Another holiday season is upon us, so everyone stay calm! Shawn and Simon are bringing the chill, mindful vibes this Christmas along with boxes of scones, macarons and fruitcake.
Questions, comments or corrections? Hit us up at email@eatdrinkcheap.ca
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eadrinkbreathe.com/podcast
Music by John Palmer
Show notes and Shout Outs:
Ann Rice’s Interview With The Vampire on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/interview-with-the-vampire-netflix-date-cast-details
Strawberry Hotel by Underworld: https://underworld.bandcamp.com/album/strawberry-hotel
The Many Works of David Lebovitz: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/chocolatecherry/
Macarons by Pierre Herme: https://www.pierreherme.com/en/macarons.html
Savoury Scones
- 2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 grams) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground paprika
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter, grated
- 1/2 cup (40 grams) grated cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) cooked bacon, cut into bite sized pieces (about 4 slices)
- 2 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped
- 3/4 – 1 cup (180 – 240 ml/grams) cold buttermilk
Pre-heat oven to 200C or 400 F. Mix it all together to a shaggy mess. Roll out into a block. Cut into shapes. Lacquer with one beaten egg and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and puffy.
Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake
Adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz
I’ve revised and updated this recipe over the years, adding a bit more flour (previous versions of the cake sometimes dipped in the middle when cool, which didn’t affect the flavor) and making other adjustments. In place of rum, you could use kirsch, whiskey, or amaretto. If you have an issue with the cake sinking in the middle, I posted a
to show how I followed the recipe and how the cake was prepared. To make it easier to slice, I like to chop the cherries a bit before adding them to the rum.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (180-200g) dried cherries, sweet or sour, chopped
- 1/4 cup (60ml) plus 2/3 cup (160ml) rum
- 1 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (180g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process or natural
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (180g) buttermilk or plain yogurt
- 1 cup (135g) walnuts, pecans, or almonds, toasted and finely-chopped
- 3/4 cup (120g) chocolate chips
Method
A day or two before you make the cake, toss the cherries in ¼ cup of rum. Cover and let macerate, stirring a few times.
- To bake the cakes, butter two 9-inch (23cm) loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir together the eggs and yolk with the vanilla in a small bowl, then dribble them in while beating at medium speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure they’re getting completely incorporated.
- Mix in one-third of the flour and cocoa mixture, then half of the yogurt or buttermilk. Then mix in another third of the dry ingredients, then the rest of the yogurt. Finally add the remaining dry ingredients, and gently stir in the nuts, chocolate chips and cherries. (Which should have absorbed all the liquid. If not, add that as well.)
- Divide and smooth the batter into the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center just about comes out clean, but avoid overbaking it.
- With a toothpick skewer, poke 50 holes in the cake and spoon 1/3 cup (80ml) of liquor over each cake. Let the cakes cool completely.
Samosas are beautiful little flour dough dumplings that originated in medieval Persia and spread throughout the Middle East into India and Southeast Asian. The Indian version is by far the most famous, often stuffed with a vegetarian-friendly mixture of potatoes, chilies and peas but there’s a gang of regional variations including beef, mutton, nuts, sweet pastes and whatever else you got. 
Maitre D: “And finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint.”