I went to Strasbourg and loved the pastries. One of them, Christian, offers incredible gingerbread that I rushed to taste. One of them had this exact boot shape. I took…]]>
Santa's stuffed boots
I went to Strasbourg and loved the pastries. One of them, Christian, offers incredible gingerbread that I rushed to taste. One of them had this exact boot shape. I took some time to redo them from what I remember. I filled these bunches with an almond and walnut paste with Grand Marnier (the alcohol evaporates during cooking to leave a delicious taste). The dough itself is full of irresistible things. Upon arrival, Santa Claus boots that will be ideal to get in the festive mood of the holidays!
Ingredients
- 90 g candied orange peel
- 90 g candied lemon peel
- 150 g chopped almonds
- 90 g nuts
- 45 g hazelnut powder
- 325 g flour
- 5 g potash diluted in 10g water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/2 teaspoon 4 spices mix
- the zest organic lemon
- the zest organic orange
- 100 g brown vergeoise
- 200 g honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 15 g water
Almond and walnut paste with Grand Marnier
- 80 g nuts
- 150 g almond powder
- 125 g sugar
- 90 g Grand Marnier
- 40 g glucose syrup
Icing
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 40 g water
Decoration
- 300 g tempered chocolate
- 2 candied cherries
- 20 almonds without skin
Instructions
- Put the candied orange and lemon peels in a blender to reduce them to small pieces.
- If you have chopped almonds, blend them to reduce them more finely.
- It looks like a very coarse almond powder.
- Also grind the nuts into a coarse powder.
- Put everything in a container or in the bowl of your food processor.
- Add flour, salt and spices.
- This is the potash. It is really the leavening agent used in gingerbread from the East and Germany. I bought it on a vegan website. I put you the link HERE !
- Pour 5g into a small container and add the 10ml of water. Mix until completely dissolved.
- Add the zest of one orange and one organic lemon to the container.
- Pour the brown vergeoise, honey, liquid vanilla and the 15g of water into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. On the picture it looks like butter, but it's really honey that I was offered!
- Pour into the dough and mix until you have a homogeneous paste.
- With everything in it, the dough is already delicious. Well, the potash gives a funny smell that will go away when cooking.
- Set aside. For the almond paste, mix the nuts to obtain a nice powder.
- Mix the almond powder and nuts.
- Add the sugar.
- Pour the Grand Marnier.
- Finish with the glucose syrup.
- Mix well. The smell alone is delicious.
- For the boot, I drew on a cardboard and cut it according to the shape I remembered. You can of course make any shape you want!
- Roll out the dough fairly thinly (5mm thick), making sure you have enough surface area for one bundle.
- Spread a second layer of dough with the same surface.With the blade of a knife, without incising, mark the dough. Put almond-nut paste (the layer is 3-4mm) leaving 1,5cm before the edge of the bundle.
- Place the second layer of rolled out dough.
- Place the stencil on the dough and cut the dough this time.
- And here is a nice boot!
- Do the same for all the dough and almond-nut paste. Place the bundles as they come on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- For the decoration, just like at Christian's, I put half a candied periwinkle and 5 raw almonds.
- Bake at 155°C on fan heat for 27-28 minutes. In fact, the firing depends totally on the size of your subject.
- The boots must be well cooked. The smell during cooking is just crazy.
- For the icing, mix the water and powdered sugar. This one is very fluid. Apply with a brush on the surface.
- Do the same for all the gingerbread.
- Return to the oven, this time at 90°C for 12 minutes (still in a revolving heat).
- For the finishing touch, temper the chocolate you have chosen. For the method, it's HERE!
- Dip the top of the boot to make the cuff or do it with a brush.
- I also brush the entire underside of the boots.
- Let the chocolate set. The boots are ready. Now let it sit for a day or two to allow the fragrances to develop even more! If well packaged, these cakes can be kept for a long time.
Nutrition
Serving: 4stuffed bundlesCalories: 1445kcalCarbohydrates: 230gProtein: 21gFat: 65gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gMonounsaturated Fat: 30gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 0.01mgSodium: 1051mgPotassium: 892mgFiber: 16gSugar: 135gVitamin A: 50IUVitamin C: 39mgCalcium: 298mgIron: 8mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Gingerbread with Orange and Nuts
I still keep a few recipes secret (I have a notebook full of wonders) and this was almost one of them. I had told you about the Beillevaire cake (see the report HERE), but I am also a lover of Baramel gingerbread. I love their texture, their flavor and especially their super soft and caramelized crust (which is not a crust anymore). There is no egg in their gingerbread. Here I have composed my recipe with this spirit, namely a soft and firm texture and a tender crust. It is not strictly speaking gingerbread, because I put butter and eggs in it. If you wait until the next day to taste it, it will develop its full potential. Very different from the gingerbread I gave you(THERE), this little one quickly became my new favorite with its orange flavor and nuts.
Ingredients
- 50 g semi-salted butter
- 50 g caster sugar
- 170 g liquid honey
- 155 g orange marmelade
- 220 g flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 95 g egg (break 2 eggs into an omelette and weight 95g)
- 65 g nuts (you can leave them out)
Instructions
- Place the butter, sugar, orange marmalade and honey in a saucepan. Heat over low heat just to melt the butter.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, 4-spice and baking soda.
- Pour the liquid over the flour and mix briskly with a whisk.
- Add the eggs (in the picture there is only one, don't take it into account!).
- Finish with the nuts.
- The dough is ready!
- Pour the batter into your pan. I used small cardboard molds, which are handy to take with me or to give as gifts. You can of course bake the gingerbread in a classic buttered and floured pan. The important thing is to have the dough three quarters of the way up.The quantity of dough is suitable for a small mold of 160X80mm. But you can make several small gingerbread.
- Bake at 145°C for 55 minutes. Check for doneness and adapt to your own oven and the size of the pan you choose. The dough should be cooked and the crust nicely browned.
- Let cool overnight in the pan. The crust will get all chewy. The next day you can wrap it in cling film to preserve it.
Nutrition
Serving: 4peopleCalories: 650kcalCarbohydrates: 107gProtein: 9gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 596mgPotassium: 246mgFiber: 4gSugar: 75gVitamin A: 388IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 144mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Linzertorte
Christmas is fast approaching! While waiting for the foie gras method 4, I give you my Linzertorte recipe, revisited to be even more festive! This pie comes from Austria (Linz is an Austrian city) and is very famous in Hungary and Alsace. A crumbly pastry (I warn you because it is really crumbly and tasty!) with hazelnuts and cinnamon, with a red fruit jam interior (raspberries, blueberries…). I suggest a blueberry version to create a starry night sky, but I also put the more traditional one.
Ingredients
- 275 g flour
- 210 g butter
- 55 g hazelnut powder
- 55 g sugar
- 1 pinch of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 100 g egg yolks (about 5)
- 1/2 cap of rum (optional)
- 1 jar of blueberry, raspberry, red fruit jam...low in sugar
Instructions
- Place the yolks, cinnamon, hazelnut powder, baking powder, sugar and flour in a food processor.
- Add the cold butter cut into pieces and the rum (if you wish to use it).
- Mix with the "k" until the dough is homogeneous, no more!
- Spread on a sheet of parchment paper to a thickness of 2mm. The dough will only rise a little, as there are no whites and just a touch of baking powder.
- Line a circle, square or pie pan with the shape of your choice.
- My students in the "tartlet" classes have become pros and this recipe will be no problem for them!
- Pour the chosen jam on the pastry base. It is better to use a "home-made" jam low in sugar, or a light commercial one. With a normal jam, the result may be too sweet.
- Spread evenly.
- With the remaining dough, cut strips or stars to make this Christmas Linzertorte!
- Place the stars on the jam.
- Bake for 50 minutes at 175°C. The jam will boil. The dough should be well cooked and golden brown!
- Place on a wire rack and carefully remove from the pan.
- To make a more classic Linzertorte, simply roll out another circle (there is enough dough to make two), then cut strips with a rolling pin. Arrange them on the pastry filled with jam (here raspberries).Then from pass the roller over the circle to cut the dough.
- Cook in the same way, watching the cooking time, to be adapted according to the size of the Linzertorte.
- Carefully unpack as the Linzertorte is very crumbly!
Nutrition
Serving: 8peopleCalories: 405kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 6gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 16gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 191mgSodium: 443mgPotassium: 110mgFiber: 2gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 838IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 88mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Chili Con Carne
Here is a recipe for “Chili con carne”. I say ‘one’ because there is indeed an incredible amount of them. Also, I’m breaking my rule of sticking as close to tradition as possible, because the original “chili” does not contain red beans. But it’s so good with! It should be noted that this dish is … American and not Mexican! It was created in Texas but you can feel the influences. But don’t ask a Mexican for a recipe for this dish! The longer you simmer this dish, the better it will be. I cook mine for almost five hours…
Ingredients
- 700 g ground beef with minimum of 15% fat
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 onions
- 7 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 2 fresh tomatoes , peeled and seeded
- 700 g canned peeled tomatoes
- 750 g red beans (already cooked)
- 2 tablespoons cumin powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon 4 spices mix
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Start by mincing the garlic cloves.
- Brown them in oil over moderate heat.
- Prepare ground meat and other ingredients.
- Add the meat to the garlic, which is just beginning to colour.
- Finely chop the onion.
- Finely chop peppers (without seeds!).
- Add the onions and peppers to the meat when it is cooked. Stir regularly.
- Peel the tomatoes by plunging them into boiling water for a few seconds.
- Cut them into pieces and add them to the baking dish.
- Add the can of peeled tomatoes and fill the equivalent of half the can with water which is then poured into the dish.
- Add all the spices.
- Dried oregano.
- Leave to reduce for an hour, still on moderate heat mixing regularly. Then add the drained beans.
- I put beans in a can. They are very practical and are perfect for this dish. I put 3 boxes of 450g (net drained weight 250g). Bernard's advice:I drained two boxes and put the juice in one. This juice gives a very pleasant color and consistency.
- Mix well and cook as long as possible on low heat. The longer this dish simmers, the better it will be.
- Here is the result after 4h30 of cooking. If the chili becomes too "mushy", you can add water.
- That's what I do to warm it up the next day.
- It can be served with fresh coriander leaves...
Nutrition
Serving: 6personsCalories: 586kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 34gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 673mgPotassium: 1195mgFiber: 14gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 350IUVitamin C: 34mgCalcium: 182mgIron: 10mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!