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December 21: The Joy of Baking
Dec. 21st, 2011 10:20 amHow on earth I got to be 63 years old without discovering parchment paper and the way it aids cookie cleanup, I'll never know. I am such a convert!
Yesterday Roy and I went to Shane Confectionery, a re-born old-school candy-made-on-premises place in Old City. I remember it in its declining years under its original management, when the cases looked dusty even when they weren't. It has been taken over by two young-ish brothers of antiquarian bent and restored to Victorian splendor so it's like stepping back into time. One of the brothers is a graduate of William & Mary and Roy had heard of him through the grapevine. So we chatted a bit, and then I spied:
OMG springerle! One of them is cracked but all of them have absolutely perfect impressions. I am sooo envious. Turns out this family bakery isn't terribly far away and has a website: http://www.springerlehouse.com/ . Mr. William&Mary solemnly assured me that they were making all these springerle from hand-carved molds, but I recognize a couple from the Springerle Joy website. Still. OMG springerle. I've send a note to the Springerle House folks asking if they give classes.
Oh, and I also bought a magnificent clear toy candy sailing ship while I was there. Installed on a Limoges platter and placed on my dining room mantel it looks quite splendid. Also huge: it has to be 8" long.
After all this Shane-y goodness, it seems almost pedestrian to report that I've made two batches of snickerdoodles. One is the classic: make the dough, chill, roll out little balls, roll the balls in a sugar-cinnamon mixture. I top them with half a candied cherry, some red, some green, as a nod to the holidays. The second batch included cocoa and almond extract and was rolled in a mixture of cocoa and sugar, topped with cherries, ditto.
I just dug out all the cookie tins I inherited from my mother. I'm glad I hoarded them; I'll have just enough, I think, for the rest of my baking -- wee ginger persons, oatmeal M&M cookies, two kinds of brownies.
My mother loved to bake at Christmas time, made several varieties of cookies and gave them away as gifts. I am hoping I can pry her recipes from my niece this season, at least long enough to scan. It's pretty weird that the only one of her recipes I have right now is a scan of one in my daughter-in-law's possession.
Yesterday Roy and I went to Shane Confectionery, a re-born old-school candy-made-on-premises place in Old City. I remember it in its declining years under its original management, when the cases looked dusty even when they weren't. It has been taken over by two young-ish brothers of antiquarian bent and restored to Victorian splendor so it's like stepping back into time. One of the brothers is a graduate of William & Mary and Roy had heard of him through the grapevine. So we chatted a bit, and then I spied:
OMG springerle! One of them is cracked but all of them have absolutely perfect impressions. I am sooo envious. Turns out this family bakery isn't terribly far away and has a website: http://www.springerlehouse.com/ . Mr. William&Mary solemnly assured me that they were making all these springerle from hand-carved molds, but I recognize a couple from the Springerle Joy website. Still. OMG springerle. I've send a note to the Springerle House folks asking if they give classes.
Oh, and I also bought a magnificent clear toy candy sailing ship while I was there. Installed on a Limoges platter and placed on my dining room mantel it looks quite splendid. Also huge: it has to be 8" long.
After all this Shane-y goodness, it seems almost pedestrian to report that I've made two batches of snickerdoodles. One is the classic: make the dough, chill, roll out little balls, roll the balls in a sugar-cinnamon mixture. I top them with half a candied cherry, some red, some green, as a nod to the holidays. The second batch included cocoa and almond extract and was rolled in a mixture of cocoa and sugar, topped with cherries, ditto.
I just dug out all the cookie tins I inherited from my mother. I'm glad I hoarded them; I'll have just enough, I think, for the rest of my baking -- wee ginger persons, oatmeal M&M cookies, two kinds of brownies.
My mother loved to bake at Christmas time, made several varieties of cookies and gave them away as gifts. I am hoping I can pry her recipes from my niece this season, at least long enough to scan. It's pretty weird that the only one of her recipes I have right now is a scan of one in my daughter-in-law's possession.
