Food: Vanilla Danish Cookies

A couple of years ago, I learned about Danish chef Trine Hahnemann as I was munching on some simple vanilla cookies that a friend made from Trine’s recipe. The little white rings are full of goodness – they’re perfectly sized and have just enough sweetness.

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I didn’t make them in time for Christmas, but I did bake a batch in time for my family’s New Year’s Day feast.

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before – little ring cookies ready for the oven

Trine-hahnemann-danish-cookies-White-Cabana-2Trine-hahnemann-danish-cookies-White-Cabana-1after: little ring cookies ready to be eaten

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Trine Hahnemann’s Vanilla Danish Butter Cookies

375 g butter
250 g sugar
1 egg
2 vanilla pods
500 g plain flour

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the egg and continue beating.
3. Split the vanilla pods lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife. Stir them into the flour.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. (I knead the dough a little bit so everything sticks together.)
5. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill for (at least) two hours.
6. Preheat the oven to 200°C (I set mine at 390°F).
7. Roll the dough into very thin sausages about fix or six centimetres long. Curl each on into a ring and press the ends firmly together.
8. Place rings on a parchment-lined baking tray (I put the trays in the fridge for a few minutes before putting them in the oven. This helps them keep their small ring shape).
9. Bake for about eight minutes (I baked mine for about 6 minutes.)
10. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
11. Store the cookies in an airtight container and do not mix them with other types of cookies or they will go soft.

*Instead of converting the measurements into cups and tablespoons, I used a scale and weighed each of the ingredients.

Thanks to Emmy for teaching me about these delicious Danish cookies. Recipe via Red (original recipe is in The Scandinavian Cookbook). Photos by me.

Christmas: Stars at AOL Time Warner Center

I spent several holidays in Manhattan while my sister and her family lived there, and I always loved walking through the AOL Time Warner Center. The view is awesome and the star decorations are lovely. This photo is a few years old, but the stars – and the view – remain pretty darn special.

stars at the AOL Time Warner centre, photo by Jordana

Christmas: White Trees

We all know that I’m addicted to white. Yes, it’s true. When it comes to Christmas, however, I can’t resist adding green and red to the mix. I know, I know, it’s shocking. I love having a real live green tree (mine is from Ikea, and it smells so good!), and my colourful decorations remind me of the places I’ve travelled. That being said, when I saw this white tree at Rona last weekend, I wondered if I should give a white artificial tree a try one year.

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I probably would end up just putting lights on it and calling it a day. Maybe I’ll wait for it to go on super sale, and then try it out next year.

I thought these Christmas decorations were also pretty cute:

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