Work, recipes, and cheating at both.
I can't believe how busy we get at Christmas time. I know I talk about it throughout the year, but it gets so crazy that it still surprises me. This year it's because not only did we have Big Corporate Company's Yearly Thing for 1,000 people, but this new sales rep is scheduling parties and then letting the kitchen know either the day before, or the day of. Which, okay, if it were for 20 people that wouldn't be bad. But usually they're for 400. dhaskdhjsalskaksalks I hate her. This upcoming Wednesday we have a party for 3,000 people, happy-hour style. Only we've got to do 7,500 desserts, and...I really think that's over-kill. Like, massive-leftovers for Brunch three times over-overkill.
But the party I'm most excited about is the Egyptian-themed party coming up! I'm adapting some of our current recipes to suit this party as we speak, kind of, and here's one of them! That's what I mean by cheating, lol: it's not really Egyptian, but when I was researching, the things that kept coming up were the uses of dried fruits (reconstituted or not), teas as a popular drink, honey, and spices. So I adapted our madeleine recipe! I thought about using chai tea instead of plain black tea (I use whatever we have at the shop), but I don't think it would get the spice flavor through. I'm tempted to add cloves and ginger, too, to kind of get a chai thing going on.
I know, I know: madeleines are traditionally French. Well...shhh.
'Egyptian' madeleines:
3 cups flour
1 stick of butter (1/4 1b)
8 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon strong black tea (instead of vanilla, so it should be very strong)
2 teaspoons tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon cinnamon
1/2 cup purple raisins
1/2 cups golden raisins
pinch of salt
Whisk dry ingredients together. Melt butter and honey together, and add in the tea. Add the raisins to this to stew them. Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, until the butter-honey-raisin mixture is cool. Add the dry ingredients to the eggs, and once it's all incorporated, add in the butter-honey mixture.
The batter should be chilled for 30 minutes at least, and up to 8 hours. After chilling, butter your madeleine pan very well (or use baking spray, like me), and scoop the batter into the shapes, about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees, until the cakes have risen, and are golden-brown along the edges, 7-10 minutes.
This makes 30-40 madeleine (I divided my normal recipe by 4). If you only have one pan, that's fine; scoop as many as will fit, put the bowl back in the fridge, and scoop some more once the baked cakes are ready to be popped out of the pan.
This recipe also makes a nice, sweet and spiced breakfast bread if you have a loaf pan, like the recipe, but don't have a madeleine pan.
Here he another recipe we're trying, and this is me cheating again. Traditional kahk is a chore to make, so I've taken the "almond bracelet" recipes I've seen, and adapted it to suit my purposes better. Of course, I'll use orange juice (or maybe even some Grand Marnier!) in the recipes rather than orange blossom water. Or maybe I'll go buy some.
Kahk bi Loz/traditional kahk hybrid:
5 cups of almonds, ground well
2 ½ cups of powder sugar (10x, the finest ground possible, works best)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg white
Beat the egg white until a stiff peak is formed. Mix almonds and sugar together, and fold it into the whites.
Add the orange blossom water/orange juice/Grand Marnier/Triple Sec + orange zest, just enough to form a dryish paste. (I guess I could take some orange peel and boil it to get the flavor I'm looking for, but I like the idea of the liquor. :D)
The site now says to (for the original, unaltered recipe,) "knead the paste well and roll into thin sausages about 5 inches long. Bring the ends together forming bracelets the size of a small napkin ring."
I'll probably do that, but I see no reason it couldn't be rolled into a ball and garnished with an almond or an almond slice on top.
But anyway, yes. Work is consuming me, body, mind, and soul.
Thank you for all of the Snowflake cookies! You people are awesome. They really made me smile, a couple of days when I really needed it.
Other than that, I am excited for the return of Chuck, I miss Supernatural, and I love White Collar (and really, most shows on USA, and I am omgsoEXCITED for ALL OF THEM to be returning at pretty much the same time!) And...I need to finish my Christmas shopping.
I love you all!
But the party I'm most excited about is the Egyptian-themed party coming up! I'm adapting some of our current recipes to suit this party as we speak, kind of, and here's one of them! That's what I mean by cheating, lol: it's not really Egyptian, but when I was researching, the things that kept coming up were the uses of dried fruits (reconstituted or not), teas as a popular drink, honey, and spices. So I adapted our madeleine recipe! I thought about using chai tea instead of plain black tea (I use whatever we have at the shop), but I don't think it would get the spice flavor through. I'm tempted to add cloves and ginger, too, to kind of get a chai thing going on.
I know, I know: madeleines are traditionally French. Well...shhh.
'Egyptian' madeleines:
3 cups flour
1 stick of butter (1/4 1b)
8 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon strong black tea (instead of vanilla, so it should be very strong)
2 teaspoons tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon cinnamon
1/2 cup purple raisins
1/2 cups golden raisins
pinch of salt
Whisk dry ingredients together. Melt butter and honey together, and add in the tea. Add the raisins to this to stew them. Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, until the butter-honey-raisin mixture is cool. Add the dry ingredients to the eggs, and once it's all incorporated, add in the butter-honey mixture.
The batter should be chilled for 30 minutes at least, and up to 8 hours. After chilling, butter your madeleine pan very well (or use baking spray, like me), and scoop the batter into the shapes, about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees, until the cakes have risen, and are golden-brown along the edges, 7-10 minutes.
This makes 30-40 madeleine (I divided my normal recipe by 4). If you only have one pan, that's fine; scoop as many as will fit, put the bowl back in the fridge, and scoop some more once the baked cakes are ready to be popped out of the pan.
This recipe also makes a nice, sweet and spiced breakfast bread if you have a loaf pan, like the recipe, but don't have a madeleine pan.
Here he another recipe we're trying, and this is me cheating again. Traditional kahk is a chore to make, so I've taken the "almond bracelet" recipes I've seen, and adapted it to suit my purposes better. Of course, I'll use orange juice (or maybe even some Grand Marnier!) in the recipes rather than orange blossom water. Or maybe I'll go buy some.
Kahk bi Loz/traditional kahk hybrid:
5 cups of almonds, ground well
2 ½ cups of powder sugar (10x, the finest ground possible, works best)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg white
Beat the egg white until a stiff peak is formed. Mix almonds and sugar together, and fold it into the whites.
Add the orange blossom water/orange juice/Grand Marnier/Triple Sec + orange zest, just enough to form a dryish paste. (I guess I could take some orange peel and boil it to get the flavor I'm looking for, but I like the idea of the liquor. :D)
The site now says to (for the original, unaltered recipe,) "knead the paste well and roll into thin sausages about 5 inches long. Bring the ends together forming bracelets the size of a small napkin ring."
I'll probably do that, but I see no reason it couldn't be rolled into a ball and garnished with an almond or an almond slice on top.
But anyway, yes. Work is consuming me, body, mind, and soul.
Thank you for all of the Snowflake cookies! You people are awesome. They really made me smile, a couple of days when I really needed it.
Other than that, I am excited for the return of Chuck, I miss Supernatural, and I love White Collar (and really, most shows on USA, and I am omgsoEXCITED for ALL OF THEM to be returning at pretty much the same time!) And...I need to finish my Christmas shopping.
I love you all!