Fruitcake

Fruitcake is not a Christmas tradition in our family since we don't celebrate Christmas per say. Instead, fruitcake is something I would make once in a while because making one fruitcake a year is such an unbearable thought that I want to curl up in fetal position. This is not the kind of fruitcake that you think of, the ones that are being passed down from one generation to another because it's just too horrid to eat. No, this is not the "American" fruit. This is the "European" fruitcake, the ones studded with fruits and enveloped in moist cake with hints of brandy. My family claims that they can't eat anything with alcohol in it so we usually make fruitcakes with no alcohol added or just a small splash after the cake is done. Orange juice can be used to spritz on the cake instead of alcohol. This is mostly done because fruitcakes need to mature for a few weeks and might dried up in the process. Spritzing alcohol or orange juice keeps it moist.

Putting together ingredients for a fruitcake is not an easy task because some of these ingredients might seem foreign to you. Candied peels and candied cherries are a must in our family's fruitcake recipe. If you can't find them in your grocery store, don't fret. Substitute them with existing ingredients, eg. another cup of raisins or another cup of dried apricots. Also, if you can't find candied orange peels and/or candied citron, just add more fruits. I prefer brandy than rum but if you like rum, you can use that instead.

Unfortunately, my family recipe are all in grams (as opposed to cups) and you know how lazy I am. Here's a good recipe I found online from Joe Pastry. I tweaked it a bit and tried to match it like the ones my family made. Just a quick note, candied cherries (glazed cherries) are not maraschino cherries. There are two steps to this recipe, requiring two days of work. Trust me, it's well worth it! This recipe makes 2 fruit cakes.

Step 1 (Day 1):
1 cup sultanas
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup chopped candied cherries (red and green)
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pecans (or almonds)
1 cup chopped candied orange peels
1 cup chopped candied citron
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup brandy
1/4 cup orange juice

Combine fruits and nuts in a large bowl and mix. Make sure you use a large bowl because you'll need to mix these ingredients around. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and let it macerate overnight at room temperature. I've seen people macerating the fruits for a week so, you can do that and leave them inside the fridge.

Step 2 (Day 2):
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
 Some brandy (for spritzing)

Cream butter and dark brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add in eggs, one by one, until well mixed. Add in vanilla extract. Beat until light and fluffy about 3 minutes.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add into the creamed mixture. Beat until well mixed.

Pour macerated fruits and nuts into the batter. Mix until it forms a thick batter.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Spray baking spray on 2 loaf pans. Line them with parchment paper and spray more baking spray on the loaf pans. Pour batter into the loaf pans. Bake in the oven for 2 hours or until cooked.

After cakes are cooled, spritz some brandy over the cake and wrap with parchment paper and aluminum foil.

Check the cake every other day and spritz more brandy if it's dry. You can serve the cake the next day or let it develop it's flavor in two weeks before serving. Store fruitcake in the fridge or somewhere cool.

Butter Spritz Cookies With Jam

This is the same as the Butter Spritz Cookies except you put jam in the middle of the cookie. Any jam of your choice is fine. Two tips on making successful spritz cookies: NEVER greased the cookie sheet. Run the cookie sheet in cold water after every batch to make the sheet cool again so the cookie sticks to the sheet.

1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Jam of your choice.

Combine everything except flour to a mixing bowl. Beat at a medium speed for 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add flour. Beat at a low speed for 3 more minutes, scraping the sides often.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place dough inside a cookie gun. Using your desired template (flower shaped ones work best), press cookie onto cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Using a piping bag or a ziploc bag, pipe some jam on the center of the cookies.

My partner and contributing author, Praetorblue, is proud of his cookie gun creations.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool cookies before storing them away. Makes about 5 dozens.

Gingerbread Spritz Cookies

This recipe is for those who can't be bothered with rolling on cookies dough and then pressing them with a cookie cutter (me!). A classic recipe done in the style of "spritz". I used the pine tree template and decorated them with sugar confetti to make it look like Christmas trees. Two tips on making successful spritz cookies: NEVER greased the cookie sheet. Run the cookie sheet in cold water after every batch to make the sheet cool again so the cookie sticks to the sheet.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

In a mixing bowl, beat butter, molasses and brown sugar for 1 minute. Add in egg and vanilla essence. Beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Add to creamed mixture and beat until thoroughly mixed.

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Add cookie dough into the cookie gun and press them on ungreased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Let it cool before storing in a container. Makes about 5 dozens.

Butter Spritz Cookies

These cookies are colored with green food coloring and sprinkled with pastel confetti sprinkles. 

Looks like Christmas trees, don' they?

Spritz cookies are cookies that come out of a cookie gun. The word "spritz" comes from the German word "spritzen" meaning to spray. I've recently bought a cookie gun from Wilton's (Cookie Pro™ Ultra II) and it's a pretty good product. I remember making these cookies when I was in Malaysia with my aunts in preparation for Chinese New Year. These cookies are fun to make and are relatively easy. The cookie gun comes with a wide variety of templates so your cookies can be a different every time you make them! You can decorate them with colored sugar, candy confetti, candied cherries, etc. Two tips on making successful spritz cookies: NEVER greased the cookie sheet. Run the cookie sheet in cold water after every batch to make the sheet cool again so the cookie sticks to the sheet. Here's a basic butter spritz cookie recipe.
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine everything except flour to a mixing bowl. Beat at a medium speed for 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add flour. Beat at a low speed for 3 more minutes, scraping the sides often.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place dough inside a cookie gun. Using your desired template, press cookie onto cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool cookies before storing them away. Makes about 5 dozens.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

My partner said "Everything taste good wrapped in bacon!". Indeed he's right. It's tricky to cook bacon wrapped shrimp because shrimps generally take less time to cook than bacon. So, in order to get the shrimp and bacon done at the same time (while not having overcooked chewy shrimp or worse uncooked bacon), choose large shrimp and thin sliced bacon. I'm using "extra jumbo" shrimps in this recipe, which basically has 16-10 count per pound. You can de-vein the shrimps if you want but I generally do not bother doing it. If you are using medium sized or small shrimp, you can microwave the bacon for 2 minutes to get a head start.

1 lb. shrimp, 16-20 count (shelled, with tail on)
1 package bacon, cut slices into halves.
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Wooden skewers or picks

Mix shrimps with Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper. Wrap them with bacon and secure with wooden skewers or picks.

Grill on each side for 2 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp.

Grilled Asparagus ... With Bacon?

Here's a quick and easy way to prepare asparagus. Grilling them! What's better? Wrap them in bacon and then grilling them! I don't really have a measurement for this recipe, just get some asparagus and grill them. If you want to wrap them in bacon and then grill them, just get a package of bacon (although you want to avoid the thick cut ones). And congratulations, you just became the hero of meat eaters and vegetarians alike!

Asparagus
Salt and pepper to taste
A drizzle of olive oil (you don't need it if you're using bacon)
Bacon (cut slices in half)
Wooden skewers or picks

Wash and clean asparagus. Trim the fibrous stem.

If you're wrapping the asparagus with bacon, this is the time when you want to wrap them. Continue until you've finished wrapping the asparagus. Skewer two or three of these wrapped asparagus together. This will make turning them easier when grilling. Season with salt and pepper. In a hot grill, grill for about 2 minutes on each sides. Serve warm.

If you're just grilling the asparagus as is, skewer two of three of them together. This will make turning them easier when grilling. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper. In a hot grill, grill for about 2 minutes on each sides. More if you don't like your asparagus al dente. Serve warm with some Parmesan cheese or balsamic vinegar.

Teriyaki Baked Salmon

I saw really fresh salmon fillets the other day when went to Whole Foods and decided I should get some. I haven't cooked fish in a while and thought this would be good paired with the oyster mushrooms I've got the day before. You don't need to use oyster mushrooms for this recipe but it adds more texture to the dish and goes well with the marinate as well.

Salmon fillet (about 2 lbs.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 lbs. oyster mushroom, break into small clumps (optional)

Marinate fish with olive oil, chili flakes, dried rosemary, salt and pepper . Let it sit for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place fish in a baking dish and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, mix teriyaki sauce, sugar and sesame oil together. Microwave mixture for 2 minutes. Mix until sugar dissolves. Take the fish out and pour teriyaki mixture on top of fish. If you are using oyster mushrooms, this is the time you want to add it into the baking dish.Put them on the side of the fish, not on top.

Bake for about another 30 minutes, basting and turning the mushrooms occasionally. The doneness of the fish really depends on what type fillet you use (a big piece or a few pieces). Fish is done when it’s flaky.

If most of the marinate sticks to the bottom of the baking dish, you can use more teriyaki sauce or water to deglaze it for extra robust sauce.