LIFESTYLES KITCHEN CREATIONS
Chef Ilona Daniel shares some tasty treats that will help create fond holiday traditions
Chef Ilona Daniel shares her favourite recipes, as well as those of readers, just in time for Christmas baking
When I was a little girl, my mom and I would go on our own little adventures together, usually meaning trips to tiny, European bakeries that dotted my hometown.
My mom’s favourites were Empire Cookies: shortbread cookies sandwiched together with raspberry jam and topped with flat white icing and either a glace or maraschino cherry. I remember nibbling on these cookies with my mom in the car.
My mom was a whimsical lady, and one Christmas season, my mom got the notion to blend her and my dad’s cultural heritage and make a very special version of Empire Cookies. I’ve always loved rose-flavoured things, so mom chose to swap out the raspberry jam with rose jam and add a splash of rose water into the flat icing. Our family has never looked back – such a unique treat.
Since my mom passed, my brother has proudly taken up my mom’s pastry-making duties and carries on our holiday cookie tradition.
Here are some festive sweet recipes from kitchens across Atlantic Canada and the special stories that go with each of them. There are even a couple of adapted recipes suitable for celiac and vegan diets alike.
My Mom’s Empire Cookies
For the cookie ½ cup butter ½ cup white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the fillings ½ cup raspberry jam (my mom always used my favourite, rose jam) 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon maraschino cherry syrup 1 tablespoon hot water (or warmed rose water) ¼ cup maraschino cherries, halved
Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder and incorporate into creamed mixture. Be careful not to overmix.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the rolled-out dough with a heart shaped cookie cutter and then place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until very lightly browned at edges. Cool thoroughly. Spread half of the cookies with jam, and top with remaining cookies.
Combine confectioners' sugar, maraschino cherry syrup, and enough hot water to make a thin icing. Frost tops of cookies. Top each with one of the halved cherries.
Lois’s Christmas Biscuits
Contributed by Scottie Miller, Charlottetown
Lois is my mum's best mate, and someone I could and still rely on to be there for me and look after me as if I were her own child.
Please keep in mind, "biscuits" to New Zealanders are cookies, not these delicious meat 'n' gravy-like scones you serve here in North America, which I eat my own body weight in every time my mother-in-law bakes them and I can beat my fatherin-law to them. Even just seeing Lois and her husband, Trevor, out at the wee beach town she lives in near Mum 'n Dad is Kiwi Christmas in summer for me.
¾ cup/175g butter ¼ cup milk 1 egg 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 cup flour 3 cups rolled oats 1 cup Chocolate Chips 1 cup each dried fruit & nuts sunflower/pumpkin seeds
Melt butter in a large pot. Beat milk, egg and vanilla together, add to pot, and add all the other ingredients. Mix well, stir one more time for luck (as per recipe).
Put spoonfuls (roughly the size of a Timbit) on a tray
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
Alva Gavel’s Penuchi Squares
Contributed by Jane Dauphinee, Bridgewater, N.S. CONTINUED ON C8
Most of my recipes are handed down from my mother, who had them handed down to her. I enjoy the challenge of new recipes and experimenting by changing old ones but it’s the recipes that are “tried and true” that I can always depend on.
Our son, Craig, once said he wanted to be a chef like his grandmother. One Christmas, when he was about two years old, she made him a chef hat. He has accomplished many things but he’s a chef at heart!
Makes one 9x13 pan
For the base: ½ cup butter ½ cup brown sugar 2 egg yolks (reserve egg whites and stiffly beat them) 1 tsp vanilla 1 ½ cup flour 1 tsp baking powder
For the topping: ¾ cup brown sugar ½ cup crushed walnuts 2 eggs whites, stiffly beaten
Cream butter, sugar, yolks, vanilla, flour, and baking powder. Spread over the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Cover the base with the stiffly beaten egg whites. Sprinkle the sugar and the walnuts evenly over the whites. Bake at 300 for 25 minutes.
Snowball Cookies
Contributed by Ann Thurlow, Charlottetown
These are the cookies my mother always made. They remind me of her: simple and modest. I always made them to honour her and was pleased to find out that my daughter always looked forward to them, too. I love these cookies because they are very rich but not too sweet. They’re easy - lots of places to get your favourite child to help out. They go by many names, but we just call them snowballs.
Set the oven for 300. Cream one cup of butter. Add 1/4 cup sugar 2 cups flour I cup ground, unblanched almonds 1 tsp vanilla
Mix well. Shape into balls, about an inch and a half in diameter. Roll in confectioners’ sugar.
Place on cookie sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool, roll in sugar again. Makes about 30.
Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies
Contributed by Chef Trisha Gordon, Fredericton, N.B.
While my intention wasn’t to create a recipe that reminded me of my mother’s baking, that is exactly what happened with these cookies. I took a bite, and it was almost like I was eating my mum’s coveted sour cream ginger cake. Piled with whipped cream, it remains one of my favourite food memories.
These cookies are a veganfriendly treat, soft and almost cake-like with a slight crunch from a sprinkling of coarse sugar before baking. Delicious as is, or layer a few with some coco whip and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a simple holiday dessert. I plan to make these for my mum over Christmas and I think she will approve.
Ingredients: Dry 2 1/3 cup whole wheat flour ¾ cup all-purpose flour 1 ½ tsp baking soda 1 ½ tsp cinnamon 2 tsp ground ginger ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp cloves coarse sugar for decorating
Wet ½ cup vegan margarine ½ cup brown cane sugar ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk ½ cup molasses ½ tsp vanilla
Cream together earth balance butter and sugar for about 2 minutes with a hand mixer on medium speed
Mix in one at a time the molasses, vanilla and almond milk.
In a separate bowl add all dry ingredients except coarse sugar and stir to combine.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined, scraping down sides.
Form dough in a disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and pop it in the freezer for 45 minutes, or refrigerate for a few hours to firm up.
Now dust your work surface and cookie dough liberally with all-purpose flour (it will be very sticky).
Roll to ¼ inch thick. Use a circle cookie or biscuit cutter to form cookies. Re-roll scraps until you have used up all the dough. Place on a lined baking sheet 2 inches apart and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake at 375 F for 8-10 minutes
Sugarplums
Contributed by Glenda Truitt, Gander, N.L.
When I was young, we didn’t have sugarplums as part of our usual family Christmas sweets assortment. When I grew up and learned exactly what was being described in “…while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads….” I started making them and now we love them.
There are many different ideas of what a sugarplum should contain; this is just one version. You can finely chop the fruits and nuts by hand, but it’s much faster to use a food processor. They’re really easy to make, but you’ll need to allow for two to three days of drying time before these are ready to serve. (makes 42) Ingredients 6 oz sliced almonds 6 oz dried apricots 8 oz dried prunes (by weight) 1.5 Tbsp ground cinnamon 1 Tbsp icing sugar 1 t ginger powder 1 tsp allspice 1 tsp ground cardamom ½ tsp salt ½ tsp nutmeg zest of one large orange ½ cup runny honey 1 cup white granulated sugar (for rolling)
Pulse together fruit and nuts in food processor until finely chopped, and mixture is just about to form a ball. Scrape out into large bowl and toss with next seven ingredients until dry ingredients are well mixed throughout. Add in zest and honey and stir until mixture is uniform. Taste and add more of the spices, if desired.
Using a teaspoon, scoop mixture and roll into small balls. Mixture will be very sticky so you may want to occasionally wet your hands to help.
Place balls on plates, do not cover, and leave them to “dry” at room temperature overnight and into the next day. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar until coated, place back on plates and allow to dry (uncovered) in the refrigerator overnight and into the next day. Spots of the sugar will have moistened, so roll them once more in the sugar and allow them to dry (uncovered) one more night in the refrigerator. They should now feel dry to the touch and firm. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
Grandma Edith’s Pound Cake
Contributed by Cordell Wells, Charlottetown by way of the Bahamas
This cake is special to my family for many reasons. It’s a recipe that has been handed down from my great-grandmother, Edith, and she then passed it onto my grandmother, then down to my mother and now I have it. This pound cake was also the way my mother welcomed my father home from his fishing trips when he fished for a living. Sometimes she’d switch it up by adding raisins, which was his favourite. Sometimes, she would leave the nutmeg out, only adding it during the holiday season, or she would make a coconut filling that would go in the middle of the cake, or my favourite, adding guava pieces! 4 cups all-purpose flour 3 cups granulated sugar ½ lb. butter, softened ½ lb. margarine, softened 1 cup whole milk 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 8 whole eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat margarine, butter and sugar until really light, fluffy and pale in colour. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after every addition. Then add the vanilla and mix until well combined.
With the mixer on low, add half the flour mixture and mix until just combined, then add the milk, mix until just combined and add the rest of the flour mixture until just combined. Pour cake batter into the pan and position on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown, the edges are coming away from the pan and when a skewer is inserted into the center of the cake, it comes out clean. About an hour.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack for another 15 minutes. Enjoy with tea or coffee.
Ma Millar’s Ice Box Cookies
Contributed by Dorothy Lewis, East Royalty, P.E.I.
I always liked the flavour in these cookies and the inviting smells in the kitchen when they are baking. As a child, I remember thinking they had dimples where the fruit pieces didn’t rise with the dough.
My most vivid memory was coming home from school and the lovely smell throughout the house. I grew up in a three-generation home, and my grandmother was the baker, so as a child I never took part in the baking. I now am the grandmother making these cookies for my family to enjoy. ½ cup butter ½ cup shortening or butter ½ cup white sugar ½ cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 ¼ cup flour 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp soda ½ tsp salt ½ tsp lemon extract ½ tsp vanilla ½ tsp almond extract 1/3 cup walnuts ½ cup candied fruit or red and green candied cherries
Mix together butter, shortening. Add white and brown sugars and mix together. Add eggs and beat until creamy. Add and mix 1/2 cup flour with nut and mixed fruit. Set aside. To butter mixture add remaining flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Add fruit mixture and mix until fruit is evenly mixed through.
Roll cylinder of dough in waxed paper and chill for 1 hour or more.
When chilled, slice and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
Gluten-Free Date Squares
Contributed by Canadian comedian Patrick Ledwell, Charlottetown
I have five siblings and a wonderful mom, and we’ve all been diagnosed celiac.
What is gluten anyway, you ask? Well, try some overthe-counter gluten-free baked goods, and taste what’s not there – mainly moisture and affordability.
This family diagnosis would have sounded a death knell for the traditional sweets we grew up with, if it wasn’t for my gluten-whisperer sister, Jane. She can read an heirloom recipe with half-a-bag of flour, and swap it out with an unmistakable, inspired blend of rice flours, tapiocas and xanthans.
All-purpose gluten-free flours usually don’t end up cutting it, when it comes to texture. This recipe for date squares is a timeless favourite, for new dietary times. It’s even enjoyed by my wife, who forever resents blocks of dates for masquerading as chocolate, when her childhood self raided the baking drawer for snacks
Filling: 500 g (a generous 2 cups) pitted dates 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup hot water
Base/Topping: ¾ cup brown rice flour ¼ cup cornstarch ¼ cup tapioca starch ¼ cup potato starch ½ tsp xanthan gum ½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1 cup butter 1 cup brown sugar 1 ½ cups uncontaminated oats
Mix dates, brown sugar, and hot water in a saucepan and cook on top of the stove over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the dates are soft. Set aside to cool. Sift flours, starches, xanthan gum, soda, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter to make fine crumbs. Blend in brown sugar and rolled oats. Mix well to resemble coarse crumbs. Press half the oat mixture into well-greased 9x13” pan. Cover with date filling and top with crumbles of the remainder of the oat mixture. Pressing gently and evenly to make sure topping is well distributed (it will puff and spread a bit, but not much, as it bakes). Bake at 325 F for 30 to 35 minutes, until topping is puffed and golden. Cut in squares in the pan while hot; cool in the pan before serving.