Christmas baking!

This year, I also went for baked goods for Christmas presents. I made a rough list of the number of people I was baking for (47!), then got to work! I procrastinated a bit, and started baking on December 23rd.

First up, I made 2 batches of Spéculoos cookies. Some are flower-shaped, but most are star-shaped, because I felt they fit the purpose better.

I followed up with a Cheesecake Crumble to bring to the family party:

I also had some leftover lemon-flavored mini cheesecakes, so I topped them with some forest fruit jam, and sent them along for the other side of the family's party.

The next day (24th), I rushed to try to make chocolate bark. I wanted to make peppermint bark, but the general stores around here don't carry peppermint candy canes, and the one store that I found that had some had sold out... So I had this vague plan of trying to melt down some other peppermint candy and using that instead, but that plan went literally down the drain as it failed beyond saving.

I settled for crushed pistachios (they're colorful... and go well with chocolate). Being my first time making this kind of stuff, I made the chocolate layers way too thick. Oh wells.

Quick snapshots of the cookies and chocolate in a pretty arrangement.

I cut each of the pieces in the picture into 2-3 pieces to make them more enjoyable to eat, and settled to package them with the spéculoos cookies.

---

SPECULOOS RECIPE

  Ingredients

• 250 g (2 cups) flour
• 100 g (7 tbs) butter or margarine (margarine makes it vegan but softer)
• 150 g (12-13 tbs) brown sugar
• 2 g (1/2 tsp) baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 4-5 tbs cold water

  Procedure

1. Take butter out ahead of time to let it soften.
2. Preheat oven at 180°C (350°F).
3. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
4. Cut in softened butter and rub into the flour into a sandy mix.
5. Add water progressively until it comes together into a smooth dough.
6. Roll out and cut into desired shapes.
7. Bake for 15 mins.