Tags
50 names for Snow, Baking, Christmas, Cookies, Gingerbread, Holiday, Kate Bush, Music, Recipe, Reindeers
I kicked off my holiday baking today with a really delicious recipe that came out last year with the food networks 12 days of Christmas Cookies, Garam Masala Chocolate Gingerbread by Aarti Sequeira.
They are a nice soft gingerbread biscuit and the spice blend compliments so well with the cocoa, or the cocoa brings out the spices, either way it’s a really lovely combination.
It is fairly easy to buy Garam Masala blends here but in case it is not where you are there are a ton of recipes on the internet to make your own. This is what was in the blend I used- Nutmeg, Coriander, Cumin, Fennel, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger, Black pepper and Red pepper.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour, plus for dusting
- 2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Garam Masala
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup Treacle
Directions
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and garam masala in a large bowl. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light then add the fresh ginger and egg and beat again. Add the treacle and continue to beat until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture a cup at a time until the dough comes together. It’s a slightly wet dough. Divide the dough in half wrap in plastic wrap, and pat into 2 (1/2-inch thick) rectangles. Chill for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour, roll out and cut into shapes. Chill for 10 minutes. Bake for around 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Ice with Royal Icing. Garnish with toasted fennel seeds, dried rose petals, or silver dragees. I used crushed Candy Canes because that is all I had. My cupboards are currently sprinkleless. It does make my reindeers look a little like they were standing too close to their mama while she had her brains blown out with a .22 though. Might also have had something to do with my musical influences at the time of baking. Read on to see what they were.
Royal Icing
- 1 1/2 tablespoons egg white powder
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 4 tablespoons water
Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer over medium-high speed until it forms thick and glossy peaks, about 6 minutes.
While I baked I was listening to Kate Bush’s new Christmas Album, 50 words for Snow. Despite the fact it was around 26C and the most stunning of summery days here in New Zealand this album really put me in the christmassy mood that is required for such off the beaten path baking adventures. It is a very Gothic like Christmas album, though would you really expect anything less from Kate Bush? It’s not sleigh bells and winter wonderlands and Sarah McLachlan like Rivers to skate away on- what the hell is that song about anyway? It’s Abominable Snowmen, Ghosts, Angels, Water Spirits and snowcrophilia (I made that word up, it means bumping uglies with a snowman) it is all things that make up the delightfully creepy side of the Yule tide season. This is the album you listen too while reading a Dickens tale or hanging your Jack Skellington decorations on the tree or baking gingerbread with warm and musky Indian spices. Do add it to your seasonal collection, I think it’s probably one of her best yet.