The Epi Christmas Cookie Exchange was such a success that even our men got in on the baking. Diane’s husband Rob and Kaarina’s Mike faced off with their shortbreads. Mike likes the macho version - big thick jaw-breakers fit for Highland lads. Rob’s are more refined - half as thick, softer, with a hint of lemon. Caroline’s Jimmy shared his stash of authentic fennel-laced biscotti gifted by Italian friends.
Laura and Peter missed out on the exchange but Laura did bake up a batch of Chocolate Chunk Shortbread fit for Santa Claus and joined our Zoom cookie tasting on the Saturday before Christmas.
Caroline has been trying to replicate the Chilli Pepper Chocolate cookies we love so much from our local Scarborough Bluff’s bakery, the Cliffside Hearth. She’s getting closer by putting her own spin on a Martha Stewart recipe for Spicy Chocolate cookies. Diane departed from the cookie theme by roasting up a batch of delicious Teriyaki Spiced nuts.
Kaarina isn’t much of a baker having grown up in a bakery where baking was serious business, done on a large scale with huge mixers, a massive two-level oven and a staff. It took Ottolenghi, the cookbook that made Chef Yotam Ottolenghi an international sensation, to tempt Kaarina into trying her hand at baking at home. In the Introduction, Ottolenghi addresses the “angst the idea of baking evokes in some.” He acknowledges that there’s grounds for the “phobia” since things can and do “go horribly wrong” but the “gratification of good baking is unbeatable ... and a clear mark of a mature cook.” He then promised that the selection of recipes in the book were mostly beginner friendly.
Ottolenghi’s Almond and Orange Florentines were reminiscent of a cookie made especially for Christmas by Kaarina’s family bakery. As this version is simple enough for a novice, she tackled it first. Once on a roll she moved on to another popular Italian treat, Sour Cherry Amaretti. Also easy and the results for both were stellar, something one could proudly include in a Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Almond and Orange Florentines
Makes about 20
Vegetable oil for brushing
2 free-range egg whites
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
2 3/4 cups sliced almonds
Grated zest of 1 orange
Preheat the oven to 300°F / 150°C. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper and brush lightly with vegetable oil. Next to you have a small bowl of cold water.
Put the egg whites, confectioners' sugar, sliced almonds, and orange zest in a bowl and gently mix them together. Dip your hand in the bowl of water and pick up portions of the mix to make little mounds on the lined pan, well spaced apart. Dip a fork in the water and flatten each mound very thinly. Try to make them as thin as possible without creating too many gaps between the almond slices. They should be about 3 1/4 inches / 8 cm in diameter.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown. Check underneath one cookie to make sure they are cooked through.
Allow to cool, then gently, using an icing spatula, remove the cookies from the baking sheet. Store in a sealed jar.
Sour Cherry Amaretti
Makes 20
60 g dried sour cherries (or cranberries)
120 g caster sugar
180 g ground almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract
zest one lemon
pinch salt
2 tsp honey
2 egg whites
icing sugar
Heat oven to 325F (170C). Mix together the almonds, sugar, lemon zest, almond extract and salt using your fingers to disperse the zest evenly. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and honey into soft peaks. Fold these gently into the other ingredients to a soft meringue consistency.
Divide the mixture into 20 balls, roll liberally in icing sugar, and place on a parchment-covered baking tray. Bake for about 12 mins, until slightly coloured but still pale and chewy in the centre. Cool completely before storing in sealed jar.
Caroline’s Spicy Chocolate Cookies
For this recipe from Martha Stewart, Caroline used Lindt’s dark chili chocolate for choco chips, doubled the cayenne to 1/2 tsp and topped the cookies with Maldon salt instead of sugar.
Diane’s Teriyaki Spiced Nuts
(The mixture includes almonds, pistachios and cashews)
Laura’s Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
2 cups butter
1 cup of fine sugar (blend in food processor if you can’t find instant-dissolving, fruit sugar)
3 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄2 cup of rice flour
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped into bit-size chunks
Beat butter until light gradually add sugar until dissolved (about 5 minutes).
Sift flours together and stir into butter until well combined.
Save 50 of the biggest chunks of chocolate for the top of cookies and mix the rest into the batter.
Scoop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment. Press a chunk of chocolate in the top of each cookie.
Bake 20-25 minutes at 325 until lightly browned cool on racks and dust with icing sugar.
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