STOLLEN

 I've always wanted to bake Stollen, a cake tradiationally baked during Christmas time in Germany. Years ago my German friend gave me her recipe but I never attempted to make it. She used to bake this for her family every Christmas. Remembering the old days, I decided to give it a try last Saturday evening.  I didn't realize that it was going to be too involved. The dough had more rest  then I did. I was exhausted at the end. I followed her recipe with a little variation,  I've added few ingredients of my own.  The preparation process is very long, but its worth it at the end.  My hubby tasted it and declared that it was the Gutt!!!

Ingredients:

4 to 4 1/2cups all purpose flour

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 teaspoon Cardamom

1 1/4 cups milk (lukewarm)

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 Cup raisins

1/4 cup candied orange peel

1/4 cup candied citrus peel

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup Rum

                                                                                                         

To be used later:

1 cup  powdered sugar

1 package of sweetened vanilla powder

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon hot water

Combine raisins & candied fruits with rum. Soak for 1 hour.. Combine yeast, milk, sugar & cardamom in a large bowl & place in a warm place for 30 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients to the yeast mixture and kneed into a dough. Drain liquid from fruit mixture and kneed it into the dough. Transfer dough into a large and clean bowl and cover and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for one (1) hour.

 Place dough onto floured surface gently flatten and divide into thirds.

Flatten each half into oval about 10x6 and 1 1/2 inches thick. Fold one long side  of the oval within the dough 1/2 inch to the other side. Do this for all pieces.

Transfer dough on parchment lined baking sheets and allow to rise again 30 minutes (in the mean time preheat the oven to 350 degrees).

Place dough in the middle of the oven and bake for 1 hour or until golden color. Remove from oven. 

Sift together the powdered sugar and vanilla powder. Add hot water to make a thick paste. Brush butter over hot Stollen once butter is absorbed,  brush the sugar mixture on all sides.

Wrap and store in a cool place. Do not refrigerate.

SPICED POUND CAKE

Last night we came home early from work ate early and guess what? I was bored. My hubby knows that my boredom means trouble for him so he was hiding in the TV room pretending to be grossly involved in a political forum or something.   What to do????? I decided to bake a cake. That always takes my boredom away. "What to bake?" was the question..... There are so many cookie and cake recipes to make for the holidays,  its mind boggling. I like anything with ginger in it. So I decided to bake a spice cake. The alchemist in me decided to mix all my favorite spices together since this was going to be an experiment. I took  all the spices out of the cupboard. I mixed them in a small jar with my cute measuring spoons (look at the last three, labeled, "dash", "pinch" and "smidgen")
.

*Spice mixture:

 1 tbsp cinnamon

 1/2 tbsp ground cloves

 1/2 tbsp ground ginger

 1 tsp nutmeg

 1 dash (1/2 tsp) powdered anise 

 1 dash cardamom

 1 dash allspice

They are all in that little jar on the left. I wanted to bake  a very light and easy cake. A second look in my refrigerator indicated that I didn't have molasses which is a must for spice cake. What to do???? I found my apricot sauce which I had made this spring when apricots were abundant (same recipe as apple sauce).

Take my word for it,  the sauce made the difference, the cake turned out to be very moist (I think applesauce would do the same thing).

Ingredients for my version of this Ginger Pound Cake:

1 1/2 Cups of flour

1 Cup of Sugar

1 whole egg

 1/2 tsp of *spice mixture 

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tbsp baking soda

1/2 cup shortening

1 pinch of salt

1 Cup apricot sauce mixed with 1/2 cup of water (total of 1 1/2 cups)

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add shortening, egg and apricot sauce. Mix everything with your mixer's high speed for 5 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl. Pour into a well greased and floured pan and  bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. (I did the tooth pick method to test for donnes). The aromas wafting from the kitchen persuaded my husband to come in  and ask me if I wanted to have cup of coffee with this deliciously aromatic cake. When I sliced it,  it was amazingly moist and with each bite we were marveling at the taste of all the spices. Needles to say my house was starting to smell like Christmas...

CHEWY CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

I have not baked cookies or cakes since Easter. The last thing I baked was bread. Taking advantage of some spare time I had last night,  I decided to give it a try again. Although baking is not my forte I still like to try. I was going to make the old stand by oatmeal and raisin cookies but I realized I had no raisins (somebody ate them...) and it was too late to go to the store. I looked around and I found a box of dried cranberries in my cupboard I decided to use them instead of raisins. Due to the tart nature of this fruit it is not a snack for some people in my house ..... thus I always have it handy (ha... ha). I really like the tartness of it especially in cookies  or salads.  Using the traditional recipe I had saved over the years I made this truly delicious oatmeal cookies.  They turned out to be slightly tart, yet sweet, chewy and crunchy little delights. They disappeared very fast.  Give it a try.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup (1 stick) + 6 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1/2 Cup granulated sugar

2 Eggs                                                                                              
1 Tsp vanilla
1-1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp. baking soda
1 Tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 Tsp salt (optional)
3 Cups regular or quick oats, uncooked
1 Cup dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon, mix well. Add oats and cranberries and mix until everything is well incorporated.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls unto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and enjoy.  Store tightly covered.