Bûche de Noël - Merry Christmas!

Hope you had much fun baking this season,  I certainly did!  Had all good intentions of posting lots Christmas goodies this month.  Meringue Mushrooms and Mince Pies happened alright, a Gingerbread House almost happened too!  Not surprisingly, I underestimated the precision needed to glue the pieces together.  The decorated Gingerbread Men, The Christmas Trees, the stars and snowflakes stared back at me every time I went up to the kitchen.  Disaster struck when one of my wooden boards crashed on one of the decorated 'walls'.  Too much work to start all over again and I lost interest.  The fruit cake was not quite there and I could have cried!

I almost gave up on the last post of the month, but hubby and the meringue mushrooms I had saved pushed me to try a Bûche de Noël . A previous attempt last year with Rose Levy's recipe was quite good, but the slices ended up ended up looking like slices of boiled egg. Ugh! Yesterday saw me finish my chores early and apprehensively bake a Chocolate Almond Roulade in a real frenzy. Thankfully, it turned out quite well  and I finally have something for Christmas! A rich, indulgent and flavorful chocolate-almond roulade filled with vanilla whipped cream. 

Chocolate Almond Roulade - Adapted from Alice Medrich's Chocolate Holidays

Ingredients To bake in a 17 x 11 inch jelly roll pan. I have halved the recipe to bake in a 10 x 6 inch pan. 

For the cake : 

Almonds (or hazelnuts), toasted and coarsely chopped - 1/4 cup / 36 grams approximately

All purpose Flour - 16 grams / 2 tablespoons

Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped - 168 grams / 6 oz

Unsalted butter at room temperature - 1/2 cup / 113 grams / 1 stick

Eggs - 4, separated ( Whites - 120 grams, Yolks - 72 grams)

Sugar - 3/4 cup / 150 grams, divided use

Cream of tartar - 1/8 teaspoon

Instant coffee - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Cocoa for dusting on top - 2-3 tablespoons, preferably Dutch Process

Filling : 

1 cup heavy cream, cold, whipped with 2 teaspoons instant coffee and vanilla.

Ganache for decoration (optional)

Meringue Mushrooms- For decoration

Do ahead : Whip the cream to soft peaks and refrigerate. Chop up enough chocolate for the roll and for the ganache if you decide to use it. Helps cover an almost broken roll! Have your bowls, beaters, spoons, spatula etc etc washed, free of grease and dried for whipping the egg whites. 

Line your jelly roll pan with parchment leaving an overhang.

Pre-heat oven to 180 C / 350 F. Mise en place.

Process the nuts with the flour carefully until finely ground, but not oily. Set aside

Reserve 1/4 cup of sugar to add to egg whites.

Unless you have two sets of beaters, whip the egg whites till soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar, beating till stiff (but not dry). Set aside.

Using a microwave (50% power) or in a heatproof bowl set in simmering water, melt the chocolate, coffee and butter stirring till smooth . Set aside.

Beat the yolks and remaining sugar till pale and thick, I did this for about 5 minutes on the highest speed of my hand mixer. 

Stir in the melted chocolate into the beaten yolks. 

Using a spatula, fold in a quarter of the whites and then all of the flour-nut mixture into this. 

Finally, fold in the remaining whites. 

Spread the batter evenly in the lined pan.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted comes out clean with moist crumbs. Do not over bake. 

Cover the pan (with the cake still in) with a clean damp towel  Let cool completely. Lift it out using the overhang.

You need to invert the cake and then roll it up, but mine was very fragile, so I filled the cream right on the parchment, rolled it up and transferred to the platter. It not just cracked, but almost broke! 

Simply dust cocoa on top or frost with ganache, let set for a while, then decorate with a fork or an off set spatula. 

Serve thin slices at room temperature. 

I am having trouble with my Morphy Richards 40 L oven, so had to bake in a small pan in my microwave. This doesn't look as bad as I had feared it would, though I wish it looked gorgeous like the roulades I have been dreaming about. Clumsy like mine or not, you will surely enjoy this roll!

Merry Christmas again!

Christmas Fruit Mince Pies

With aromatic Quick Mincemeat ready in my refrigerator, Fruit Mince Pies were the obvious way to enjoy it!  If you love these pies, please do make your own mincemeat as its very little effort and is infinitely tweak-able. Once this is ready, these pies are easy, quick and fun to put together. Spicy, plumped up dried fruit and candied peel in a flaky pie crust. Obviously rich, these are better bite-sized. Unless you are someone like me, you will make them look pretty too! Cut out the pastry to make stars and snowflakes, bring the festive little treats to the Christmas table!

Three days is all you get to use up the mincemeat without alcohol! And then hasten to roll out some quick pie crust. The crust here has very little sugar, perhaps better with all the sweet fruit in the mincemeat. But a less rich (but sweeter) crust like this one in the Bittersweet chocolate mousse tart should work just as well. I like to pre-bake the crust to ensure its properly baked and satisfactory before I put in the filling, re-warm briefly and serve. This also gives you the option to bake the pastry well ahead of time, the better if yours will be a busy Christmas. Of course, you may not get the applause you deserve as the snowflakes or stars on top may topple any moment, but yes, your fruit will be soft and the pastry will taste fresh! 

Ingredients : 

Mincemeat - 1 cup (depending on the size of your pies)

Pie crust : 

Flour : 175 grams

Butter : 113 grams, cubed and chilled till very cold

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Powdered sugar - 1/2 tablespoon

Ice cold water - 2 tablespoons (plus 1 tablespoon if needed)

Freshly grated orange zest - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Equipment : One Small and another large metal bench scraper. Chill these at least for 15 mins.  Alternatively you could use a food processor. 

A rolling pin.

A mini muffin tray, star / snowflake shaped cookie cutters in suitable sizes. Round or fluted cookie cutter according to the size of your muffin tray.  (Test with some roti atta to be sure about the sizes!)

Pie weights or kidney beans. Small squares of aluminum foil

Cling film

Special instructions : Work in a cool kitchen.

Method : To make the pie crust : 

Mise en place.

Whisk the orange zest into the cold water. Let this remain in the freezer till you use it. Do not leave it too long or it will freeze! Keep the extra tablespoon water in another cup in the freezer. 

Sift together the powdered sugar, cinnamon and salt. Transfer the flour mixture onto your kitchen counter. 

Dump the cold butter on the flour. Toss the pieces in the flour so that the flour coats it. 

Using the bench scraper, briskly cut the butter into the flour till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. This will take a couple of minutes.

Make a well in the middle of the flour. Take 2 tablespoons cold water from the freezer and pour into the well. Gently gather the flour into the water using your fingertips. The dough will begin to come together. 

If you pinch some dough between your thumb and forefinger, it should hold together and not crumble apart. Though the mixture may look dry-ish at this stage, it will come together well. Add more of the chilled water just half a teaspoon at a time if the mixture doesn't hold when pinched. Remember, excess water will make the pastry tough. 

Once you have added the needed amount of water, divide the flour mixture into two portions.  Smear each portion gently once across the counter with the heel of your hand. Gather it back, the pastry will be smoother now. 

Flatten, wrap it in the cling film well and refrigerate for at least half an hour. Overnight is fine too.

When ready to bake : 

If the pastry is very firm, leave it (still wrapped) on the counter for 15-20 minutes or till firm but malleable enough.

Flour your counter very lightly. 

Gently roll out the pastry about 3-4 mm thick. Cut out the circles. 

Slip them in gently into the muffin molds, taking care not to stretch it or it will shrink later. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour or overnight to suit your schedule. Cut out stars or snowflakes with the remaining pastry. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with cling film and refrigerate. 

Pre-heat oven to 190 C/ 375 F. Remove cling film, place squares of foil inside the cups, put some kidney beans to weigh them down and bake for 18-20 minutes or till light golden and crisp. Bake the star cut outs separately. Store airtight till needed.

To serve: Place a teaspoon of mincemeat in the pastry cups ( I have gone overboard!). Top with the cut outs, heat in a pre-heated oven for 2 minutes. Serve warm. 

Owning a Kitchen Aid is every baker's dream and I hope my wish is fulfilled this Christmas! Kitchen Aid India plays Santa and I am sending these pies to the Kitchen Aid Christmas Blogger Contest.  Listening Santa? 

Get a special ‘Christmas Frosting Kit’ as gift with purchase of the iconic KitchenAid 4.8 L Tilt Head Stand Mixer from 1st-31st December 2014, and make delectable memories this Christmas. For more details, visit www.christmas.kitchenaidapac.com #KitchenAidTurnsSanta”

Quick Mincemeat

Christmas is just two weeks away! Is your fruit soaking? Perhaps already baked into fruit studded, rum brushed cakes waiting to be unwrapped? I can imagine goodies being baked and stashed away to make delicious gifts! If you are yet to start preparations for the festive  season, may I suggest Quick Mincemeat ? Moist dried and fresh fruit with a citrussy zing and the aroma of warm spices. Have a spoonful for dessert or toss some into apple and pear based desserts like cobblers, pies and crisps. You could even fold it into ice cream as David Lebovitz does. Should not be bad in a cake batter either! Add this to your list of homemade Christmas gifts for folks who will appreciate it. Especially since you can't buy mincemeat at a store here in India. 

Mincemeat, a spicy fruit preserve is commonly made with dried & fresh fruit, candied peel, spices, apple/orange juice, alcohol, orange zest, butter and sugar. This traditionally was made with meat as one of the ingredients, giving it the name. Suet or kidney fat later came to be used in place of the meat. The dried and fresh fruit can be raisins (the major component), sultanas, cherries, cranberries, currants and figs. Grated or cubed apples are also used to give more texture and body. Spices could be allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Chopped nuts like cashew should be a lovely addition for some nuttiness and help temper the sweetness. Use orange juice or rum and brandy as you wish.

When soaked in alcohol, mincemeat can be allowed to mature for days and months in sterile jars. Without alcohol, this is best refrigerated and consumed within a couple of days. The recipe is fairly simple and can be tweaked infinitely. I have used raisins, figs and candied peel, feel free to swap for fruit you prefer, using sugar accordingly. Alter the amounts of spices to taste, less is better as you can always add more once you taste the preserve.

The best thing about this recipe it is vegetarian, quick and easy, making candied peel the only time consuming part. You could make mincemeat well ahead if making with alcohol or even at the last minute literally as all it needs is a night for it to be ready to use. 

Ingredients : To make a generous cup of mincemeat. Halve the recipe if it is your first batch of mincemeat, double if you adore anything fruit and spice! 

Raisins - 3/4 cup

Candied Orange Peel, chopped - 1/2 cup (Homemade please!)

Dried figs, chopped - 1/4 cup (5-6 figs)

Zest of one fresh orange 

Orange juice, freshly squeezed - 120 ml / 1/2 cup (plus more for adding later)

Brown sugar - 2 tablespoons

Unsalted butter - 1 tablespoon

Ground cloves - 1/8 teaspoon

Ground cinnamon - Scant 1/2 teaspoon

Nutmeg - (optional) I did not use

Chopped cashew nuts - 1/4 cup (optional)

Method : Whisk together the orange juice and zest, ensure there are no clumps of zest. Take all ingredients in a heavy saucepan, mix and cook on low heat for about 3-5 minutes or till the raisins are plump and there still is some juice remaining in the saucepan.  Be careful not to dry out the fruit as it will become chewy (but still tasty) . If making with lesser quantities, cook for lesser time. Larger quantities of fruit will take longer. Take off the heat, stir in a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. Let cool. Transfer to a clean jar, refrigerate at least overnight or up to 3 days. If using alcohol in place of the orange juice, you can store it in the refrigerator for a month. Top up with more alcohol after a week to keep the fruit moist.

Drain if needed, use as you wish!

There is more Christmas baking coming up, please do drop by again! 

Cocoa Meringue Mushrooms - Welcome December!

December is the baker's favorite month of the year for very obvious reasons! Fruit mixing, fruit soaking and Christmas cake-bake-talk is terribly infectious, making me look forward to the season even more.  I normally tend to procrastinate forever about my Christmas baking, end up huffing and puffing to put up a post here before the season is finally over. This year however, I seem to be a tiny bit more organized as I find myself having more than one Christmas bake to post! 

Here come some Cocoa Meringue Mushrooms I baked a few days ago. I will have to confess I made these more for the festive feel, as otherwise I find meringue too sweet, but fun nevertheless ! Crisp and sweet, these cookies make a charming addition to your Christmas cookie platter or to decorate your Yule Log. The bonus, these can be made way ahead and stored airtight for a few weeks.

This recipe for Crisp French Meringue comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible. She had baked a batch of meringue shells when a French pastry chef visiting her remarks that they are heavy. Torn between insult and curiosity, she learns from him that using superfine sugar and some powdered sugar makes for lighter meringue. She experiments to bake the lightest meringues! 

Ingredients: Halve the recipe unless you have an oven large enough. Remember to halve the ingredients as you follow the procedure.

Egg whites - 4 large - 120 grams 

Cream of tartar  - 1/2 teaspoon

Superfine sugar - 115 grams (please read note) 
Powdered sugar - 115 grams 
Cocoa powder : 2 tablespoons (optional)
Extra cocoa for dusting on top. 

Method : 

• Pre-heat oven to 100 C / 200 F. 
• Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment. 
• Sift the powdered sugar with the 2 tablespoons cocoa until uniformly blended, keep aside. 
• Keep a teaspoon of cocoa in a small strainer ready for sifting over the piped meringue. 
• Fit a pastry bag with number 3 round decorating tube. ( I have used my 1.5 cm plain nozzle) Poise it over a tall glass so it is easier to fill in the meringue. 
• Make sure the bowl, the mixer blades, the cups, spatula, the weighing bowl and just about anything you use here is really clean, free of grease and dry. 
• On low speed, beat the whites till frothy, then add the cream of tartar. Beat on medium speed while gradually adding 2 tablespoons superfine sugar. Do not rush adding the sugar. 
• When soft peaks form when the beater is raised, add 1 tablespoon superfine sugar and increase speed to high. 
• When stiff peaks are formed when the beater is raised slowly, gradually beat in remaining superfine sugar, beat until stiff and glossy. This reads like it will take a lot of but happens fast. So please do watch carefully as you beat. 
• Sift powdered sugar over the meringue, fold in using a slotted skimmer or a rubber large spatula. Fill the meringue into the bag. 
• Pipe domes in one tray and 'stems' in another. They don't need to look uniform or perfect (yay!). Smoothen any pointy tips with a wet finger or these may burn. 
• Sift the cocoa lightly over the caps. 
• Bake about an hour till dry and crisp rotating the pans halfway. I baked about 15 minutes more.  Do not open the oven door the first 3 quarters of the baking time to prevent cracking.
• The most reliable way to test doneness says Rose, is to dig out a small amount of meringue from the center with a sharp knife. If only slightly sticky, it will continue to dry at room temperature. 
• If not assembling the mushrooms right away, store them airtight. Can be stored 3 weeks at least. 

To assemble : Alice Medrich's way. Melt some dark chocolate (about 100 grams). Use a sharp knife to cut the tip of each 'stem' to create a flat surface. Place the caps flat side up on  a baking tray. Spread some melted chocolate, attach the stems. Allow the chocolate to harden and then store the meringue mushrooms airtight immediately. 

    

Please note : To make superfine sugar I have just processed granulated sugar till very slightly coarse. 

For making mushrooms and other figurines, Rose recommends using all superfine sugar ( 226 grams for the entire recipe) as it makes less fragile ones. I have used powdered sugar as mentioned above.

Do bake these if you love meringue or just for the fun of it!These indeed were light, but the meringue amateur that I am, can't say if they were light enough.

White meringue mushrooms look quite real in their imperfection. I took way more liberty and baked some really imperfect, rather unreal looking ones with cocoa! Just as I was about to begin, I realized the regular plug point I use wasn't working . With the bowl and my mixer finding just enough space between my wet grinder and the water filter, I was walking on egg shells as I went! Forgive me for not jotting down more details, but these should work fine even if they are not absolutely perfect. They will still be fairly light and festive of course.

So what are you planning to bake this season? Please do share your favorite Christmas recipes with me! 

Winter Solstice Cookies

The baker's most awaited magical month is here! The time when compulsive bakers bake more than usual, reluctant bakers bake at least something! And those who don't bake wish they did! Come December, and you can feel Christmas in the air. If you did miss it - a one in a hundred chance, the magical, inspiring blogosphere constantly throws up gorgeous Christmassy  reminders saying 'Bake, bake'!

Stained glass window cookies, in my opinion, make fantastic festive edible decorations. Cookies you take delight in making, things your kids squeal over. Though the cookies taste good, what I don't enjoy eating is the stick-to-your teeth candy centers. Not that I can imagine I will relish eating sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. But the decorative part is the best part when we talk about these edible ornaments. Don't you agree? I have made these earlier, crisp eggless whole wheat cookies with candy centers. And this time, some chocolate cookies with caramel centers. These probably don't look as pretty as the non-chocolate ones, but then there are very few things which chocolate can't make up for!

Alice Medrich calls these Winter Solstice Cookies. Crisp cocoa cookies with amber centers letting the sun shine through. The cookies indeed bake up crisp and taste intensely of cocoa. If you are a cocoa lover,  you will love these. The dough is pretty simple, a slice and bake one. The cookies puff and spread quite a bit as they bake, so your only choice is to cut of the center after the cookies bake. And yes, you need to be careful when you make the caramel, the slightest bit of distraction or delay can cause it to overcook like mine and look darker (and slightly bitter) than you need it to be.

Winter Solstice Cookies - Adapted minimally from the book Chocolate Holidays

Ingredients 

All purpose flour - 130 grams / 1 cup

Unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch process or natural - 1/2 cup (weighs 40 grams aprox)

Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon

Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - 1/8 teaspoon

Unsalted butter, softened - 113 grams / 1 stick / 1/2 cup

Brown sugar, lump free - 1/2 cup, packed

White sugar - 1/2 cup ( I have used all white sugar, weighed and powdered fine)

Egg - 48 grams / 1 large

Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

To make the cookies (I made half of the below quantity)

• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and the salt. Set aside. 
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and the sugar(s) with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy but not fluffy - about 1.5 minutes on speed 3. Mix in the egg and vanilla. 
• Add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. I used my hand mixer on the lowest speed for a few seconds. The dough will be sticky. 
• Form it into a log, 6 inches for the full recipe( 3 inches for half), 2 1/2 inches in diameter. (Do not make the logs thinner as it will be tough to cut out the windows later). 
• Wrap the dough well in clingfilm and chill it for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. (I chilled it overnight)

Before you start baking the cookies, keep a sharp metal 1 inch round cookie cutter nearby. If you do not have one, try cutting with the sharp side of a metal piping nozzle as I did.

• Line your cookie sheets with baking parchment. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 F. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. 
• Using a sharp knife. cut the logs into 1/4 inch thick slices. Do bake one test cookie first, cut it out, check the window and cookie size and done-ness, the best way and time to cut out the center and then bake the rest. You are better off baking these in batches of  2 - 3 cookies. 
• Place them spaced 1.5 inches apart on the baking sheet (they spread). Wrap and refrigerate the remaining part of the log till your oven is free for the next batch. Or slice and place the remaining slices side by side on a baking sheet, cover well with clingfilm and refrigerate.
• Bake till the cookies puff up and settle down again, 10-12 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets halfway through. I found that the cookies were easiest to cut immediately out of the oven. Let the cookies remain on the sheet when they come out, too fragile to slip out now.  Hold the tray with a small towel, and cut out the centers, using a repetitive turning motion( as you would twist open a bottle cap). Be gentle but decisive. The cookies tend to break as they crisp up quite fast.
• Carefully ease out the centers. The cookies crisp up as they cool. If they are not crisp, it means they needed more baking time.
• Transfer the cookies to an airtight container, placing them in a single layer. When all the cookies are done and you are ready to make the caramel, place them on a sheet of parchment. Space them an inch apart.

To make the caramel : Have a bowl of ice cold water ready near the stove. You will plunge the saucepan with the caramel in it to arrest further cooking. Check to be sure the water level is just enough, more may cause the water to splash in the caramel, the caramel will then seize. You will need a cup of water and a good silicon brush to dip and wash down the sugar crystals down the sides of the saucepan. A fork or skewer, a largish spoon  and a large white plate to test the caramel.

Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1/4 teaspoon

• In a light colored heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, water and the lime juice. Wash down any sugar crystals on the insides of the pan using the brush. 
• Over medium heat, stir gently (do not whisk) until most of the sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes to dissolve the sugar. 
• Uncover and wash down the insides with the brush. Without further stirring, continue to simmer until the syrup begins to color. This will take a couple of minutes, be patient. 
• Swirl the pan if needed to distribute the color evenly. Using a skewer or fork put a drop on the plate, the color will go from light amber to reddish to dark very quickly. Be really attentive. 
• When you see a nice reddish amber color, immediately take the pan off the heat and carefully plunge the saucepan in the cold water. This will arrest further cooking and help the caramel stay liquid for a few minutes. 
• Working quickly, spoon the caramel in the 'windows'. Let cool and harden. Store the cookies airtight.

Caramel tastes way better than candy pieces in the windows for sure, but it still remains hard and sticks to your teeth. That said, they still make pretty pieces on your tree with the sun shining through! So you do have a reason to bake these for Christmas.

Happy Baking!

Ladyfingers And Candycane Cookies - With The Daring Bakers!

 Its that time of the year with the welcome nip in the air, the air of festivity and more importantly the air of baking and Christmas! Don't you just love having Christmas around the corner? Though we do not actually celebrate the festival, I find the infectious spirit of baking more and more irresistible - this year more than the last, every year! The The Daring Bakers challenge this month turned out to be cookies, some of them Christmassy too!

Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us. She challenged us to make at least one of the dozen recipes plus another which could be any of our favorite celebration cookie/sweet/bar..  I chose to bake ladyfingers as I have never baked them before, been on the to-bake list since forever! It takes something like a DB challenge plus a deadline to beat for the reluctant baker to get those ladyfingers in the oven! Oh yes, the added bonus here is these can be a very versatile base for so many more cakes and desserts. I just can't wait!

And then one more festive cookie, which one shall I bake? Scouting for recipes without the quintessential mixed spices and ginger, I zeroed in on simple but fun candy cane cookies.  Rich, colorful,  butter cookies shaped into canes and baked. Gift wrap them for the kiddos!

 Ladyfingers, also known as biscuits la cuiller, Savoiardi, sponge fingers or Boudoir biscuits are oval-shaped cookies baked with a sponge batter. The sponge cake batter is prepared by whipping egg yolks and sugar to a volume, folding in flour and whipped egg whites. The batter is spooned into a pastry bag and piped into fingers and baked. Though I did not really fancy eating them as is, I moistened one of these and chilled it, stayed good, moist and firm even after 2 days! Cakes, trifles, charlottes and yumm..Tiramisu!

Ladyfingers

Recipe adapted from Joy Of Baking. This recipe is supposed to make 4 1/2 dozen cookies. I wouldn't recommend halving the recipe as whipping the egg-yolk mixture would get really difficult. I have used 2 pans, baked simultaneously in both my ovens. 

Ingredients:
 
All purpose flour - 54 grams plus cornstarch - 8 grams OR Cake flour, sifted - 1/2 cup (65 grams)
Egg yolks - 54 grams / 3 large at room temperature

Granulated white sugar, divided  - 2 tablespoons (25 grams)

Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon 

Egg whites - 90 grams / 3 large, at room temperature

Cream of tartar - 1/8 teaspoon

Granulated white sugar - 3 tablespoons (36 grams)

Powdered (icing or confectioners) sugar for dusting the tops of the cookies

Procedure : Mise en place. Have your beaters, a cup (to drop the egg whites in) and a medium sized bowl (to beat the egg whites in) squeaky clean and ready. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking trays with parchment. Using a pencil, draw 3 inch rows, with an inch of space in between. ( I could draw only 2 rows on my 9'' square and 8'' square baking tins). Flip the sheets and then line your trays with them. Keep aside. Fit your piping bags with a 1.25 cm round tip. I used a bigger one (about 1.8 cm) as that is what I have, probably why I got about 3 1/2 dozen or so ladyfingers. Have a strainer and the powdered sugar ready.Weigh your flour, cornflour, sift thrice. Keep aside. Weigh the sugar (keep the 2 tbsp and the 3 tablespoons separately), egg whites and then last the yolks.  

Take the egg whites in a medium sized bowl, beat with the hand mixer.  When it starts foaming well, add the cream of tartar. If you add it beforehand, the whites will not foam. Once you add the cream of tartar, continue to beat gradually increasing the speed to medium high. When the beater marks show distinctly and soft peaks form, add the 3 tablespoons of sugar you have reserved.

 You could add the sugar beforehand, but whites whip faster to soft peaks without the sugar. Continue beating for a minute more till the whites form stiff peaks. To check, stop your mixer, slowly lift the beaters from the whites, you should be able to see peaks which stand straight. If they droop right away and fall back, you have to beat a little more. Be careful here, stop and check after a minute or so, as you do not want to beat the egg whites till they dry out. If they dry out, it will not easy to incorporate into the batter and your cookies will not be light. Once the whites are whipped to the right consistency, keep the bowl aside.  

 In the  large bowl,(preferably one which will allow you to tilt and beat), take the egg yolks and the 2 tablespoons sugar sugar.  Beat on high speed till the mixture turns thick and pale yellow. ( about 5 minutes says Stephanie, but mine took about 8-9 minutes at a guess, please be go by the indicator as your guide - when you raise the beaters the batter should fall back into the bowl in a slow ribbon.)  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Sift the cake flour over the batter but do not fold in.  Fold the whites into the egg yolk and flour mixture in three additions, mixing only until incorporated. If you over-do this, you will be deflating the batter, knocking off the air and volume.

 Fill the batter (with a large spoon) into the piping bag/bags. Holding the bag at about a 45 degree angle to the baking sheet, pipe the batter into 3 inch (7.5 cm) long ladyfingers, using the lines drawn on the parchment paper as your guide.  Pipe the batter leaving about a 1 inch (2.54 cm) space between the cookies.  When you have piped all the cookies, place the powdered sugar in a wire strainer, and lightly sift the sugar over the tops of the cookies.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the ladyfingers are firm but barely browned and are still spongy when pressed with a finger. (I intend to use these in a dessert, so I have baked them longer to err on the crispier side, for 12 minutes, think its better to slightly over bake than under bake these)

Remove the baking sheets from the oven and slide the parchment paper from the baking sheets onto a wire rack.  Let the ladyfingers cool for a few minutes and release them from the parchment paper, with a flat spatula, while they are still warm. If they have grown into each other, use a pizza cutter to cut.  If you left them completely cool before removing them from the parchment they stick and hard to remove without breaking.  Finish cooling the ladyfingers on the wire rack before using or storing.  If you are not using the ladyfingers right away, freeze them.  Ladyfingers stale very quickly unless they are soaked in a liquid.  To store, place in a plastic bag between layers of wax or parchment paper and freeze up to 2 weeks. 

 Please note: The cookies look quite good to me. But since I have never seen or used ladyfingers earlier, I am not sure how they are supposed to turn out.  I would ideally ahve liked to bake these once agin before posting, but I coud not. Will be baking these shortly and update notes if any.
  
Candy Cane cookies : Cute looking buttery cookies, which have a soft-tender, texture (think benne biscuits), just about sweet. The recipe does not have baking powder in it as the cookies have to remain undistorted as they bake.

 
From Joy Of Baking
 
Ingredients;
All purpose flour - 325 grams / 2 1/2 cups
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Unsalted butter - at room temperature - 227 grams / 1 cup
Powdered sugar - 120 grams / 1 cup (for just about sweet)
Egg yolks, 2 large - 36 grams
Pure vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Pure almond extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Red food coloring - 1/2 teaspoon ( I used Wilton no-taste red gel)

Procedure: Sift the salt and flour into a bowl, keep aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar till creamy ( I quartered the recipe, did 3 1/2 minutes on speed 2 on my hand mixer). Add the egg yolks, the extracts and beat till combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, on low speed beat until you have a smooth dough.  Remove half the dough and set aside. Add the red color to the remaining half and mix till well combined. The dough was very soft at this point, so I have refrigerated it for a couple of hours.  You could use earlier if its firm enough.

Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C/ 375 F.  Line your baking sheets with parchment. Divide dough of each color into walnut sized balls. Keep them covered. If making a large batch, take out just enough dough from the fridge when needed. Keep a clean kitchen cloth nearby to wipe your hands as you touch the red dough. Lightly flour your work surface, roll each ball of dough into a rope of 4-5 inches. Place one rope of red dough and one of white beside each other. Press them together lightly. Twist the ropes to form a spiral. Place on the sheet, bend the twisted rope to form a cane shape. Space the shaped cookies 5 cm apart. If the shaped cookies feel very soft, put the tray with the cookies in the fridge for 15 minutes and then bake. If the ropes break as u twist, try refrigerating the dough for sometime and then  resume. Mine kept breaking, I could make only a few without clumping the dough back together and starting again. But the cookies were still tender and not tough, forgiving dough!

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to brown. Do not over bake. The baking time varies depending on the thickness of the ropes, so bake a test batch and try to keep the size of the walnut sized balls uniform.

Please note : Don't even think of transporting these anywhere as they are quite fragile! I broke half of them while taking the pictures...

Thanks Peta for the lovely challenge, it has got me into the spirit of Christmas baking!!