{Countdown to Christmas} My Peppermint Meringue Milestone

Posted in Baking Recipes, Christmas & holidays, Cookies, Experiments & experiences, From the books, Must-Makes from Martha by Clarisse Shaina

When I bought my copy of Martha Stewart’s Cookies back in September, I spent many nights browsing the book from cover to cover, trying to come up with a game-plan or schedule as to when I was going to do one recipe or the other. I began marking the cookie recipes into groups, one of which was Christmas cookies. One of the things I like most about this collection of cookies is that every cookie has a photo, thus making every recipe easy to fall in love with. But there’s this one cookie that caught my attention entirely, the Peppermint Meringue Sandwich Cookies. It had Christmas written all over it, with lovely red streaks that stood out against the whiteness of the meringue reminiscent of a candy cane. With the addition of the chocolate ganache sandwiched between the cookies, it was definitely attention-grabbing for a mint-chocolate combination lover like myself.

There was just one teensy problem: I was terrified of beating egg whites.
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5Dec2011

{Countdown to Christmas} My favourite Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted in Baking Recipes, Christmas & holidays, Cupcakes & Muffins by Clarisse Shaina

Christmas gives me such an excuse to break out my bottle of peppermint extract! I don’t normally make anything with peppermint for the rest of year because it doesn’t quite feel right, but I cherish the opportunity to make all things minty throughout the Christmas season. Preferably combined with chocolate. Of course. I just don’t know how the rest of the family feels about the barrage of peppermint-y things, but they certainly didn’t complain when I made these.

I have a friend who, like me, really loves this flavour combination. Back in college she used to bring me chocolates from her stash, and I distinctly remember that every time she gets her hands on something mint-chocolatey, she texts me to tell me she’ll be sharing some with me tomorrow. Among my group of friends, only the two of us seem to be head over heels with this combo! Gosh I miss my college days!

2Dec2011

{Countdown to Christmas} Minty Chocolate Bundt Cake

Posted in Baking Recipes, Christmas & holidays, Simple cakes by Clarisse Shaina

By appearance, it would seem that this bundt cake isn’t quite as Christmas-y as most holiday treats. There are no red or green splashes of colour nor intricate Christmas designs and shapes, but simply a rich, dark chocolate cake with an equally rich and dark glaze. The thing that adds a decidedly Christmas twist to this cake is the touch of peppermint extract I applied to the glaze. Small as that may be, I do think this is a good kick-off post for the series of holiday recipes I am excited to share!

I’ve been eyeing this recipe awhile mostly because of this photo. I just love how the glaze created this sort of shiny dark outer skin on the cake, hugging the surface of the cake like a blanket with a lovely sheen. The contrast of colours is stunning, and I could almost taste just how moist this cake is from the photo.