Holiday baking

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:53 pm

Yay! (You know what they say: misery loves company.

)

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:01 pm

So...
Hyperception has gotten on an eggnog kick.
But, he's also trying to go low carb again

(not that it doesn't work for him, I just feel yo-yo'ing back and forth can be really harmful for his system)

...anyway...

He wants me to take the Martha Stewart recipe, sans the alcohol, and substitute Splenda Granulated for the super fine sugar in the custard base. Since the whites and heavy cream are each whipped and folded into the custard separately, and the sugar is only used to cream and sweeten the yolks, my instinct is telling me this should work.

Opinion, anyone?

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:37 pm

Funny this should come up. I was looking at the Splenda box last night, waiting for water to heat for tea.

If the sugar is used only to sweeten, you should be okay. You could make a test batch -- whip an egg yolk with some sugar and another with some Splenda, and see if the consistency is about the same. If so, you're golden.

I think it's mainly in baking that you run into trouble with the substitution. Do you have to cook eggnog? I've never made it from scratch.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:54 pm

aliantha wrote:Funny this should come up. I was looking at the Splenda box last night, waiting for water to heat for tea.

If the sugar is used only to sweeten, you should be okay. You could make a test batch -- whip an egg yolk with some sugar and another with some Splenda, and see if the consistency is about the same. If so, you're golden.

I think it's mainly in baking that you run into trouble with the substitution.

Thanks ali.

aliantha wrote:Do you have to cook eggnog? I've never made it from scratch.

No...
Many people won't drink home made eggnog because it is made with raw eggs.
But, we live a little dangerously here...

I know, we could buy pasteurized eggs, or maybe even attempt making it with coddled eggs. But... *shrug*

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:46 pm

Bah. The risk of contracting food poisoning from raw eggs is vastly overblown.

If one looks at studies which have been done to analyse the risks of contracting salmonella from raw eggs, it is surprising to find out how low this risk actually is. A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002 (Risk Analysis April 2002 22(2):203-18 ) indicates that only 2.3 million, out of the 69 billion eggs produced annually, are contaminated with salmonella.

So this really means that only 0.003 % of eggs are infected. Viewed another way, only 1 in every 30,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella, which shows how uncommon this problem actually is.

Based on those numbers, the average person would come across a contaminated egg only once in 42 years.

Got it from here, referring to this study.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:19 pm

As I figured.

Post by **aliantha** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 12:43 am

Well, it's that time again.

The baking commences tonight.

This year, as an added attraction, the Secretarial Department is having a cookie exchange on Monday, so I need to at least have the mint meringues done by then. To make matters worse, during my 10th anniversary party a couple of weeks ago, both of my attorneys waxed rhapsodic about the cookies I give them every year for Christmas (in Chris's case, complete with critiques on my performance over the years

). So the pressure's on!

This year's lineup:

Cream cheese sugar cookies with the edible paint icing
Almond horns
Triple-chocolate almond biscotti
Toll House oatmeal bars
The aforementioned mint meringues
Raspberry-oatmeal bars
Kolache cookies (which I won't make 'til after Magickmaker comes home)
...and spiced pecans and peppermint bark.

The edible paint icing worked so well last year that I made boy-shaped sugar cookies at Halloween, frosted them with white icing, gave them red-hots for eyes and called them mummy cookies. Then I shipped them off to the girls with a note: "Happy Samhain from your Mummy."

Batty didn't get it, which made me sad. (I blame the altitude...) (Glad I re-read this thread -- I am now reminded not to go overboard on the blue food coloring in the icing.)

Anyhow...I am also pleased to report that I have solved the peppermint bark dilemma.

Altho to do it, I had to shell out big bucks on the intarwebs for a thing called a Ghirardelli "candy making and dipping bar" in white and semi-sweet chocolate. The bad news is that the stuff only comes in 1 lb. bars, which is *way* more than I need for the peppermint bark. The good news is that I had plenty for a test-run a few weeks ago, and it was very tasty. Yay!

And yes, the list of treats is shorter this year. I do learn eventually...

Okay, enough stalling. Those biscotti ain't gonna make themselves....

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:04 am

yumm...

You have my home address somewhere...

Post by **aliantha** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:30 am

If there are any left after the cookie exchange and the gifts for my attorneys and Magickmaker's homecoming next Friday...

Post by **stonemaybe** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:43 pm

But! You didn't put any noobs in that one!

Post by **aliantha** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:04 am

New recipes, you mean? The biscotti aren't totally new -- I've made them once before -- but I didn't make them last year.

I tend to stick to the tried-and-true. I always make the Toll House oatmeal bars (they're my favorites

), and I'd be shot at sunrise by certain family members if I didn't make the meringues.

The almond horns were new to the lineup last year and went over well so I kept them on this year; ditto the raspberry bars.

Funny thing about the almond horns. They're one of the cookies that my mom always made at Christmas but I've never bothered with. Her annual lineup, which *never* varied: Toll House oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, almond horns, pecan balls, and cookie-press cookies. (I have her old cookie press now but have never been inclined to use it. It seemed to me to be a lot of trouble for an end product that didn't taste all the great. But YMMV.

)

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:08 am

aliantha wrote:New recipes, you mean? The biscotti aren't totally new -- I've made them once before -- but I didn't make them last year.

*unsure if you're jesting back at Stone or not, but just in case you're not*
I know you saw this, as you replied to it...

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=742741#742741

Post by **aliantha** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:11 am

I forgot about that. I don't *really* eat noobs....

Post by **stonemaybe** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:34 pm

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Holiday baking