Two Frys: December 2017

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Zimtsterne

Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars)

Zimtsterne

Zimsterne (pronounced “tszimt’-shtair-ne”) and means Zimt = Cinnamon; Sterne = Stars. This is another classic German Christmas cookie. This is a great chewy cookie with cinnamon and almond flavor. The ground almonds give it a nice texture. The cinnamon is perfect and not overpowering. A six-pointed star is the traditional shape for this cookie but if you only have a regular star cutter that works just as well. See recipe below.

Yield: 1 dozen large cookies or 2 dozen with a smaller star cutter

Cookie Ingredients
1/3 cup All Purpose Flour

2 cups Almond Meal (Ground up Almonds)

1/2 cup Super Fine Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

2 Large Egg Whites

Zimtsterne

Meringue Glaze Ingredients:
1 Large Egg White

1/2 teaspoon Coarse Salt

1 cup Confectioners'/Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Milk

Zimtsterne

Directions
Grind almonds in processor or coffee grinder; set aside.

If you only have regular granulated sugar pulse in processor until it reaches a fine texture.

Whisk together ground almonds, flour, sugar, and cinnamon.

Add egg whites and combine with spatula.

Once dough forms (it will be sticky), cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 325°F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll dough with rolling pin in between two sheets of parchment paper.

Cut shapes with star cutter.

Make the Meringue Glaze:
In a mixer with paddle attachment on high speed, mix the egg white and salt until stiff.

Turn mixer to low speed and gradually add the sugar until incorporated.

6-pointed star cookie cutter I used for this recipe

Add 1 teaspoon of milk and combine.

Add meringue to each cookie and use a brush to cover cookie.

Once all cookies are glazed bake for 8 minutes.

Do not let the meringue brown.

Wait 5 minutes before transferring cookies on cooling racks to complete cooling.

Dough is ready to chill

Zimsterne (Cinnamon Stars) recipe is from Saving Room for Dessert:
https://www.savingdessert.com/zimtsterne-cinnamon-stars/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen

Lebkucken

Lebkuchen are a classic German Christmas gingerbread cookie made with honey and spices. Lebkucken are a cross between a cookie and cake. You get a nice crunchy bite from the ground almonds and the texture is cake-like. The spices are warm and flavorful. The slivered almonds on top really bring the cookie together. Enjoy some Lebkuchen with tea or coffee. See recipe below.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Lebkuchen

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

2/3 cup Almond Meal (Ground up Almonds)

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

2 teaspoons Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves

Zest of 1 Lemon

1/2 cup Honey (Raw if you can find it)

3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) Unsalted Butter

Slivered Almonds to decorate tops of cookies

Lebkuchen

Directions
Grind almonds in processor or coffee grinder; set aside.

Whisk together ground almonds, flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves; set aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter and honey. Set aside to cool.

Once cool, add melted butter and honey to dry ingredients stirring with a spatula.

Once dough forms, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Lebkuchen

Heat oven to 350°F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll dough with rolling pin in between two sheets of parchment paper.

Use a small or medium size cookie scoop or roll a ball with your hands and place two inches apart on the cookie sheets. Using the palm of your hand press each cookie and add 2-3 slivered almonds on top.

Cookies are out of the oven. Check out my new Wilton Cookie Spatula!

Bake 12-15 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 13 minutes.

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies on cooling racks to complete cooling.

Lebkuchen was adapted from Recipes for Germany's Popular Foods:
https://www.theconstantrambler.com/recipes-for-germanys-popular-foods/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Monday, December 25, 2017

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

Snowglobes

Trees

Christmas Cookies

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas. We went to my brother's house last night and celebrated Christmas Eve with my family and friends. We had a great time together. I made three batches of this cookie recipe from Sweetopia (see link below), one batch was gluten free. I made over 240 cookies counting the Gingerbread Cookies and decorated each one. Needless to say, I was very busy this week decorating cookies. The photos represent just some of the cookies. My table is not big enough to put them all together for a picture. I used two different icings, royal and egg-free. The only change to the cookie recipe is the addition of 1 tablespoon of milk. See cookie recipe and the two icing recipes below.

Snowflakes

Snowflakes, gluten free

Yield: 5 Dozen Cookies

Ingredients
5 cups King Arthur All Purpose Flour*

2 cups Granulated Sugar

1 teaspoon Coarse Salt

2 cups Unsalted Butter, softened

1 tablespoon Milk

2 XL Eggs

3 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

*To make this recipe gluten free, substitute with gluten free 1 to 1 flour

Winter Wonderland scene, Snowman scene, Tree scene cookies

Tree scene, gluten free

Melted Snowman

Directions
Whisk together flour and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on low; 1-2 minutes. Do not overmix.

Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and mix for 10 seconds.

Snowmen

Snowmen, gluten free

Add eggs one at a time, mix until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for 5 seconds.

Add milk and vanilla extract, and mix on low until incorporated, about 20-25 seconds.

With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture and incorporate. The dough is ready when it begins to clump around paddle attachment.

Mittens, Stockings

Santa Hat, Mittens, Stocking

Santa Hat, Mittens, Stockings, gluten free

Cut in half and roll dough into 2 balls, cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1-2 hours or overnight.

Take half of the dough leaving unused dough covered with plastic wrap in fridge until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Snoopy House

This Snoopy plate inspired this cookie

A Christmas Story Leg Lamps

Truck with Tree

Use two sheets of parchment paper with dough in between and roll with rolling pin until desired thickness is reached.

If needed, dip cutters in flour, shake off excess, and make shapes.

Place onto cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, and put in freezer for 15 minutes. The cookies hold their shape when you do this.

Santa's Clothesline

Gnome, Nutcracker, Mrs. Claus Dress, Santa Belt, Santa Boot, Santa Sleigh

Presents

Bake 12-15 minutes or until the edges have slightly browned. My cookies baked in 13 minutes.

Wait 2-3 minutes before transferring cookies on cooling racks to complete cooling.

Decorate once cookies have cooled completely.

Classic Bulb Lights

Ornaments

Ornaments, gluten free

Large Batch Royal Icing
Ingredients

8 Egg Whites

8 teaspoons Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

12 cups Powdered/Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla Extract

Elf Hats, Elf Stockings

Peppermints, Candy Canes

Directions
In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar, set aside.

In a bowl, add egg whites.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites and lemon juice.

Transfer to stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment and mix on high for 1-2 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and mix for 5-10 seconds.

With mixer speed on low, slowly add sifted sugar and beat on low until smooth.

If needed, you may add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until you reach the right consistency. Watch the Joy of Baking (link at the end) video for both Flooding Consistency and Piping Consistency Royal Icing. If you prefer a recipe using Meringue Powder, it is also available at this link.

Holly

Holly, gluten free

Egg-Free Icing (Double recipe if you have more than 40 cookies)
6 cups Powdered/Confectioners' Sugar, sifted

1/2 cup Whole Milk + 1 tablespoon extra (for flooding cookies)

1/4 cup Light Corn Syrup

2 teaspoons Clear Vanilla Extract

Reindeer

Stockings

Stockings, gluten free

Directions
In a large bowl, sift powdered sugar; set aside.

Using stand or hand held mixer with paddle attachment on medium-high speed, combine sugar and 1/4 cup of milk and mix for 1-2 minutes until smooth.

Add remaining 1/4 cup of milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach the consistency you need. (I made one batch for the borders, and 1 batch to fill the cookies). For filling the cookies, I added 1 extra tablespoon of milk.

Add corn syrup, vanilla extract and mix for 10 seconds.

Note: The corn syrup gives the icing a lovely shine.

For both icing recipes, I separated the icing in plastic containers with lids according to how many different colors needed for tinting.

I used AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in various colors. Use 1-2 drops at a time until you have the color you need.

Keep the containers covered until you are ready to color.

I transferred the icing immediately into squeeze bottles using a small funnel to prevent spilling.

If the royal icing hardens due to exposure to air, use a spray bottle and spray a little bit of water and shake bottle well holding the tip with your finger. Test the icing consistency on a paper towel before decorating the cookie.

Royal Icing

Metallic Food Paint I ordered for the Snowglobes

Gluten Free Flour I bought

I outlined the cookies first and then filled them.

Use a paintbrush or cookie stick to reach edges, and use tip of cookie stick or a toothpick to pop any air bubbles.

Add sprinkles, confetti, sugar pearls, dragees, etc... over wet icing.

I used AmeriColor Gourmet Writer Food Decorating Pens (Certified U.S. food grade) for some of the designs.

Let cookies dry overnight. This is essential so the icing does not stick together when you stack them or place in cookie tins for gifts.

If you are baking and it is humid, you may need more time for the cookies to dry.