Baking for the Holidays: 50+ Treats for a Festive Season

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my Mom, Patricia Hesse, who never liked baking but still always baked with us, and who didn’t have fond memories of Christmases past but made sure her kids had a bright Christmas present and future. I love you.

And to Maddie and Ellie, here’s to many holiday seasons baking with your Auntie. xx

Copyright © 2021 by Sarah Kieffer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kieffer, Sarah, author.

Title: Baking for the holidays : 50+ treats for a festive season / Sarah Kieffer.

Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2021]. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020058057 | ISBN 9781452180755 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781452183466 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Holiday cooking. | Christmas cooking.

Classification: LCC TX772 .K535 2021 | DDC 641.5/68--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058057

Design by Lizzie Vaughan.

Typesetting by AJ Hansen.

Typeset in Intervogue and Quincy.

Photograph on page 110: Shutterstock, Anton Buymov.

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CONTENTS

Introduction 11

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK 14

A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES ON TECHNIQUE 16

General Baking Advice 16

Measuring Flour 16

Measuring Semisolids 16

A Pinch of Salt 16

Egg Wash 16

Lining Cake Pans and Loaf Pans with Parchment Paper 16

Tempering Chocolate 17

INGREDIENTS 17

Dairy and Eggs 17

Cooking Oils 18

Salt and Spices 18

Sweeteners 18

Flour 18

Leavenings 19

Nuts 19

Chocolate 19

Vanilla 20

EQUIPMENT 20

Measuring Equipment 20

Tools 20

Morning Breads and Pastries

Classic Cinnamon Rolls 25

Extra Filling 31

Cinnamon Rolls with Sugared Cranberries 31

Cinnamon Braid 32

Giant Cinnamon Roll 34

Nutella Star Bread 37

Jam-Filled Star 38

Cinnamon-Sugar Star 38

Morning Buns 40

Panettone Morning Buns 43

Cranberries and Cream Danish 47

Pear-Almond Danish Braid 50

Coffee-Cardamom Monkey Bread 54

Cinnamon Sugar Monkey Bread 56

Powdered Sugar Donuts 59

Streusel Coffee Cake 63

Lemon Streusel Coffee Cake 65

Panettone Scones 67

Cheater’s Croissant Dough 70

Easy Danish Dough 74

Sweet Dough 76

Holiday Desserts

White Cake with Cranberries and White Chocolate Buttercream 80

Carrot Cake with Burnt Honey Buttercream 84

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake 89

Triple Chocolate Mint Mousse Cake 91

Hazelnut Cheesecake 93

Apple, Caramel, and Hard Cider Pie 96

Crème Brûlée Pumpkin Pie 99

Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Pie 103

Candy Cane Cake 105

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart with Irish Cream 106

Frozen Bonbons 109

Shortbread Crust 111

Pie Dough 112

Gift Giving

Caramel Candies 116

Orange Caramel 117

Espresso Caramels 117

Salted Caramels 117

Peanut Butter Cups 121

Cacao Nibs Topping 122

Triple Chocolate Peppermint Bark 123

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies 127

Turtle Bars 129

Chocolate Gift Cakes 132

Modern Fruit Cakes 135

Florentines 138

Vanilla Bean Sablés 143

Citrus 144

Rosemary Chocolate Chip 144

Pistachio 144

Cacao Nib and Caramelized White Chocolate 144

Cut-Out Cookies 145

Beyond Christmas

Everything Bundt Cake 151

Confetti 153

Cream Cheese 153

Lemon Poppy Seed 153

Brown Sugar–Chocolate 153

Cardamom 153

Lemon Pull-Apart Bread 154

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread 157

Orange Pull-Apart Bread 157

Blood Orange Turnovers 160

Passion Fruit–Poppy Seed Muffins 163

Lemon Poppyseed 164

Orange Cranberry 164

Meyer Lemon–White Chocolate Scones 165

Blueberry Streusel Buns 169

Coconut-Cardamom Cupcakes 171

Cruffins 174

Hot Chocolate Cake 178

Confetti Cake 183

Rough Puff Pastry 186

Extras

Caramel Shards 191

Marshmallows 192

Mint Marshmallows 194

Caramel 195

Salted Caramel 195

No-Churn Ice Cream 196

Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream 197

Coffee No-Churn Ice Cream 198

Pumpkin No-Churn Ice Cream 198

Salted Caramel No-Churn Ice Cream 198

Blood Orange No-Churn Ice Cream 198

Candy Cane No-Churn Ice Cream 198

Pastry Cream 199

Candied Citrus Peels 201

Cranberry Jam 202

Streusel 203

Whipped Cream 204

Crème Fraîche 205

Candied Nuts 207

Lemon Curd 208

Blood Orange Curd 209

Passion Fruit Curd 209

Marshmallow Fluff 210

Closing Out the Year 212

Music to Bake To 215

Conversions 216

Bibliography 217

Resources 218

Acknowledgments 219

Index 220

Introduction

My family had an old, rugged, fake Christmas tree that didn’t require water, even though my mom always pined for a real, living tree to place in our front window. To my ten-year-old self, however, there was nothing like the thrill of my dad pulling out the giant, torn box it was kept in from the laundry room. He would mutter under his breath as he assembled it in our tiny family room; it was miserable work and that darned hunk of metal and plastic wasn’t well made, but my siblings and I were oblivious to his mumbling, dancing around the half-assembled tree, singing songs full of holly and cheer. Joy to the world! My younger sister and I would grab the tree decorations, fighting over who got to hang the prettiest ornaments. My little brother would tackle our legs, knocking baubles and angels out of our hands while singing out of key. The smell of sugar cookies, ornately decorated by all of us just moments before, filled the room. My mom would tend a simmering pot of hot chocolate, complete with tiny marshmallows. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and the countdown to Christmas had officially begun.

Although my mom has never enjoyed baking and cooking as a pastime (she often refers to her kitchen as the worst room in the house) she actively made baking a part of our holiday season. Cookies in all the classic shapes and sizes were a tradition: snowmen, angels, trees, and stars were cloaked in ungodly amounts of red and green sprinkles. Peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies, Rice Krispies wreaths complete with Red Hots, seven-layer bars, and Russian tea cakes were also on the menu. Mini quick breads and apple pies occasionally showed up on the countertops. There were even a few years my mom dabbled in candy making and spritz cookies; we were fascinated by the special presses and molds she used to make these treats. If my dad wasn’t working, he was in charge of music, and Amy Grant’s A Christmas Album or Evie’s Christmas Memories could be heard playing in the background while we baked together, along with our cassette tape of Christmas with the Chipmunks, to my mom’s dismay. My sister and I spent much time fighting over cookie cutters and sprinkles, and my little brother would help the edible decorations find their way to the kitchen floor. When our work was complete, we were immediately sent off to the neighbors to deliver our creations. There would be a brief scuffle outside over who got to hold the most tempting bundle of treats, and one of us would inevitably fall down on the snowy sidewalk leading from the house. Coated in snow, we would pass our goodie plates out to eager, smiling faces who would hastily hand us their own homemade treats in return. We’d usually return home with more cookies than we started with, and after eating our fill, the leftover treats would be moved to the basement freezer, where my sister and I would take turns sneaking downstairs and nibbling on them when no one was watching. He sees you when you’re sleeping! He knows when you’re awake! my parents would remind us when we emerged from the basement with chocolate-coated fingers and faces. We were bordering on the precipice of belief and myth, but no matter the sermon, cookies always won the discourse in our hearts.

Christmas Eve would finally arrive, and we’d pile in the car with trays of cookies on our lap, headed to Grandma’s house in the city. Her long, antique dining room table would be carefully covered in her mother’s lace, already stacked high with food when we arrived. In one corner, tiny meatballs were bubbling in a slow cooker full of thick sauce, surrounded by bowls full of potato chips in every color. Another corner of the table would host my grandma’s stash of roasted salty mixed nuts, along with fragile glass trays piled with black olives and carrot sticks. Without fail, my sister and I would find cozy spots by the cheese tray to fill our small faces full; we’d alternate between devouring appetizers and homemade cookies while the adults had their backs turned.

Hours later, after much ripping through paper and screaming with excitement at our new toys (the Barbie McDonald’s set was a particularly exciting year), we would leave for home, our minds racing with dancing sugarplums, minus the plums. My parents would drive us around the city to look at all the Christmas lights, and we would somehow organically nestle into stillness, singing softly together: Silent night, Holy night. Slowly, for a brief moment, our young hearts prepared room.

But Christmas morning set them on fire again, and we bounced off the walls with excitement, running toward that old, plastic tree and the possibilities contained underneath. Most years my dad spent much of November and December working overtime so he could watch his children’s faces light up at the sight of toys and goodies, but reading the Christmas story out loud was first on his list of things to do. My dad’s long, thin fingers would turn each delicate page of his Bible, and we would tap our pajamaed feet impatiently while we stared at the pile before us. When Luke was finally finished recounting his version of things, we would dive in—paper thoughtlessly torn, the house covered in every kind of wrapping. We would then spend the day, just the five of us, reading new books, playing new games, nibbling on leftover cookies and bars, sipping hot apple cider, and singing along to the carols on the radio. Let your heart be light, they whispered on and off, and we subconsciously nodded along, our troubles out of mind for the sweet, fleeting hours of Christmas Day.

Many holiday seasons have come and gone since then, and while I hold all these childhood memories dear, my yearly celebration looks much different now. Ella Fitzgerald’s soaring alto swings for us instead of the falsetto of the Chipmunks. Our family dinners and present openings are in different rooms in different houses, and my own children are the ones fighting over cookie cutters. The one thing that has remained constant over time is the hours we spend baking; our tradition of spending time together in the kitchen creating cookies and bars and candy for family and neighbors is an important ritual in the months leading up to the New Year. And while only a few of the recipes have made their way from Christmas past to our current kitchen, still we merrily share them with our family and neighbors; the act of creating and giving is central to our celebration.

While my nostalgia