Holiday Almanac December 29: Lemon Currant Surprise

Seriously, this time of year there is absolutely no reason to be baking a cake.

But in the absence of a lemon cake mix, a pudding cake mix, or any idea what that latter even means, I had to wing this one a bit.

Regardless, it came out tasty and nice, if a bit unnecessary.

As a footnote, I forgot to take any pictures of this, and now I am in Vienna, so you'll have to bear with me. Sorry!

Instead of cake, here's a picture of the prettiest cheese plate I've ever made! 

The verdict:

3 spoons out of five. It was fine, but the last thing I wanted to do after all the Christmas cooking I’ve done this month already was make a lemon currant cake. Plus, currants seem like a weird addition, and overall it was just a little anticlimactic.

The recipe:

Lemon Currant Surprise

the directions:

Make a lemon cake.
Add a handful of currants just before baking.
Bake as normal, then serve warm.

the ingredients:

1 lemon cake, your favourite recipe (I used this one)
1 handful dried currants

Holiday Almanac December 24: Battle of the Macaroons

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.

Today's task is to make macaroons (from macaroon mix, which evidently was a thing in the 1950s), and since I had two macaroon recipes to make from the box, I'm here with another recipe battle. (Previous recipe battle, for Apple Crisps, is here).

Anyway, I'm pretty meh on macaroons (macarons, on the other hand-- the French almond-based cookies-- are my very favourite dessert), but I was excited to try making them myself because I figured they'd probably be far better homemade than storebought, and I was right.

The simpler, three-ingredient macaroons ended up being far easier to make than the more complex 'Cornflake Macaroons,' but the overall flavour of each was pretty solid. Either way, I'm still on the fence about macaroons overall, but these definitely moved me from 'actively against' to 'tasty if homemade,' which is progress.

The verdict:
Macaroon 1: Super-easy, three-ingredient macaroons.

3 spoons out of five. They were insanely easy and definitely moister and tastier than I was anticipating, but overall they still lacked anything really interesting to set them apart as a dessert, and I was glad that each one was only the size of a truffle.

Macaroon 2: Crunchy, Complicated macaroons.

3 spoons out of five. These ones, although tastier and more interesting than the simpler versions, didn't hold together at all in the way they were supposed to be made, but I added a glug of condensed milk and that helped hold them together long enough to get them fully baked. Once they were cooked, they were super tasty, but putting a bowl of cornflakes into a mixer is probably not a great idea, and having to add extra ingredients at the last minute was not my favourite either.

The recipe:

Super-Easy, Three-Ingredient Macaroons

the directions:

Preheat oven to 175C/350F and grease a cookie sheet.
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
Bake 8-10 minutes until light brown.
Remove from pan immediately and place on a cooling rack.

Makes 24 cookies.

the ingredients:

½ c condensed milk
2 c flaked or shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla

---

the recipe:

Crunchy, Complicated Macaroons

the directions:

Preheat oven to 190C/375F and grease a cookie sheet.
Beat egg whites until stiff and dry.
Fold in sugar slowly.
Add vanilla, coconut, cornflakes, and pecans, stirring well.
Add condensed milk gradually, stopping as soon as mix comes together and appears to stick together.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes until light brown.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

the ingredients:

2 egg whites
1 c sugar
½ tsp vanilla
1 c coconut
2 c cornflakes
½ c pecans, chopped
¼ c condensed milk

Holiday Almanac December 23: Candy Cane Cookies

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.

As previously stated, I can't find candy canes anywhere in Scotland. Being only a mediocre candy cane fan myself, I'm actually sadder about the lack of Williams-Sonoma Candy Cane Bark than I am about the lack of actual candy canes, but when making as many Christmas-themed goodies as I have this month, it would be nice to have actual candy canes to work with.

In their absence, now I have these cookies, which look a little too much like Play-doh for my tastes. They're tasty enough (though the massive amount of handling required to dye, roll, twist, and shape these definitely make them a little tougher than I'd like them to be.

However, they are adorable, and if you have a kid you're excited to be baking with this Christmas, might I recommend them? I would have loved these as a kid, and I bet I'm not the only one.

The verdict:

2 spoons out of five. These taste fine, but they're just not worth all of the work that goes into them-- especially not two days before Christmas-- unless you've got a niece or a nephew or a godchild who loves to bake and wants to play in the kitchen with you.

the recipe:

Candy Cane Cookies

the directions:

Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and flavourings.
Add flour and salt and stir well to combine.
Divide dough in half and add food colouring to half of dough.
Roll 1 tsp red dough and 1 tsp plain dough separately into a round noodle.
Lay noodles on top of each other and gently roll together.
Twist noodle gently like a candy cane, then shape into candy cane shape and place on ungreased cookie sheet. 
Repeat until dough is gone.
Bake 7-9 minutes until just done but not yet brown.

Makes about 4 dozen.

the ingredients:

1 c shortening
1 c powdered sugar, sifted
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp almond flavouring or Disaronno
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
Red food colouring