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Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Every year just after Thanksgiving, I start baking cookies by the dozens for our Christmas gift to friends and neighbors. Orange Cranberry Shortbread, Pistachio and Cherry Mexican Wedding Cakes, Chocolate Crinkles, Gingersnaps, and more.

When we finish baking and decorating the cookies, we box them up, then enlist our adult children to help us deliver the cookies throughout the neighborhood.

Traditionally, the baking starts with Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (pictured above). My youngest daughter says that she knows the Christmas season is here when she can smell them baking. I’m glad to accommodate.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on high speed until the mixture is light. Add the egg, vanilla, peppermint, and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.

Add the cocoa and mix on low speed until combined. Then add the flour and mix until well blended.

Pack the dough in a cookie press. Fit the cookie press with your desired design plate. Press out the cookies on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.

Bake until the cookies are firm to the touch, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

 

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Chocolate Raspberry Crème Brulee

A Tribute to Jacquelyn Williams

My sweet mother-in-law, Jackie Williams, passed away a few days ago, nine weeks to the day after my father-in-law, Gene Williams, died. We miss them both.

Jackie was kind and gentle, which led her to pursue a career in nursing. She loved the Savior, her family, and baseball. (Go D-backs!) And tenors. She loved to listen to tenors, especially George Dyer.

Jackie supported my cooking obsession. Whenever I posted a photo on social media of something I had cooked, Jackie always acknowledged my efforts, usually with a single word: “Yummy.” She regularly told me that if I opened a restaurant, she would be the first person in line. I’m glad that she liked my cooking.

For more than 20 years, I have made Christmas Eve Dinner for my family. When Gene and Jackie retired to Arizona, we invited them to join us for our holiday meal. They always came.

One year, I served crème brulee with our meal. It was her first experience with the smooth, creamy dessert. She was hooked.

After that point, whenever I asked my family for suggestions for the holiday menu, Jackie always responded, “Crème brulee.” If the proposed menu included some other dessert, Jackie would sigh, “No crème brulee?” If I made a different dessert, she would remark, “It was good, but it’s not crème brulee.”

She loved crème brulee.

Over the years, I made a number of different versions of crème brulee for our dinner: chocolate, orange, lemon (Gene loved lemons), lime, and raspberry. She loved them all.

A few weeks ago, as we were settling into our lockdown phase of life, I got an urge to make a tart and creamy blend of two of my favorite flavors, chocolate and raspberry.  Jackie liked it. I hope you do as well.

Chocolate Raspberry Crème Brulee

Adapted from The Pastry Chef’s Little Black Book

  • 8 oz. chocolate (72%)
  • 1 qt. heavy cream
  • 8 oz. whole milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean (split & scraped)
  • 4 oz. raspberry puree
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 10 oz. sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside.

In a saucepan, bring the cream, milk, and vanilla bean to a boil.

Stir in the melted chocolate and the raspberry puree, and bring the mixture to a scald.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Slowly add the hot chocolate cream into the egg yolk mixture until smooth and homogenous. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer.

Remove excess air bubbles from the top of the creme brulee custard by placing a piece of plastic wrap or paper towel on the surface and then removing.

Bake in a water bath at 275* until the custard trembles slightly when shaken (about one hour). When the custards have cooled, sprinkle them with turbinado sugar or brown sugar. Use a torch to melt the sugar to form the brulee topping.

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Croissant Bread Pudding with Chocolate, Cherries, and Pecans

For the past 12 years, I have taught a class on Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. It’s a lot of fun. The students are smart, talented, and inquisitive. They help me keep on top of my practice.

This year our final class is on Wednesday, November 28 — Thanksgiving Eve. What better way to start a long holiday weekend than to attend an evening class with an adjunct professor!

We need to celebrate the end of the semester with something sweet and decadent. This Croissant Bread Pudding features the buttery richness of croissants combined with tart cherries, smooth chocolate, toasted pecans, and sumptuous custard.

Earlier this year, I served the bread pudding at a dinner for 40 attorney friends who were in town for a continuing education program. It was a hit, so much so that a friend remarked that she had “embarrassed herself” by going back for multiple servings. I thought she was just showing her good taste.

Don’t embarrass yourself. Try some Croissant Bread Pudding.

Croissant Bread Pudding

  • ¼ cup dried cherries
  • ¼ cup pecans
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 day-old croissants
  • 1 oz. grated bittersweet chocolate

Cover the cherries in a small bowl with boiling water. Let the cherries sit for 20 minutes. Drain then set aside.

Toast the pecans under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Cool the nuts, then chop.

Preheat the oven to 350*. Grease 4 small ovenproof bowls with cooking spray.

Heat the cream in a heavy saucepan. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds into the cream, then add the pod. Simmer over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the bean pod.

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the cream while whisking the egg mixture to prevent the yolks from cooking.

Tear the croissants into 6 pieces each. Cover the croissants with the egg and cream mixture. Allow the croissants to absorb the liquid for about 10 minutes. Then add the cherries.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared bowls. Sprinkle the top of each bowl with chocolate and toasted pecans. Bake for 25 minutes or until set.

Adapted from Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs

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Carrot Cake Bites

 

As a boy, I thought my mother was crazy when she talked about carrot cake. Carrots? In a cake? What could be more absurd?

And then I tried it. Ummm. Yes, carrots belong in a cake.

In all candor, it was the cream cheese frosting that initially won me over. But over time, I have come to appreciate how the frosting interplays with the spiciness of the cake. Carrots keep the cake moist and provide a subtle crunch that is amplified with pecans and shredded coconut.

The hot debate in baking circles is whether raisins belong in carrot cake. I ignore that debate by leaving out raisins and, instead, add dried cranberries, which add a tart sweetness to the cake. Or if I’m feeling adventurous, I add another dried fruit, such as cherries, blueberries, or mangos. Dried fruit adds an intense jolt of flavor that elevates the medley of tastes. When combined with the light citrus flavor of Molly’s Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (see below), the cake bursts into a chorus of flavors that will leave you wanting more.

And so carrot cake has become a tradition at the Gibson home. Most recently, I made carrot cake bites for a dinner party with 40 friends from across the country who were in town for an employment law seminar.

We make carrot cake bites as part of our gift boxes of sweets that we give our neighbors each year at Christmas time. These mini cupcakes are the perfect size for a quick treat.

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And a single batch makes 150 mini cupcakes, so they are easy to share.

The recipe is versatile. I made a carrot cake as a sheet cake for Molly and Matthew’s wedding reception.

From time to time, I hear that such-and-such restaurant or the whatyamacallit bakery makes a great carrot cake. And so, with high hopes, I try the cake. Almost always I’m disappointed. The cake typically is dry and the flavors are mundane.

That’s why you need to try my Carrot Cake Bites.

I won’t tell you that this recipe is the World’s Best Carrot Cake. But I will tell you that it is the best that I have eaten. I hope you like it as well.

Carrot Cake Bites

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 3 cups shredded carrots (about 3 large carrots)
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 325*.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Add the carrots, oil, and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until combined. Mix in the pecans, cranberries, and coconut.

Line a mini-cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill the liner about 3/4 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for 22 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.

Use a pastry bag to frost the cupcakes with Molly’s Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Makes about 150 mini cupcakes.

Alternative Instructions to make a full-sized cake

 

Preheat the over to 325*.

Mix the batter per the instructions above. Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans.

Divide the batter into the two cake pans. Bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack.

Frost the cake with Molly’s Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Molly’s Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 oz. softened unsalted butter
  • 8 oz. softened cream cheese
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, or to taste
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 6-8 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat the mixture until the mixture is smooth.

Add powdered lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until the mixture is light and fluffy.