PASTRY WIZ

Here is the spot for all those holiday baking needs. Helpful hints, great receipts from all over the world, and, to top it all, they are good bakers too. All available at and more.
Cinnamon Stars (yield 80 pieces) 3 egg whites 8 oz. powdered sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 4 drops almond extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon 14 oz. ground almonds Whip egg whites to a peak. Sift powdered sugar and slowly add to egg whites. Set aside 3 tablespoons of egg whites to decorate cookies. Add vanilla, almond extract, cinnamon and ground almonds. Put dough into a plastic bag and roll out to about 1/4 inch. Refrigerate bag for about 15 minutes. Cut bag open. Cut out cookies with a 2 inch star shaped cookie cutter and transfer onto baking pan lined with parchment paper. Brush cookies with egg whites Bake at 250 F for approximately 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 210 F and bake for another 30 minutes. The brushed egg whites should remain white. (approximately 40 calories per cookie). Tip: You can use ground hazelnuts instead of ground almonds
2 oz. currants 2 oz. raisins 2 oz. candied orange 2 oz. candied lemon 4 tablespoons rum 5 oz. butter 12 oz. flour 1/4 oz. dry yeast 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pinch salt 1 zest of 1 lemon 2 eggs 4 oz. ground almonds 3 cups of milk 3 oz. butter to brush stollen 3 oz. powdered sugar to decorate stollen Mix currants, raisins, orange, lemon and rum and let stand overnight. Mix flour, yeast, sugar, vanilla, salt and zest of lemon. Melt butter. Mix butter, eggs, almonds and add to flour. Slowly add lukewarm milk and mix well. Let stand unrefrigerated for at least 2 hours until the dough has risen visibly. Add the rum and fruit mixture to the dough. Let the dough rise for another 2 hours. Shape the dough into an oval. Press a rolling pin into the middle of the dough once (see picture) and fold dough in half. Put dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for approximately 1 hour. Brush stollen immediately with melted butter and powdered sugar. Repeat until butter and sugar are used up. Stollen should have a thick, white layer. (approximately 270 calories per slice). Tip: The bigger the stollen the more moist and tasteful it will be. You can double the recipe, just bake the stollen for another 1/2 hour. If the stollen is getting a little too dark, cover it with parchment paper for the rest of the baking time.
Rum Truffle (yield 50 pieces) 10 oz bittersweet chocolate 5 oz. whipping cream 2 oz butter 1/2 cup rum 4 oz. cocoa powder Using a water bath, melt pieces of chocolate in whipping cream. Add butter. After chocolate and butter are melted, let mixture cool down. Once mixture has somewhat hardened, whip it up, slowly adding rum.Using a pastry bag pipe walnut-sized mounds onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum paper. Freeze for at least 30 minutes or until firm. Using your hand, form the truffle into little balls and roll them in the cocoa powder. (approximately 55 calories per piece).


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