There are so many reasons that I love this joyous season:
the festivities, the food, the decorations, the food, the exchanging of
greetings cards and thoughtful trinkets, the food, sharing the happiness
of friends, neighbours and colleagues, and the food.
Did
I already mention the food? Every year at this time, for better or for
worse, some seasonal foods make a temporary appearance to mark the
occasion.
SHORTBREAD COOKIES
Oh the joy of shortbread cookies! Never have three simple
ingredients — sugar, butter and flour — combined to create so wonderful
and so lethal a creation.
Every year I happily receive a
tin full of these goodies from a generous friend celebrating his
Scottish roots during the festive season, and as a result I welcome the
New Year with a few extra pounds in tow. But the fleeting joy of these
melt-in-your mouth homemade butter-rich treats makes it well worth it.Ingredients
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together
until fluffy. Stir in vanilla, then add flour and mix well. Form cookies
on baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
LOVE CAKE
Imagine the intrigued looks around the office when a friend
hailing from Colombo mentioned that she would spend the evening making
Love Cake for her Christmas guests. Why is it called Love, we all asked.
She wasn’t sure, but did offer that it’s a tradition that dates back to
the days of former Ceylon and one which started in the kitchens of
Portuguese colonists who lovingly concocted this gently spiced delicacy
with cashew nuts and semolina.
Ingredients
7 eggs, separated
500g castor sugar
250g semolina
375g raw cashews, finely chopped
2 tablespoons rosewater
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 tablespoon natural almond extract
Method
Preheat oven to 300°F. Whisk egg whites and set aside.
Beat the yolks and sugar till light and creamy. Add semolina. Mix to combine.
Add cashew and mix to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients except egg whites. Mix well. Fold in the egg whites.
Pour into non-stick baking tray and bake for about one hour, or until the middle is done.
MARZIPAN
My neighbour grew up in Germany and the Germans love their
Stollen at Christmas time. I am told that the choicest Stollen has a
rope of marzipan in the centre.
But my neighbour admits
that she doesn’t like to spend too much time in the kitchen baking this
cake-like fruit bread, so every year she buys her Stollen but kneads
together marzipan and gives out bars of it as gifts so that others can
make their own Stollen. Absolute genius resides in the house next to
mine; I can only hope to one day reach the same level of culinary
brilliance.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups very finely ground peeled almonds
1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon rosewater
1 egg white
Method
Place the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food
processor and pulse until combined and any lumps are broken up. Add the
almond extract and rose water and pulse to combine.
Add
the egg white and process until it forms a thick dough. If the mass is
too wet and sticky, add more powdered sugar and ground almonds. It will
become firmer after it’s been refrigerated.
Turn the
almond marzipan onto a work surface and knead it a few times. Form it
into a log, wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
It
will keep for a month in the refrigerator or up to six months in the
freezer. Bring to room temperature before using in any recipe. Makes
about 12 ounces of marzipan.