Christmas Cookbook

Hope you all had a great Christmas celebration and are getting ready to welcome the New Year. We had a fun-filled holidays with lots of food, wine and Christmas movies. This month in general was a lot of fun – we started it off with a much needed vacay to Mexico, decorated our little den with the holiday cheer, made a lot of cookies and cakes and also managed to get a lot of couch time snuggled in PJs.

And, as an icing on the cake, boo was working from home almost all the time which I made sure turned into hardly working from home 😛 😛 . We managed to get a lot of “us time” and I must confess blogging was the last thing on my mind as I was also taking some time off work 😛 😛 .

Since, it’s the end of the year, I thought of sharing few of my Christmas favorites with you all. It’s a mix of my old and new bakes. The last couple of years I have been using fondant icing for Christmas cake decorations as it is edible and is a great option for imprinting designs on cakes and pastries. Making it from scratch is kinda easy so thought of sharing it as the first recipe here.

Fondant Icing, here’s what you need:

1. Unflavored gelatin – 1 packet (0.25 ounce)
2. Glucose syrup – ½ cup
3. Glycerin – 1 Tbsp
4. Shortening – 2 Tbsp
5. Confectioners’ sugar – 8 cups (sifted)
6. Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
7. Cold water – ¼ cup

Directions:

1. Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a large glass bowl and make a well in the center and keep it aside
2. In a small saucepan add gelatin and cold water and let it stand until its thick. Then place the gelatin mixture on top of a double boiler and heat until it’s dissolved. Note: Do not let it boil.
3. Add glucose and glycerin to the above mixture and mix it well. Then add shortening and just before it completely melts, remove from heat and add in vanilla extract. Note: Allow the mixture to cool until lukewarm
4. Add the lukewarm gelatin mixture into the sugar well and stir it using a wooden spoon or spatula until stickiness disappears
5. Knead it until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to your hands
6. Use the prepared fondant immediately or store in airtight container in fridge for best results. When ready to use, bring it to room temperature and knead again until soft and cut or shape it into your desired designs.

Notes:

1. If fondant is too sticky and smooth, add more sugar or if it is too stiff, add water (a drop at a time).
2. Do not freeze the fondant as it makes it dry
3. Add colors to the fondant to make your icing colorful

Red Velvet Cake Roll

I have to confess that I am sucker for anything Red Velvet. So this time around when I was thinking of making a Christmas cake I didn’t have to think twice. Red Velvet is not only a romantic flavor but is also completely divine. I can eat it all day anyday. Since it was just for two of us, I decided to ditch the traditional cake and chose to go with a sponge cake roll with some cream cheese filling for this year’s Christmas table.

Here’s what you need:

For Sponge Cake:

1. All-purpose flour – 1 cup
2. Cocoa powder (unsweetened) – 2 tsp
3. Eggs – 4 nos.
4. Sugar – ¾ cup
5. Butter (melted) – 2 Tbsp
6. Buttermilk – 2 Tbsp
7. White Vinegar – 1 tsp
8. Baking powder – ¾ tsp
9. Baking soda – ½ tsp
10. Salt – ¼ tsp
11. Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
12. Red food coloring – as needed
13. Confectioner’s sugar – as needed

For cream cheese frosting/filling:

1. Cream Cheese (room temperature) – 8 oz (227 grams)
2. Mascarpone (room temperature) – 8 oz (227 grams)
3. Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
4. Confectioner’s/powdered sugar (sifted) – 1 cup
5. Heavy whipping cream – 1½ cups (360 ml)

Directions for Sponge Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a sheet cake pan (with sides) with nonstick spray and line it with parchment paper and keep it aside.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients together and set it aside.
3. Take a stand mixer, add eggs and sugar and whip it on medium high until the mixture triples in volume and becomes pale in color (which might take almost 4-5 minutes)
4. Turn the mixer down to medium low, add butter and vanilla and whip it for 30 seconds. Then add buttermilk, vinegar and red food coloring and mix it well
5. Turn the mixer down to low and add the dry ingredients slowly into the mixing bowl and mix it well until it’s combined.
6. Pour the above batter into a prepared pan and tilt it until it’s evenly distributed
7. Bake it for 14-16 minutes or until the surface springs back after being touched
8. While the cake is being baked, lay a clean dish towel over your flat kitchen surface and dust it with confectioner’s sugar.
9. Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and immediately and carefully invert the cake directly on top of the prepared towel and remove the parchment paper from the back of the cake.
10. Sprinkle the confectioner’s sugar and roll up the sponge with the towel and place it on a wire rack to cool.

Notes:

1. Make sure the cake is at room temperature before frosting and filling

Directions for cream cheese frosting/filling:

1. In a bowl of stand mixer, add cream cheese and mascarpone cheese and beat it until smooth
2. Add vanilla and confectioner’s sugar and beat it until smooth
3. Slowly add the heavy cream and whip using a whisk attachment until the frosting is thick enough to spread

For making the roll:

1. Carefully unroll the cake and remove the towel. Spread the above prepared cream cheese over the inner surface of the cake and re-roll it carefully.
2. Frost the cake with the remaining cream cheese and garnish as desired. (I have used crushed peppermint candies).

Happy cooking !! ♥♥