“I came out of the park. The city streets rose up around me. There was a hotel with a courtyard with metal tables and chairs for people to sit in more clement weather.
Today they were snow-strewn and forlorn. A lattice of wire was strung across the courtyard.
Paper lanterns were hanging from the wires, spheres of vivid orange that blew and trembled in the snow and the thin wind; the sea-grey clouds raced across the sky and the orange lanterns shivered against them.
The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
—Piranesi, Susannah Clarke
Wishing you all a merry Christmas.
This year, as much as a burden as it was a distraction, I decided to make a trigonometry project for my Christmas bake.
It took both my dad and I the better part of an hour to make sure all of my triangles were correct.
In the end, my Christmas lantern was a septagon, ornately decorated, and lit from within.
(I had to line the top with aluminum foil when using the real candle because the whole lantern would have gotten rather toasted.)
A few recommendations for any gingerbread project:
– It’s best practice to sketch out your pattern completely on paper, then cut out cardboard pieces to use on your dough.
– I used 2x the recipe for Stella Parks’ construction gingerbread in this lantern. It’s very reliable and decently edible.
– I like to score all of the lines before baking, but I leave in most of the surrounding gingerbread scraps to prevent too much spreading. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven and still hot, cut through the lines again. Work very quickly, because when construction gingerbread hardens, it cracks easily.
– For royal icing, I use either meringue powder and this recipe or egg whites in the ratio of 1 egg white (28 grams):150 grams of powdered sugar, sifted.
– For gluing your pieces together, I definitely recommend caramel instead of royal icing. It’s much stronger and honestly, easier to use. Melt a 1/2 cup of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it has turned a light golden brown, then turn the heat down to low/simmer to keep the caramel liquid while you dip the edges of your cookies in and then affix them to each other. You can also use a chopstick or toothpick to brush on the caramel, but be advised that it hardens super quickly, so you will have to work very quickly.
– For candles, I used real ones for the photographs, but for decoration purposes afterwards, I have been using these wax covered LED candles, which look fairly realistic.
Christmas, previously:
Cakes:
Alpine dreams come true: gingerbread village complete with ski lift and chalet atop a fluffy mountain cake.
A shaggy little number: coconut cream cheese cake with cranberry curd filling.
Indulgent, gorgeous, and so so French: chestnut, chocolate, and cream croquembouche au craquelin
The cutest little pink number with an even cuter, dinky reindeer: gingerbread house on an orange spice and chocolate cake.
My pride and joy, the most elaborate cake on the blog: la souche de Noël.
A different, more whimsical take on a tree cake: this eggnog-filled, bauble-bedecked Christmas tree.
Golden and gleaming, an almond and orange spice cake.
A classic: red velvet with a winter woodland theme.
The fluffiest of cakes, a chocolate and peppermint cake with marshmallow frosting.
Oldie but a goodie: chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with peppermint buttercream.
Cookies:
A gorgeous mix of textures with cream cheese holly cookies, chocolate pistachio shortbread, and maple/nutmeg/rye trees.
A box full of brownies, coffee bean cookies, maple almond swirls, and lady grey orange sugar cookies.
Simple but effective pistachio and cranberry butter cookies.
Super intricate and crunchy maple and black pepper gingersnaps.
Luster-dust highlighted sugar cookie Christmas trees.
Very grown-up chocolate orange Linzer cookies.
Festive eggnog sugar cookies, decorated with royal icing and sprinkles.
Twists on the classic: honey spice and dark chocolate sugar cookies, perfect for cutting into shapes.
Pepparkakor with lemon royal icing, decorated with mehndi-inspired swirls.
Chocolate peppermint macarons… Macarons are still my nemesis.
Classic Linzer cookies with different fillings.
Maple, nutmeg, and rye sugar cookies, dressed all in winter white.
Chocolate, sour cherry, and coconut cookies; grapefruit butter cookies; and dark chocolate pecan snowcaps, all crammed into one post.
Cinnamon toast crunch marshmallow treats, chocolate peppermint shortbread, Russian teacakes, 5-spice snickerdoodles, another post bursting with recipes.
Whimsical peppermint marshmallow ropes; not cookies per se, but great for gifting.
“There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
— Amanda Gorman
December 25, 2023 at 10:08 pm
[…] A gingerbread lantern, lit from within. A gorgeous mix of textures with cream cheese holly cookies, chocolate pistachio shortbread, and […]