Chocolate Crinkles

This is our first christmas in Ahmedabad. Christmas in a new place is always hard for me. It means, beginning all over again with new customs, traditions, piecing everything together, both the old and new. When the season of advent began, I felt pretty low. I had the same feeling when we moved to Germany 4 years ago, so I knew that such feelings were normal. All the pictures of the christmas markets popping up on Facebook made me yearn for the european charm of the season. The only consolation was that I did not miss the harsh season of winter and once we opened our boxes of decoration, our home began to resemble a litte christmas market. 

First week into December began the questions as to when preparations would begin in the kitchen. I was not yet in the mood, not yet ready. Moreover, the kitchen was only fifty percent set up. Boxes were half opened and my utensils and gadgets were waiting patiently for a place to call their own. Last weekend, hubby and I pulled our sleeves together and gave both the kitchen and pantry a make over. And monday, the ball got rolling. 

Living abroad has certainly taught me to think out of the box and look for new recipes to brighten up our platter. When these crinkles popped up on my computer screen, I knew I would bake them. These are so very easy to bake and when they begin to slowly crinkle in the oven, there itself lies the satisfaction that you have done it right. They have turned out to be a complete winner in my entire set of goodies prepared this season. With another day to go before christmas, you can surely whip out a batch or two!

Source: Simply recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar(see notes)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Method:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or a wooden spoon) beat together the cocoa powder, white sugar and vegetable oil until it comes together into a shiny, gritty black dough.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds each. Add the vanilla and beat thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.  Slowly mix into the chocolate mixture on low speed until just combined. Do not overbeat. 
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough for 4 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat the oven to 160C(See notes). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the confectioners sugar in a wide bowl. Take clumps of the chilled dough and roll them into 1 inch sized balls using your hands. Roll the balls in confectioners sugar and place on the baking sheet. 
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:

1. Adjust the amount of sugar according to your liking. We needed it to be a tad sweeter and hence I used 2 cups of sugar. Also, since the sugar available here is pretty thick in size, I gave a whizz in the mixer to make the grains a bit fine(but not powder).
2. No two ovens are the same. Since I am back to my oven of the past which was in storage for 4 years, it has taken me time to get accustomed to it. The above temperature and time is best suited for mine. The crinkles turned out crisp on the outside and chewy like a brownie on the inside.

Chocolate Truffles

Want to gift something home made that looks pretty and tastes equally good too? How about some truffles? Last year I baked the rich Indian plum cake and gifted them to all the german friends we had made over time. Not only were they stunned with the gesture, they were equally appreciative of our christmas tradition and relished the same. In return, one of the families gifted us with home made truffles. While we live in the land of Lindt and Nestle, the world famous European chocolates, I was taken aback by how delicious home made truffles tasted. Honestly, as I mentioned, we need no reason to make them at home cause when it comes to chocolate, we do get the best. But curiosity got hold of me and I was more than tempted to give a shot to making them myself. 

This is a german recipe which I have tried from one of the many german magazines that I have begun to buy. What surprises me is the use of our spices in so many german christmas preparations. While cinnamon and cardamom are used on a regular basis in our Indian cooking, germans tend to use them more in their christmas baking. 

These truffles are easy to make, taste real good and when wrapped in delicate film with a catching ribbon to go, it does make for a great christmas gift. While the original recipe called for the truffles to be dusted with cocoa powder, we found it to be bitter, hence I used dessicated coconut to roll them in. 

Ingredients:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 175 ml whipped cream
• 2" cinnamon sticks
• 2 cardamoms
• 1 star anise
• 150gm white couverture chocolate
• 250 gm milk couverture chocolate
• 80 gm soft butter
• a bowl of desiccated coconut

Method:

1. Slit the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds carefully. In a thick bottomed vessel, mix the cream along with the vanilla seeds and bean too(after you have scraped the bean do not discard it). Add the cinnamon sticks, cardamoms and star anise. Bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and keep it aside so that the spices are infused into the cream well.
3. Meanwhile chop the white and milk chocolate into smaller pieces with a sharp knife. Place them in a deep bowl(preferably glass)
4. Strain the infused cream. Discard the spices, and bring the cream once again to a boil.
5. Pour the hot cream into the chopped chocolate. Keep stirring till the cream and chocolate are melted and mixed together well.
6. Wrap the bowl in a cling film and refrigerate it for 5 hours.
7. After 5 hours, add the melted butter to the chocolate mixture and stir well. If the mix is too hard, use your hands. Refrigerate it for another hour.
8. Line a flat tray with butter paper. Remove the chocolate mix. Scoop out small mounds of the mass and roll it against your palms to form small sized truffles. Roll the truffles in the dessicated coconut and arrange them on the tray. Use up all the chocolate mix. You should be able to make around 60 truffles.
9. They keep well for up to a week in the refrigerator. Before serving, bring them to room temperature.

Note: If you are unable to find couverture chocolate you can replace it with ordinary chocolate.

Choco Almond cookies

So the big fluffy flakes finally fell upon us or rather whole of Germany. Too bad for the kids who were eagerly waiting to go sleighing. The hubby and I have been taking turns falling ill with the normal fever and cold. I guess we are growing old hence our bodies are taking time to adjust to the onset of winter. For me this is just the wrong month to be even lying in bed. With the umpteen jobs to be done, I really had to get better soon. It was hard convincing the kids though that we needed to stay indoors. We had to be content watching the snow flakes fall gently. 

Today's batch of cookies is the one I first began my advent baking experiment with. According to the kids, they rate number one in the entire batch of baking I have done so far. The reason being the secret ingredient - CHOCOLATE. You really can't separate the two, Kids and chocolate, can you? Not only did the experimental batch get over soon, over the next few days, as they munched on the different varieties, a small question would be heard every now and then "When are you going to bake the chocolate ones again?". Bake I did, only to promptly store them all in my new christmas tins and hide them from the hungry mouths. This mommy needs a break, truly!! and the cookies will come out of hiding just in time for Christmas!! :D

Ingredients:

• 100 g dark chocolate
• 30 g cocoa powder
• 100 g hazelnuts with skin, powdered
• 100 g almonds with skin, powdered
• 50 g almonds peeled and chopped into fine bits
• 200 g powdered sugar + for rolling the dough(optional)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp clove powder
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp almond essence
• Halved almonds to garnish

Method:

1. Grate the chocolate fine.
2. Beat the egg whites till creamy(not until they are stiff peaks).
3. In a bowl mix the cocoa powder, powdered hazelnut and almond, chopped almonds, powdered sugar, cinnamon and clove powders. Add the grated chocolate and mix very well.
4. Add the beaten egg whites and almond essence. Knead well to form a tight dough. If the dough is not tight enough add more almond powder ( I didn't need any).
5. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. 
7. On a clean surface, sprinkle some sugar and roll out the dough. With the help of a knife cut into small squares( 1" x 1"). Place halved almonds on each square and line them neatly on the baking tray.
8. Preheat the oven to 200 C.
9. Bake the cookies on the middle rack for 8 to 10 minutes(At 8 minutes they are chewy which Ms A loves and a little more time makes them crisp and nutty which the remainder of us like).
10. Remove, let cool. Once completely cool, store them in an air tight tin.

With this, I am done with the german cookie recipes. Next on my to bake list is the rich plum cake and my heart desires to make the mangy kidiyos and neuris. Keeping my fingers crossed to achieve all of the above.

Ginger cashew cookies

I do not know if the season of advent stresses you out, but it does to me. So much to do, so little time. I am kind of waiting to tick of all the jobs on my to do list. These were the next batch of cookies I made last week. Husband loved them, the kids were kind of neutral, maybe because they preferred the Zimtsterne and butter cookies to these. I will be baking more of them the following week.

Ingredients:

• 100 g brown sugar
• 70 g butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 150 gm finely chopped cashew nuts
• 70 g all purpose flour sieved
• 100 g finely chopped candied ginger
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder

Method:

1. Beat well the sugar and butter together.
2. Add the yolks of the egg one at a time and continue beating.
3. Add the finely chopped cashew nuts, candied ginger, flour, and ginger powder.
4. Knead together to form a smooth dough.
5. Wrap in a cling foil film and refrigerate for half an hour.
6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170 C
7. Form small sized balls(roughly a medium sized marble), flatten them slightly to look like above and place them in neat rows on the tray.
8. Place a cashew nut on each of the cookie.
9. Bake the cookies for around 10 to 12 minutes till they are golden brown. Be careful not to burn.
10. Remove them and let them cool well. Store in an air tight jar. 

Notes:

• When you remove the cookies out, they will feel soft. They are supposed to be that way. As they cool, they get hard.
• The above batch makes about 50 cookies.

Zimtsterne - German cookies

I am doing a happy jingle today. Cause I got these cinnamon stars just right!! Or rather the icing, PERFEKT!! The last time I made them was over 2 years ago. Then, I referred to an english version of the cookies. Since then, I have come a long away. It shows in the cookies themselves. Being able to read and also understand the german language(especially recipes) has helped me tremendously!! 

While I thought there was only one recipe with almonds for the Zimtsterne, the Advent baking book of mine told me something else. There were different kinds of recipes for the same star, some with different spices, some with a different kind of icing, and others with a mix of nuts(which today's recipe is). 

To tell you the truth, I do not know why these cookies are called Zimtsterne. Zimt means cinammon and sterne means stars. The sterne part is explainable, but zimt ?? As you dig into these cookies, you get the slightest hint of spice, what is dominant though is the nutty, chewy texture of almonds.I guess some things just remain at that with no explanation..:-)
Coming back to the recipe, I followed the ingredients mentioned in my book, a mix of hazelnut and almond powders. For the method, I went against what I read in both the book and the internet. As we go along, will tell you why I decided to do it differently.

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough:

• 2 egg whites
• 150 gm powdered sugar.
• 150 gm almonds with skin, powdered 
• 150 gm hazelnuts with skin, powdered 
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tbsp orange peel
• salt to taste

For the icing:

• 1 egg white
• 100 gm powdered sugar.

Method:
For the cookies:

1. Beat the egg whites and powdered sugar together till you get soft snowy peaks.
2. In a bowl, mix the hazelnut and almond powders along with the salt, cinnamon and orange peel.
3. Add the beaten egg mixture slowly to the above and knead together to form a dough(pictured above).
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate it for an hour.
5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
6. Sprinkle powdered sugar on a clean surface and flatten the dough to 1/4" thickness(or less). 
7. Cut out stars and neatly arrange them on the tray(pictured above).
8. Bake for 20 minutes at 150 C. 
9. Take them out and let them cool. 
10. Prepare the icing by beating together the egg white and the powdered sugar. The mixture should be thick.
11. Apply the icing on the cookies with the help of a spoon(I used the back of a small baby spoon to spread out the icing on each star pictured above).
12. The icing should set in about 20 to 30 minutes.
13. Store the cookies in an air tight jar. Can be kept for upto 2 weeks.

Notes:

1. 99% of the recipes apply the icing before baking the cookies. Why I decided to try this method was with the past experience of having done the same and not resulting in pretty cookies. A comment from fellow blogger Shireen as to how she did it and stumbling upon a video which supported her theory I decided to give this method a try. Since the above icing is nothing but royal icing, the cookies taste equally good and you can keep them for upto 2 weeks.
2. If you would like to bake the cookies along with the icing,  after step 7, apply the icing on the stars and bake them at 150 C for 20 minutes. Take care that the icing does not get brown. 
3. If you would like to prepare zimtsterne with almonds, then simply skip the hazelnut powder and use 300 gm of almond powder instead.