i hope everyone had a fantastic holiday or at the very least a great weekend. i still have one lingering house guest (my little brother) and not much time to post, so this will be short.

christmas with sean’s fam was great and only made better since my family came for a visit over the weekend. sean and i received a wonderful gift (camera!) from his parents that i could not appreciate more. and my mother…always thoughtful…sent along a few fun items that just make me so happy (notice the mini cake stands…they came with domes too!). on the other hand, the gifts we gave were well recieved, which is my favorite part of christmas…i love to pick a gift and know that the recipient will love it. it really is a joy.

these mini bundts are just the donut muffins batter baked up bundt-style. i think they are super cute on my new stands.

i l-o-v-e the holidays and christmas is here! i think i get my enthusiasm for the holiday from my mom, who didn’t celebrate the holiday until moving here from South Korea when i was a toddler. so many memories, so much excitement and preparation! i can’t even contain myself!

luxe

jezebel

so, here are some things i made (truffles and pb&j shortbread) for my people and some photos of the pups given to us by some friends…thanks danny and jackie!

merry christmas and happy holidays to everyone! i hope that you all travel safely and stay warm and cozy…spend some time hugging your fam and friends. eat, drink and be merry!

oh my. it seems like it has been forever since i have even taken a glance at this blog…but really it has been about a week.

friday was busy and disasterous. i stood in line at the photo kiosk waiting to print digital pictures for and HOUR AND 15 BLEEPING MINUTES to only be turned away by the very (un)friendly photo man. he said, “oh, this machine is broken…” and proceeded to put an “i’m broken” sign over the monitor. i swear my jaw hit that dirty linoleum so hard it had to have echoed. after that i went to a different store with photo kiosks and promptly locked my only key in the car. awesome…not only because i have only one key, but because i did the same thing a week before (i know, get another key made). when i got home (after the future-bro-in-law and the mailman liberated my keys) i made a cranberry coffee cake for sean’s company party…only to drop half of it on the floor. even more awesome. the one thing i did accomplish was this biscotti and it is wonderful. big sigh…big, big sigh.

oh, and it snowed! we are expecting more today and tomorrow. here is the view from my balcony.

chocolate biscotti
from baking: from my home to yours (surprise!)

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted, room temp butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup almonds (i used slivered)
4 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
sugar for dusting

center rack in oven and preheat to 350 F. line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

sift, flour, cocoa, espresso, baking soda and powder, and salt together in a bowl. set aside.

beat butter and sugar in a mixer until pale, about 2 minutes. mixture may be crumbly. scrape down sides of bowl and add eggs and vanilla, beat 2 minutes more…mixture may look curdled. reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients in 3 additions, just until dough forms. scrape down sides and mix in nuts and chocolate. turn out dough and knead in any dry ingredients.

divide dough in half and roll each piece into a 12 inch log. flatten each with palm of hand and dust with sugar. they should be 1/2-1 inch high and about 2 inches across.

bake for 25 minutes and allow to cool for 20 minutes (leave the oven on). they will have spread and cracked in the oven. with a serrated knife cut each log into 1/2-3/4 inch slices. stand slices on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes more. transfer to a rack to cool and enjoy!

they will keep very well in a cookie jar or a basket for over a week.

i have been eying the recipe from dorie for golden brioche loaves and the recipe right after it for pecan honey sticky buns for a long, long while. i cannot even express how sad i am that i waited so long. the brioche is magic…buttery and tender and absolutely luscious with a bit more butter spread across it. we ate the whole loaf before the day was over. i also made a half batch of the sticky buns and they were equally amazing…perfectly sticky and tender with just the right amount of spice. not to mention pecans and honey are two of my favorite things ever.

i made the dough saturday evening and sunday by noon (i like to sleep in a little bit at least once a week…okay?) the house was warm with the aroma of buttery-bready deliciousness. i am making a double batch this weekend to make more sticky buns. a pan is going to be frozen and given to my mom and mel for christmas morning, a pan for my best pal brooke (upon request), and a pan for her family who are very near and dear to my heart. i wish i could share these with everyone. and though the process was long and took a little timing it was worth it…the results were divine and perfect for munching while unwrapping gifts and sipping mimosas in front of the fire christmas morning…because we should all know that is definitly how i will be doing it up for the holiday.

pecan honey sticky buns
adapted from baking: from my home to yours
i reduced the recipe for the glaze and filling because i only baked half a batch of buns. i also didn’t have any brown sugar on hand so i used all white with yummy results. next time i will use brown sugar too.

glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup pecans, chopped coarsely

filling:
5 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp softened butter

for the buns:
1/4 recipe golden brioche loaves (pg. 48 in the book and below)
*make the full recipe and divide after allowing to refrigerate overnight.

making the glaze and filling:
in a medium sauce pan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. pour the glaze into a buttered 8×8 pan.

combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. work butter in another bowl if needed to ensure spreadability and loveliness.

making the buns:
on a flour dusted work surface roll out the chilled dough into a square (i rolled it to about a 1/4 inch). spread softened butter over the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar leaving a 1 inch border on the side farthest from you. starting with the closest edge roll the dought tightly into a cylinder (you can wrap it and freeze it at this point). with a sharp knife, in a gentle sawing motion, cut the cylinder into 1 inch rounds and arrange in pan on top of glaze. cover and allow to rise for about 1 hr 45 mins. they will be puffy and soft.

center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375 F. uncover and place on a baking sheet. bake for about 30 mins or until buns are puffed and golden. unmold very soon after baking so glaze does not harden to pan. the glaze will be super hot and sticky and delicious.

golden brioche loaves
all of this can be done by hand with a wooden spoon…but i am not that ambitious. heck no.

2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm to touch water
1/3 cup warm to touch whole milk
3 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
3 large eggs at room temp
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks room temp butter

for egg wash:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

place yeast, water and milk into stand mixer and stir until yeast is dissolved. add flour and salt and using the dough hook (or wooden spoon and no mixer if you are cooler than me…which you very well may be). cover mixer with a kitchen towel and turn on and off in short pulses until flour is dampened. remove towel and turn to medium mixing for a minute or two. you will have a kind of dry and shaggy mass (or mess…whatever).

scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, turn mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. increase to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until dough comes together to form a ball. reduce to low and add butter in 2 tbsp chunks, not adding more until the butter before is nearlly all the way incoporated. the dough will be very soft and batter-like. increase speed to high and beat for about 1 minutes…the douch will pull away from the sides of the bowl.

transfer to a large clean bowl and cover with plastic. allow to double in size (about 40-60 mins depending on room temp). deflate by lifting the deges and allowing dough to slap back into bowl. cover and refrigerate, slapping down dough every 30 minutes for about 2 hours…until dough stops rising. leave dough covered in refrigerator overnight.

to make loaves:
cut chilled dough into 2 equal pieces and divide each piece into quarters. roll quarters into logs and place into loaf pans crosswise–four logs per pan, this allows for the loaves to be easily pulled apart and devoured after baking. cover and allow to rise 1-2 hours or until loaves are puffed and fill the pans.

center a rack in the oven and preheat to 400 F (this is what the recipe suggests, but i think i will lower the temp for my oven next time to 375…my loaves were a bit more than golden).

brush risen loaves with egg wash and bake loaves on a baking sheet until well risen and deep gold–about 30-35 minutes. transfer to cooling rack for 15 minutes before turning out.

the fever is for rice pudding and the wish for snow comes from my morning drive today. i can’t take credit for the title, i have to hand that to sam beam…who breaks my heart (in that good, tender, beautiful way…you know what i mean) every time i listen to his music.

but, i digress, lets talk about the rice pudding and the sugar play that commenced after my drive. this morning i drove halfway across the desert to meet my mom and trade cars ( i lost my car key in utah! and had to have a new one made, so i borrowed my mom’s car for the week). i went by myself–which was nice, since sometimes i like to be alone with my thoughts…and so i can sing unabashedly to my favorite songs (enter sb and rocky). in the car i decided i would make a spoon dessert, something comforting and warmly spiced, and i have been thinking about rice pudding for a long time. longer than is probably normal and sane. then, i started thinking about the arroz con leche creme brulee that aran made a while back, so i thought i’d do that. when i got home i realized i didn’t have any turbinado sugar and since i was feeling adventurous i decided to play with some cinnamon sugar.

after the sugar came into the picture i nearly forgot about the creamy, wonderfully lovely rice pudding. the sugar, as i was photographing it, began to remind me of snowflakes and icicles and bare tree branches and i realized i really, really want it to snow already…just for the holidays. plus, i took these photos in the late afternoon and they are kind of dark and cold looking, which makes me want to have a crackling fire to sit by and a blanket to cuddle up in and some snow on the ground to hide away from. i know, i know, i will be cursing the snow the minute it melts in the nevada sun and freezes into a thin layer of death on the roads in the evening, but i can’t help it. i love a white christmas.

anyway…thank you sam and aran for the inspiration and helen for the recipes.

rice pudding
adapted from the wonderful helen of tartlette.

3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 oz rice
1 vanilla bean
1 oz. butter
1 egg, beaten lightly

in a medium sauce pan combine milk, sugar, cinnamon, rice, and vanilla bean (scraped, with pod added). cook over medium until rice is tender. remove from the heat and quickly whisk in egg and butter. return to heat and cook over med-low for a few more minutes until thickened. divide into serving cups and chill…or not.

sugar fun!
also adapted from helen…thanks again.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp corn syrup
3 tbsp water

add sugar, syrup and water to a pan. bring to a boil and cook until thermometer reaches 300F.
from here i basically swirled in the cinnamon and poured everything onto a parchment line baking sheet and with chopsticks i swirled the sugar onto a plate in a circular motion. it was fun times.