Time to make the annual Hot Cross Buns for Easter Weekend / Good Friday. This year’s variation is distinctly “New Englandy”: Maple Cranberry. Not too sweet, very flavorful and extremely fluffy. Very pleased with the results!
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I will be the first to admit that the idea for making fried egg linzer cookies for Easter was not my idea. It came from Flour Bakery + Cafe, but I loved it, and I make Linzer Cookies so often that I thought I would add these to the website. They are fresh, pretty and very spring-like…. and make me feel like having breakfast. Perfect addition to Easter Baskets!
Here we are at the end of 2018, and I am baking again. The change of one year to the next always makes me think of “Lucky Foods” to ring in the new year. The US South has black eyed peas, Eastern Europeans have pickled herring. In Italy and I believe Spain, you eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. In Germany, there are lots of traditions as well, but I am going with something that implies luck, though not necessarily New Year’s. You see, in English, we have the expression “Lucky Devil” (as in, “You’re such a luck devil for winning the lottery!”). In German, a similar expression is to be a “Glücksschwein” (lucky pig) or “Glückspilz” (lucky mushroom). I had found these cute little cookie cutters at the Christmas Markets in Munich a few weeks ago, so decided to make Glückspilz Spitzbuben (Lucky Mushroom Linzer Cookies) — mainly because I thought that words Glückspilz and Spitzbuben would be funny to say (can’t you tell that I am a linguist by profession?). Filled with apricot and raspberry jam, and sure to bring luck in 2019!
Every year for Christmas, I try to make a torte — aka a fancy cake. It’s really the only time of the year that I make a true cake as I am more of a pie or cupcake kind of person. So this year, I went with a little fancy and a little rustic with this Gingerbread Cake with Maple-Mascarpone Whipped Cream and Rosemary, decorated with gingerbread snowmen. The flavor was terrific though the cake ended up a bit dense. The Maple-Mascarpone Whipped Cream was fantastic … I’m going to have to find some excuse to make it for something else!
So what do you get when you cross pumpkin pie, pecan pie and crumble bars? Well…these things! And I threw in some maple syrup just for good measure! I had found pumpkin butter at Trader Joes, and without any idea what to do with it, I bought a jar. While it has the unfortunate consistency of baby food, it tastes amazing (and *nothing* like baby food!) so I decided to make these Maple Pumpkin Butter and Pecan Crumble Bars. They are simply fab! Perfect thing to add to your Thanksgiving dessert and can be made in advance.