Welcome again to an Ina First Friday! (November already?!!)
This month is dessert....pretty convenient, right? Just when we're beginning to think about holiday entertaining. I'm reposting this recipe from 4 years ago because these cookies are rather unusual and will look marvelous on your holiday cookie tray. Yes, they really will, even though this old photo does not show them in the best light. LOL. They travel beautifully and freeze a dream. I've been making and gifting these gems for years and love that Ina used dried fruit instead of that appalling candied fruit. I do, however, make some changes to her recipe. I add cinnamon, nutmeg and some orange zest. Most of the time I macerate the fruit in rum or brandy instead of sherry. Your choice. These are crisp little shortbread type cookies, chewy with the fruit.
Dried Fruit Cookies
Adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients:
1/2 pound dried figs
1/4 pound raisins
2 ounces dried red cherries
2 ounces dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sherry, brandy or rum
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Orange zest from 1/2 an orange
6 ounces chopped, toasted pecans
Kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 1 extra-large egg
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Method:Cut off the hard stems of the figs with scissors and coarsely chop the figs. Combine the figs, raisins, cherries, apricots, honey, sherry (rum or brandy), lemon juice, orange rind, pecans, and a pinch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight at room temperature.
In an electric mixer cream the butter, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, superfine sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and mix until incorporated. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt just until combined.
Add the fruits and nuts, including any liquid in the bowl. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Roll each half into a log, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch thick, making an 18-inch-long roll. Refrigerate the dough for several hours, or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1/2-inch apart on parchment paper lined sheet pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly
golden.
These adorable cookies are pictured everywhere this time of year and I've always thought they were such a cute idea. Saw them on Pinterest again recently and the click took me to the Land O'Lakes page. I finally got around to making them last week and I must admit, holiday projects like this are great fun. I can see kids helping to make these and having a blast decorating.
You start with a basic cookie recipe...I used the one in the old Make It Now Bake It Later cookbook series from the 60's. Surprisingly, the Land O'Lakes recipe is exactly the same but for the added orange zest and juice, which, BTW, is a super idea and I used it. But one wonders which recipe came first? I vote for the Bake It Now recipe mainly because of its age and it has been my go-to Christmas cookie base since the kids were little. It makes a lovely cookie and the added orange via Land O'Lakes is a big plus. Worked out perfectly for these candy corn cookies......not only do they look cute, they taste delicious.
Candy Corn Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Orange and yellow gel food color
Various Halloween sprinkles
Method:
Line bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed paper.
Beat the butter and sugar until creamed. Add egg, juice, zest and salt. Beat well. Add flour and baking soda and beat until combined.
The dough is quite soft at this point. Divide into thirds. Put two of them in small bowls and add the orange gel paste to one and the yellow gel paste to the other. To save your hands, mix until well blended and add color until it's what you want.
Take the remaining white dough and, in your hands, press it to the approximate shape of the pan, then press it evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Following the same directions, place the orange dough on top, followed by the yellow. You'll find it easier if you try to shape the dough in your hands as best you can before pressing it over the other colors. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours until firm.
Heat oven to 375°F.
Invert pan to remove dough and place on cutting board. Slice loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using sharp knife. Trim edges if you need to. Then cut each slice into 6 wedges. Place 1-inch apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake 7-10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely. To add the sprinkles, I brushed the end of the cookies with a slightly beaten organic egg white and then dipped them into sprinkles. (I noticed the Land O'Lakes recipe dipped warm cookies into colored sugars.)
Cranberry curd? Are you kidding me? Why didn't I think of that? Leave it to Martha Stewart to come up with a perfect little treat for the holidays, a surprise for guests, for a tea, even for Thanksgiving dessert.
Every once in a while I taste a new recipe, roll my eyes back and say OMG! This is one of those recipes. From the fabulous little pecan pastries to the extraordinary cranberry curd, these tartlets are perfection. And best thing yet...you can make everything ahead of time and put them all together at the last minute, or as Martha suggests, make it fun and let your guests put them together.
My mind is bursting with ideas for the cranberry curd, too. How about on a vanilla bean panna cotta? Over a pound or an angel food cake? Or whirled into some melted white chocolate to make bark? On toast? Sky's the limit. Oh, and I'm going to put those pecan shells to good use too.
Note: I've frozen both the shells (which I think will do well) and some curd, which ought to be fine. I've also kept some curd in the fridge, which ought to last a week or two. This recipe makes about 35-40 tarts. I think my little balls of pecan dough should have been smaller, but still, I wouldn't change the finished tartlet for anything. I mean, will you look at those babies?
Cranberry Curd Tartlets
From Martha Stewart Living, November 2013
Ingredients for curd:
4 cups fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries (a 14.5 ounce package) I used fresh.
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 3/4 cups sugar
Pinch of coarse salt
3 large egg yolks plus 1 large whole egg
Whipped cream for serving
Ingredients for tartlets:
3/4 cup toasted pecan halves
1 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Non-stick cooking spray
Method for making curd:
Place cranberries, orange juice and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst and everything turns into mush. Takes about 15-20 minutes. (Although Martha Stewart says 35 minutes.) Press through a fine sieve, making sure you get all the pulp. Discard solids. You should have about 1 1/2 cups. Cook pulp in a saucepan with butter, sugar and salt until the butter melts. Beat the eggs together and temper the eggs with the hot cranberries, a tablespoon at a time, eventually pouring everything back in the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Press through a fine sieve once again and then pour into a bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface. Refrigerate until cold. Curd can be made 3 days ahead.
Method for making tartlets:
Process pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Beat mascarpone and butter in a mixer until well blended. Add flour, pecans and salt and mix just until dough comes together.
Using a tablespoon, roll the dough into small balls. (Should make 30-35.) Refrigerate until firm.
Lightly spray mini muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. Press each ball into the bottoms and up sides. I used the largish end of a wooden spoon. Refrigerate. (I stuck in the freezer for a while.)
Preheat oven to 350. Bake the pastry cups for 15 minutes and then remove from oven. You will see that they have puffed up a bit. Take the end of the wooden spoon and press the bottoms once again.
Put back in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool completely before filling with cranberry curd. Top each with a dab of whipped cream.
Pastry cups can also be made 3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container.
