they now sell crushed candy canes at a local bulk food chain around Christmas, which has saved me SO MUCH time and energy!
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I use an old rolling pin or my trusty ice cracking mallet. Works like a charm.
You do use eye protection when doing that, I hope.
I put the candy canes in a ziplock, then bash them with a hammer. No eye protection needed.
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Me, too or I turn away.
I’m thinking of making up a few trays of cardamom cinnamon rolls for the new year. One for the boy and his family and one for the girl who will roll in later this week and one for us. Not sure what kind of icing…prolly plain old thinned down buttercream. As if I didn’t make enough pülla this season.
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The first time I broke up candy canes, I didn’t use a ziplock.
Although I didn’t get any in my eyes, I spent a lot of time cleaning bits of candy cane from all of nooks and crannies in my kitchen.
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Strawberry jelly rolls, modified from King Arthur’s 2021 Recipe of the Year. I’ve made the original cinnamon version before and the buns are great. Easy to make with good flavor, the tangzhong results in a soft and lasting roll. I’ve also found the recipe a nice vehicle for using up jam surplus. I don’t ice them until serving. Today I used the shorter baking time offered for maximum softness; a few minutes more in the oven will give them a little more color and slightly firmer texture.
This is my final sugary bake of the 2023 holiday season. Happy New Year to all!!!
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Oooo jam vehicle !!
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That’s not a failure!
I miss my meyer lemon trees.
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I wasn’t so sure when it was baking. I had chosen a recipe on a whim, but as I prepared to make it and started comparing it to recipes by established cookbook authors, I started to worry it was fatally flawed. So I changed the crust recipe to one I found in “Baking by Dorie.”
The filling recipe was also very different (much more minimalistic) from many of the established recipes I found, and indeed as I baked it, it refused to firm up even as it got browner and browner on the top. Ultimately, after a couple hours in the fridge, it was acceptable, but quite sticky. Nicely tart flavor. Since it’s about to be citrus season, I plan to repeat the concept, but will use a better recipe.
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I’m glad it turned out nicely tart. As I mentioned above, I use Alice Medrich’s recipe for both the tart crust and curd (as well as any other time I want lemon curd), and her curd recipe calls for equal volumes of sugar and lemon juice. Making it with Meyers, I reduce the sugar by 25%, and though it sounds crazy to use less sugar than lemon juice, the balance is perfectly sweet-tart.
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Thanks for this recommendation - I made them with 1/2 c bread flour (for chewiness) and 1 c TJ’s salted caramel chips (and some butterscotch chips), plus 1/2 c pecans. They were fantastic!
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So glad you liked them! Bread flour is a great idea - I will have to give that a try! I have one bag of those salted caramel chips left. I wish they weren’t seasonal!
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