Thumbprint Cookies

Hello everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas! Thought of ending the year with this cute Thumbprint Cookies recipe that I tried couple of times and came out well. It’s a very easy recipe, you can fill the cookies with any jam/preserve or even citrus curd of your liking. Do try and let me have your feedback.

 

Thumbprint Cookies

(From here)

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter - 1 cup (226g), softened to room temperature

Sugar - ⅓ cup (70g)

Light brown sugar - ⅓ cup(70g), tightly packed 

Egg yolk -1 large 

Vanilla extract - ¾ tsp 

All-purpose flour -2 ¼ cup (280g)

Cornflour - 2 tsp 

Salt - ½ tsp 

Sugar - ½ cup for rolling (optional)

Jam or preserves - ⅓ cup (I used strawberry jam)

Method:

• Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add sugars, and beat, gradually increasing mixer speed to medium-high until ingredients are well-combined.
• Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat well.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornflour, and salt. 
• With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients until completely combined.  This dough will seem very dry and crumbly, so be sure to pause occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. 
• Scoop cookie dough into small sized balls and roll very well.
• Roll in granulated sugar (if using) and place on a wax-paper covered plate or small cookie sheet.  Use your thumb or the rounded back of a teaspoon to gently press an indent in the centre of the cookie dough.  Repeat until all the dough has been used.
• Transfer cookie dough to freezer and chill for 30 minutes.
• Once dough is done chilling, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and place your jam in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Heat 5-10 seconds or until jam is no longer firm and is easy to stir.
• Spoon jam into each thumbprint, filling each indent to the brim.  
• Once oven is preheated, place cookies at least 2" apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake on 375F (190C) for 11 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
• Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet and store in an airtight container.

 

Merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏻

 

Plum Wine Recipe

Hello everyone, How are the Christmas preparations coming along? I hope at least some of you have tried some wine this year. If you are on the lookout for recipes for baking Christmas Cakes & Cookies you can search my older posts.... Since Christmas is around the corner, I thought of posting a new wine recipe that I tried recently.... Hope you guys include some of my recipes in our Christmas and New Year Menu…Do let me know if you guys try anything from my blog…..Wishing you all a happy & healthy holiday season with your loved ones!

 

Plum Wine 

Ingredients:

Plum – 1kg

Sugar- 1.25 kg (you can add only 1kg if you like dry wine)

Lime juice of 1 lime

Yeast- ½ tsp

Water- 4 liters 

Method:

• Wash plums well, Wipe water from each plum very well and chop roughly and keep aside
• Boil the water and sugar keep aside to cool down slightly.
• In a big bharani / bottle add chopped plums and hot sugar water and lime juice, stir well.
• When the mixture becomes lukewarm, sprinkle yeast on top and mix well after 5 minutes. 
• When the mixture cools down completely, tie the bottle with a clean cloth or close with lid little loose. 
• Stir this mixture every day for 5 minutes.
• After 20 days, strain the mixture through a cheese/ muslin cloth in to a clean dry bottle.
• Keep this again for 7 days untouched. After 7 days strain the wine again, pour it in to clean dry bottles and use. 

 Check out Tips for Making Homemade KeralaWines

Carrot Wine / Carrot Whisky

Enjoy this Christmas Season with Carrot Wine!!!

Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized. ~ Andre Simon, "Commonsense of Wine"

Carrot Wine

Ingredients:
Carrot -3kg
Orange -2 nos
Lime -2 nos
Sugar -2kg
Raisins -300 gms (chopped)
Whole wheat - 1/2 kg
Water -5 liter
Yeast - 1 tbsp

Method:

• Clean & chop the carrots and boil with 5 liters of water.
• Transfer this to a bharani or a big glass bottle and add lime & orange juice & peel. (Cut the orange & lime in half, and extract the juice, using a citrus fruit juicer. Remove the orange peel and scrape off any white pith from the inside. Chop up the peel and mix it with the carrot mixture).
  
  
• Then add sugar. When the mixture becomes cool, add raisins, whole wheat and yeast.
• Tie the bottle with a clean cloth and keep aside the mixture for 3 weeks.
• Stir this mixture everyday for 5 minutes.
• After 3 weeks strain the mixture to a clean bottle and keep this mixture again for 3 more weeks untouched.
• After that slowly strain the upper part to small bottles and use.
• The peach colour of this wine will change to a richer whisky colour with aging!

Note:

• All the utensils & bottle should be clean & dry. If there is water the wine will become sour.
• Don't fill the bottle to the brink. Always leave 1/4 bottle empty.