Gingerbread Houses

This is the recipe I have my students use every year
. The above house was made by two students and was display at the Hyatt Hotel!

Gingerbread Houses:

125 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable shortening
125 ml (1/2 cup) white sugar

1 egg

150 ml (3/4 cup ) molasses

685 ml (2 and 3/4 cups) flour

5 ml (1 t) ground ginger

3 ml (1/2 t.) each of baking soda, salt, ground cloves, and ground cinnamon

In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, beat the shortening with sugar.

Beat in egg and molasses.

In another bowl, stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, salt, cloves and cinnamon.

Using a wooden spoon stir gradually into molasses mixture. Mix well.

Divide dough into two portions.

Roll dough in between two pieces of wax paper until about 5 mm or 1/4 inch thick.

Preheat oven to 160 C or 325 F.

Remove top sheet of wax paper. Cut out your house pieces.
Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper if you have it.

Bake one sheet at a time in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely!

To put the house together, make a royal icing with egg white powder that has been pasteurized!

I put my house together let it set and then ice and decorate with lots of candy.

I like to use frosted mini wheats for the snow-capped roof.

Good luck all!

Pecan Balls

Great with coffee!

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup soft butter

2 t. salt

2 cups flour

2 cups pecan, finely chopped

instant coffee or expresso powder

Add sugar to butter slowly, cream thoroughly. Add vanilla, flour, salt and pecans and blend well. Chill several hours.

Shape chilled dough into balls about the size of large marbles. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 F about 15 minutes or until light light brown.

Remove from cookie sheets.

Roll carefully in a small amount of sifted icing sugar at once until well coated.

Cool. Roll second time in a mixture of icing sugar and coffee powder using a ratio of 1 T coffee powder to 1 cup icing sugar.

Cherry flips but Don't Flip Out!

One of my favourites from my childhood is Cherry Flips.

My mom first made them and then my sister but she stopped as the dough always gave her grief.

I recently started making them and have had varying results. Even not so perfect ones are so tasty! It's all in the shortbread-like dough.

1/2 cup butter

2 egg yolks

1/4 t. salt

1/2 cup icing sugar

2 cups sifted flour

1 t. almond flavouring

1 bottle of maraschino cherries (save juice for icing)

coconut

Drain the cherries but keep the juice for later.

Cream butter until light and fluffy.

Add sugar gradually and blend. Mix in egg yolk. Work in flour and salt until all flour is absorbed. Pinch off a walnut-sized piece. Press into the palm of your hand. Insert a cherry in the middle and roll the dough around the cherry to form a ball.

Place on lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake at 325 F until lightly browned 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack. When cool dip in a syrup made from cherry juice and icing sugar.

Roll in coconut. Let dry before storing.

Gingerbread Men not to be confuesd with Gingerbread Houses

Everyone I know has a different take on gingerbread. There is the puffy German gingerbread men, then the flatter versions as well as how dark the gingerbread man should be.

This recipe makes lots and you can do them in any size. They hold up to decorating with Foodsafe royal icing.

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup molasses

2 T. vinegar

5 cups sifted flour

1 1/2 t. soda

1/2 t. salt

1 T ginger

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

Cream shortening with sugar. Add egg, molasses and vinegar; beat well. Sift dry ingredients; stir in. Chill 1 hour.

Roll in between two pieces of wax paper.

Cut into shapes and re-roll until all dough is used up.

Preheat over to 375F.

Bake for 6 minutes.

Cool on rack.

Decorate with Royal Icing:

4 cups (440 g) icing sugar

3 T (30 g) meringue powder

1 t. cream of tartar

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 c. to 3/4 cup (120 - 180 ml) warm water

Beat the water with the meringue powder until peaks form.

Add the cream of tartar, vanilla and then slowly add the icing sugar.

Cranberry Shortbread Chews

This was originally in Chatelaine magazine

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 cup dried cranberries

2 T orange flavoured liqueur

3/4 c. butter

1 cup sugar

1 t. lime peel

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

1 cup coconut

1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat over 325F (160 C). Soak the cranberries in the liqueur.

Place butter in mixer bowl and beat butter and sugar.

Add egg.

Mix in the dry ingredients.

Stir in cranberries, coconut and pecans.

Roll dough into 1" or 2.5 cm balls and place them on a cookie sheet about 2" apart.

Bake until edges and undersides of cookies are golden brown about 12 minutes.

Let them cool on the cookie sheet 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Poppyseed Igloos

This one is simple and can be done without a mixer.

1 cup (250ml) butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup icing sugar

3/4 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

1 T lemon rind

2 T poppy seeds

2 cups (500ml) flour

Preheat oven to 325F.

Cream butter with icing sugar.

Stir in vanilla, lemon rind, salt, poppy seeds and finally the flour.

Roll into 1" or 2.5 cm balls.

Bake 20 minutes.

Cool completely on a cooling rack.

Dip each igloo in a glaze made up of:

1 cup (250 ml) icing sugar, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 T lemon juice.

Let dry completely and store in an airtight container and in the fridge

Hazelnut Tasssies

A friend of mine decided it would be a good idea to give me some local BC Hazelnuts.
So I search and found this recipe from Canadian Living.

1/2 cup butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
1 1/4 flour
Ganache Filling:
4 oz. chocolate
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 t. liqueur
12 hazelnuts

Grease a muffin tin (mini-sized)
Beat together butter and cream cheese add in hazelnuts.
Refrigerate dough after you have put 1 T into each cup and press into the bottom and sides or freeze for 1 hour.

Bake 325F for 30 minutes until golden. Let cool.
In a bowl place chocolate and put over water in a saucepan. When chocolate melts, add cream and liqueur. Stir until smooth. Pour into shells. Add half a hazelnut on top.
These must be kept refrigerated.