Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows

For the first time in my short 25 years, I did not put up Christmas lights. Our little Norfolk pine is as naked as the day it first sprouted. There are no garland-laced IKEA bookshelves nor a scrap of lurking mistletoe. Scandinavian Christmas items at least accent our kitchen table as “A’s” mother helped boost sagging spirits. Very few Christmas-themed blog posts start out on a dour note, but this is my blog and it’s within my rights to ramble about my feelings, dammit! If we’re going to really get to talking about feelings, I’m not sure how I feel about Christmas this year. Yes, I’m excited, but not for the actual act of Christmas. I’m excited to see my family for one full, rare week. Presents? Eh. Giving them is what gets me going but all I “want” to receive are a few nice necessities that I can’t afford to buy all at once. 

But feeling this way about Christmas fills me with guilt. I’m usually forcing Christmas music and movies down “A’s” throat; but this year even I have to find a small stash of motivation just to press play. To put the nonexistent star atop the pine-like tree, there is apparently a national goat butter shortage. Not only have I stalked every grocery store in Madison, I've called every local goat farm to see if butter is something they do (obviously, it's not). I’ve had time to deal with the tragedy over the past month, but as butter is the main ingredient in cookies 99.9% of the time, I cant even make my usual mountain of treats! Maybe that’s at the root of my bah humbug?

Who knows. But I do know I need to get into the Christmas spirt, and about five minutes ago. To find the spirit of Christmas past, I had to go basic. Feelings of warmth, love and chocolate. With a seasonal flavor thrown in for good measure.

Santa Claus wrote me a prescription and it’s for homemade peppermint marshmallows, folks! I can feel the Christmas creeping back in to my grinch sized heart and dreams of marshmallow faeries filling my head. Doggonit! This did the trick - I’m CURED! Watch out though, to keep my spirits high, I may have the plow through some of these darlings daily from now until next Wednesday!  

Peppermint Marshmallows

Adapted from Arts and Tarts

Ingredients:

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup cold water, divided
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ to 1 ½ teaspoons peppermint extract
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• Oil (grapeseed or canola preferred) 
• Food coloring

Directions:

1. Pour ½ cup of the water into the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment and sprinkle gelatin over the surface; set aside.
2. In a small saucepan combine the remaining ½ cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Over medium high heat and with a candy thermometer attached to the side of the pan, cook the mixture until it reaches 240 degrees F. Immediately remove the pan from the heat once temperature is reached.
3. Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once all the syrup has been added, increase the speed to high and continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the peppermint extract during the last minute of whipping, starting with the smaller amount and increasing according to taste and desired strength.
4. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans:
5. Sift together the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Using a paper towel, spread the oil on the pans until it is well coated. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use (I had to mix up a bit more as my marshmallows were on the stickier side).
6. Pour the lukewarm mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan.  Drop about 6 drops of food coloring around the surface of the marshmallows and use a toothpick or knife to swirl the red into the marshmallows. Dust the top with remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for about 24 hours. Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and use oiled scissors to cut into desired shapes. Once cut, dredge the marshmallows with the remaining powdered sugar/corn starch mixture. Shake the marshmallows in a fine mesh sieve to remove excess clumps.
7. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Apricot Maple Cinnamon Rolls

I feel like I could post a picture and present without comment (but I'm a chatterbox so that would be impossible to do). However, I essentially did just that on my Facebook page and boy-oh-boy did the offers start rolling in! I had one friend beg me to come back to Seattle, another started plotting a road trip over to Madison and all the while, "A" is gloating in the glory that is homemade apricot maple cinnamon rolls. Freshly baked on a Sunday morning. All to himself. Even though I did offer up the leftovers, no one seemed willing to make the journey. Oh well, "A's" gain.

While I was ambitious enough to make cinnamon rolls for our weekly Sunday brunch, I was just lazy enough to do the prep work the night before. Make the rolls according the directions but instead of having them do the final rise on the counter, plop them in the fridge overnight for a slow rise. The next morning, bring them to room temperature on the counter before baking.

The thing is, friends, these rolls are shockingly uncomplicated to make. Granted, I do have a KitchenAid stand mixer to do most of the dirty work for me. Even if you don't have a mixer, the dough is so soft and pliable that it would be too difficult to work with by hand.

Apricot Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ingredients:

• for the dough:
• 2¼ tsp. (1 pkg) active-dry yeast
• ½ tsp. + ¼ scant cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water, lukewarm (~115° F)
• ½ cup almond milk milk, at room temp.
• 2 TBSP. packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2¾ c. all-purpose flour + more for kneading
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 4 oz. (½ cup) goat butter, softened

for the filling:

• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
• ½ cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1 TBSP. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. salt
• pinch ground cloves
• 3 TBS. pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup goat butter butter, melted

for the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ⅛ cup almond milk

Instructions:

Dough:

1. Combine yeast, ½ tsp. of sugar, and water in the bowl of a mixer. Stir and let sit until foamy, 5-10 minutes.
2. Add remaining sugar, almond milk, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat until well combined. Using a dough hook, add flour and salt to bowl and mix at medium speed until dough just begins to come together. Turn mixer to medium-high and knead for ~4 minutes.
3. Add the softened butter and continue to knead for ~6 minutes. The dough will be wet and sticky. Knead in another ⅓-½ cup of flour into the dough. Dough should be just slightly tacky and very soft, but it should not stick to your hands.
4. Place in a large, greased boil. Cover with plastic or clean kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Filling:

1. While dough is rising, combine sugar, walnuts, apricots, cinnamon, salt and cloves in a medium bowl. Stir in the maple syrup and set aside.

Dough (again):

1. When dough has doubled in bulk, tip it out of the bowl onto a heavily floured work surface. Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, adding ~3 Tbs of flour as needed for ~2 minutes. At this point, the dough is soft, silky, supple, and totally sexy. Let rest on counter for 5 minutes.
2. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into roughly a 10"x20" rectangle. Position dough so that the long sides are parallel to you (you'll be rolling from the long side). Brush about half of the melted butter over the top of the dough, enough to coat it well.
3. Dump all of the filling onto the buttered dough and spread evenly, leaving a 1" border at one of the short edges of the dough so the roll can be properly sealed. Lightly press the filling into the dough.
4. Roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Pinch all along the edge to seal. Place dough, seam side down, on a cutting board. Cut into equal slices.
5. Arrange slices, cut side up, in a greased pan (I used a large pie pan). Each roll will have a bit of space on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in a warm place for 1 ½-2 hours, until they've puffed up nice and big and are touching. (NOTE: is you would like to refrigerate overnight, place the covered unbaked rolls into the fridge at this point. Bring to room temperature before baking.) Place oven rack in upper ⅓ of oven and preheat oven to 375° F during last 15 minutes of rise time.
6. Slide into preheated oven and bake for ~30 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Rub some goat butter on the rolls just after you've pulled them from the oven.

Glaze:

1. While the rolls are cooling slightly, whisk together the powdered sugar and almond milk until smooth. Drizzle over warm rolls.
2. Share with friends. Make people happy. Smile.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

I originally wanted to make snickerdoodle cookies, alas, I didn't have any cream of tartar on hand.  Then I thought snickerdoodle muffins.  You need cream of tartar for that too?  Dangit.  Snickerdoodle blondes?  You don't need cream of tartar?  YES!  Victory!

I made these a few weeks ago, I brought three-fourths on them into the Bivouac, but I gave the other fourth to Jake in a little baggie when we were meeting for a drink at Ashley's after I got off work.  They never made it back to his house.  He had one at Ashley's before he left, gave one to a friend he saw there… and then every minute on the walk back to his house he ate another one.  Needless to say, I think these were a hit.  They also weren't hard to make and my house smelled wonderful while they were baking.  The texture of them is somewhat like a really thick sugar cookie and somewhat like a brownie - trust me, it's good!

On a side, personal, note: Today was my last day of classes at the University of Michigan!  I am (almost) officially a college graduate!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Adapted from Dozen Flours - makes 30 bars

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
3. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish). I used my wet hands to spread the batter into the pan. Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Apple Puff Pastry Tarts

I adapted this recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats episode "Puff the Magic Pastry." I finally was able to use the apples I bought at the farmers market a good 2 weeks ago. I used a "Prime Red" apple - it's a type that the farmer created though experimentation with cross pollination. I must say... Prime Reds are probably one of my favorite apples now. They are a cross between a jonathan and something else that I forgot. The apples are bright red while having a pure white inside... and they are always crisp but not too tart.

Caroline - I know you are reading this way over in Oregon and your care-package is on the way... complete with some baked good that is posted on my site.

Apple Puff Pastry Tarts

Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients

• puff pastry
• Sugar, for dusting
• Prime Red Apples, cored, and quartered
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Apricot jam

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Crimp seams of puff pastry together with fingertips. Dust both sides of pastry with sugar. Using a rolling pin, roll pastry in each direction to close seams. Using a sharp pizza cutter, cut out rectangles. Place pastry circles on a chilled sheet pan and let cool in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
3. Using a vegetable peeler cut wafer thin apple slices. Put apple slices in lemon-juice-spiked water.
4. Flip pastry circles over on the sheet pans and poke them with a fork to provide an outlet for steam. Put parchment paper on the pan underneath the pastry circles. Sprinkle pastry with sugar and arrange apple slices on top.
5. Bake in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Poke the crust; if it feels soft it needs more time in the oven.
6. Microwave some apricot jam for 30 seconds. Dab (don't brush) the jam on the tarts. Cool tarts at least 4 hours and seal in a resealable plastic bag. Serve at room temperature.