Every bite of food should be a sweet bite
Well, it’s that time of the year, where you are bombarded by holiday music, packed malls, bad drivers on the road and the cookie overload.
So, it was no surprise that Marie chose a cookie recipe for the bake along – and hold-on to your hats, because next week is ANOTHER cookie – she is two for two.
Almost everyone has a strong opinion about fruitcake. It is one of those desserts that there is no in-between, you will find the “love them” group and “hate them” group in every bunch. For the love them group, it as much a traditional part of the holidays as the tree, the holly and Santa Claus.
Many cultures have a rich, fruit-filled cake that is baked only on special holidays. The Germans have their “Stollen,” the Italians their Christmas “pannetone.” In Russia it’s “kulich,” the Czechs make “vanochka,” to name only a few. Some are breads, with a yeast base; others are cakes. Some have lots of candied fruits, raisins and nuts, others not so much.
Not too long ago, most people didn’t know what a kouign amann was, let alone how delicious this sweet bread is. If you were familiar with the pastry—a buttery Breton specialty that’s somewhere between a croissant and brioche, with a layer of crispy caramelized sugar on top—you probably couldn’t shut up about it, and you probably moaned the fact that they were, up until recently, rather difficult to find outside of the coastal region of Brittany, in the northwest corner of France. Make them at home? Sure, you can try, but it’s not a casual undertaking… as I learned when it was part of Rose’s beta test list.