From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We've been asked to include a favorite ornament in our post today. Mine needs a little explanation. When my parents died, I became the keeper of the things no one else wanted. Tucked among them was the Christmas angel that topped our tree throughout my childhood. Though her age was apparent I couldn't bare to get rid of her, so I used her on our tree for another 30 years. I had intended at some point to replace her, but the angels that came my way were glitzy and not at all like the ones I associated with the manger in Bethlehem. When we sold the big house and moved West she was one of the few ornaments we brought with us. As fate would have it, the van in which our things were moved had a leak and my Christmas angel never saw another holiday. She was damaged beyond repair. I wasn't aware of that until we went to put up our tree on Christmas Eve. My angel had disintegrated. We dashed to a craft store for a replacement, only to find there wasn't a lot left. I saw a large white dove and grabbed it, thinking I'd replace it the following Christmas. Bob dubbed the dove the "pigeon of peace" and she gained such renown within the family that that we never let her go. My eyes at Christmas are always clouded by sentiment, so I hope you'll forgive me if I call her beautiful - almost as lovely as the angel of my childhood.
Today's recipe is a holiday version of peppermint patties. They are very easy to do and a little different from most of the homemade candies associated with Christmas. If you keep the candy base cold you'll have no problems making these. I think you'll enjoy them. Here's the recipe.
Pink Peppermint Patties...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
Ingredients:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon peppermint oil (do not use peppermint extract)
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons evaporated milk + more as required
1 or 2 drops red food coloring
Chocolate Coating:
9 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon shortening
Directions:
1) To make peppermint patties: Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles from foil. Lightly dust foil with confectioners' sugar. Combine sugar, butter, peppermint oil, vanilla extract, evaporated milk and 1 or 2 drops of food coloring in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add additional evaporated milk by drops if needed to achieve a creamy texture. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to be rolled into balls, about 1 hour. Roll dough into 24 1-inch balls and place on prepared pan. Flatten each ball until patties are about 1-1/2 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick. Cover and place in the refrigerator until patties are firm, about 1 hour.
2) To make chocolate coating: Melt chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over simmering water. Remove patties from refrigerator and dip, one at a time, into melted chocolate coating both sides of patties with chocolate.olate
Coating: Melt the chocolate and shortening in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove patties from refrigerator and dip, one patty at a time, into melted chocolate, making sure both sides of each patty are completely coated with chocolate. Return to cookie sheet. Once all patties have been dipped in chocolate, return to refrigerator and chill until firm, about 1 hour. Store, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to one month. Yield: 24 small patties.
Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.com
This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound
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