Merry, Berry and Bright
Published December 24, 2020
When your birthday lands on Christmas Eve, you can ask for just about anything your heart desires. My father's only request was simple enough, almond cake. Sugared berries were the inspiration to a festive homemade Christmas themed birthday celebration.
Merry Berry-tini
A fresh herb infused simple syrup adds a touch of holiday taste to a cranberry and vodka-based cocktail, what I like to refer to as Christmas in a glass! (See recipe video on Instagram @athome_withrenee)
For the Drink:
2 parts vodka
2 parts cranberry juice (not cocktail juice)
1 part rosemary sage simple syrup
For the Simple Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 sage sprigs
3 rosemary sprigs
In a small saucepan make simple syrup. Melt 1 cup sugar into 1 cup water with sage and rosemary. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and cool. Strain out herbs and set simple syrup aside. Add ice to a cocktail shaker. Add vodka, cranberry juice and infused simple syrup. Shake well and pour into your favorite martini glass. Garnish with rosemary or sage and sugared cranberries (see below).
Sugared Cranberries
Merry up your favorite cocktail or desert with these beautiful, frosted berry edible jewels. (See recipe video on Instagram @athome_withrenee)
2 cups sugar, divided
1 cup water
Package of cranberries
In a small saucepan, melt 1 cup sugar into 1 cup water. Let cool. Stir in cranberries and coat well. Spread cranberries onto a cookie rack set on top of a cookie sheet to allow excess syrup to drip. Let sit about 40 minutes until just tacky. Add cranberries to a bowl with remaining sugar. Coat well and remove with slotted spoon. Allow to dry completely. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.
Merry and Bright Almond Cake
Layered with almond buttercream, draped in candy cane colored fondant stripes and dazzled with edible glittery sugar and berries. What's not to love?!
For the Cake:
5 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
2/5 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3½ cups flour
2½ tablespoons cornstarch
3½ teaspoons baking powder
2¼ cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the Almond Buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk or cream
2 teaspoons almond extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and line the bottom of four 6 inch round cake tins. Set aside for later. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk, and sour cream. Beat together with a fork. Set this aside for later. Sift the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the sugar and salt, and then whisk together. Put the mixer on a low-medium heat, and add the butter into the bowl, one cube at a time. Keep beating until all the flour has been incorporated into the butter, and the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Put your stand mixer on a low speed, and slowly add half the sour cream mixture into the bowl. Turn up the speed to medium, and beat together for a minute or so, until smooth. Scrape down the sides, then put the mixer back on low, and add the remaining sour cream mixture. Beat for 30 seconds or so on low, until the sour cream mixture has been fully incorporated. Pour one third of the batter into each of the three tins, and then bake for roughly 35 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins on a wire rack. Once the cakes are cool enough to handle, remove from the tins and leave to cool completely.
For the Buttercream: Place the butter into a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the icing sugar in three separate additions, beating well between each addition. If the buttercream is too thick, add milk a tablespoon at a time until the right consistency is achieved. Add the almond and vanilla extracts and beat again. Level the top of the four cakes with a large bread or cake knife so they are flat and even, and then sandwich them together with the buttercream on top of a 6 inch cake board. Cover the cake with a thin crumb coat of buttercream, and then fridge to chill for an hour.
For the Décor: Once the crumb coat is firm, brush with water for fondant to adhere. Cover as desired with fondant. I draped the top in white fondant and cut around the circumference so one flat level piece sat on top of the cake. Then, I measured the height of the cake and cut strips to total the exact height dimension to ensure the cake will be fully covered. I alternated red and white strips to create a candy cane themed look. I then smoothed the surface with a fondant smoother and lightly brushed the fondant with vodka. While wet, I dipped a brush into a bowl of sugar glitter and lightly dusted the surface, repeating the process until the entire cake was covered in sugar. Decorated with berries and roses from Amazon and served on an adjustable cake stand.
Almond Macarons with Cranberry Compote and Buttercream
Merry and bright and full of berry flavor, these brightly colored, light textured almond cookies sandwich a sweet and flavorful berry and buttercream filling - the perfect complement to the almond cake and cranberry martinis. I decided to use a standard French macaron recipe, which differs from Italian and Swiss by leaving out an additional stovetop step melting the sugar into the egg and is easier and faster to make.
For the Cookie:
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Red and Crimson Food Coloring
For the Cranberry Compote:
3/4 cup cranberries
3 tbsp granulated sugar
4 tbsp orange juice about 1 orange
1 tbsp orange zest
For the Buttercream:
4 tbsp unsalted butter softened
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Cookie: Sift the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour into a bowl. Add the room temperature egg whites into a clean bowl. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites. Once they begin to foam add the cream of tartar and then slowly add the granulated sugar. Add the food coloring (if desired) and vanilla then mix in. Continue to beat until very stiff peaks form. Begin folding in the 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Add the remaining dry ingredients and fold gently. The final mixture should be able to fall into a figure eight without breaking. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium round piping tip. Pipe one inch dollops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper glued down with dabs of batter. Tap the pan on counter several times to release air bubbles. Allow to sit for about 40 minutes before placing in oven, when cookies are dry to the touch. Bake at 300°F for 12-15 minutes, rotate tray after 7 minutes. Allow to cool completely before removing from baking sheet.
For the Cranberry Compote: Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often. Once the compote is thick, and cranberries have fallen apart, remove to a bowl. Cover and let cool.
For the Buttercream: Cream butter at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 1 minute. With the mixer off, add all the powdered sugar. On low speed, beat the sugar and butter together. Once they are incorporated, turn speed to medium and cream for 1-2 minutes until very fluffy. Add vanilla extract and beat for another 30-45 seconds. Only add 1/2 tablespoon of milk if necessary, sometimes you may find that the consistency of the buttercream is already perfect and does not need any more liquid. If the buttercream seems too stiff, add a tiny bit of cream, as necessary. If the buttercream seems too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar until you obtain a firm, but smooth and creamy consistency.
For the Assembly: Fill pastry bag fitted with star tip with buttercream. Pipe stars around the perimeter of the back of the cookie. Fill center with a small amount of compote. Top and press gently to create a full macaron.
Cranberry Tart
Almond flavored desserts were always a tradition on holidays growing up, but not everyone of my guests favors it. So, I wanted to incorporate something more festive alongside my family's favorites. I followed Martha Stewart's Cranberry Tart Recipe. I used my preferred meringue recipe, which is less sweet and lighter in texture and purchased the tart pan from amazon.
For the Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
In a stand-up mixer, beat eggs whites, vanilla and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add vanilla a tablespoon at a time and until stiff peaks form. Fill pastry bag fitted with large pedal tip and pipe in V shape along tart. Put under broiler for about 30 seconds until meringue is browned as desired.
Enjoy!
Renée Meuse Lovley