I’m sorry for the almost three months of nothing on the blog! It’s the usual excuses: life, illnesses, not having time to bake, baking things I’ve baked before, not having the “spoons,” as they say, to document steps and write up an entry when I do bake something new. I’ve contemplated changing the format of my posts, I’ve contemplated going solely to Instagram, I’ve even contemplated pulling up here and going over to Substack. I think I’ll just try to be flexible with myself. This is yet another reason why this blog is pure hobby and not a side-hustle.
Today is going to be more on the show-and-tell side than the recipe-review side, though I’ll probably be sliding a couple reviews in there sideways. Let’s start with:
Gingerbread Cutouts
I did these with my son, and instead of the lazier “put the frosting in zip bags and snip off a corner” method I tried to make piping bags out of wax paper like my mom does. This was a mess. In fact, I think in the future when I’m doing cookie decoration with my son, I’ll stick to this buttercream icing and apply it with butter knives and offset spatulas, because he doesn’t want to pipe anyway, he just wants to squirt a ton of frosting on, apply sprinkles, and stick it in his mouth. Also, he decided this year that he doesn’t like the “crunchy frosting” so I’ll reserve the royal icing for my fancy stuff.
Rum and Kirsch Balls
I made these with kirsch before, but with a chocolate crumb and chocolate coating. This time I though I’d let the kirsch’s cherry flavor shine through more by using vanilla crumbs and white chocolate (or vanilla candy melts, to be perfectly honest). I had leftover cake scraps from a secret project (that was another reason why no posts for a bit) so I dried them out in the oven on 200 F for a couple of hours, then pulverized them and used them like cookie crumbs.
For the chocolate, I used caramel syrup in place of the corn syrup and rum (Bacardi Gold – baking is really the best use for this stuff) instead of the Irish Cream. For the vanilla, I used corn syrup and used kirsch as the liqueur. Chocolate I dipped in dark chocolate and added sprinkles, vanilla I dipped in the white candy melts and sprinkled with Christmas nonpareils.
The rum flavor is much stronger than the kirsch flavor. This may be one of the instances where the harsher Arrow brand kirsch might be preferable. I should try it next time and save the good German stuff for sipping.
Stollen
Ah, my beloved stollen. What can I say about it that I haven’t said before? I did the Better Homes and Gardens recipe, made six mini loaves instead of three regular, gave away all but one. I think I might make another batch sometime soon, three regular loaves this time. My mom has requested one already but two will be mine, all mine, one squirreled away in the freezer for future enjoyment.
Gingerbread Cake
I had a hankering to decorate a gingerbread house but not to bake or assemble one, so I used my bundt pan that looks like a bunch of little houses and decorated it with royal icing. The recipe was from a Taste of Home issue from December/January 2023 (so the latest, as if this writing) that I can’t seem to find on their website. In searching for it I found some much more interesting sounding recipes, such as this King Arthur one that is a combo gingerbread/rum cake, that I would probably recommend instead. Not that this turned out bad, it was just very basic gingerbread, not too spicy, probably would be nice with a cream cheese frosting, but nothing to shout from the rooftops about.
Elegant Eggnog Dessert
This is the one I should have written a solo blog post on that I sighed and noped out on. It’s mostly a lot of whipping, so you didn’t miss much on process photos. It has mixed reviews because some people either used lower-fat ingredients or goofed and got cook-and-serve instead of instant pudding mix and ended up with a soup. Even with full-fat everything, well-whipped cream, and instant pudding, it makes for a slightly saggy slice. This doesn’t come out firm like cheesecake or airy and set like a chiffon. It is entirely no-bake, which is to its credit. I liked it. It’s like an eggnoggy fluffy pudding dessert, and along with the Pirouette cookies it’s really tasty (I used the chocolate hazelnut Pirouettes). I would almost rather make it as a dip for the cookies. My son wasn’t into it and my husband was lukewarm, because neither are fans of eggnog.
If I make it again I would make the following changes:
- Use real rum instead of the rum extract. The flavor won’t be as strong but it’ll taste more “real.”
- Make it as minis in lined muffin tins the way I’ve made individual cheesecakes before. Instead of trying to put the Pirouettes along the edges, I’d cut or break the cookies into smaller lengths and garnish the tops of each mini right before serving.
- You could also abandon the idea of a cheesecake/mousse cake altogether and serve this as a pudding/mousse in ramekins, cups, or stemmed glasses with the Pirouette garnish.
Next Time
I’m planning on getting back into the Field Guide to Cookies and do chocolate crinkles but with a twist: chocolate kisses as in peanut butter blossoms. Hopefully this will be in the coming week. Until then, Happy New Year!
All photos and content are copyright of Amber Sutton.
Bake on Through to the Other Side 