Category: Snacks

It’s also something of a time commitment, since you have to plan ahead to give the candied slices a day to crystallize and dry thoroughly. But all that said, these were interesting and fun to make, and I find them delicious to eat.

(45 minutes + 15 minutes chilling time + 1 hr crystallizing time & 24 hrs drying time)

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour

Crystallize Blood Orange:

2. Transfer slices to a cooling rack set over a large baking sheet; let sit for 24 hours until dry; dip in candied sugar if desired. (At this point, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month.)

Bake Shortbread:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar; add the vanilla, blood orange extract, salt, and cloves. Then add flour and mix on low until dough forms.

3. Turn out dough onto floured board and shape into a firm ball. (If it’s not coming together into a dough, the heat of your hands will help.) NOTE: Can be kept chilled at this point for several days, covered in plastic wrap, and then rolled, cut, and baked fresh.

4. Firmly pat flat and roll smooth (to desired cookie height, usually about 1/2 inch). Cut out circles (about the same size as the orange slices), place on parchment-covered baking sheet, and press a blood orange slice into each cookie; chill for 15 minutes (to help hold shape).

5. Remove from fridge and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges begin to brown, then remove to wire rack to cool.

2 c. chocolate chips + 1 t. pomegranate extract + 1/4 t. cayenne. Just a hint of fruit and spice; I like it. No real recipe — melt chips in microwave at half power, add extract and spice, pour into molds.

My kitchen island is sort of an explosion of sweets right now, as I’m getting ready to pack up the Patreon treat boxes — all the first tier sweets are done, and it’s just a matter of making dragon candles to go with them.

Hm — it occurs to me that some people might prefer 4 additional sweets instead of a dragon candle — Emmanuel Henderson, do you have time to ask the Patreon recipients of tier 1 about that today? I can certainly do that if they’d prefer.

What’s currently going in the box:

– silver-gilded milk toffee

(those are the confections that would repeat if substituting)

– mulled apple cider marshmallow

If you missed out this time, you can sign up for the March treat boxes here ($30, $10 / month): http://www.patreon.com/mohanraj

Theme will be “Unicorns in the Garden.”

How many dragons can I fit onto one sheet of cookie dough before I have to re-roll? It’s sort of like doing a jigsaw puzzle in reverse.

Amma always made pink and white marshmallows for Christmas; adding passionfruit makes them even more delicious. The dragonfruit powder adds only a hint of flavor, but is a great way to get natural pink coloring to your marshmallows.

edible silver flake, optional

1. Add passionfruit puree and gelatin to the bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment). Stir briefly to combine.

(NOTE: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make marshmallows in a large bowl with a hand mixer — you just have to be willing to hold and beat it for 12 minutes. Prep the pan and spatula for the marshmallows ahead of time.)

2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.

3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.

4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes.

5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan and dust with powdered sugar. Prepare an oiled spatula.

6. Pour half the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with an oiled spatula.

7. Quickly add dragonfruit powder to the mixer bowl and mix for a minute to combine; pour pink mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with an oiled spatula.

8. Dust the top with enough of the remaining powdered sugar to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

9. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary.

I forgot candying fruit takes 24 hours, so no cookie recipe today. Maybe tomorrow.