by Vanesa Mlinšek
IDEAS FOR CHRISTMAS BAKING
For Christmas holidays I prepared 3 delicious recipes for you. I hope you learn something new and enjoy baking.
- CHOCOLATE BALLS (for 15 balls)
Biscuit:
– 2 eggs
– 70g egg whites
– 30g egg yolks
– a pinch of salt
– 90g sugar
– 90g flour
– 30g cocoa
– 75ml of milk
– 25ml oil
– half a teaspoon vanilla paste
– half a teaspoon baking powder
Whisk the egg whites and add a pinch of salt. Add the egg yolks and sugar to the whisked egg whites and mix well. Add the milk and oil to the egg mixture. When the ingredients are well combined, gradually add the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and vanilla. Grease a baking tray well with butter and pour in the sponge cake mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for approx. 18-20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when you stick it in the sponge.
Chocolate ganache:
– 100g milk chocolate
– 50ml heavy cream
Bring the heavy cream to the boil in a saucepan and pour it over the broken chocolate. Let stand for approx. 2 minutes so that the chocolate can melt and stir well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the ganache is quite firm.
When the sponge cake has cooled completely, crumble it into small pieces in a bowl. Add 1.5 tablespoons of mascarpone, 2 tablespoons of ganache and half a teaspoon of rum to the crumbled sponge cake.
Place the mixture in the fridge for 5 minutes and then make the dough into medium-sized balls, rest them on a wire rack.
Melt approx. 200g of white chocolate and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour the chocolate over the balls and place them on the baking paper. Store in a cold place for approx. 2 hours.
Melt 15g of dark chocolate and drizzle it over the balls which you can sprinkle with some pearls. Store them in the fridge to set the chocolate.
2. GINGERBREAD COOKIES
Dough:
– 360g flour
– 150g butter
– 1 egg
– 150g honey
– 50g powdered sugar
– Half a teaspoon of vanilla paste
– Half a teaspoon of baking soda
– 1 teaspoon of gingerbread spice mix
Knead all the ingredients into a dough. Put the dough in the fridge for approx. 20 minutes. Flour the baking paper and roll the dough to a thickness of 3mm, cut out different shapes and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius until golden-yellow. When they are cooled, you can decorate them with royal icing.
Royal icing:
– 1 egg white
– powdered sugar
Mix the egg whites and sugar with a whisk, add enough sugar to make the mixture thick enough.
3.) HAZELNUT STARS
Dough:
– 275 g flour
– 75 ground hazelnuts
– 200 g butter
– 100 g sugar
– 1 teaspoon of baking powder
– 1 egg
– 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste
– 1 tablespoon of cocoa
Add all the ingredients in a bowl and knead on a work surface until well combined. Divide the dough in two parts and add the cocoa to one of the two parts and mix well. Put the dough in the fridge for approx. 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, roll out the dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin to a thickness of approx. 3mm. Make stars out of the dough and cut small holes in the light dough. Bake for approx. 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius, until they are nicely golden.
When they are cooled, make the chocolate ganache, combine the white and brown stars with 1 teaspoon of the ganache. You can also drizzle some stars with chocolate if you want.
Chocolate ganache:
– 100g milk chocolate
– 50ml heavy cream
Bring the heavy cream to the boil in a saucepan and pour it over the broken chocolate. Let stand for approx. 2 minutes for chocolate to melt and stir well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until the ganache is quite firm.
Enjoy!
