Desserts and sweets for Christmas Eve and Christmas

It is one of the typical Christmas sweets. And according to historians it has its origins in the 2nd century BC, in ancient Mesopotamia. Nougat, along with other foods and products, arrived in Spain thanks to the Arabs who occupied the peninsula between the 8th and 15th centuries. This gastronomic heritage reached Latin America along with the colonizers and the Jesuits in various versions, in our region we make tablets of chancaca and peanuts.

Makes 4 units: 1 cup of honey, 2 egg whites, 1 cup of sugar, 200 g of almonds, 200 g of hazelnuts or pistachios or walnuts or peanuts or cashews.

Chop the nuts into large pieces and toast in the oven at 150 degrees for 15 minutes. Beat the egg whites with the help of a whisk until they form firm peaks. Meanwhile, we cook the honey with the sugar without letting it boil, remove from the heat and add to the egg whites in the form of a thread, to the point of a meringue. We continue beating the meringue until the dough obtains a consistent and stable mass. We add the chopped and toasted nuts, mix well evenly with the help of a spatula and spread quickly with greased hands on a container or mold to give it a rectangular shape. We let it cool for 12 hours at room temperature. Finally we cut our nougats into pieces to enjoy on Christmas Eve and Christmas.

1 ½ cups of 000 wheat flour, 4 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of sugar, ½ cup of milk at room temperature, 2 eggs, ½ teaspoon of fresh yeast, 200 g of Nutella, ½ teaspoon of salt.

In a bowl, place the wheat flour, sugar and salt, mixing everything. Form a crown in the middle, add the eggs and beat just to loosen. Add the milk, vanilla essence, fresh crumbled yeast, butter at room temperature and integrate all the ingredients well. Lower it to a flat surface and knead until you have a smooth, even dough. At first it may be a sticky dough, it doesn’t matter, keep kneading (without adding flour) until it comes off your fingers.

Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes or until it doubles in size. Lower the bun onto a floured surface and roll out with the help of a stick or rolling pin until it reaches a thickness of approximately 5mm, very thin. Cover the entire surface with Nutella. Roll like a cylinder, make a cut along our roll, leaving one end attached (uncut). Turn the dough leaving the cuts facing up and intertwine the two ends. Place on a greased baking tray and shape into a donut (see photo), placing the joined end under the other and pressing to join them. Let it rest for 30-40 minutes and bake for 30 minutes at medium temperature, 160 degrees.

NOTE: Nutella can be replaced with pastry dulce de leche, some chocolate paste or simply filled with a simple cream, mixing ½ cup of butter, ½ cup of cream cheese, ½ cup of sugar and cinnamon to taste.

500 g of 000 flour, 200 g of unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon of salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 4 eggs, ½ glass of milk, 1 teaspoon of fresh yeast, sprinkles or chopped chocolate to taste.

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast with milk and gradually add the wheat flour, eggs, sugar and beat vigorously until everything is incorporated. When the ingredients have been integrated, add the butter little by little and continue mixing to form a dough. We go down to a flat surface and knead until we achieve a smooth and even dough. It may be sticky at first, it doesn’t matter, keep kneading (without adding flour) until it stops sticking to your fingers. Place in a bowl, cover with a cloth and let rest for 12 hours in the refrigerator (you can do it the day before). After time, divide the dough into 2 pieces, add chopped chocolate and roll, then put the loaves in tall molds (especially for puddings or panettone) and let it ferment for approximately 3-4 hours or until it doubles in volume. Bake for 35-40 minutes at medium temperature (160-170 degrees).

Good quality wheat flour. The ideal one for making Christmas bread is 000 due to its high gluten content, but you can use whole wheat flour and the procedure is the same, just with a little more hydration.

Yeast is vitally important. We can make the sponge by dissolving a little sugar in warm milk and then adding the yeast. If the mixture becomes foamy after a few minutes, the yeast is fresh and active.

The eggs. They are the source of moisture in the dough and give color to the bread. Ideally, crack the eggs into a separate container to avoid any bits of shell.

Bread fat: We use butter, oil or margarine, but the most recommended is that it should be used at room temperature, at the point of pomace to incorporate it correctly.

The liquid of the dough. We can use milk, water or natural fruit juice, and it is advisable to use it warm or at room temperature because if it is too hot it can deactivate the yeast.

The essences. There are the options of vanilla extract, orange or lemon zest, or drops of spices to enhance the flavor, but always with great care, just a pinch.

The touch of salt. It is important to highlight flavors, controls yeast and balances sweetness. When adding salt to the ingredients, it should be placed as far away from the yeast as possible because it can stop fermentation.

For baking. The bread must be cooked at the indicated temperature because if the oven is too hot the center may remain raw or burn very quickly, and thus the bread comes out very dry.

The decoration of the sweet bread. We can use dried or glazed fruits, a shower of powdered sugar or we use this basic glaze: we mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with juice and lemon zest, little by little making a smooth bath, but avoiding being too liquid.

Jesús Yannel Espinoza Rodríguez Chef of the Udi

She comes from the valleys of Santa Cruz, she is a teacher in the area of ​​pastry and baking, she has her business Tortika that specializes in flaky pastries and fine pastries. We emphasize that the exclusive productions of our Christmas gastronomy bear the seal of chef Fernando Catalán.