Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I blogged about something similar to this when I was a new blogger.  Here is the link.  I think my photography skills have improved since then.  The recipe has improved too.  Although I liked the original recipe, it was a pain to make the candied citrus rinds.  It made what should have been a quick and easy chocolate confection too time consuming.

Food 52 is having a contest for your favorite Christmas confection.  I immediately thought of this Italian goodie.  The chocolate log is filled with whole almonds, cookie crumbs, dried cranberries and my addition of orange zest and crystallized ginger.  When it is sliced it looks like a salami with it’s marbling of fat.

The chocolate and butter are melted in a double boiler.  The almonds, orange zest, soaked cranberries, cookie crumbs and ginger are added.  It is left to cool and then rolled into a log and refrigerated to harden.  It is easy to slice and serve.  I would love to receive a Christmas tin with this treat inside.  The chocolate is enhanced by the additions and the crystallized ginger gives it an extra pop of flavor.  I think it is worth entering in the contest.

CHOCOLATE SALAMI

9 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup whole almonds
zest of one orange
1/3 cup dried cranberries soaked in 1/4 cup water and 2 tbls of Triple Sec for 15 minutes and then drained.
1 cup butter wafer cookie crumbs
1/4 cup crystallized ginger slices, chopped
2 egg yolks, beaten

Melt chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.  When melted add the sugar, almonds, orange zest, drained cranberries, cookie crumbs and crystallized ginger.  Stir and remove from heat.  Cool for a few minutes.  Add the beaten egg yolks and allow to come to room temperature.  Form chocolate mixture into a log,  Smooth the surface to be sure none of the filling is sticking out.  Wrap the log in wax paper and refrigerate until firm.  Take out of fridge and leave at room tempeature for 30 minutes.  Slice and serve.  Chocolate log can be frozen for later use.

Printable recipe

I have been baking cookies this week.  It is not one of my favorite pursuits, but Christmas seems to dictate the practice and I have done it every year for as long as I can remember.  When my Son was young, the baking was always Christmas cutout cookies and decorative icing.  Now, when I bake cookies it is usually on a whim.  The only constants are Scandanavian Tea Cookies ( shortbread crust cookie topped with chocolate and pecans) and the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that I know from Cooks Illustrated.

But these two cookie recipes are new to me and I enjoyed trying them.  The confectioners’s sugar covered snowball cookies are different than the standard pecan flavored wedding cookies.  These are flavored with lemon and coconut.  The recipe was in a Southern Living book that my DIL gave me for Christmas last year.  The Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies were in an old issure of Gourmet magazine.  I like them because they can be prepared ahead of time and the dough logs kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to slice and bake.  I did have trouble with them though.  The dough was very crumbly and they were not easy to slice.  Add a little water to your mixture when you are forming your logs and this should help them stick together.

LEMON-COCONUT SNOWBALLS

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and extracts, beating well.  Add flour, lemon rind, and salt, beating until combined.  Stir in coconut.  Cover and chill dough 30 minutes.

Shape dough into generous 1″ balls; place 1″ apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until goldern on bottom, but pale on top.  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool 5 minutes.

Place 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a bowl, and roll warm cookies in powdered sugar, coating well.  Cool cookies completely on wire racks.  Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar again, coating well.  Yield: 2 dozen.

PISTACHIO CRANBERRY ICEBOX COOKIES

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1/2 cup shelled pistachios (not dyed)
1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup decorative sugar (preferably coarse)

Stir together flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, granulated sugar and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until dough just comes together in clumps, then mix in pistachios and cranberries.  Gather and press dough together, then divide into 2 equal pieces.  Using a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper as an aid, form each piece of dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Square off long sides of each log to form a bar, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until very firm, at least 2 hours.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.  Brush egg over all 4 long sides of bars (but not ends).  Sprinkle decorative sugar on a separate sheet of parchment or wax paper and press bars into sugar, coating well.  Cut each bar crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices, rotating bar after cutting each slice to help keep square shape. (If dough gets too soft to slice, freeze bars briefly until firm.)  Arrange cookies about 1/2 inch apart on lined baking sheets.  Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are pale golden, 15 to 18 minutes total.  Transfer cookies from parchment to racks using a slotted spatula and cool completely.
 
Printable recipe Lemon-Coconut Snowballs

Printable recipe Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies