A Handful of Holiday Sweets
A Handful of Holiday Sweets
Cookies, fruits, cakes, and pudding to sweeten up your December
We’ve got gingersnaps, lemon curd that goes well with just about anything, 7 variations on biscotti, poached pears, an upside-down cake, rice putting, a bourbon apple cake, and more for your holiday. Have a favorite recipe? Don’t forget to join us for our member discussion on Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. EST — we’ll send you the email reminder as we get started. Bring your favorite recipe and consider it an informal swap. Missed a chat? Conversation threads live here on the site. — Melissa
Let’s start with cookies. Refrigerator cookies — also called rolled cookies, because they can be rolled out and cut with a lightly floured cookie cutter (or that old standby, a glass) — must be made in advance. This can be an advantage because you can make the dough days ahead and bake them whenever you get the urge. It’s a disadvantage when you don’t have the dough but you want cookies, like right now. One of our favorite refrigerator cookies that borders on savory is a gingersnap.
Super Crisp Gingersnaps
Makes: 4 to 5 dozen
Time: About 40 minutes, plus time to chill
Ingredients
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
Instructions
Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth. Mix the baking soda with 2 tablespoons hot water and beat into the dough.
Combine the flour, spices, and salt in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the dough and beat well. Shape the dough into 2 long logs, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight (or wrap very well in plastic and freeze indefinitely; you can proceed to Step 3 with still-frozen dough).
Heat the oven to 350°F. Slice the cookies as thin as you can and bake on ungreased baking sheets until golden around the edges, about 10 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to several days.
Gingerbread People: Shape the dough into a disk and chill as directed. Remove from the refrigerator to soften while the oven heats. When the dough is slightly softened, roll it out on a lightly floured work surface as thin as possible; use a gingerbread person cutter, or even hand cut if you’re brave. Bake as directed, then cool. Decorate if you’d like with small candies and vanilla glaze or lemon curd (see below). Store in a covered container (separate by layers of wax paper if they’re decorated) at room temperature for up to several days.
— Recipe from How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Twentieth Anniversary Edition
Lemon Curd
You may as well call it lemon pudding because you’ll want to just eat it with a spoon. Instead, smear it on morning toast (or those gingerbread people).
Ingredients
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
4 egg yolks
8 tablespoons butter, softened (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
Instructions
1.Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking almost constantly, until the mixture thickens and reaches between 175°F and 180°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Don’t let it boil.
2.Remove from heat. While it’s still hot, pour the curd through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl and let cool a bit. Serve warm or chilled. Lemon curd will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
— Recipe from How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Twentieth Anniversary Edition
