It’s Christmas time again, and what would the season be without mountains of cookies?  The weather here in North Texas has finally begun to show the season, with temperatures in the 40’s and of course, gusty winds that make it feel like the 30’s, so the weather is perfect for baking, so when I was asked if I wanted to get together with a few fellow food bloggers and try out 12 recipes from Gourmet Magazine’s list of all time favorite cookies, I jumped at the chance!

I don’t know about you, but when I think of Christmas cookies I think of gingerbread men. They just scream Christmas cookie, so for the first of my 12 batches, these little guys were the obvious choice.  I’m glad I chose them, too.  This is by far the best gingerbread recipe I think I’ve ever come across.  Which is as it should be.  They really knew their gingerbread in 1959, though the way recipes are written has (very thankfully!) changed a lot.

I’m not alone in making 12 different cookie recipes this month. Joining me in the fray for the 12 days of cookies are a list of very talented bloggers and cooks in their own right.  So please take the time to visit my partners in crime for this event. (Once you’ve read and printed out this recipe, of course!)  I have no idea what they’ve chosen to make today, so don’t be surprised if several of us have the same recipe posted.

The insane bunch that decided to taste test Gourmet’s top picks:

• Kelly of Sass & Veracity
• Ben of What’s Cooking
• Judy of No Fear Entertaining
• Claire of the Barefoot Kitchen
• Sandy of At the Baker’s Bench
• Courtney of CoCo Cooks
• And Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes, who first thought of inviting us in on this little blog party.

I’ve got to say, these are the best example of a perfect gingerbread I’ve ever had, but the dough is a little difficult to work with.  Instead of rolling them out and then moving them to a cookie sheet, we ended up rolling the dough out directly on a half sheet pan with a smooth sided glass and simply pulling the excess away from the cut shapes, thus preventing gingerbread men with serious and crippling deformities.  The dough is rather like glue as well, so copious amounts of butter flavored cooking spray should be employed wherever possible.

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This is the second in a series of three white chocolate mousse tartlets for the holiday season, look to the end of the article for other recipes.

This version of white chocolate mousse tartlet bears the same humble base of white chocolate mousse and mini fillo pastry shell as the others in this series, but the flavor combinations are most decidedly more refined.  Topped with toasted macadamias, macerated golden raisins and white chocolate chips, this tartlet is awash with subtle yet intensely different flavors and textures that will tantilize even the most fearsome food snob in your group of friends.

The silky mousse is contrasted wonderfully by the crunch of the white chocolate chip, fillo dough and macadamias, while the raisin packs a small but very potent burst of flavor that is beyond heavenly.

Note: this is an adult treat.  There’s too much alcohol in this particular version for the kiddies!

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If you’re looking for a bit of “wow” factor at your next dinner or dessert party, give these little guys a go.  They’re number one in a series of three white chocolate tartlets that will have anyone you serve them to thinking you are a pastry chef extraordinaire, even though they are quite simple to make.

Not only are these little tartlets simple, elegant and, of course extremely tasty, they’re the perfect dessert for a larger gathering, since prep can be done on sheet pans or directly on serving platters.  Just lay them out and let your guests, friends or family dive in.  The taste is something like vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with caramel, but a bit subtler, so these should appeal to just about anyone!

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Popularity: 3% [?]

This mousse was originally made to be a part of a different article, nothing more than a part of a larger recipe, but once it was made I had to put the mousse itself in the place it deserves to be.  Firmly in the spotlight.

Let me start by saying this:  I am not a huge white chocolate fan.  Generally speaking I’d rather be going for dark chocolate, or better, chocolate toffee. This recipe may have changed my mind.

This mousse is light, delicate, fluffy, airy, silky, velvety and other adjectives I just can’t come up with at the moment.  Basically it’s like eating a slightly whipped-cream flavored cloud, but with the flavor intensified by a factor of 100.  I could sit and just spoon down a cup of this mousse without ever trying hard, though a full cup might be a little much for anyone.

The mousse is simplicity in itself to make and could be used for any number of absolutely decadent desserts.  Drop a dollop on a pie the next time you were craving whipped cream, use it as a substitute for butter cream in a cake recipe, the filling for a pie or tart, or as a classic mousse.  My personal favorite way to eat it is drizzled with a bit of fruit compote and a spoon ;-)

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Popularity: 3% [?]

I can usually avoid desserts, but cheesecake is my weakness.  I can’t be in the same room with a cheesecake and not just have to have some.  It was love at first bite for me, and it’s a love affair I’m happy to say is still alive and well. That’s why when I saw a recipe for Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake on the cover of a store circular, I knew I just had to make it.

I’m glad I did.  The result was an intensely mousse-like custard with the subtle flavor of a pumpkin pie covered in melting vanilla ice cream.  And you don’t need any ice cream!  This really is one for the “go to” list of recipes, especially if you’re looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie for the holidays.

A word of warning though.  This is a massive cheesecake.  You probably won’t want to make this unless you’ve either  got help polishing it off, or you’re addicted to the gym.  It’s good enough that you won’t be able to stop eating it, and according to the information on the unmodified version, each slice is going to cost you about a quarter of a recommended daily caloric intake. (My version is most definitely higher in calories.)

This thing is like pumpkin flavored crack.  It’s addictive.  You have been warned.

Now where’s my dessert plate?

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Is there really an more perfectly simple topping or dipping sauce than caramel?  In its purest incarnation caramel is nothing more than sugar that has been heated until deeply browned, but the transformation is enough to bring out deep flavors and subtle overtones that simply can’t be found in any other form of sugar. With the addition of a few simple flavorings this humble mix of melted sugar and water can take on sweet, savory or succulent flavors and it plays with each very well.

In this instance we were looking for a sweet caramel sauce for a few desserts.  My wife found this recipe at Martha Stewart’s website and we both thought it would be a perfect fit to some of the other flavors we were going into the mix, so we gave it a shot.

It’s fabulous.  Really.  I can’t say how fabulous. I’ll admit that I upped the butter content over the version at Martha’s site, but I prefer a very rich caramel. (I may have added a bit more bourbon than listed as well.  OK, A tablespoon more… But this has a tendancy to cause the sauce to thicken a bit overmuch, so I don’t reccomend it.)

If you’re going to take the leap and try just once in your life and attempt to make your own caramel sauce, this is the one you should try!  No really, go make this right now.  I’ll wait….

Good, isn’t it?

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Holiday dessert season has begun.  It’s a fact of life.  You’ve just got to have sweets around for the Holidays, even if for the rest of the year you generally don’t bother with them.  We’re no exception here and we’re kicking off the sweetest season of the year with something that’s not only sinfully delicious, but amazingly simple to make. One of my wife’s personal favorites, Peppermint Bark, but with a little twist.

Peppermint bark is usually made in bars, or simply shattered off of a large sheet like a brittle.  This version is a bit more… Structured.  The bark is poured between a pair of tiny candy canes shaped into a heart.  Cute, yes?  We thought so too.  Unfortunately I can’t claim the idea as my own, we saw it in the Pillsbury circular.  It just looked like a really fun thing to do.

These take nearly no time to put together, but they definitely don’t suffer in appeal.  The kids can help put them together, though I’d leave the chocolate depositing to either an older child or an adult, but as far as decorating goes, let the little ones at it.  They’ll have a blast, and you get help with the candy making.

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Well folks, it’s that time of year again. parties, gatherings, family, friends and food are the order of the day for the next month and a half or so. The holidays are here, and here at CbsoP, we’re gearing up for the whole thing, both sweet and savory. It’s looking like there will be a flurry of recipes posted over the next week. Way more than my usual. I hope none of them get lost in the shuffle.

Dessert recipes are on the menu for the next few days.  With Turkey day and thanksgiving approaching rapidly, we’re all going to be looking for all the sweets we can get, and I’m here for you… Or to defeat a year of getting in better shape, one of the two. We’re going to have a slew of tartlets, barks, cookies and who knows what else (I think there’s a pie or two coming… )  it’s gonna be great!

And I’m gonna be fat.  But I suffer for my art, you know?

And it is all for you.

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My wife entered a cookie contest last week.  These bad boys won first place in the chocolate cookie recipe category, as best chocolate cookie recipe.  So when I tell you these are more than good, I have a panel of judges to back me up.  These bars are sweet, succulent and definitely something we’ll be making all year long, but they are perfect for a Holiday buffet, so don’t pass this recipe up when you are planning your Thanksgiving or Christmas cookie baking!

This is a simple recipe, an even though I usually shy away from anything that uses a mix, in this case I’ll gladly make an exception.  They make in a snap, don’t cost much and are suited for the novice baker (read: me).  The results are fabulous, the oooh-and ahhhh factor is pretty high on the list.  Just place a pretty pyramid of these on a shiny platter and back out of the way.  But I suggest you make two batches if you want any for yourself!

I could talk forever about these, but I think I’ll just let the recipe speak for itself.  It’s that good!

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This Month’s Daring Baker’s challenge, hosted by the lovely Morven, of Food Art and Random Thoughts, was one that made me giddy from the get go. Why? Because this time the rules basically said “do what you want”. The challenge was to make our own version of Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake. The only guidelines were that we must use the basic recipe and that it hadda be a layer cake. That’s just fine by me!

The original recipe called for buttercream icing. I’m not strictly a fan of buttercream, so I went with an orange-infused ganache instead. The original said you could use whipped cream if so desired, but that sounded too sweet for me, so I just whipped the ganache to something of a whipped cream consistency. Again, works for me.

The other change… Well, the original recipe was for a lemon based cake… I don’t have anything against lemons, but I have a TON of oranges lying about right now, so I changed out one citrus for another and skipped any type of fruit filling on this round. The cake will probably end up at my wife’s office, and I wanted it to keep well.

How did all these changes turn out, you ask?

Fantastically! The cake is light, spongy, dreamy and jam-packed with orange flavor. I may never look at any other white cake again for the rest of my life. Seriously, those relationships have grown stale in an instant. We’re just not on the same page any longer.

The ganache is almost like a chocolate-orange cloud, and has just passed up any other icing choice I’ve ever had. I’ll just use a white chocolate for it if I need a white frosting in the future. I think I may have over whipped it a bit, which made it difficult to spread, but the flavor… Oh, the flavor…

Pardon me.. I gotta grab another slice, why don’t you just print up the recipes below this and go make some for yerself…

!note: I just read that I wasn’t the only one that substituted orange for my cake. Check out the rest of this recipes’ variations at the daring bakers blogroll!

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