Holiday Cookies 2009 - Classes

I'll be teaching Holiday Cookies 2009, a demo class, at Shermay's Cooking School on 10 October 2009 (Saturday), 11 October 2009 (Sunday), 24 October 2009 (Saturday) and 25 October 2009 (Sunday) - the October schedule has all the necessary details. For all inquiries, please call the school at +65 6479 8442 or email shermaycs@yahoo.com.sg

Practice makes perfect, they say, and this applies as much to baking a cookie as it does to everything else one may wish to develop some semblance of proficiency at, be it playing Mozart's piano Concerto No. 15 in B-flat Major or pulling off some Nitro Circus-esque freestyle motocross double backflip. Hence the commencement of holiday-themed classes early on, because believe you me, the season will be upon us before we know it, and wouldn't it be nice to have squeezed in a couple of trial runs before the home-baked gifting begins? Anyone touched by the OCD all too well knows that one of the greatest ironies (and least-admitted truths) in life is that the appearance of effortlessness, of seemingly artless perfection, takes effort.

Anyways, before I digress too much...if only all manner of effort were as pleasurable to undertake as the effort undertaken to master a cookie recipe, I can only imagine I would be a whole lot better at a whole bunch of other things!

On the menu:

Pecan Snowballs
Also known as Russian Tea Cakes and Mexican Wedding Cookies, these delectable and delicate special occasion cookies, rich with butter and finely ground pecans, are the very definition of melt-in-the-mouth - most people find it virtually impossible to stop at one when it comes to these buttery morsels.

Basler Brunsli

Flourless, nuanced with spice and kissed with a touch of Kirsch, this scrumptious and utterly unique almond-and-chocolate cookie (using Valrhona Equatoriale Noire 55% Dark Chocolate and Valrhona Cocoa) is based on a Swiss Christmas specialty. The easy-to-handle dough, rolled out thickly, can be cut into any shape you fancy - I especially like little trees (see first picture of post) and stars.

Fig Pillows

If you aren't familiar with buccellati or cucidati, the festive cookie that's a Sicilian favourite, think of these as the haut de gamme cousin of the humble Fig Newton. A sumptuous and complex sticky fig filling - accented with spice and redolent of Marsala - is encased by a friable cinnamon-and-vanilla-bean scented dough, this fig bar really belongs in a league of its own.

Raspberry & Cranberry Crumble Bar Cookies

A crisp brown sugar-and-oatmeal crust topped with a filling of raspberry preserves and dried cranberries, this simple and simply delicious number is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

I'll put up another post soon with details on the Bonus Section with Extra Recipes, Ideas & Serving Suggestions. This includes:

Orange Marmalade & Cherry Bars

A crisp brown sugar-and-oatmeal crust topped with a filling of orange marmalade and dried cherries

Apricot Bars with Orange Blossom Water, Saffron & Pistachios

A crisp brown sugar-and-oatmeal crust topped with a filling of apricot jam flavoured with orange blossom water and saffron

Nutella Bars

A crisp brown sugar-and-oatmeal crust topped with a Nutella filling

Sticky Date Pockets

A sticky date filling encased by a friable cinnamon-and-vanilla scented pastry

Zesty Raisin Stuffed Cookies

A raisin and candied lemon peel filling encased by a friable lemon scented pastry