixture in three stages blending well after each addition.

4. Divide dough in half, wrap snugly in plastic wrap and chill for one-and-a-half hours. At this point dough may be frozen up to a month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Allow to soften on kitchen counter for an hour before trying to roll it out.

5. Roll out dough, on a lightly floured board, to a thickness of about one-eighth-inch. Using a pastry wheel, knife, or pizza cutter, cut dough into three-inch squares.

6. Using a wide spatula, transfer the squares to cookie sheet. Leave one inch between them. Make cuts in each corner of the squares, leaving the center intact. Put a spoonful of jam in center of square. Fold the four points of the square over the jam to make a pinwheel and press the points down in the center.

7. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes, until golden brown. Sprinkle the hot cookies with sugar as soon as they come out of the oven. Let cool slightly on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Walnut Snowballs
Yield: about 40

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Confectioner’s sugar for rolling and dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.

2. Cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture in three stages, mixing well after each addition. Fold in walnuts.

4. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into one-inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet, spacing one inch apart.

5. Bake about twelve to fifteen minutes or until cookies are pale golden.

6. In the meantime, have a shallow pan and a strainer or sifter of confectioner’s sugar ready. When the cookies come out of the oven, generously sift sugar over cookies to cover completely. Repeat until all the cookies have been coated. Sift additional sugar over cookies before serving.

Chocolate Brownie Loaf
Yield: one nine- by five-inch loaf

1-1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons Dutch process cocoa (like Droste)
1 Tablespoon instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups sour cream
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a nine- by five-inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, coffee granules, and salt.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and butter.

4. Add the wet ingredients to dry and mix with a spatula until all the ingredients are moistened.

5. Fold in walnuts.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for fifty to sixty minutes. Start checking cake at forty-five minutes. Cake is done when a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes before unmolding. Keep well wrapped. This cake is better if it sits a day before slicing. It freezes beautifully.

Pear and Cranberry Chutney
Yield: six eight-ounce jars

3 pears, cored and cubed
2 cups cranberries
2 cloves garlic
1 two-inch piece of ginger, minced
2 teaspoons hot paprika
2 teaspoons coriander
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup raisins
1 cup brown sugar

1. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until tender and syrupy, about forty-five minutes. Stir occasionally.

2. Ladle mixture in impeccably clean glass jars. Wipe rims, allow to cool and seal. Store in refrigerator.

This chutney keeps in the refrigerator for about four weeks. It is wonderful with Roast Turkey and especially good on leftover turkey sandwiches.

Cranberry vinegar

1 twelve-ounce bag cranberries
3 cups red wine vinegar
3 Tablespoons of sugar

1. Chop or mash the berries. A few pulses in the food processor works well.

2. Combine the berries and vinegar in well-washed quart jar. Cover the jar and set aside to steep for two weeks.

3. Strain the berries off the vinegar. Heat the mixture until simmering and add the sugar. Cook until sugar dissolves, two to three minutes.

4. Cool vinegar, funnel into decorative bottles and cork.

Cranberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup cranberry vinegar
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1-1/4 cups canola oil

Combine vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt, and pepper. Whisk in oil until mixture emulsifies slightly.

This dressing is delicious on any greens. A combination of endive, sliced red onion, orange sections, and almonds complements this dressing very well.

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