Holiday Almanac December 15: Meringue Kisses

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

Meringues are something I didn't appreciate while living in France, and I don't think I had ever actually had one at all until a dear friend introduced me to them while on a road trip four years ago. How had I missed out for so long? The answer is simple: I grew up in Florida, where the humidity is so bad that there would be no way to keep a meringue crunchy even by the time you got it out of the oven, much less for long enough to take it to a party.

Consequently, I'm still pretty new to the meringue game (though living in the UK is rapidly catching me up: they're a major part of the British dessert scene). This is the first time I've ever made my own, so I defaulted to a Jamie Oliver recipe since I can't buy 'meringue mix' from the supermarket (also, what would that even be? Just a box of powdered egg whites?? Eww).

Before this week, I was never too sure what the texture of a meringue was supposed to be, honestly. But then I did some research, and Martha Stewart, that great oracle of baking usefulness, says that they can be either chewy in the centre or crunchy all the way through. I prefer them chewy, personally, but having never made them and knowing they're a little temperamental, it's nice to know that they can go either way.

Anyway, if you can get your hands on Hershey's Kisses, then make a batch of these mini meringues with Kisses sunken into them and you'll love them.* (And OMG, if you live Stateside and can get those peppermint Hershey's Hugs they sell at Christmas, they would be amaaaaaazing here). But if you live here in the UK, you can either use Dairy Milk Buttons or chocolate chips, either one works!

*Fun fact: In my office, whenever someone goes on vacation, they bring back Hershey's Kisses for the office as a foreign treat. But so far no one has brought them back from the US-- only from Singapore, Thailand, Australia, and Japan.

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. These are so much easier than I thought they would be, and with only 3 ingredients (plus an optional fourth as garnish), they couldn't be faster or cheaper. Seriously, make these! (Or if you don't need a whole bunch, make one giant one and serve it at your next dinner party topped with whipped cream and fruit. Pavlovas are where it's at!)

The recipe:

Meringue Kisses

(adapted from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie)

the directions:

Preheat oven to 150C/300F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Separate the eggs very carefully and make sure there are no yolk bits in the whites.
Beat eggs on medium speed until stiff peaks form (in Jamie Oliver's words, you'll know stiff peaks have formed when you can turn the bowl upside down over your head and nothing falls out).
Once this has happened, with the mixer still on, gradually stir in sugar and salt.
Keep mixing on medium-to-high speed for 5-7 minutes until meringue is glossy and smooth.
When mix looks smooth, dip your finger in it and rub to be sure it's totally smooth (this takes awhile).
Be careful not to overmix as meringue will collapse.
Dollop heaping tablespoons onto paper-lined cookie sheets and press chocolate candy into the centre of each meringue.
Use the back of a spoon to cover the chocolate completely with meringue.
Bake meringues for 30-40 minutes until they are firm on the outside, slightly tan, and they lift easily from the parchment.

the ingredients:

3 egg whites
½ c + 2 ½ tbsp sugar
1 large pinch of salt
Handful of Hershey's Kisses or Dairy Milk Buttons (optional)

Holiday Almanac December 14: Pull-Apart Coffee Cake Wreath

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

There are few things in life I love more than breakfast food (cheese, wine, and Mexican food being among the exceptions, which is why my heaven is a plate of huevos divorciados with a mimosa on the side), so I was stoked to make this coffee cake, and it did not disappoint.

If you're thinking this is going to be similar to cinnamon rolls because of the appearance, think again. While it is a yeasted, stretchy dough with a butter and brown sugar filling, the dough is just barely sweetened and the entire filling takes only 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Plus, the glaze that goes on it is just drizzled lightly over the top, so the top of each slice is slightly sweeter, but the entire thing isn't sopped in icing like a typical cinnamon roll (oh, and there's no cinnamon). I couldn't get my hands on candied fruit, so I used dried currants, but this would be amazing with dried cherries, or sultanas or raisins if that's more your thing. I've also been brainstorming a version with snipped dried apricots and a lavender drizzle because I just can't leave well enough alone. I had to back out a substitute for Bisquick since I can't get my hands on that over here in Scotland, but if anything, I think it made the whole thing taste even better, so I left the substitution listed below.

It’s only lightly sweetened so you won't have a sugar crash an hour after you eat it, and it would be just as tasty without the glaze, so you could lighten the sweetness even more by omitting it. It’s insanely easy to roll and shape and it rose like a charm, even in my freezing-cold Scottish kitchen. Best of all, though, it’s beautiful, festive, and cosy: perfect fare for this time of year!

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. It's moist and delicious, decadent without leaving you feeling like you gained a kilo just from one slice, and it looks adorably Christmas-y this time of year!

The recipe:

Pull-Apart Coffee Cake Wreath

the directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
Mix in egg, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and oil.
Beat vigorously until dough comes together.
Turn dough onto flour-covered surface and knead until smooth, about 18-20 times.
Roll into a large rectangle (A3-sized or around 16”x9”).
Spread with soft butter and sprinkle with brown sugar.
Sprinkle dried fruit and walnuts evenly over the surface.
Roll up tightly, beginning at the wide end.
With the seam on the bottom, pinch ends of the roll together to form a ring.
Using kitchen scissors, cut ¾ of the way through the ring at 1” intervals, then carefully rotate each section 90 degrees so the spiral is facing upwards.
Let rise in warm place 1 hour, covered loosely with a towel.
Bake 15-20 minutes until light golden brown.
Set aside to cool completely.
Once cake is cooled, make the glaze by mixing together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until you have a thick but still runny glaze.
Drizzle over the cooled cake and serve.

the ingredients:

2 ¼ tsp yeast (if you're Stateside, this is one packet)
½ c warm water
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar
2 ½ c flour
3 ¾ tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt
6 ¼ tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 c dried fruit of your choice
½ c walnuts, chopped
1 c powdered sugar, sifted
¼ tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp milk

Holiday Almanac December 13: Christmas Tree Cakes

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

In 3 ¾ years of being married, one of the worst fights we've ever gotten in happened because of a Christmas tree.

Last year, we bought our first Scottish Christmas tree, and we were stoked about it. In a strange way, buying a real tree and decorating it with ornaments we had brought here all the way from the US seemed to symbolise the fact that we were staying here in Scotland (semi) permanently, and that was an extra-important feeling for us when we started facing visa issues outwith our control that left our immigration status in question for most of the month of December and January.

We set aside an entire evening to clean the house, buy the tree and decorate it... and then the worst happened. We couldn't find a tree we liked at the lot near our flat (in our defense, they were all super ratty looking), so we walked a couple of miles to a home improvement store across town. Before doing it, we spoke to a handful of Edinburgh friends to make sure we'd be allowed to bring a Christmas tree in a cab home from the shop, and our friends all assured us they had done it over and over and it would be no big deal.

But when our cab came to pick us up from the shop, the driver refused to take us because we had a giant pine tree with us.* We had already bought the tree (and it wasn't cheap), so what choice did we have? We started walking.

But it was already late and dark, and the wind was blowing a stinging rain that turned to sleet every now and then. I had no gloves, and the tree was a particularly spiky brand of pine, and I had worked a full day's shift in holiday retail so my legs were already tired, and Judson had a sore shoulder from an unrelated injury... and we were mad. Mad at each other, mad at the situation, and most of all mad that we had 2.3 miles to walk (mostly uphill) carrying a heavy pine tree, and then when we got to our building, we still had 67 stairs to go up to reach our 4th floor flat.

And since you can't exactly chat with each other while you're walking 6 feet apart carrying each end of a tree, we stewed and mulled and kept getting angrier and angrier all the way home. By the time we got home we were so mad about the fact that we had ruined our own night for such a dumb reason that we couldn't even look at each other. We've never had such a serious fight over something so stupid, and it's even funnier when you know that the route we had to walk home is a street that runs right through the middle of a giant park, so we were just two angry, scowling people carrying a giant tree in the dark through one of the most beautiful parks in Edinburgh, jaws clenched and shivering in the frigid Scottish winter.

I don't remember how we ended up making up, but we must have done because it ended up being an awesome night and it's one of my favourite memories of 2014, and totally one of those memories that's completely hilarious in retrospect, even though I thought we were never going to speak to each other again in the heat of the moment. So even if this year was a little less climactic decoration-wise, I'll never stop laughing about last year.

Anyway, today's Almanac task is to make Christmas Tree Cakes in foil molds, baked upright in a tin can in the oven to celebrate Santa Lucia Day, so as a bonus for you, here's a photo of me dressed as Santa Lucia for a Christmas party (with Judson as Krampus) a few years ago. Fun fact: this was not the first time I have dressed like Santa Lucia, but it was the most fun.

I anticipated that this would be a major flop that would result in me having to clean my oven and a waste of a perfectly good cake, so I used cake mix, as the recipe requested... but then to my surprise, the cakes worked perfectly and they came out absolutely beautifully!

*This was completely fair on his part, we were just surprised.

The verdict:

3 spoons out of five. These are adorable and super easy, but they're nearly impossible to frost (at least for this novice), so I'm deducting a spoon for that. I do, however, think they'd be beautiful done in chocolate cake and dusted with powdered sugar right before serving. Or made with white cake and drizzled in melted dark and white chocolate. They'd be great for a centrepiece at a holiday-themed brunch or even dinner, and I am definitely regretting that I didn't make them for our party last week.

The recipe:

Christmas Tree Cakes

the directions:

Trace the outline of a dinner plate onto foil, then cut out the circle.
Cut circle in half, then form it into a pointed cylinder and crimp the seam tightly, folding it over twice to ensure a tight seal.
Set the molds into tin cans, pointed side down and set aside.
Prepare cake batter as usual, then fill foil molds 2/3 to ¾ full of cake batter (I did some half-full to get a range of sizes).
Cook as per cake instructions, then allow to cool fully before removing the foil.
If necessary, use a sharp knife to slice off the base of the trees so they sit flat on a plate.
Set trees on a plate and sift powdered sugar over them to look like snow (or, if you're very brave, attempt to frost them).

the ingredients:

1 batch of your favourite cake batter (Might I recommend this one?)
Powdered sugar