Christmas is the most-awaited festival all over the world. Observed on December 25, it marks the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ. Celebrated with prayers, carols, and the exchange of gifts and cards, it is the perfect moment to spend some quality time with your loved ones. Christmas trees, decorations, and food are also an integral part of this holiday festival.
Ham, roasted turkey, cakes, cookies, gingerbread, pies, and tarts are some of the traditional dishes prepared for this festival. Besides these delights, the Christmas feast at every home features some special recipes that the whole family loves. If you are also looking for some delicious dishes to prepare for Christmas, here are two exciting recipes shared by Oberoi, Bengaluru:
Stollen Bread
Ingredients
For the first dough
- 156 g flour
- 100 g milk
- 7.5 g yeast
For the final dough
- 156 g flour
- 17.5 g butter
- 15 g sugar
- 7.5 g salt
- 20 g marzipan
- 150 g soaked fruits (mix of raisins, black currants, orange peel, cranberry, rum, cinnamon, and nutmeg powder)
- 50 g marzipan for the centre rolling
- 50 ml of melted ghee
- 50 g of icing sugar for dusting
Method
- For the first dough, mix together the flour, milk, and yeast to make a smooth dough.
- Keep the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours until it is doubled.
- Mix the first dough with the second dough ingredients and mix well. Rest the dough for 30 min.
- Flatten the dough, put the marzipan log in the centre and roll like a baguette.
- Rest the dough and proof the till almost double (roughly 60–90 min).
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25–30 min.
- Cool for 15 minutes and then soak with clarified butter or ghee till it is soaked in.
- Coat with icing sugar. Slice and serve warm.
Chocolate Figurines
Ingredients
- Dark couverture chocolate
- Food colour as required
Method
- Melt dark couverture chocolate (53% cocoa fat) in a microwave or double boiler until completely melted, making sure the temperature is not going above 55 degrees. Stir continuously until it has melted.
- Temper dark chocolate to 27 degrees Celsius over a marble table.
- This tempered chocolate is now workable and can be used to mould chocolates.
For snowman figurine
- Pour the chocolate into round, semi-circle moulds at least three times until a shell is formed.
- Stick the two shells together to form a sphere.
- Now the base would be the bigger sphere and the top one would be the smaller sphere.
- Decorate the eyes, nose, and muffler around the neck.
For the Christmas tree
- Make a cone with an acetate sheet folded as a cone. Pour the tempered chocolate and let it set to form a cone.
- Spray the cone with green-coloured chocolate. Decorate with a star or, as desired, with more chocolate.
For reindeer
- Form two spheres like a snowman, sticking two spheres together. Using a hot cutter, cut out the mouth.
- Make the eyes and horns using chocolate. Paint the horns golden.
- Stick together to form and decorate as per the design.
For bauble
- Form the sphere using a mould and dark chocolate.
- Spray with red colour and spots of white colour on the same.
- Make a handle using chocolate, stick it on top of the bauble and paint it golden. Decorate as required.