Beetroot Heart Cookies

Valentine's is around the corner, and these sweet beetroot heart cookies make an easy-to-bake treat to share not only with your significant other, but also with loved ones, children, and as a gift to friends. What's more, they are naturally coloured with a little beetroot in the dough, to give a pretty pink hue without any unnecessary artificial food colouring. 

Last year my sister and I held a little Valentine's party for the whole family, and made these strawberry and watermelon fruit kabobs. So I kind of wanted to go down the same route again this year by making a Valentine's treat that somehow used a naturally red or pink shade. Don't worry if you aren't a fan of beetroot - you really won't be able to taste it in these cookies at all. (Unless of course you are die-hard beetroot fan like me and know what to taste-out for!) The whole recipe comes together within a mere few minutes, and the cookies only take about seven minutes to bake. The dough itself, once ready, is actually a much deeper pink in colour but as they bake the cookies turn into a lighter cherry blossom shade. 

This a great little recipe to make if you aren't a fan of the super bright kitschy Valentine's desserts that tend to be popular on Pinterest at this time of year (not to say I am not a fan of them either!). Rather its a more homely, comforting, and easy to bake Valentine's treat. Because really, as long as its pink and has hearts involved, what else is Valentine's about?!

Beetroot Heart Cookies

Makes 30

2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 large egg

2 tbsp raw beetroot, finely grated

Heart cookie cutter

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease and line a baking tray with parchment paper. In a bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder and set aside. 

2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar in another bowl, until well combined. Add the egg and mix well, then add the grated beetroot and mix again. 

3. Gradually add the flour in half a cup at a time, mixing until a dough begins to form. The dough should be firm with only a slight stickiness. 

4. Chill dough in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Remove and on a lightly floured board or surface, roll out the dough to a quarter inch. Using cookie cutter, cut out hearts and place on lined tray, being careful not to stretch the shape.

5. Bake for 7-9 minutes, keeping an eye so as to not to let them brown. 

6. Leave to cool before eating, and store in an airtight container for upto a week. 

Baked Chocolate Marshmallow Apples

The new year in Dubai brought with it some much cooler weather than we are used to for the Emirates. Having the luxury of warm/hot weather for pretty much ten months of the year means the unexpected cold can be a little unnerving. At least for me. I find I'm much more productive when the sun is out, even if I am just in the house. 

Anyway, its definitely had me craving hot drinks, warm soups and simple baked desserts like this recipe for baked chocolate marshmallow apples. And I can't tell you how deliciously perfect this dessert is for a cold winters day. 

I have never been one for baked apple desserts, but I just loved the addition of chocolate and marshmallows here. Its so simple, and yet served hot was just the thing I needed. I added a few cinnamon chips to my recipe, although this is not neccessary,  as the cinnamon powder at the end provides the warm spice. One apple serves two people which makes it a great dessert to share with a significant other as well. 

Next time I'll be pairing it with ice cream! 

Baked Chocolate Marshmallow Apples

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 2 servings

1 medium apple

2 large marshmallows, 1 quartered and 1 halved

2 tsps good quality dark chocolate, chopped

Cinnamon chips (if desired)

2 tbsps unsalted butter

1 tbsp water

Cinnamon powder

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Halve each apple lengthwise, and using a a knife carefully cut and scoop out the seeds, making a crater in each half. You can also use a spoon or melon baller instead.

2. Fill each half with a marshmallow quarter, and 1 teaspoon of the chopped chocolate. Add a few cinnamon chips if desired. 

3. Spoon half a tablespoon of butter over the chocolate, and place apple halves in a baking dish. Add the water and remaining butter into the dish. 

4. Bake apple halves for 25-30 minutes, until a paring knife cuts through the apple easily. 

5. Set the oven to broil or grill, and place the marshmallow halves onto each apple, until golden brown. 

6. Serve hot drizzled with juices and a sprinkling of cinnamon powder. 

Cranberry Dessert Two Ways: White Chocolate Dipped Cranberries & Cranberry Cheesecake Pots

 

So I know I said my Gingerbread Linzertorte post was the last for this year, but I bought some cranberries for the first time ever a couple of days ago, and got inspired to make not only one, but two really easy Christmas desserts using cranberries - White Chocolate Dipped Cranberries, and Cranberry Cheesecake Pots! Both of these desserts scream Christmas.

 

The white chocolate dipped cranberries are the easy peasiest to make, they really just speak for themselves. I'm not going to even type the recipe out per se, as all it requires is melting white chocolate in a medium sized bowl (Hersheys White Chocolate Chips are great for this), dipping your washed and dried cranberries into the melted chocolate (or just dousing them all in like I did), removing them all carefully with a spoon one by one, and then placing them onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Place them in the fridge to harden, and ten minutes later you have the most addictive little chocolate covered berries!

 

If you have more time you could stick each cranberry onto the end of a toothpick for better ease of dipping, and sprinkle some edible gold sequins (mine were from Wilton) to make them look even more special.

What I love is how the white chocolate sweetened the effect of the sour tart cranberries as, if you have tried cranberries on their own, you will know how pretty sharp tasting they are! But dipped in chocolate they make a great snack to keep in a bowl on the coffee table, or just anywhere around the house if you have got guests over for the holidays. And really for a first timer like myself eating cranberries, I could not stop popping them into my mouth like popcorn! 

 

 

If you still have some cranberries to spare after making your cranberry turkey sauce (and dipping them in white chocolate!), why not try these cranberry cheesecake pots? This recipe is basically a re-working of my Blueberry Cheesecake Pots, but I increased the amount of sugar in the cranberry sauce (to combat the sourness!), as well as adding a little water. Otherwise the rest is all the same. And honestly, even this recipe took me all of half an hour to make. The cranberry sauce is delightfully sweet and jammy against the cool creamy mascarpone, and of course its a no-bake! As with the blueberry cheesecake pots, I just used whatever biscuits I had lying around - in this case golden oreos!

 

 

So there you have it. If you are looking for ways to sweeten your cranberries, without serving them with the Christmas turkey, I hope these two ideas inspire you to use them in a different way!

 

 

 

Cranberry Cheesecake Pots

 

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food

Fills four glasses, or eight mini glasses
 

150g cranberries

4 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp water

6-8 digestive biscuits (depending on how much biscuit base you like)

2 tbsps melted butter

250g tub of mascarpone

4 tbsp heavy cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

1 lemon, zested and juiced.
 

1. Cook the cranberries with the caster sugar and water for about five to ten minutes, on low heat. Stir occasionally until a syrup has formed and the cranberries have popped. Leave to cool.

2. In a processor, blend the biscuits together with the melted butter till fine.

3. Line the bottom of your glasses with a layer of the biscuit mixture and chill for ten minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mix the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar, lemon zest and juice together in a bowl.

5. Alternate layers of cheesecake and blueberry mix in each glass and serve immediately or keep in the fridge till ready to serve.

Gingerbread Linzertorte and Christmas Nostalgia!

Christmas is nearly here!

 

It might surprise some people reading this, knowing I'm a practicing Muslim, but Christmas is always going to be a memorable time of the year for me. I grew up believing in Santa Claus (Father Christmas), and our house always had a big decked out (plastic) Christmas tree every year with presents under it. We exchanged Christmas cards at school, and I absolutely miss singing carols! My mum would make a roast chicken with luscious gravy and veggies for Christmas day lunch, and one of my most favourite memories is my dad driving my sister and I every year to Harrods in London, at night, especially to see the beautiful window displays, all whilst munching on hot roasted chestnuts!

 

We never celebrated the religious aspect of it, and now that I am much older I can look back on those memories fondly, whilst being fully aware of who I am today and what I firmly believe in. Not to mention, Christmas is very different here in Dubai. Oh sure it is celebrated openly, and all the shops have been decorated just as spectacularly. But maybe it is exactly that - being older and wiser, and knowing that it gave joy in my youth, which makes it all the more special in my mind. Truth be told, I think Christmas will always hold its most special place in the heart of a child!

 

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, even though there may be no more Christmas trees and presents, this time of the year can't go by for me without a little nostalgia and celebration. Apart from lots of store bought chocolate and mince pies, we never really baked anything for the holiday when I was growing up. So naturally when it came to baking another post for the blog I was inclined to try out a Christmas inspired recipe! And that's where this deliciously spiced gingerbread linzertorte comes in.

 

 

Traditionally the linzertorte finds its origins in Austria, and has become a firm holiday favourite in Hungary, Switzerland and Germany too. Most recipes involve lemon and almonds, but this gingerbread version has an abundance of spices to make it a lot more Christmas friendly.

The combination of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and pepper really gives this linzertorte a warmth and festive aroma. My husband even commented on the pleasant smell when he came home from work, as it basically makes the house smell like everything you would associate with December baking.  Filled with a raspberry jam layer, the sticky sweet tartness perfectly complemented the spice infused nutty crust, and was enjoyed greatly with vanilla ice-cream!

 

The dough is quite delicate though, so be gentle when rolling it out and definitely whilst handling too. You can probably tell from the pictures that I had a little trouble with my shell tops breaking! Be sure to take the tarts out just when they seem right, without over-baking, and I would also recommend a really generous layer of the jam.

 

I want to end this post by wishing all my readers seasons greetings, for Christmas and the New Year, as this will be my last post for 2013! And a question for nostalgias sake, I would love to know, do you celebrate Christmas differently now than you did in your youth?

 

Gingerbread Linzertorte

Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 1 large, or 4 mini tarts

 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg white

Raspberry jam

 

1. Preheat oven to 162 degrees C, with the rack in the lowest position, and grease tart pans.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt together in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar and using an electric whisk on low speed, mix until combined.

3. Add the butter and mix until well incorporated. Add the molasses and egg yolks, mixing until the dough comes together.

4. Roll out 2/3 of the dough on a lightly floured surface to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Whether  making small tarts or one large tart, use your tart pan as a template. Cut around the pan whilst placed lightly on the dough, using a small sharp knife, and adding an inch extra to the outside to form the sides of the linzertorte.

5. Fit the cut dough rounds into your pans. Spread a thick layer of jam all over, and refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes.

6. Roll out the remaining dough to fit the size of the tart pans exactly. Transfer rounds onto a parchment lined baking tray, and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes from the rounds. You can reserve the cut outs as mini cookies, baking for 10 minutes at 162 degrees C.

7. Remove shell bases from fridge, and brush rim with the egg white. Carefully slide the cut out rounds onto the top, pressing the edges to adhere. Refrigerate until firm for 20-30 minutes.

8. Bake about 25-30 minutes for mini tarts, until crust is golden brown and jam filling is bubbling, and 50-60 minutes for the large tart. Leave to cool on rack.