12 Days of Christmas {Treats}

Three days til Christmas! Can you guys believe it? I don’t know where this entire year went, much less December. I swear it was just yesterday that I was sharing my Thanksgiving recipes with you guys. Only six more random Christmas facts to share, here’s three of them for now:

1. 1 in 10 – The number of the presents received that will be broken by the New Year. (To be honest I would have thought that number would be higher.)
2. Coca Cola was the first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion. (Anyone remember the old Coca Cola commercials with Santa and the polar bear from the 90s? I miss those.)
3. 7 in 10 – The number of dogs that get Christmas gifts from their owner. (I’m not surprised at this one at all. I don’t have a dog -or a pet, period- but from what I hear it’s just like having another pet.)

Source

This is another recipe that I’ve been curious about since I was little. The cookbook I got it from is my mom’s and was first released in 1997- just to give you an idea of how old it is. Sugar cookies are my all time favorite cookie to eat. This recipe uses them when crushed up as a large substitute for flour. I thought it sounded good then, and I still thought it sounded good now. But unlike in 1997, I’m now old enough to actually use a stove on my own, so I thought that I would make it this year and put it in the series of Christmas Treats.

All of my fellow foodies out there are probably wondering why this is called a torte and not just a cake. Maybe some of you out there are wondering what the difference is supposed to be between them in the first place. Then maybe some of you just don’t care. Whichever group you’re in, I’ll give an explanation anyway.

If you want to be general about it, tortes are a kind of cake. The word ‘torte’ is German for the word ‘cake’ in fact. So if you’re a fan of cake, then chances are you’ll like tortes too. Now if you want to be technical about it, tortes do usually have a few significant changes in the ingredients. The flour is usually replaced by some kind of ground up nuts or breadcrumbs, which gives it a heavier texture. There’s no baking soda or baking powder in the dry ingredients, so they usually don’t rise very high either. They’re also typically decorated with some kind of fruit, cream or custard filling that helps to balance out the heaviness of the torte.

This torte turned out somewhat different from the ‘conventional’ way. In the first place, even though there aren’t any baking soda or baking powder and very little flour, it still rose pretty high. My only guess would be that it was the 6 eggs that gave it an extra ‘lift’. There’s also no filling in it, though I don’t think that it’s necessary in this case. This torte is more than yummy enough to stand on its own. Although I do think this would taste pretty good warmed up and topped with some whipped cream or cool whip and strawberries with a Vanilla latte on the side. I think this recipe was well worth the wait- give it a shot, and I’m pretty sure you will too.

Rather than try to give a recommendation for each of these movies, I thought I’d just throw them all together in one post and suggest you just set aside a few hours in the next 3 days to just try and watch them all together in A Christmas Carol marathon…Like I’m doing today.

So let’s recap: you guys have now got Mickey Mouse, the Muppets, Jim Carrey and Vanessa Williams giving you their version of Charles Dicken’s classic, as well as this recipe for a sugar cookie torte. Thank me later: for now, just get baking and watching.

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Sugar Cookie Torte

Recipe Courtesy of Christmas with Southern Living (1997)

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION

Ingredients

• 2 cups slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 2 (5 1/4 ounce) packages of sugar cookies, finely crushed (3 cups)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup half-and-half
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar (optional)

 Directions

1. Draw a 10’ circle on a piece of wax paper, using a 10” tube pan as a guide. Cut out a circle. Set tube pan insert in center of circle. Grease bottom of pan, and line with wax paper cutout; heavily grease and flour wax paper and sides of pan. Set aside.

2. Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add almonds. Pulse 4-6 times or until almonds are coarsely ground. (Be careful not to overprocess, as this releases oil from the almonds).

3. Beat butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy;; gradually add 2 cups sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

4. Combine cookie crumbs and flour; add to butter mixture alternately with half-and-half, beginning and ending with crumb mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in almonds and vanilla.

5. Spoon batter into prepared pan. (Batter will fill pan only half full). Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (Torte only rises slightly). Let cool completely in pan on a wire pack.

6. Run a sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen torte. Carefully invert torte onto a serving plate; peel off wax paper. Invert torte again. Sift powdered sugar over torte, if desired.

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