12 Days of Christmas: 2nd Day, Turtledoves

We're on day two!  Turtledoves.  Regrettably, butchershops around here don't sell doves.  And I thought setting traps in our front yard for the mourning doves that hang around might get me arrested or something.  So I made a "turtledove" recipe I found online.  Basically, turtle candy.  I'm not sure what the dove aspect is (besides perhaps a similarity to Dove chocolates?) but I'm not complaining.

These aren't quite what I expected.  The original recipe described these as being a gooey candy, but what I got is a hard caramel candy, more like a toffee than a caramel.  I think the last five minutes of boiling may need to be adjusted to not cross the line from soft ball to hard ball candy.  But still, good, and on the simpler side of recipes.  The hardest part was digging out the quickly hardening caramel to put on the chilled baking sheets.  If I hadn't run out of pecans, I would have tried the caramel part again with a different recipe.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... two turtledoves...

Turtledoves
(makes approx. 4 doz candies)
adapted from Food and Wine

1 1/2 c. pecans (half a pound)
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. light corn syrup
2 tbs. unsalted butter
3 tbs. water
1 c. dried sour cherries, roughly chopped
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and place in the freezer to chill.

Spread pecans on a third baking sheet and place in the preheated oven for 7 minutes, until fragrant.

Combine cream, sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a medium saucepan (Err on the side of a larger size if you're not sure.  This will boil up a lot.).  Heat over medium low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.  Using a candy thermometer, let cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 240F (soft ball stage).  This can take up to 45 minutes.

Fill a medium bowl (big enough to hold the saucepan) with cold water.  Set aside.

When the caramel has reached 240F, add the 3 tbs water and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and dip pan into the bowl of cold water briefly to stop the cooking.  Let caramel cool to 200F.

Remove baking pans from freezer.

Stir pecans and cherries into the caramel, and spoon tablespoons of the mixture onto the chilled pans.  Let sit until completely cooled, about 1 hour.

Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave or in a double boiler, stirring to make sure you don't overcook it.

Dip half the candies into the chocolate and return to the pans.  Chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set the chocolate.  Enjoy.

...and a partridge in a pear tree.

12 Days of Christmas: 1st Day of Christmas, Chocolate Dipped Pears with Almonds

Last year, on my former blog, I attempted to cook the 12 Days of Christmas.  Unfortunately, I got a horrendous stomach flu on day 10 and didn't quite complete it (due to fever, vomiting, and other unpleasantness that made me less than eager to cook--or eat.), but I did enjoy the first 10 days.  And so, here we are again on Christmas Day, the official 1st Day of Christmas.  And I find myself beginning the challenge anew (Minus frog legs.  Once you see those in reverse, you just can't go back for a while.).

Technically, there are books of the twelve days of Christmas.  Not that I've read any of them.  But as it's a long-term oral tradition, I think we can count it as being somewhat literary.  The twelve days of Christmas are the twelve days leading up to Epiphany (Twelfth Night), most commonly starting with Christmas Day itself.

Everyone knows the song.  There are a lot of rumors about what each day's gift stands for, but none of them can be truly verified.  The song is most likely French in origin, but is more common as an English carol.  For my purposes, the song serves as an excellent challenge for cooking.

And so we begin, with the most simple and elegant recipe I've made lately.  I'm known for extravagant concoctions (pig's feet, anyone?), but this very simple recipe is stunning in its ease and subtlety.  The lightness of the pear with the salty sweetness of the dark chocolate and almonds is just... perfect.  This would be the perfect opening for any holiday party, or as a simple but satisfying dessert.

Merry Christmas to all!

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... a partridge in a pear tree.

Chocolate Dipped Pears with Almonds

(serves 5)
adapted (ever so slightly) from Bakers Royale

5 Red Bartlett pears, ripe
6 oz. dark chocolate
3 oz. finely chopped almonds (or nut of choice)
sea salt, to taste

Melt chocolate in one bowl and mix the almonds and sea salt in a separate bowl.

Holding each pear by the stem, dip in melted chocolate to desired coverage.  Let excess chocolate drip off.

Dip in the chopped almonds.

Let dry on cooling rack.

Halloween Chocolate Marshmallow Ghost Cake, Belated

Halloween is over, but not forgotten.  Vestiges of my costume still lie scattered on the floor, though my hangover is gone.  I’m sure that candy is still being eaten, or hoarded away for times of need.  And pictures are still being posted on Facebook of costumes and parties.

I like Halloween.  Mainly because I like dressing up.  As for the rest of it, I’ve never been the biggest fan.  I hate scary movies, scary stories, scary costumes, and well, anything scary.  I have since I was a kid, when I would refuse to go up to certain houses while trick-or-treating if the decorations were too scary or if I had seen hidden house owners who would jump out and startle other kids.  (I have a distinct memory of a family on my street growing up who would have someone hide in the rain gutter by their house and reach out and grab kids’ legs.  I gave them as wide a berth as was possible.)  I’ve been to one haunted house in my life, and will never go to another.

But, I love a good theme, and Halloween makes for excellent themes.  Ghosts, graves, vampires, spiders.  I certainly don’t mind creepy baked goods.  And so, since my friend Katie’s birthday was on Halloween, I wanted to make her an appropriate cake for her party.

I’d remembered seeing an adorable ghost cake from Martha Stewart a while ago, and decided to try that.  Apparently, it was delicious, and the icing was an especial hit. However, it didn’t turn out quite the way I envision, due to my fatal flaw when it comes to cooking: not reading instructions thoroughly.


Learn from me: Read Instructions.  I don’t know how many last-minute store runs/ruined dishes/temper tantrums I’ve had because I’ve gotten halfway through a recipe and realized a)I’m missing something, b) I need to leave something in the fridge for two hours when I need to leave for a party with said dish in an hour and a half, or c) I added all of an ingredient at once, instead of dividing it as clearly stated in the instructions I skimmed.


Luckily, this time it was not a disaster.  Just a slight disappointment.  What I did was ignore the fact that Martha clearly states that you should use three 6-inch cake pans.  In fact, I’m fairly certain it’s mentioned at least twice.  Since I didn’t actually pay attention, I grabbed my three 9-inch cake pans.  I don’t even HAVE 6-inch cake pans, but if I had paying attention, I at least would have thought to adjust the baking time or only done two layers instead of three.  Instead, I had three thin, slightly over-baked layers of cake, and not three thick, not-over-baked layers.  Also, the marshmallow ghosts weren’t as adorably clustered as they would be on a 6-inch cake.


But, no one seemed to notice.  I filled in the empty spaces with birthday candles.  You should keep this in mind, though.  Don’t make my mistakes, readers.


Disclaimer over.


Now, since this is a books-and-food blog, I’m now going to attempt to tie this in to literature.  Wait for it.


As I said above, I hate scary stories.  But ghosts aren’t restricted to frightening tales that I avoid like the plague.  They show up in classic literature: Cathy’s ghost haunts Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Hamlet’s murdered father appears to him in Hamlet. There are a whole host of ghosts in the Harry Potter series, such as The Grey Lady, Nearly-Headless Nick, the Bloody Baron, and Moaning Myrtle.  There’s Casper the Friendly Ghost, who actually looks rather marshmallow-like, unlike most ghostly literary apparitions, which embody the forms of their once-living selves.


So, there you go.  Ghosts appear throughout literature, not just as chain-rattling terrors, but as characters who play into the plot, give information, and have lives (or after-lives) of their own.  I certainly don’t mind these (mostly) harmless ghosts.  In fact, they have a sort of charm as creatures that still care about what goes on in the world even after they have (mostly) departed it.


The ghosts on this cake seem to be of the harmless variety: big, comfy blobs of sticky marshmallow hanging out on a deep chocolate cake.  They’re fairly easy to assemble and even easier to pop into your mouth.  This cake is great for Halloween, of course, but would also go well with any ghostly-themed party.

I'm going to give the instructions for a 6-inch cake, because I really believe it will turn out better that way.

Photo courtesy of Gina Simon Photography.

Chocolate Marshmallow Ghost Cake
(makes a three-layer 6-inch cake)
adapted from Martha Stewart

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more to grease pans
2/3 c. black cocoa powder* (or unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder), plus extra to dust pans
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. milk

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Marshmallows
Mini-marshmallows
Chocolate sprinkles

*I LOVE black cocoa powder.  A friend gave me a bag of it, and I don't know what I'm going to do when it runs out (well, besides immediately figure out where to get more).  It's darker than regular cocoa powder, giving the baked good a black color, and has a more intense flavor.  I love it.  If you've never tried it, I recommend it.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using the extra butter, butter three 6-inch cake pans, then dust with the extra cocoa powder.  Tap out excess powder.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: coca powder, flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium high until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Mix in vanilla.

On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture (in three batches) and the milk (in two batches). Mix until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the three cake pans (about 2 cups per pan), and smooth batter with a spatula.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely in pans.

To make the icing, beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and fluffy, about 8 minutes.  Mix in vanilla.

Use approximately 2/3 cup of icing to frost between each layer, then use the rest of the icing to cover the top and sides of the cake.

For each marshmallow ghost, you will need two regular marshmallows, a mini-marshmallow, and two chocolate sprinkles.  (You can also make little baby marshmallow ghosts with two mini-marshmallows.)

Twist the top of the mini-marshmallow between your fingers to form a point.  Trim all three of the marshmallows so they will stick together and stack them on top of each other.  Use a toothpick to make holes for the eyes, and then stick a chocolate sprinkle in each hole.  Position as desired on and around the cake.

P.S. Go vote!