Christmas is incomplete without a mug of delightful hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies.
Recipes by Anurag Barthwal, Executive Pastry Chef, Four Seasons hotel Bengaluru.
Cinnamon Orange Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
- 300 ml milk
- 50 gm dark cooking chocolate
- 50 gm milk cooking chocolate
- 5 gm cinnamon sticks
- 1 orange zest
Method:
- Take 300 ml milk in a pan. Remove the peel of the orange and add it to the milk, along with cinnamon sticks.
- Heat the mixture to 85⁰C (just before boiling point). Leave it overnight (7-8 hours) in the refrigerator.
- Next morning, strain out the peel and cinnamon sticks from the milk.
- Chop the chocolate bar into tiny pieces. Heat the milk again and pour it into the chocolate.
- Use a spatula or whisk to emulsify the chocolate and milk mixture well.
- Strain and serve warm in a cup with a slice of orange. Dust of cinnamon powder on top.
Eggless Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1000 gm flour
- 410 gm honey
- 180 gm butter
- 15 gm ginger powder
- 100 ml full cream
- 1 gm all spice powder
- 1 gm cinnamon powder
- 15 gm baking powder
- 220 gm brown sugar
For the water icing:
- 100 gm icing
- 15-20 ml of water
- 2-3 drops of vinegar or lemon juice
Method:
- Take butter, add brown sugar and honey and start creaming in a machine, until the mixture is soft and fluffy.
- In a separate container, mix all the dry ingredients -- flour, spices, and baking soda -- and sieve together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, to make a crumbly mass. Don't over mix or knead it into a dough.
- Add the cream to bind the ingredients together, almost like a dough. Refrigerate the mix for 4 hours at 2-5⁰C.
- Take the mixture out and roll into a sheet, at least 3 mm thick. Use gingerbread cutters to make desired shapes and place on a tray lined with baking paper.
- Bake at 170⁰C for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies turn into a light golden colour.
For the water icing:
- Drop by drop, mix water into the icing sugar with a fork, until you get a thick consistency that is appropriate for piping.
- Add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice (acid) so that the icing turns white. Add colour, if needed.
- Pipe the icing onto the cookies, as per the desired design. Leave it to air and dry, before enjoying.