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Wednesday, December 27, 2006

[[Of Xmas baking]]

Somehow, I associate white chocolate and cranberries(think fruit cakes) to christmas, together with ginger(think gingerbread man/ginger cookies). So my sis and I decided to bake two items this year. Both containing white chocolate.

The first is White chocolate pistachio cookies. The second is cranberry white chocolate cupcakes. Most of which were gobbled out during the christmas dinner.

The cookies turned out soft and crumbly. The white chocolate makes it a delight to eat while the pistachios gave it a slightly bitter after taste(I'm still figuring out why is that so.)

The cranberry cupcakes were a bigger hit-simply because who can refuse little cupcakes sitting on pretty checkered red papers? grins.


White chocolate Pistachio cookies
(How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawsons)

Makes about 40

scant 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
7 tsp sugar
scant 1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
scant 1/2 cup ground pistachios
4 ounces whole pistachios
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 baking sheets lined

1. Preheat oven to 175 deg C
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until soft and almost mousse-like. Add the vanilla and egg, then the flour, and baking soda.
2. When you've got a smooth thick dough, add the nuts and chocolate and mix to combine.
3. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into walnut sized balls in your hands. Place these, generously spaced onto the baking sheets and put in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
4. The cookies should be of a pale gold with a darker gold around the edges.
5. Leave to set for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool.


Cranberry white chocolate cupcakes (adapted from Gourmet Magazine Dec 2006)

Makes 1 dozen

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
white chocolate, chopped roughly

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 175 deg c. Put in liners in muffin cups
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Add in flour mixture and milk, alternately in batches, begining and ending with flour mixture and mixing just until incoporated. Fold in cranberries and white chocolate.
5. Divide the batter among muffin cups. Bake until pale golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Turn cupcakes out onto a rack and cool 15 minutes.

Cranberry white chocolate cupcakes

 

link | posted by simin at 1:20 PM |

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