A Cocktail and Some Wintery Cookies

Something for the weekend

How is it December already, how did Christmas sneak up on us, I swear the start of autumn was mere days ago!

Over on TBWB - SECOND HELPINGS (what I’ve decided to call the posts for premium paid subscribers, going forward) this week I have a fabulous dessert for you, a malted peanut panacotta served with salted caramel sauce and salted cocoa peanut crumble. The recipe is perfect for Christmas entertaining because all the elements can be prepared ahead, meaning you have an impressive dessert without any stress.

As we are getting into the hibernating season I’ve surprised myself by actually leaving the house and having somewhat of a social life, who knew there was life outside of work and the dog! I’ve been to Christmas drinks, book launches and a delicious Sunday roast at my local pub with my in-laws, I am even starting to feel a little festive, my scrooge like demeanour is slowly melting away. On one particularly fun evening last week, when everyone else seemed to be watching the England v USA World Cup match, I was happily drinking cocktails with my friend Helen, something much more my style. Yes I also had a Negroni Sbagliato, nothing like being late to the trend, and yes I liked it a lot, a little easier going than a classic negroni which I find a touch too bitter. I also tried what may be my new favourite easy going cocktail, the Diplomat. Made with a mix of dry white vermouth, sweet red vermouth, luxardo maraschino and agnostura bitters, It’s a relatively light and refreshing cocktail and happily reminded me of the vermouth based drinks I fell in love with this past summer in Madrid. The recipe below is the classic formula for the drink but the version I had at the Vermuteria, in Coal Drop Yards, tasted more like it was made with the dry white vermouth and a bianco vermouth, a sweet white vermouth which is brighter and more citrus forward than rosso, which made the cocktail a little fresher, which I preferred. I think it would also be great with a rose vermouth if you want the drink to be overall less sweet.

Diplomat

50ml dry white vermouth
25ml sweet vermouth (Rosso or Bianco)
5ml maraschino liqueur
1 or 2 dashes of angostura bitters

Add the ingredients to a jug filled with ice and stir well. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with either a piece of orange peel or a maraschino cherry. Whilst it is normally served straight up I quite like it served, as they did at Vermuteria in Coal Drop Yards, on the rocks.

Cookbook Of The Week

As I write this I am on the tube headed to the book launch for my friend Cupcake Jemma’s brand new book Crumbs and Doilies. If you’ve ever been to her bakery (of the same name) you know exactly what to expect, baking that is packed full of fun and whimsy whilst still being fabulously delicious. The book would make a perfect gift for the baker in your life, especially a teenage baker.

The following recipe is sponsored by Wilfa

Soft Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 15

These incredibly simple sandwich cookies are the epitome of wintery baking, full of warming spices like nutmeg and clove and made more intense with the addition of treacle. The dough is made with melted butter which makes the recipe quicker and easier to make but also means the cookies work wonderfully well with whatever style of mixer you have, an electric hand mixer would be ideal. If you’re in the market for a hand mixer, or maybe looking for a Christmas present idea for the baker in your life, the Wilfa Smooth Mix Hand Mixer is a great option. Firstly its incredibly sleek and stylish but more importantly its also incredibly efficient.

When I used to run macaron classes, I used to use hand mixers for the students, because I couldn’t afford and couldn’t store 10 big stand mixers. The hand mixers I used were about £40-50 each and they only ever seemed to last a few months worth of classes, obviously a total waste of money. The Wilfa hand mixer on the other hand is built to last and is a joy to use. The mixer has five speeds and a great slow start function meaning it doesn’t immediately power up to full speed, which means less flour or icing sugar flying all over your kitchen. This hand mixer has  a retail price of £70 but with my discount code THEBOYWHOBAKES it would only cost £56!

125g unsalted butter, melted
175g light brown sugar
75g black treacle
1 large egg
300g plain flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground clove
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Frosting
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
125g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
50g full fat cream cheese, room temperature
Pinch of salt

To make the cookie dough add the butter, sugar and molasses to a large bowl and beat together with a Wilfa Smooth Mix - Hand Mixer, for a couple minutes until pale. Add the egg and beat together for a couple minutes until smooth and combined. Add the flour, spices, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until a stiff dough is formed. Refrigerate the dough for at least four hours or until firm. At this point the dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days before baking.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan) and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

Roll into tablespoon sized balls, I like to use a small tablespoon sized cookie scoop to portion the dough and then roll by hand to make neat round balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar and then set onto the prepared baking trays.

Bake for 10 mins until the cookies are crinkly and flattened but still a little domed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the sheet tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. When removed straight from the oven the cookies will be very soft so don’t try and more them until the 10 minutes are up. The cookies will flatten slightly more as they cool leaving you with a chewy edge and a soft centre. Kept in a sealed container they’ll keep for 2-3 days.

To make the cream cheese frosting add the butter to a bowl and using the Wilfa hand mixer beat until soft and creamy. Add in the icing sugar a little at a time and beat on low speed until the frosting is smooth. Once all of the sugar has been mixed in turn up the mixer and beat for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla, cream cheese and salt and mix briefly just until a smooth mixture has formed.

Spoon or pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the base of half the cookies and sandwich together with a second cookie. Once sandwiched together the cookies will keep for up to 3 days but will slowly soften as they sit.