Festive Baking Without Dried Fruit

[Sophie Cook]

Hello!

I just wanted to ask whether anyone had any good ideas for festive baking?

I wanted to make a festive cake, but my family do not like raisins or dried fruit, which is so commonly used in most festive cake recipes.

Any ideas would be very welcome.

Thanks,

[Deryn]

Buche de noel?

[Lindacakes]

How about gingerbread?  With or without candied ginger.

[andiesenji]

Do you have a Bundt cake pan - any cake in one of these molds looks festive and can be decorated with removable fruits - red and green cherries, etc., or candies and with dark cakes you don't even need to ice them, simply sprinkle with powdered sugar "snow" ...

 

You might also make an apple cake with fresh apples which are very festive - I recently tried an apple upside-down cake which turned out beautifully and was highly praised. 

 

Apple upside-down cake

 

I actually doubled the recipe and baked it in an 11 x 15 glass baking dish (Anchor Hocking) rather than bake in two pans.

[CatPoet]

We dont do fruitcakes for Christmas,  instead saffron cake, spice cake with lingon or cranberries or  radio cake.

 

Do you want the recipe?

[blue_dolphin]

Dorie Greenspan's All-in-One Holiday cake has pumpkin puree, fresh apple and cranberries and pecans and is baked in a Bundt pan but could easily be baked in a couple of loaf pans instead. 

I realize that some of these ingredients aren't commonly available outside of North America but it's on my mind as I'm going to make one later in the week to have on hand for weekend house guests . 

[boudin noir]

Tart tartin!

[ChocoMom]

My grandmother used to make custard pies and sprinkle nutmeg or cinnamon on top- for Christmas;

For cookies, we excelled in Springerlies  and Lebkuchen. Grandma would use fruit and nuts, but I nixed the fruit and just used chopped almonds.

There was another cookie, rolled in powdered sugar but the name escapes me. It was similar to a Russian Tea Cake, but had another spice mixed in.

HTH....

Andrea

[djyee100]

Years ago I took a holiday baking class with an Italian pastry cook. She made a chocolate chip orange brioche and a wonderful Venetian bread-cake, named pan doro. Then when I got home and baked the goodies on my own, I discovered her recipes were a bomb. Something must have been missing in the translation. I eventually recovered the brioche recipe by testing and tweaking on my own. Her pan doro recipe, alas, is still a mystery.

 

The brioche should be mixed in a heavy-duty stand mixer, like a KitchenAid, so that the butter is well-incorporated. The orange in this recipe is fresh orange zest, no dried fruit.

 

CHOCOLATE ORANGE BRIOCHE--MY VERSION

　

1 pkg (7 g) or 1 TB dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups (17 oz) bread flour

1/3 cup whole milk

4 large eggs

6 oz (approx 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp salt

zest of 1 orange

7 oz dark chocolate chips

 

GLAZE:

1 egg

1 TB water

 

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large mixer bowl; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 TB sugar and 1/3 of the total flour without stirring. Let it rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.

 

After 20 minutes, using the paddle, stir in the milk. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next. Then stir in the rest of the flour and the sugar. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Switch to the dough hook. Continue to mix for 5 minutes at low speed. Gradually add the soft butter little by little until fully incorporated. Add the salt. Continue beating for 5 minutes more. The dough should be smooth and satiny, but still soft and sticky. Add the zest. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

 

Cover and let the dough rise overnight in a cool room (60 to 65 degrees) until doubled in bulk. Deflate. Let the dough rise for a second time at room temperature until doubled in bulk. Deflate and chill in the refrigerator before shaping.

 

Turn the chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently part the dough in the middle to make a hole and form a ring of dough. Fit the dough into a well-greased 10-inch tube pan. Let come to room temperature and rise one final time, until doubled in bulk.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Just before baking, combine egg and water, and brush dough with the mixture. Bake about 40 minutes, until the bread reaches 190 degrees on a digital thermometer. Turn out onto a rack and let cool for at least one hour.

 

　

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love the owl in your icon. Where was the pic taken?

 

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ETA: A note on my recipe says I weighed out the bread flour at 17 oz.

Edited December 2, 2014 by djyee100 (log)

[pbear]

Sophie, following up on ChocoMom's suggestions, are cookies (biscuits) appealing?  If so, that opens up myriad possibilities.

[cakewalk]

Hello!

I just wanted to ask whether anyone had any good ideas for festive baking?

I wanted to make a festive cake, but my family do not like raisins or dried fruit, which is so commonly used in most festive cake recipes.

Any ideas would be very welcome.

Thanks,

What other things do you make? What is common in the food shops in London besides fruitcake? There must be other options over there during the holiday season, I'd be interested to hear ideas from you!

[CatPoet]

Parkin, you could make parkin,   I know it is for November the  fifth but it is so yummy so why not for Christmas?

 

Well, British  Christmas baking is  christmas pudding which is dried fruit, christmas cake  yet again dried fruit,   cooked cloth pudding which is  more dried fruit and  yes everything seams to have  dried fruit in it, even mincemeat pies,   except soft gingerbread. 

 

I know, my dear mother in law tried hard to find something with out citrus peel and well I ended up get pavlova.

[Sophie Cook]

We dont do fruitcakes for Christmas,  instead saffron cake, spice cake with lingon or cranberries or  radio cake.

 

Do you want the recipe?

 

Hi CatPoet, I'd love the recipe for the saffron cake if it's easily available. I love saffron!

Thanks very much!

[Sophie Cook]

Years ago I took a holiday baking class with an Italian pastry cook. She made a chocolate chip orange brioche and a wonderful Venetian bread-cake, named pan doro. Then when I got home and baked the goodies on my own, I discovered her recipes were a bomb. Something must have been missing in the translation. I eventually recovered the brioche recipe by testing and tweaking on my own. Her pan doro recipe, alas, is still a mystery.

 

The brioche should be mixed in a heavy-duty stand mixer, like a KitchenAid, so that the butter is well-incorporated. The orange in this recipe is fresh orange zest, no dried fruit.

 

CHOCOLATE ORANGE BRIOCHE--MY VERSION

　

1 pkg (7 g) or 1 TB dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups (17 oz) bread flour

1/3 cup whole milk

4 large eggs

6 oz (approx 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp salt

zest of 1 orange

7 oz dark chocolate chips

 

GLAZE:

1 egg

1 TB water

 

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large mixer bowl; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 TB sugar and 1/3 of the total flour without stirring. Let it rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.

 

After 20 minutes, using the paddle, stir in the milk. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next. Then stir in the rest of the flour and the sugar. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Switch to the dough hook. Continue to mix for 5 minutes at low speed. Gradually add the soft butter little by little until fully incorporated. Add the salt. Continue beating for 5 minutes more. The dough should be smooth and satiny, but still soft and sticky. Add the zest. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

 

Cover and let the dough rise overnight in a cool room (60 to 65 degrees) until doubled in bulk. Deflate. Let the dough rise for a second time at room temperature until doubled in bulk. Deflate and chill in the refrigerator before shaping.

 

Turn the chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently part the dough in the middle to make a hole and form a ring of dough. Fit the dough into a well-greased 10-inch tube pan. Let come to room temperature and rise one final time, until doubled in bulk.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Just before baking, combine egg and water, and brush dough with the mixture. Bake about 40 minutes, until the bread reaches 190 degrees on a digital thermometer. Turn out onto a rack and let cool for at least one hour.

 

　

=========================

love the owl in your icon. Where was the pic taken?

 

---------------------------------------------

 

ETA: A note on my recipe says I weighed out the bread flour at 17 oz.

 

Thanks for this recipe! It sounds amazing and I'lll definitely try making this. I'll just have to convert it all into metric  

I love owls too - this was at an local fete.

[Sophie Cook]

What other things do you make? What is common in the food shops in London besides fruitcake? There must be other options over there during the holiday season, I'd be interested to hear ideas from you!

 

In London, you don't really see many other types of cake around christmas apart from fruitcake. Biscuits however are huge, gingerbread, shortcakes, cookies and of course mince pies (again more fruit!). In our family, as well as the usual flaming christmas pudding we also make a christmas log (chocolate), and we always have a big trifle on christmas day. 

[CatPoet]

Do you want with or without  marzipan in the dough or both?

[Sophie Cook]

Without marzipan please Thank you!

[JohnT]

There was another cookie, rolled in powdered sugar but the name escapes me. It was similar to a Russian Tea Cake, but had another spice mixed in.

HTH....

Andrea

Alfajores?

[ChocoMom]

JohnT:   I haven't a clue what name Grandma assigned to those things. But, they were in a "ball" form.  They weren't crumbly like the Russian Tea cakes; they were more firm, and they had some sort of spices added- like cloves or anise. The last time we made cookies together was in the early 1980's, and I just don't recollect what was in them. I know there was no dried fruit. Maybe some chopped walnuts, but no fruit.  

 

This is going to bug me until I figure it out. It was probably another one of those German recipes, handed down from generation to generation- never written on paper, but rather learned-by-observation and then making it. (Apparently, I flunked that one since I can't recall its contents!) But, that's how I learned to make potato bread and springerlies, which never seem to fail.

 

I've got to say, Alfajores sound far more yummy than Gram's 'powdered sugar cookie-balls' were!  I might just have to include those in this year's holiday feast.  

Thank you for the delicious suggestion, John!

 

Sophie, it sounds like you have a wonderful lineup of desserts and sweets!  I'd make a bee-line for the Christmas log, myself.  It's chocolate, afterall.

[cakewalk]

JohnT:   I haven't a clue what name Grandma assigned to those things. But, they were in a "ball" form.  They weren't crumbly like the Russian Tea cakes; they were more firm, and they had some sort of spices added- like cloves or anise. The last time we made cookies together was in the early 1980's, and I just don't recollect what was in them. I know there was no dried fruit. Maybe some chopped walnuts, but no fruit.  

 

Pfeffernusse?

[ChocoMom]

YES!!!!  That's it!!!!   Thank you, Cakewalk!         You just saved me hours of head-scratching! THANK YOU!!!!

[JohnT]

Pfeffernusse - well done cakewalk! They sound nice and spicy! By the way, I was not thinking of the American alfajores, but the original Spanish Alfajores from Medina Sidonia - no fruit, only chopped nuts, spices, honey etc. and rolled in icing sugar. Must try your Pffeffernusse one of these days. John.

[cakewalk]

A tried-and-true recipe for pfeffernusse would be greatly appreciated. I made them last year and was not too pleased. (Unfortunately, I don't remember which recipe I used. I think it was from the Fine Cooking website, but don't quote me.) I've eaten pfeffernussen that I thought were great, so I know the perfect recipe is out there somewhere!

[andiesenji]

I got this recipe from my stepdad's sister back in the '50s. - an old family recipe and I have modified it slightly (the original made 400 cookies!)
I've made them many times -
They are quite spicy.   I have substituted cardamom for some of the spice and once used allspice instead of the nutmeg and cinnamon.  They were fine.

Auntie Vera's Pfeffernusse
Makes about 100 cookies  using a #60 disher  (about 1 tablespoon)

1       cup butter - softened
1 1/2   cups brown sugar - packed
1       cup  molasses - (honey can also be used I made a batch with Lyle's black treacle and they were lovely)
2    eggs
2    Tablespoon  Anisette  or other licorice- flavored spirits

6 1/2   cups flour (all-purpose)
2    teaspoon baking soda
2    teaspoon ground cinnamon
1    teaspoon ground cloves
2/3     teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3     teaspoon finely ground black pepper


Powdered sugar in a shallow pan -

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Line baking sheets with parchment

Use a large bowl.  This can be made without a mixer but it requires a strong arm...
Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add molasses or honey, beat till well blended
Add the eggs and Anisette and beat till blended.

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add gradually while mixer is on low - add 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time, blending well before adding the next batch.

Use a disher (# 60 works for me) - or a tablespoon - and portion into balls slightly smaller than a walnut.

Place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake about 12 - 15 minutes - less time needed in a convection oven or reduce heat to 325°F.

Pull the parchment off the baking sheets right onto cooling racks.
Wait about 4 minutes and transfer to the shallow pan with the powdered sugar and shake to coat completely.
Return to cooling racks and allow to cool completely - several hours - before storing in a cookie tin.

DO NOT STORE IN PLASTIC CONTAINERS OR BAGS!

 

P.S.  If the cookies get hard, put them in a plastic container with two or three slices of bread and leave for 24 hours.  They should return to their orignal softness.

Edited December 4, 2014 by andiesenji (log)

[cakewalk]

Thanks for the recipe! I will try that one this year.