Christmas Cooking

And here is Steffi, my faithful kitchen companion. Very elated at having her very own apron from Ikea. Got dragged up early to start making Christmas cookies - since significant other had bought a giant bag of rolled oats, we decided to try out this recipe called "Oatmeal Lace Cookies" which turned out really well; a little sweet for me, but that is probably also because Steffi really packed the brown sugar for me.

Then I decided to try making my own hard sauce for Christmas pudding that we were bringing for our cell group party tonight. Here's my twist on the traditional Brandy sauce. Tastes pretty good (if I say so myself). Of course, the ingredients are a little eclectic, dug out from store room, etc. Granulated palm sugar came from Cambodia, courtesy of Mee Hua, one of the missionaries to Cambodia who is trying to build up the local industries so that the village women can be financially independent. XO cognac - I still can't believe that I have it in the house, but since significant other hangs out with this bunch of golfing kakis, but has no alcohol dehydrogenase to speak of himself, so the cognac must have been a gift and has been sitting there for umpteen ages. Of course, I was a little intimidated by the heavy cut glass, and the sleek silver cover - I don't dare to think how much it costs - and here I am sloshing it around with my pudding sauce...

Et voila, mes amis...

Asian Hard Sauce for Christmas Pudding
1/2 cup of granulated palm sugar (from Cambodia, but I am sure our regular gula melaka finely chopped would do)
4 tbsp XO cognac
4 tbsp orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp grated young ginger
250g unsalted butter (President's, no less!)
1/2 cup of icing sugar

1. Gently heat the palm sugar, cognac, orange juice, lemon peel, orange peel and ginger in a pot. Stir constantly till sugar melts.
2. Cut butter into cubes, then cream with hand mixer till light and fluffy
3. Add icing sugar and continue beating
4. Add palm sugar and cognac mixture, and beat
5. Return to pot and gently heat, stirring constantly till sauce is shiny. Take off heat quickly and serve immediately with warm plum pudding.



The only problem is that instead of a robust yellow custardy colour, the sauce is a little brown, which would horrify the traditionalists out there. I don't think it really matters, although I must say that with the very dark brown pudding, the overall effect is a little drab. Probably need to liven things up with a branch of holly!