Ho Ho Ho: Another Holiday Recipe

My Christmas present for you today.

I took French classes, starting in high school. That included French Christmas carols and French recipes. Among my favorites was one for a Bûche de Noël. I loved baking, a skill handed down from my mother, and she was always game for a new recipe.

A bûche is pretty on the table and decadent to eat. I decorated mine with gumdrop leaves and berries (some people use cranberries and mint leaves) and meringue mushrooms. So, if you need a project and want something delicious to eat, here's my recipe for you today.

What's your favorite food "centerpiece?"

Bûche de Noël (Yule Log Cake)

THE CAKE

Cooking spray
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 c. granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar or unsweetened cocoa to roll the cake

creamy rum FILLING

1/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup milk
2 egg yoks, slightly beaten
2 tbsp. rum

RICH FUDGE FROSTING

1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tbsp. corn oil margarine 

GARNISH OPTIONS

Chocolate curls

Cranberries

Small rosemary sprigs

Meringue mushrooms

G

umdrops 

Mint leaves

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment or waxed paper and grease with cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs whites at high speed until soft peaks forms. Beating constantly, add 4 tablespoons of the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form. 
3. In small mixing bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until well mixed. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat about 4 minutes or until thick and light in color. With mixer at low speed beat in cocoa and vanilla until well mixed. Gently fold cocoa mixture into egg whites until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes or until cake springs back lightly when touched.
4. Immediately turn cake out onto cloth dusted with confectioners' sugar or unsweetened cocoa. Remove parchment or waxed paper. Roll cake from short side in cloth. Cool on wire rack.
5. Make filling: In a 1 quart saucepan, stir together sugar and corn starch. Gradually stir in milk until smooth. Stir in egg yolks. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in rum until well blended. Turn into medium bowl. Cover with waxed paper or plastic wrap. Cool slightly (no longer than 1 hour). Gently fold in whipped cream. 

1. Make frosting: In top of a double boiler over simmering water, stir together chocolate chips, water, corn syrup and margarine. Stirring constantly, cook about 5 minutes or until melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Fill bottom of double boiler with ice. With wooden spoon, beat chocolate mixture over ice for about 5 minutes or until mixture is spreadable consistency. Remove from ice.

1. Diagonally slice about a 1-1/2 inch portion off each end of the cake. Reserve about 1/3 cup frosting for the cut portions and spread cake with remaining frosting. Using a fork, make ridges in cake to resemble bark. Place reserved pieces of cake against frosted log to resemble knots. Frost knots with reserved frosting and chill.

Meringue Mushrooms

3/4 cup sugar 
1/2 cup light corn syrup
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Unsweetened cocoa
1 square (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate

1. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment or brown paper. In small saucepan, bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. In large mixing bowl, beat egg whites at high speak until soft peaks form. Add cream of tartar and salt. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Still in vanilla. Beating constantly, pour in hot syrup in a thin steady stream. Continue beating until mixture becomes stiff and glossy.
2. To form mushroom stems, fit a large pastry bag with 1/2 inch plain, round tip. Fill with 1/3 of meringue mixture. Holding pastry bag vertically over baking sheet, push out meringue slowly while raising the bag straight up. Form stems about 1 inch high, with base slightly wider. Cut the meringue away from the tube with a small knife. To form mushroom caps, fill pastry bag with remaining 2/3 meringue. Press out rounds. 1 inch apart on sheet, 1-1/2 inches in diameter and 3/4 inches high. Sharply twist bag to avoid leaving a peak on top. If desired, sprinkle lightly with unsweetened cocoa. Bake at 250 for 1 hour. 
3. Turn oven off. Open door and leave meringues in over 1 hour to dry. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate. 
4. With a small, sharp knife, make a small hole in the flat side of each meringue round. Dip stem end in melted chocolate. Insert in cap. Store mushroom in airtight container.
5. 
   

   

   You can find more of the French traditions I learned about in
   WHILE WE WERE SHOPPING
   

   
   

Confessions of a Cookieholic 🍪

 It’s Christmas. Cookies are as much a part of the holiday as trees and snowmen and Santa for me. After all, Santa is a cookieholic, too. Think of all the plates of cookies he gets every Christmas Eve.

As for the confession, it all started last December. When someone is taken from you so quickly, you realize how short life is. My mantra? Life is short. Eat the cookie. And with all the Christmas cookies to choose from... well, that was only the beginning. Then, 2020 hit. Who knew? 

Hi. My name is Karla, and I'm a cookieholic.

Which brings us to today. Cookie baking season. I'm back on the wagon again.

This will be the first year I don’t make several batches of cookies. In fact, one of the only years I don’t make my signature cookie, because I spent too many days of 2020 “eating the cookies.” It isn't safe to give the cookies away this year because, well, 2020. And I certainly shouldn’t eat several more batches when its just the Big Guy and me. I’ve resolved to make one batch for him (he likes pecan fingers), because it isn’t Christmas without some Christmas cookies. 

For the rest of you, I’m sharing my recipe for pinwheels, my signature cookie, with hopes they bring you some holiday cheer!

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

And now I have to get back to writing so you have that new Hillendale book in the spring! 

Pinwheels 

Tasty, and pretty on the plate
Yield: 8 dozen

1-¾ cup flour

1-½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter

¾ cup sugar

1 egg yolk

½ teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons milk

1 square unsweetened chocolate, melted

Combine flour, soda and salt and set aside.  Cream butter, adding sugar gradually.  Blend in egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and the milk.

Divide dough into equal portions.  Add chocolate to one portion.  Refrigerate dough until easy to handle.

Roll each portion separately 1/8 inch thick between sheets of waxed paper so that they are the same size. If the dough is still sticky, return to refrigerator until it peels easily off the wax paper.  Remove one layer of wax paper from each portion of the dough and lay the dough on top of the other portion.  Remove the top layer of wax paper and roll the dough together. Wrap the rolled dough in the bottom layer of wax paper and refrigerate overnight.

Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

Find more cookies at www.karlabrandenburg.com/cookies

or www.pinterest.com/klblang/cookies

Food Traditions - old and new

When I was writing MIST ON THE MEADOW, I tapped into my German heritage which, like Christmas traditions, has become diluted with the number of years my ancestors have spent on this side of the ocean. Traditions have to change as circumstances, and locations, change. The main character, Marissa, is a baker, and she carries forward a traditional German dish for Christmas. 

For years, my family has made cinnamon dinner rolls at the holidays. I went in search of a additional German traditions to add to my story. The result was Ofenschlupfer.  Ofenschlupfer literally means "sneaking into the oven." So if you are looking for an easy German dessert recipe, sneak this yummy treat into your oven.

Do you have any traditions that you hold onto? New traditions to accommodate the progression of time?

Prosit!

 

Recipe For Ofenschlupfer

(Apple Bread Pudding)

1-2 golden delicious apples
4 slices of bread (Can use 4 Hawaiian rolls, sliced into thirds)
2 Tbls butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup raisins
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
2-1/2 cups milk, scalded

Heat oven to 350 F. Toast bread slices lightly. Spread slices with butter (margarine).   Peel apples, cut in fine slices and toss with brown sugar and cinnamon. Arrange bread slices buttered side up in a 1-1/2 quart buttered casserole dish.  Top with apple mixture and raisins.  Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Slowly stir in milk.  Pour over bread. 

Place casserole dish into a square pan, 9x9x2, on oven rack. Pour very hot water (1 inch deep) into square pan. Bake until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, 65-70 minutes. Remove casserole dish from pan of hot water.  Serve warm or cool  6-8 servings.

Enjoy this easy bread pudding recipe on its own or with a thick creamy vanilla sauce.

You’ve got a friend

Sometimes you just need a friend. 

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and things are a bit different this year. These are some very difficult times that we are living in right now. I am doing a Friend Check-in. Showing support for other people who might be struggling. We can’t connect in person, so let’s connect virtually. Leave a blog comment or a Facebook comment, however you got to this page. I promise to reply, because after all, we're all in this together.

I also promised you a sneak peek at the next cover. I think you'll like the story, and I included the original legend in the acknowledgments. What's it about?

The Legend People of canyon country are protected by the indigenous Tribes, but that protection prevents Nascha from finding out what happened to her missing mother. When another of the Legend People shows up in Nascha’s canyon on a quest to beg leniency from the ruling Coyote, Nascha is given the opportunity to get the answers she seeks. On their way to the Coyote’s canyon, they get caught in the downdraft from a plane that carries them off course to Illinois. Now they must enlist the help of the pilot to get back to Utah.

Pilot Devin Sike mistakes the mysterious woman who follows him at the airport for a Native American Princess. Lost, she asks him to transport her back to Utah—a request he’s disinclined to accommodate—until she triggers an echo in his heart, a pinger beacon that synchronizes when she touches him. The more he finds out about her, the more determined he is to come to terms with his own lost heritage.

Their journey enlightens them both to a destiny neither expected.

What do you think?

Yes, you can preorder it

 

Finally, I want to take a moment to be thankful for everything I have, and not feel victimized by current circumstances. While I may not be with family, which makes me sad, I am thankful for the family I have. We can still connect, even if not in person. I'm thankful for children, for grandchildren, for sisters and cousins and friends.

Wishing you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Characteristics that shape a story

I've been in sort of a funk the past few months - heck, most of this year! Recently, however, I saw a headline that poked my inner muse.

When authors talk about what inspires them, you get a wealth of answers. The real answer? "Everything." The headline that caught my eyes this time was, unfortunately, one of the many obituaries that have been in the news. We've lost a lot of people this year, and often when we see "who died today," we remember them by a distinguishing characteristic. Sean Connery, for instance: "Bond. James Bond." with a hint of a lisp and one cocked eyebrow. 

One recent death gave me a brilliant idea for a character. I guess that means there will be another book to follow Hillendale 4!

What am I talking about? 

I don't want to give away something I haven't written yet, so I'll use COOKIE THERAPHY as an example. When I started writing it, I went with a characteristic for my main character. Elizabeth Lambert is a klutz. I started with an accident - minor, but you know how klutzes can be (speaking as one myself). I knew who the hero was, because I had to redeem a previous series character who had transgressed. Two compelling characters (or at least they were in my mind!). I had no idea when I started (this is called pantsing - flying by the seat of your pants) what her story was until I started writing, and right there, in Chapter 1, I found her backstory. A minor incident that triggers a hidden trauma. 

“That’s okay, I’ll buy the box.” She grabbed one from the stack and snapped it open—she needed a cookie now. While she headed to the checkout, Elizabeth took out a cookie, but when she tried to close the box, the plastic edge sliced her left palm. She dropped the box and clutched her hand to her chest.

What else could go wrong?

Blood oozed through Elizabeth’s fingers and she blinked to fight off the cloud of gray that threatened her vision. She squeezed her eyes closed while panic took over, screams echoing in her head, blood everywhere, people running, ducking under desks.

 A case of being inspired by a characteristic. 

I'm hoping to do a cover reveal for you next week, so you can see how nature has inspired me, and if I want to use the mysterious characteristic that inspired my NEXT book, I guess I'd better finish writing Hillendale 4!

What unique characteristics have you seen in your favorite book friends?

Virtual Vacations

I've been reviewing pictures of Bryce Canyon and Antelope Canyon and Zion National Park in honor of my upcoming release. Since a large part of the country is still "safer at home," I thought I'd invite you along on a virtual tour of canyon country through the pictures I took.

The swirls and slots of Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon

Hoodoos and grottoes in the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater

The brilliants colors of Bryce Canyon

Where the river begins in...

Zion National Park

Yep, that's me. Dwarfed beside the mountains

Impressive country we live in, no?

Reading, Writing and 'Rithmetic

 What was your favorite subject in school?

For me, it was (no surprises) English. For the most part, I was a good student, although I hated history/social studies. Not a fan of science, either, although I took the time to learn and got me a well-rounded education. Even in the subjects I wasn't fond of, I learned a lot. For instance, I remember vividly a social studies class where we were given a project, to pick stocks from the market and choose a country to represent. Then we had to figure out how to build our country's economy, which became a lesson on international trade (even if "international" meant the kid sitting next to me representing that country). And despite being bored to tears, I still remember learning about Charlemagne and foreign history. 

Reading opened up new avenues of learning for me. I found more entertaining ways to absorb history. Most importantly, I understood the value of learning from the past in order to shape our future.

George Santayana is popularly known for aphorisms, such as "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and "Only the dead have seen the end of war." His words are especially important to me today. 

As much as I disliked learning about history in school, never understood the value of learning about all those dead people from the past that I had no connection with, we are all connected. Omitting "inconvenient" or "boring" lessons of the past creates a gap of ignorance that condemns us to relive painful moments a second time to reinforce the knowledge we are lacking.

However you learn, knowledge is a valuable tool. Whether you're reading from a textbook or reading for entertainment, I've found that books provide a wealth of information that fills in the gaps.

"The More You Know...."