Mawa Cake & Bolinhas De Coco - Daring Bakers In India!

This month's Daring Bakers challenge takes us to Goa for some semolina and coconut cookies, Bolinhas de coco and to the Irani cafés in India for some mawa cake!

Aparna of  My Diverse Kitchen was our August 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to make some amazing regional Indian desserts. The Mawa Cake, the Bolinhas de Coco cookies and the Masala cookies – beautifully spiced and delicious!

Rich, milky, laced with cardamom, topped with cashew nuts or even almonds, mawa cakes are a trademark of the Irani cafés. The texture is slightly dense, reminiscent of a pound cake says Aparna. She challenged us to make mawa cake with home made mawa. Basundi or rabdi, which I used to make often earlier, is just a couple of steps shy of mawa or khoya, but surprisingly I have not made it at home so far. In case you live somewhere where you do not have easy access to it, take heart, its easy to make, but needs patience.

I have made Mawa cakes earlier, though lighter textured, less rich ones. But I did wanted to bake this one too, just for the fun of making mawa at home and not to miss this challenge hosted by Aparna. It was fun indeed!

Mawa Cake :

I have halved the recipe and baked the cake in an 3 cup capacity bundt pan, remaining batter in 2 small muffin cups.

Ingredients
For the Mawa:
1 litre (4 cups) full fat milk

For the cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) (120 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) unsalted Butter (soft at room temperature)
3/4 cup (180 ml) packed crumbled mawa
1-1/4 cups (300 ml) (10 oz) (280 gm) castor sugar
3 large eggs
5 to 6 cardamom pods, powdered, (about 1-1/2 tsp powdered cardamom)
2 cups (500ml) (9 oz) (260 gm) cake flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract (optional)
Cashewnuts (or blanched almonds) to decorate (about 18 to 20)

Directions:
1. First make the “Mawa”. Pour the milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan, preferably a non-stick one. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring it on and off, making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Turn down the heat to medium and keep cooking the milk until reduces to about a quarter of its original volume. This should take about an hour to an hour and a half.

2. The important thing during this process is to watch the milk and stir it frequently to make sure it doesn’t stick to the sides or bottom of the pan and get burnt. The danger of this happening increases as the milk reduces and gets thicker.

3. Once the milk it has reduced to about one fourth, 1/4 quantity, lower the heat to low and let cook for a little while longer. Keep stirring regularly, until the milk solids (mawa) take on a lumpy appearance. There should be no visible liquid left in the pan, but the mawa should be moist and not stick to the sides of the pan.

4. Remove the pan from heat and transfer the mawa to a bowl and let it cool completely. Then cover and refrigerate it for a day or two (not more) till you’re ready to make the cake. It will harden in the fridge so let it come to room temperature before using it. You should get about 3/4 to 1 cup of mawa from 1 litre (4 cups) of full-fat milk.

To bake the cake : Pre-heat your oven to moderate 180°C/350°F.

1. Beat the butter, the crumbled mawa and the sugar in a largish bowl, using a hand held electric beater, on high speed until soft and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium speed till well incorporated. Add the vanilla and milk and beat till mixed well.

3. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt onto the batter and beat at medium speed and well blended. If you cannot find cake flour, place 2 tablespoon of cornstarch in the bottom of your 1-cup measure and then fill it with all-purpose (plain) flour to make up to 1 cup.

4. Grease and line only the bottom of an 8 inch (20 cm) spring form pan. Pour the batter into this and lightly smooth the top. Place the cashew nuts (or blanched almonds) on top of the batter randomly. Do not press the nuts down into the batter. A Mawa Cake always has a rustic finished look rather than a decorated look.

5. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 1 hour until the cake is a golden brown and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Do not over bake the cake or it will dry out. If the cake seems to be browning too quickly, cover it will aluminum foil hallway through the baking time.

6. Remove from oven and allow it to cool for 10 min in the tin. Release the cake, peel off the parchment from the base and let it cool completely.

BOLINHAS DE COCO (Cardamom Flavored Coconut Biscuits/ Cookies):

The notable thing about these cookies are they are made entirely out of semolina and fresh coconut (no flour). These cookies are a little crisp, crunchy on the outside and kind of cakey within when freshly baked. Cardamom and coconut make a fab pairing and I loved the flavor of the cookies. Am sure they would have been better texture-wise if I had not goofed up with the dough.

Ingredients:

2 cups (500 ml) (5-1/3 oz) (150 gm) fresh grated coconut, packed
1-1/2 cups (360 ml) (9 oz) (250 gm) semolina
1-1/4 cups (300 ml) (8-3/4 oz) (250 gm) granulated sugar
3/4 cup water (180ml) (6 oz) (175 gm) water
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (1 oz) (30 gm) ghee (clarified butter) or melted unsalted butter
2 large eggs
8 to 10 pods cardamom, powdered (about 1-1/2 teaspoon)

Directions:
1. Run the grated coconut in your processor or the small jar of your blender a couple of times so that the flakes are smaller and uniform in texture. Do not grind into a paste. Keep aside.

2. Put the semolina in a pan and toast/ roast it, over low to medium heat, until it starts giving off an aroma, and looks like it’s about to start changing colour. This should take a couple of minutes. Do not brown. Transfer the semolina into a bowl and keep aside.

3. In the same pan, pour the water and add the sugar to it. Place it on medium heat and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Once the sugar has dissolved, keep stirring the solution and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. The sugar solution should just begin to start forming a syrup but is still watery. Do not cook until it forms a thick syrup.

4. Add the toasted/ roasted semolina and mix well. Then add the coconut, salt and ghee (or melted butter) and mix well. Put the pan back on the stove, and over medium heat stir the coconut mixture until it is really hot and easily forms a thick clump. This should take about 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Take the pan off the heat and let the semolina coconut mixture cool to room temperature. Transfer this into a bowl or container, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight. For really fluffy biscuits/ cookies, the overnight rest is recommended.

6. The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. ( I did the mistake of warming the mixture slightly to get it to room temperature faster as I had to go out. I should have just let it come to room temperature by itself, had to refrigerate the dough again to firm it up, but it did not come back to the same consistency).  Separate the yolks from the egg whites. Lightly beat the yolks with a fork to break them and add to the dough. Also add the powdered cardamom and mix well with a wooden spoon or fork.

7. Whisk the egg whites by hand until frothy and add to the dough. Mix well till incorporated.
8. You will now have a slightly moist and sticky dough. Refrigerate this dough for about half an hour so it firms up a bit.

9. Pre-heat your oven to moderate 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line your baking trays with parchment or grease them well with some ghee or melted butter.

10. Take the dough out and pinch off walnut sized bits of dough. The dough should be firm enough to handle without difficulty. If the dough is sticking to your palms, lightly dust your palms with flour before shaping the dough. Roll the bits of dough into balls and then flatten them very slightly.

11. Decorate the top by marking criss-crosses (3 equidistant lines one way and another 3 crossing them at right angles), with a table knife. Press down a bit but not too deep or right through the biscuit/ cookie. Use up all the dough this way.

2. Place the shaped dough on the baking trays leaving a little space between them. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until they’re a golden brown and done. Mine took a little longer probably because the dough was a bit loose. Let them cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then transfer to racks to cool completely.

13. Store the biscuits/ cookies in airtight containers. This recipe makes about 4 dozen Bolinhas de Coco.

Thank you for the lovely challenge Aparna, it was fun doing this!

Pumpkin & Walnut Spiced Squares - Hiding Veggies With The Daring Bakers!

 Hidden veggies - a common conspiracy mommies often resort to in a bid to get the kids to eat some veggies and fruits which are otherwise considered 'YUCC..KKY' no less! These despised fruits and veggies haunt you from the aisles of the veggie store or cart and the mommy scheming mind starts contriving ways to camouflage these in goodies which will hopefully be seen as 'YUMMY!' The treat is served with a louder than usual 'tadaa!' which puts the kids' antennae on alert mode. Suspicious, hesitant little bites at first and then bigger bites, more helpings. And then its confession time. Treading on ice, dreading delayed rejection you tell them, 'Guess what, there is a surprise in this. The name starts with C/B/P.  Yes, carrots/bananas/pumpkins etc etc. Isn't it so good? Umm..think we can make this now and then? Yes?'' Grin, grin!

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

 Sneaking in veggies into food is something I often do, but not as often in sweet baked treats, so this was going to be a surprise for the mommy as well! Carrot cake did sound super tempting to bake, then zucchini cupcakes and bread and pumpkin pies! The Daring Bakers were turning really adventurous, some of them using spinach, avocados and peas too in their bakes! Being a not-so-daring Daring Baker, I thought sweet pumpkin should be a good start.  A very common vegetable used in baking, ever so often seen in pies, scones, doughnuts, muffins, cookies and breads. But then, not so common in our country in baked goods, canned pumpkin puree unheard of.

I made pumpkin puree for the first time, its really quick and easy. It stayed well in the refrigerator the next day (supposed to stay good for a week). But a part of it frozen turned out to be so much more watery when thawed than the fresh, thick, smooth one.

These light, tasty squares from All Recipes , spiced with cinnamon and cloves make a nice tea-time snack or a kiddie snack box treat. You could omit the spices and use vanilla and nuts or just vanilla and chocolate chips. My kids loved them! And I see myself experimenting with the vegetable puree more often!

The reviews mention cakey squares, but I did not want them very cakey, so I have reduced the amount of baking powder. Also have replaced part of the oil with yogurt. Below is the original recipe halved.

Ingredients:
Eggs - 2 large
Oil - 1/4 cup / 60 ml
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon ( use 1 teaspoon if omitting spices)
Sugar, fine - 200 grams / 1 cup ( Will reduce next time by a tablespoon or so, even less if using chocolate chips)
All purpose flour - 125 grams
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
Ground cloves - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Toasted chopped walnuts - 1/3 cup

Procedure: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F. Grease, line and flour a 9'' square tin. Keep aside.

• Sift together the flour, spices, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Take the eggs, oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin puree in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly. 

• Stir in the flour mixture with a spatula. Stir in the walnuts or the chocolate chips. The batter will be the consistency of brownie batter. Spread in the baking tin, smooth the top.
• Bake for about 22-25 minutes or till the top is light golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes on a rack. Remove from the tin, cool completely and then cut into squares.

To make the pumpkin puree. I have followed the general procedure of making this in the pressure cooker, after reading several common methods. About 1/2 kilo of pumpkin with skin made about 1 1/4 cup of puree.

Remove the skin and the fibrous, seedy part of the pumpkin. Cut into cubes. Place the cubes in a vessel in the pressure cooker. Do not put water in the container. Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. Switch off .Let the pressure drop. Allow to cool. Drain any liquid left with the cubes in a mesh colander. Mash thoroughly and process in the mixer till completely smooth. Use just enough water (2-3 teaspoons) to facilitate the motor.

Measure the needed quantity of puree and use.

I liked this basic recipe and hope to experiment and play around with different purees and amounts of leavening for varying textures.

Thanks Ruth, enjoyed the hidden veggies!

Onion, Poppy Seed Crackers And Crisp (Yeasted) Flatbreads - With The Daring Bakers!

 Its the 27th and time for another Daring Bakers' challenge! At at a time when I am desperately torn between my restricted diet and the inexplicable pull of my new oven, came these apt recipes from our hostess this month, Sarah. Sarah from  All Our Fingers In The Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!

Been waiting to tell you, I got my new big oven at last! A Morphy Richards 40 liter OTG which occupies its place of pride in my dining area.  Its another matter that my already crowded kitchen counter looks rather too overcrowded now as it had to accommodate my microwave and an induction stove too. Not that it really matters to me as I am so very happy to get my oven after a really long wait. Happier as it happens to be a gift from my father. Though am no stranger to an OTG, am still getting used to my new one - each one has a mind of its own as they say! Have mini bundts, Swiss Rolls, baguettes, large batches of tuiles on my mind, but am content with baking safer bakes like crackers, biscotti and granolas for the time being. Better that way as I will feel less sad burning these rather than over baking pound cakes or doughnuts.

Back to the crackers, I baked these onion crackers - which we absolutely loved! Crisp onion and poppy seed flavored ones which remind you of the famous famous Maddur Vada!! I made these 3-4 times, in small batches of course. Each time, they were gone fast, some as munchies and some as an accompaniment with hot rasam and rice! Oh, they sure were yum and will be definitely made again and again, goes high on my list of keepers!

Onion and Poppy Seed Crackers : I have quartered the recipe as I am not blessed with patience and I liked them best when made with the sticky dough rolled really thin without using a whole lot of flour. You may find making these more efficient and faster if you use a silicon mat.

Ingredients:
Onion puree - 1/4 cup (pls read note)
Egg - 1/4 large egg / 12 grams of one whisked whole egg
Vegetable oil - 20 ml
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
 All-purpose (plain) flour / maida 70 grams
 Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon
 Poppy seeds (raw) - 1/2 tablespoon
 Granulated sugar - 3/4 teaspoon
 Freshly ground black pepper - 1/4 teaspoon (or more to taste)
Fresh coriander, 1-2 teaspoons, finely chopped, very well squeezed to have no moisture( read note)
Directions:

• Sift the flour, salt, sugar, pepper, baking power together twice. Stir in the poppy seeds. Keep aside.

• In a medium sized bowl, take the onion puree. Add the egg, oil and blend with a fork until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture.
  

• Mix well until the dough is fully combined. The dough will be very sticky, that's alright. Grease your counter. Lightly knead the dough for 2 minutes, though it will be tough to. If you have to add more flour, add very little, about a teaspoon. I preferred the ones to which I did not add additional flour while kneading. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour or more to suit your convenience. Overnight works fine too. The dough will be firmer after refrigeration.

• Preheat oven to moderate  180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line your baking sheets with parchment and grease lightly.

• Even after refrigeration this will be a very soft dough. If you have mixed a large portion of dough, you may want to take out only a part of it.  Lightly flour your rolling pin and counter, take tiny balls of dough, roll as thinly as possible. Place them on the lined sheet. If you cant roll them as thin as you want, place them on your parchment lined baking tray and then spread them with your finger tips to make them thinner. Brush off any excess flour with a dry silicon brush. 
• You could roll large portions of dough, cut out the crackers with a cutter . But I did not want to use too much flour or roll them thicker, so rolling them thin with tiny balls worked better for me-taste wise!  Unless you roll the dough thick or use much of flour,  its tough to lift the thinly rolled soft dough onto the baking sheet as they will tear.

• As the crackers bake pretty fast and you surely don't want them to burn while you multi-task, you may want to use multiple trays, roll 2-3 sheets of crackers at one go and then bake them in succession.
  

Bake until almost evenly golden (mine has splotches of white, but they tend to burn if you wait for longer). The time required will depend upon the thickness but anywhere from 5 - 15 minutes. Mine took about 6-7 minutes. Watch carefully as they will bake quickly, Do not let them turn dark brown. Cool thoroughly before storing in air tight container.

Please Note : You can add a green chilli or a pod of garlic while pureeing the onion, but do not add too many things (such as mint, coriander., garlic, more chillies) as your dough may become very sticky and tough to roll out. Or u may end up using less of onion in the puree when you measure which may not give a predominant onion flavor. If you want to roll the crackers really thin, chopped coriander or chillies in the dough will make it difficult to roll.

Yeasted Flatbread Crackers  Another must have low fat crackers in your repertoire! Quick and easy to make as there isn't much kneading here, proof the dough and then carelessly roll the friendly dough into shapes you want, making sure you roll them uniformly thin. Top them with herbs or seeds and toppings of your choice as you roll and bake till golden and crisp. Eat with a dip of your choice or as is for in between meal hunger pangs..

Ingredients: 

Luke warm water - 60 ml / 1/4 cup  

Milk - 60 ml / 1/4 cup

Instant yeast - 1/2 teaspoon 

All-purpose (plain) flour / maida - 195 grams / 1 1/2 cups, plus more for rolling

Extra virgin olive oil 20 ml -  1 1/2 tablespoons (aprox)
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar 1/2 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm)
sea salt, for sprinkling
Freshly ground pepper (use generously) and white sesame seeds as needed
Or
Fresh rosemary or thyme - 2 tablespoons 
Optional - 1 large egg whisked with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) water, for egg wash ( I did not use any as I was using milk in the dough)

Directions:

• In a medium sized bowl, mix the lukewarm water and milk. Add the instant yeast ( if using active dried yeast, let stand for about 5 minutes till foamy and then proceed), add the oil. Mix the flour, salt, sugar very well. Stir in flour mixture, bring it together, turn on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes till you get a smooth dough. The dough must not be sticky or even tacky.
  

• Place dough in a greased dough rising container or in a lightly oiled bowl and roll the dough around in the bowl so that it is also lightly oiled on the surface. Cover with the lid or greased cling wrap. Let stand in a warm place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour. (as the amount of yeast is less, it takes some time to double)

• Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4. Keep your toppings ready. Line your baking sheets with parchment. Divide dough into 8 or more equal portions (depending on your tray size and size of crackers you want to bake) and cover with plastic wrap. 
• Flour your counter lightly, roll out each piece thin (mine was about 3 mm at a guess) sprinkling the sesame seeds, salt and pepper halfway through so that the seeds are rolled in. Or brush with the egg mixture (if using) and sprinkle with sea salt, sesame seeds, pepper or herbs. Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet. 

• Bake, rotating sheet halfway through baking, until crisp and golden, for about 12-14 minutes ( or more depending on the thickness).  Watch carefully as they turn dark brown or burn quite fast. I burnt some as I went out to gush about how many I could fit in the big oven at one go to hubby :) Let cool on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Eat as is or with hummus or a red pepper dip.

Storage and Freezing Instructions/Tips: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month. Prolong the freshness by freezing for up to 3 months.

Thanks for these super recipes Sarah, these will be a regular in my kitchen now! Check out the creations of my fellow Daring Bakers!

The flatbreads are Yeast Spotted!

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!!