From my Hexenhäuschen to yours!

Ingredients: Trader Joe's Gingerbread House Kit, egg whites

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Happy holidays! This gingerbread house kit was possibly one of the most fun things to do, now that the holidays are well underway. It was our first time making one and honestly, so glad we got this kit at Trader Joe's. They had the house pieces, candies, sprinkles, and figures all delicately packaged - all you needed to do was get one egg white and beat it together with some powdered sugar (this was already in the kit). I couldn't even imagine making the gingerbread pieces from scratch...  

The frosting/mortar dried very quickly, so it was necessary to move fast! The kit even provided a piping bag so it made it very easy to put the house together. We echoed the design on the front of the packaging, but I'm sure you could go nuts making it look however you want. I think your kids would have a blast doing this with you - I know I did.

Hope everyone has a very filling, very Merry Christmas.

Chocolate Almond Bark w/ Fleur du Sel

 

Ingredients: raw almonds, dark chocolate, unsalted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, coarsely ground fleur du sel (sea salt)

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Possibly one of the best treats to gift for Christmas! I was inspired to make this after reading the recipe and seeing the photo in the December issue of Bon Appetit magazine. For my recent tree trimming gathering, I thought I'd make up a batch, but then realized halfway through that I mistakenly bought raw almonds instead of the roasted kind! I had already sugared them at this point, but because they were raw, they were chewy and soft...

Luckily, with the help of some friends, the nuts were saved by sauteeing them over the stovetop with some additional butter, vanilla extract, and a pinch of sea salt. The kitchen smelled like Union Square during Christmas time, with the  aromatics of the sugar and toasted almonds filling the room.

After melting the chocolate over a double boiler, we combined the cooled nuts in the chocolate and laid it out flat over some foil to cool. Top with some reserve nuts and coarse sea salt and set in the freezer to chill. Once set, you can break up the bark as little or as big as you want!

The result is a candy/toffee/nutty/salty/chocolaty goodness (best served cold, in my opinion).

Poached Pears w/ Spiced Caramel Sauce

Ingredients: 

Poached Pears - Anjou pears, orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, lemon zest, granulated sugar, water, splash of Rum

Spiced Caramel Sauce - granulated sugar, brown sugar, heavy cream, clove, fennel, black peppercorns, cinnamon sticks

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This was my first foray into poached pear territory and thought I'd try this out for Thanksgiving dessert. I always loved how classic and elegant fruit can look when you poach it and thought that pears would be perfect for Fall. I began by peeling the Anjou pears one-by-one (while the turkey was in the oven), which took up most of the prep time. The best way to do this is with a small vegetable peeler - the hand-held one, not the stand-up kind. 

The poaching liquid was essentially a diluted citrus mixture of oranges and lemons and sugar. I omitted about 1 cup of sugar from the recipe as I'm not a stickler for super-sweet desserts and added about a splash of Rum (ok, about 1 cup) to the poach while it was simmering. The recipe called for 25 mins of poaching time, but it really could've gone for much longer; at least 45 mins to 1 hour. Once finished, you need to cool it in the poaching liquid, so I put the lid on and removed it from the stove and left it alone for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, for the Spiced Caramel Sauce, this too was my first venture into caramel territory. I was always intimidated by cooking sugar - so important to keep your eye on it. You start by heating up sugar directly into a saucepan. I blinked and before I knew it, it was almost bubbling over and browned. At this point, remove it from the heat and add the spices, stirring constantly! Strain it through a sieve and set aside in a bowl to cool.

The best part is the presentation! I removed the poached pears from the liquid and placed them on a platter on top some coffee/vanilla bean mascarpone cream. Pouring the spiced caramel sauce over the pears at the table will definitely get you some oohs and aahs!

It was a great recipe that I'll definitely make again, tweaking a few things here and there. You can find it off Bon Appetit magazine's website at epicurious.com here.