Cranberry sauce done, playing with final touches on decorating the dragons. I think I like the pink & gold effect best on these, though a frosty white ice dragon is also good. 
Spicy sausage & cornbread stuffing next.
Picturesque
Cooking cooking. Cranberry, blood orange, and ginger sauce.
The turkey is also brining, but that is less picturesque, so I’ll spare you a photo.
Confirming Deliciousness
I think these really have to be called “The Pistachio-Rose Dragons of Christmas” — love the festive Christmas colors.
Will post recipe once the icing has dried and I’ve had a chance to taste a finished one and confirm deliciousness.
Sparkly and Crystallized
Once the blood oranges have been candied and dried for 24 hours, you get to dredge them in sugar so they’re all sparkly and crystallized…
Only Few Were Bloody
I’m sorry, I keep promising you blood orange shortbread, and I keep not delivering, but in my defense, I forgot that I was making a double batch, and I only have two wire racks, so I had to wait 24 hrs for one batch to dry, before I could candy the other batch (which is drying now). Shortbread tomorrow, I’m pretty sure.
There’s a lot of variation in the blood orange colors, I have to say. Only a few were really bloody….
The Holiday Gift Packages Are Up!
Today is mostly a grading day, but I’m taking a little break to say that we’ve gotten our holiday gift packages up! Books + tea towels + curry powder sale options abounding.
Plus, if you buy any of them, you get a free e-book of The Marshmallows of Serendib thrown in — a baker’s dozen of marshmallow recipes, plus a tiny story Anand and I wrote together.
Order here: https://serendib-kitchen.myshopify.com
Radio Interview on A Public Affair Earlier Today!
Serendib Kitchen: Sri Lankan American Cooking by WORT 89.9FM Madison
With Thanksgiving on the horizon and feasting on our minds, today we spend the hour with professor and food blogger Mary Anne Mohanraj, who recently published A Feast of Serendib, one of the first Sri Lankan American cookbooks.
Dragon’s Passion Marshmallows (Dragonfruit & Passionfruit)
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.
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. passionfruit puree
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. powdered dragonfruit
powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
butter (for greasing the pan)
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.
10. Decorate with edible silver flake, if desired (moisten top of powdered marshmallow with a bit of water so flake will stick). It won’t add any flavor, but is nicely festive. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.
Candying Fruit
I forgot candying fruit takes 24 hours, so no cookie recipe today. Maybe tomorrow.
Delicious Experiment
Happiness is going to bed knowing your passionfruit + dragonfruit marshmallow experiment came out deliciously, that you can almost certainly talk your teen into cutting them for you tomorrow (she seems to even like doing the cutting), and that you can get on with the next experiment, candied blood orange shortbread…
Recipes tomorrow, probably…
