Monday, December 22, 2003
Fruit and Nut Breads
Yesterday was all day baking for fruit and nut breads of a wide variety: pumpkin pecan, tropical fruit, pecan sweeties, cranberry orange, double chocolate almond, chocolate haze - lenut, country apple spice, spotted loaf, cherry almond streusel, peary pecan, dense chocolate walnut with lemon sauce, hidden treasures (chocolate dipped dried fruits and alcohol - frangelico or amaretto - in the batter), and more.
Co-workers are the lucky recipients of the extras.
And for a decorative touch, we dipped the ends of Nutter Butters in white chocolate. One end was then dipped into red sugar and a white chip added for a pompom. Beneath it, we added micro chocolate chips for eyes, and a dot of red gel for the nose. The bottom coat of white chocolate, we dipped in flaked coconut. End result - a cute "santa" to decorate the plates of sliced nut breads we handed out.
This "santa" isn't somethign we could sell in the bakery as is, because we used commercial cookies. But - if we make our own hourglass shaped sandwich cookies, we could. I'm thinking Katzen zungen molds, or perhaps lady finger molds to make the cookies...
And maybe a more delicate cookie - say a lemon spritzer type?
