Gingerbread for Thanksgiving

In The Gingerbread Book by Alan D. Bragdon (available at my local library) lies a pattern that is perfect for a Gingerbread Turkey Centerpiece for Thanksgiving.

For those of you not quite ready to embrace the CHRISTMAS spirit (BECAUSE THANKSGIVING IS A HOLIDAY THAT COMES FIRST!) this might be a wonderful gingerbread/craft option to tackle.

I made the turkey in 2012.  I think I was sick and bored out of my mind at home, so I decided to craft (and I washed my hands a lot and didn't hack on the gingerbread).

I loved this little turkey.  The pattern is smaller, so it's not a huge project.   It's not intimidating either, so it's a nice place to start if you're new to gingerbread.

It's also a great way to use up some Halloween Candy...if you don't want to eat it all for some reason...

Here's what I made:

I had extra gingerbread dough, so I made the pumpkin cookies.

I also didn't really have a base in mind that was small enough for this turkey (like I said, I just got this idea while home on a sick day) so you can see I only covered part of it with ground animal crackers left over from our 2012 Halloween House.  You're supposed to be looking at the turkey anyway :-)

Happy (early) Thanksgiving!

Saying "Thank You" Gingerbuilders Style

Babies are a great reason to celebrate.  And bake, apparently!  Check out some of the awesome decorations and baked goods provided by MY FRIENDS in preparation for Little Girl.

Wow!  Celebrations bring out the creativity in all of us!

If you read my last post you know I've been doing some baking of my own to share the joy.

I also wanted to come up with a way to show my love and gratitude toward my friends and family.  

My work threw me a shower a week or so ago.  Many signed the card and gave us an AMAZING gift card, in addition to other gifts!  

My friends have spent much time and money planning parties in Baby Girl's honor.  They have been so happy to do it!

I am so grateful when I think about the kindness and generosity of those around me.  How could I even begin to show my appreciation?

Thank you cards are definitely the traditional way to go.  I have certainly written my share in the last month.

But for some, it just didn't feel like enough.

Some of my friends are so crafty.  They've crocheted and quilted and made things for me and Baby Girl.

What could I offer?

I can bake!

I made these cake pops to bring in to school.  What elementary staff doesn't speak the language of desserts?!  This, coupled with an email and a few Photoshop-made thank-you notes should do the trick!

And for any who took the time (and money!) to plan or contribute for a party, I made these:

I wrapped them in tissue paper and paired them with a hand-written note.

Both sets of grandparents will also get these cookies to show our love and appreciation. :-)  Of course, these will not be as cute as the real bundle they are waiting on!

I hope my friends know how much I love them.

Baking More than Gingerbread

I've seriously wanted to make this post since...like...May.  Here we are, 4 weeks away from my due date, and I'm just now getting around to making the "baby announcement" in gingerbread.

I've been busy making cakes!

At this point, I made the carriage to bring in to school.  Every year, my third graders get excited that I'm the "gingerbread teacher" who brings in treats around Halloween and Christmas.  I'll be on maternity leave for both of those holidays, so I thought I'd do this instead!

If you haven't guessed, we're having a girl.

I got the idea from:

I made some modifications, since I'm making it for 8-9 year-olds.  I did not make the marzipan baby, and instead, added more icing and candy decorations.  I'm also going to pour more candy inside the carriage for my kids to devour.  

I respect that, to my students, the fun is all the sugar, not the tasty gingerbread pieces underneath.

I will say, however, that I had extra gingerbread pieces (extra supports etc. I baked off) and they taste AMAZING.  Especially good dipped in coffee!  (or decaf.  whatever)

As aforementioned, (oooh fancy word!) I gladly spent my summer fulfilling cake and cupcake orders.  An unexpected side-effect to this was that I got rusty making gingerbread!  I'm sure it didn't help that I did not have my other two Gingerbuilders with me to help...or the traditional wine to encourage creative thinking...but I definitely hit a few hiccups making this carriage, and I thought I'd share them with you, so you could learn from my mistakes.

1.  When rolling cutting and baking your pieces, remember

roll out your pieces and bake them on parchment paper!  I forgot this the first time I rolled the dough, warped pieces pulling them from the counter with a spatula, and had to try again.  Duh!

2.  What To Do if you Break a Piece

I know I know.  Megan wasn't there.  But it still happened.  Twice actually.  On 2 different pieces.  Like I said, I was out of practice!

Don't panic.  Just remember, most mistakes can be covered or fixed with icing.  :-)

I iced my pieces back together and used a support just to make sure it would hold.

All that mess is on the inside.  No way you can tell when I put it all together.

3.  Storing Royal Icing

I found this lovely site FULL of great info on royal icing.  Check it out: Sweetopia

This project took me several days to complete.  I did it alone, and pieces needed to dry before I could continue the project.  For these reasons, I stored my royal icing in the fridge in piping bags.  

The icing loosened/separated after 1-2 days.  I didn't want to re whip it because it was already in the bags.  This made for fun challenged.  I had to decorate everything flat so the icing wouldn't run everywhere.

  

Then let it dry, and flip the carriage to work on another part.

In the end, I made a new batch and whipped it fresh.  Being lazy doesn't pay off.  I was worried about matching color, but I think I did okay.

I went back over some of the sloppier parts with the newer icing.  

Meh.  This wasn't a competition piece.  It's for third-graders!  Who are going to love it.

The first of many Labors of Love for our Little Girl.

Caramel-Ginger Cookie-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

It's quite a mouthful...to say and eat...and you won't regret trying this recipe!

With any ice-cream maker, ice cream is super easy to make!  It takes some waiting time for the ingredients to cool, etc., but there is hardly any actual work involved, just patience.

I usually allot 2 days for ice cream-making.  My Kitchen Aid bowl has to be frozen for long enough, and my cooked custard needs to chill in the fridge.

Yummy ice creams happen for those who wait!

To read more on ice cream-making and explore another recipe, check out a previous blog post: 

Gingerbread Ice Cream

 and pardon the wonky camera filter :)

In this post, I'll walk you through the steps of making a caramel ice cream, and also reiterate some general ice cream-tips.

Then you can make and eat this:

I think this is the last recipe I'll try from: 

This book as served me well, and it's time to end on a high note.  

Caramel-Ginger Cookie-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream:

time-consuming, but easy

Needed ingredients: 

2 cups heavy cream*

1 cup whole milk*

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

6 large egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

12 soft-molasses cookies**

1/2 cup ganache(half of recipe) : 10 oz bitterseet chocolate and 1 cup plus 2 TBSP heavy cream***

* Feel free to play around with substitutions here.  I use some half and half, etc.  It changes the richness of your ice cream a little, but not much, and is worth a calorie exchange if you're really watching.  I don't recommend using skim milk--too watery.  

**If you want to go all out, you can find the recipe for these cookies here.  This makes the recipe take even longer, mind you, because you have to make the cookies first.  For this recipe, I spared no expense.  But more likely, next time, I'll just see what I can find at the ole' grocery store.  Please note the amount of cookies used will vary based on the size of the cookies you put in your ice cream.  It's your ice cream.  Use your own discretion as to how much cookie filling you want in it. :-)

***Use that same discretion on the amount of ganache you put into your ice cream.  I made the whole recipe, so I put the whole recipe into my ice cream.  I did not regret the extra chocolate!

So like I said before, ice cream takes time to make, but is really simple.  You heat some stuff, temper some stuff, stir some stuff, and eat.

Like so:

Stir together milk and cream (or half and half or whatever you're using) in a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, stir together sugar and water in medium, stainless steal saucepan. (Like most of us have anyway.)  Cook over low to medium-low heat until the caramel is dark amber in color.  DO NOT STIR.

I was scared to make a caramel, so I thought you might be too.  Fear not.  Leave it alone, and the magic happens.  Here's what you can expect:

Not a whole lot of action, but it starts to bubble.  DO NOT STIR.

Oooh a little more bubbly.  Some more action in the pot.  Watch it, admire it, DO NOT STIR.

Now it's really going.  Guess what?  Still DO NO STIR.

Oh yes, now we're cooking.  Sugar's melting point is VERY HIGH so DO NOT TOUCH and DO NOT STIR. But watch it.  Once your caramel gets to this point, it can burn really quickly.  Keep an eye on it.

This is a light caramel color.  Yummy.  The directions said: "Dark Amber"

So here is where I said: DONE!

Now we're going to temper some stuff.

Tempering is slowing introducing cooking mixtures of different temperatures.  We do this in small amounts to slowly let the mixes marry and reach a common temperature.  If we were to be impatient and dump the caramel into the cream mixture, we might curdle something or separate something, and those are all bad somethings.

Remove your caramel from heat and CAREFULLY pour in about 1/4 c of the hot cream mix. The caramel will bubble fiercely (good work, recipe!) so do this SLOWLY.  

Gradually add in the rest of the cream mix in 1/4 cup increments, stirring until all is well combined.  The caramel should dissolve.  If it doesn't, heat the mix A LITTLE again while you stir.  

I am lucky enough to have a 1/4 cup measuring ladle (as pictured above).  Use whatever ladle you have.  The 1/4 cup measurement doesn't have to be exact, just slowly introduce the cream to the caramel and you should be fine.

You have the start of a caramel ice cream!

Next, whisk together the egg yolks and salt in a large bowl until smooth.

We're going to temper the eggs now and slowly heat them to the same temperature as your caramel mixture.  If we do this too fast we'd have scrambled eggs.  Eew.  So, again, take your time.

Drizzle the caramel cream in with the yolks slowly to temper them.  Whisk together.  Add a little more.  Whisk a little more.  You should be an expert at this by now.

Once the eggs are warmed up, pour everything back in the big saucepan and heat over low heat until the mixture is thick and coats the back of your spoon.  STIR CONSTANTLY.  

I run my finger down the middle to check.  You want to see the line distinctly.  

Strain your mix into a bowl and add the vanilla.  

This strain is to make sure any un-melted chunks of caramel, or scrambled egg (hey, we're only human) don't make it into your final ice cream.  Don't skip this step.

Cover the bowl and let it chill in your refrigerator for at least 6 hours, up to overnight.  See?  Takes time, but it's not hard. :-)  

The next day...

Break a part your cookies into chunks for your ice cream and make the ganache:

Combine the chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 20 second intervals.  Stir between each until smooth.  Set aside and let it cool.

I microwaved it 2 1/2 times:  20 sec, 20 sec, 10 sec and it was melted.

Get out your handy dandy ice cream maker.  I don't like to waste a lot of time, so assemble my bowl quickly and make sure the ice cream mix is ready to pour in.

Mix according to manufacturer's instructions.

I stirred in the cookies and chocolate the last 10 or so minutes of stirring time, then pop everything in the freezer for at least an hour.

Like I said before, I went ahead and used all of the chocolate.  I stirred some in, so it got cold and broke into little pieces throughout the ice cream, and dropped some chunks in to find--like a prize!--while I ate my bowl of ice cream later.

I also used some soft cookies and some that were baked a little longer for crunch.  I liked the varying textures in my ice cream.

The caramel flavor is soo delicious and smooth.  The cookies add just a hint of ginger and spices for a savory element, and the chocolate balances everything out.  

My husband and I love this ice cream!

Caramel-Ginger Cookie-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream:

time-consuming, but easy

Needed ingredients: 

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

6 large egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

12 soft-molasses cookies

1/2 cup ganache(half of recipe) : 10 oz bitterseet chocolate and 1 cup plus 2 TBSP heavy cream

Stir together milk and cream (or half and half or whatever you're using) in a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, stir together sugar and water in medium, stainless steal saucepan. (Like most of us have anyway.)  Cook over low to medium-low heat until the caramel is dark amber in color.  DO NOT STIR.

Remove your caramel from heat and CAREFULLY pour in about 1/4 c of the hot cream mix. The caramel will bubble fiercely (good work, recipe!) so do this SLOWLY.  Gradually add in the rest of the cream mix in 1/4 cup increments, stirring until all is well combined.  The caramel should dissolve.  If it doesn't, heat the mix A LITTLE again while you stir.  

Next, whisk together the egg yolks and salt in a large bowl until smooth.  Drizzle the caramel cream in with the yolks slowly to temper them.  Whisk together.  Add a little more.  Whisk a little more.  

Pour everything back in the big saucepan and heat over low heat until the mixture is thick and coats the back of your spoon.  STIR CONSTANTLY.  

Strain your mix into a bowl and add the vanilla.   Cover the bowl and let it chill in your refrigerator for at least 6 hours, up to overnight.

The next day, prepare the ganache and let sit at room temperature.  Mix your ice cream according to your manufacturer's instructions.  Don't forget your cookie and chocolate add-ins!

Enjoy!