Christmas is a festival full of love and cheer. It means a lot of things to a lot of people and is also an occasion to indulge in delicious festive food. And baking is as much a tradition as anything else. The days before Christmas are filled with baking warm mince pies, puddings, sweet raisin shortbreads, cakes and biscuits. These sweets are not only mouth-wateringly delicious, but also make for great edible gifts for friends and family. Here’s how to bake those festive X’mas goodies.
First-time baker? Heed these tips:
Always buy all ingredients, as mentioned by the recipe, don’t substitute last minute. Be exact in your measurements. Don’t mix too much batter for the cookies and cakes or they won’t get the right shape. Dip the cookie cutters in flour after each use to prevent dough from sticking. For snowman cookies, use chocolate chip cookies for the eyes. To keep icing moist, cover the bowl with a damp towel between your baking. Always cool the cake sufficiently. Rich fruit cakes are better cooled in a tin. Use a good quality baking sheet.
Getting cookie-licious
Baking cookies are a must at Christmas. While sugar cookies with frosting, cocoa and shortbread can be used to make a variety of festive shapes, it’s the gingerbread men and X’mas trees that are most popular, says baking specialist Amal Farooque. “They are easy to make, just follow a butter-cookie recipe. Instead of white sugar, add brown sugar, take 2 tbsp ginger powder, ½ tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp nutmeg. Roll out the dough to quarter inch thickness, let it chill in the fridge for 10 minutes. Then using an X’mas cookie cutter, cut out the shapes of your choice. Place them on a prepared cookie sheet and bake as you would normally bake butter cookies. Once cooled, you can pipe out royal icing on them and they’re ready,” she says.
Bake some mince pies
Mince pies are eaten during this time. The term mince pie comes from a medieval pastry called ‘chewette’, made with chopped meat or liver, boiled eggs, ginger, dried fruit and other ingredients and was fried or baked. This is said to be Santa’s favourite. Today, the pies are filled with fruit mincemeat, having a sweetish taste and with suet, raisins, candied fruit, cherries, apricots, cinnamon, spices, ground almonds and walnuts as well as rum.
Fruitcakes and cupcakes
While yule logs and fruit cakes are traditional treats, Christmas themed cupcakes are a big draw too as they are smaller and apt for those watching their weight. You can create your own variety, which works well for an X’mas office or home party, says city-based baking expert, Pooja Dhingra. “Try a red velvet Santa cupcake, reindeer with sprinkles and mistletoe, all made with marzipan. The key to making these cupcakes is to experiment, take different spices in the frosting or base such as orange zest, star anise or cinnamon-nutmeg. Kids will love the shapes. And marzipan cupcakes last outside for a week,” she says.
To make a fruitcake: Often brandy or rum is added, but this method is alcohol-free. (Ingredients depend on your size of cake: roughly ½ cup of dried fruit and nuts, ½ tsp each of salt and spices, a cup of sugar and three eggs). Pre-heat the oven and in a bowl mix the dried fruit, dates, cherries, raisins and walnuts. In another, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In the last bowl, combine butter with sugar and beat this till fluffy. Add eggs while beating continuously, and then add the dry ingredients and orange juice. Pour the batter over the fruit and nut mixture and mix. Grease a 10-inch baking pan and layer the batter evenly in it. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and eat.
Quick tip: Says Amal, “For those who do not drink alcohol, simply add apple juice or a mix of warm orange juice and cinnamon to the cake.”
Red and green pops
To make the pops, break the cake into pieces, blend it in a food processor till it become crumbly Shape it into balls and cool it in the fridge. Melt chocolate and after putting a stick in each ball, dip each in the melted chocolate. Smooth it from the surface with a teaspoon. Now coat with sprinkles and leave them to set.
X’mas cookies across the world
Germany: Lebkuchen and buttery Spritz cookies.
Austria: Round cookies sandwiched with a layer of jam
Sweden: Papparkakor (with spicy ginger and black-pepper)
Norway: Krumkake (thin lemon-cardamom scented wafers).
Greece: Pear-shaped Kourabiedes
Psst! Did you know?
It’s tradition to make a wish while eating the first mince pie of the season
