Pastry chef teaches you two incredible recipes for you to enjoy this Christmas; look!

The most enchanting season of the year, Christmas, has arrived at A Confeitaria by Ricardo Daudt. With the end of the year approaching, the chef created an irresistible menu, full of flavors that evoke good memories.

Ricardo Daudt has been preparing for some time to offer special recipes and provide practicality for those who don’t give up a supper with a taste of home, but who prefer to avoid the work of preparing everything themselves.

With his expertise in French, Brazilian and American confectionery techniques, Daudt has created a Christmas menu that includes a variety of options, catering to all palates, from the most classic sweets to contemporary innovations. To ensure that no one is left out, he also brought alternatives without gluten, lactose or sugar, meeting everyone’s needs.

The chef has selected, exclusively for Máxima, two valuable recipes to delight the family at Christmas. Check it out below:

Homemade Panettone

For the sponge:

• 1 tablet of dry organic yeast (10 g);
• ½ cup (tea) of water;
• 1 cup (tea) of wheat flour.

Preparation:

In a bowl, mix the yeast in the water to dissolve. Add the flour and mix well with a spoon until all the liquid is incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or until the mixture rises and becomes airy.

Dough ingredients:

– 2½ cups (tea) of wheat flour

– ½ cup (tea) of sugar

– 4 gems

– ⅓ cup of milk

– 75 g of ointment butter

– ½ teaspoon of salt

– zest of 1 lemon or tahiti

zest of 1 orange

– 1 tablespoon of vanilla essence

– 1 cup (tea) of candied fruits

– ⅔ cup of raisins

– butter to taste for baking

– oil to grease your hands

Preparation:

• Set aside 2 disposable panettone molds measuring 15 cm in diameter (for 500 g) and 4 barbecue sticks.
• Reserve ¼ cup (tea) of flour to add when kneading and place the rest in a bowl. Mix with sugar and salt, set aside.
• Once the sponge is ready, start preparing the final dough. In a large bowl, add the egg yolks and milk and beat with a fork, just to mix. Add the sponge and mix with a spoon, you don’t need to completely dismantle the sponge, just enough to make it easier to mix with the dry ingredients.
• Add the dry ingredients to the egg yolk mixture and mix well with a spoon to incorporate all the ingredients and form a dough – at first it looks like a dry and heavy dough, but it soon loses that appearance, if you prefer, mix with your hands. Add the lemon and orange zest and vanilla essence, mixing again.
• Add the butter to the dough in three stages, mixing well with a spoon after each addition to incorporate, folding and pressing the dough onto itself. At this point, it will start to become stickier and denser.
• Still in the bowl, start kneading the dough (as it is dense, elastic and a little sticky, it is best to knead with a spoon. Stretch, turn and fold the dough over itself, there is no need to apply force. While kneading, go gradually adding the reserved wheat flour. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, it will become smoother, more elastic and less sticky. If you prefer, knead with the mixer at low speed (halfway through the time, stop. beat, turn the dough and scrape the side of the bowl to knead evenly).
• Add the candied fruits and raisins and mix so they are well distributed.
• Using a spatula (or your hands greased with a little oil), adjust the dough to make it round – it doesn’t need to be a perfect ball, just enough to rise evenly. Cover with film (or a cloth) and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours, or until it rises and increases in volume by ⅔.
• Grease the counter with a little oil and transfer the risen dough to the counter. Using a knife (or baker’s spatula) divide the dough into two portions. To shape the dough: place your hands on the side of the dough, rotating and tensioning the dough against the counter to form a ball.
• Transfer the two balls of dough to the panettone molds, cover with film (or cloth) and let rest for another 1 and a half hour.
• When there are 30 minutes left until the panettone is ready, preheat the oven to 180 ºC (medium temperature).
• Before putting them in the oven, using a razor (or very sharp knife), make a small, shallow cross-shaped cut on the top of the panettone. Place a small piece of butter in the center of each cut, about ½ teaspoon, and place the panettone on a baking tray.
• Place in the oven to bake for around 40 minutes, or until golden. If half the time the panettone is already golden, cover each one with a piece of aluminum foil so that they finish baking without burning the surface. To check if they are cooked, insert a toothpick into the center of the dough; if it comes out clean, they are ready.
• As soon as the panettone comes out of the oven, improvise a method used by professional bakers: the idea is to leave the panettone to cool upside down. To do this, stick two toothpicks on each side as if they were two aligned pan handles. Turn the panettone upside down and rest the ends of the toothpicks on two stacks of paper (or two tall pans). Let it rest upside down until it cools – this is to ensure the dough doesn’t lose volume as it cools. Serve with fresh fruit or store the panettone in plastic bags to prevent it from drying out for up to 5 days.

Christmas gingerbread cookies:

Ingredients:

• 110g brown sugar;
• 100g unsalted butter (at room temperature);
• 1 egg;
• 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger;
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder;
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder;
• 250g of wheat flour;
• 15g molasses (optional);

Preparation:

• In a mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until it becomes a smooth cream. Add the egg and beat again.
• Add the flour, yeast and spices, beating just to incorporate the ingredients.
• Remove the dough from the mixer, place it in a plastic bag and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
• Then, on a floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin and cut into the desired shape, using cutters. Place the cookies on a baking tray and return to the fridge or freezer for about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the cookies for approximately 12 minutes, or until they are lightly golden.

For decoration:

– 250g of royal icing;

– 40ml of water;

– edible dyes in the desired colors;

Preparation:

Using a mixer, beat the royal icing with water for 10 minutes.

Add the coloring, mix well and decorate the cookies as desired.

Now just follow these recipes and rock your Christmas dinner with delicious (and creative) desserts!