In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

(Christina Rossetti)

My very favourite poem and carol, “In the Bleak Midwinter” was originally written as a Christmas poem for a magazine by Christina Rossetti in 1872; it was set to music as a carol by Gustav Holst for the 1906 edition of The English Hymnal ~ the poignant and simple tune is known as “Cranham” and it remains one of the most loved carols, expressing the spirit of Christmas in a very moving way.

Leaping from poetry and carols to baking, via the snowflake in window number six of today’s Advent Calendar, are some wonderful Christmas Orange Cookies that I baked courtesy of the Baking Mad website and Nielsen-Massey’s pure Orange extract. I was recently sent some of this amazing extract to try out and review ~ it’s simply an explosion of oranges in a bottle, quite divine……and with a scent that is synonymous with the season’s spicy and citrus baking.

Pure Orange Extract

Nielsen Massey Orange Blossom Water is made from a distillate of the Seville bitter orange from Spain and the Middle East. It brings the sweet perfume of the orange grove to a variety of dishes including Persian, Arabic, Indian and Turkish. In baking it is a delicious flavouring for custards and puddings, cakes and cookies, candies and other confections.

Ideas:

· Add to panna cotta, custard or mousses. It also goes really well with white chocolate.

· Add to sponges, bread pudding and fruit salad

· Try a few drops in some mascarpone and whipped cream; add a little icing sugar to create a sweet tart filling which goes really well with strawberries.

Interesting facts about Orange Blossom Water:

· It was widely used from the Middle Ages up until the death of Queen Victoria, so many interesting recipes using them can be found in old English cookery books as well as in books on Middle Eastern food.

· In Northern Africa flower waters are also used to give an exotic sweet fragrance to savoury dishes

· In Morocco they are splashed over dinner guests at the end of the meal, and in India used as facial toner

(Baking Mad)

Another reason I wanted to try this recipe, which I have had my eye on for a while, was the chance to use my snowflake biscuit/cookie cutters for the first time this Christmas baking season, as well as some liberal use of edible glitter…….as is required for this time of year!

These biscuits/cookies were delicious, the orange extract added an exotic flavour and I LOVED the addition of the cardamom and cinnamon, they added a very festive touch to this recipe, which, was very easy to make and great fun to decorate.

If you want to try a new biscuit/cookie recipe this year, do give this recipe a go, it is easy and subtly flavoured with the very essence of the Festive season, plus the orange extract really helps to lighten the richness of the buttery base. You can find the recipe on the Baking Mad site here:

Christmas Orange Cookies

See you later with more seasonal treats……

Karen.

I am also entering these sparkling snowflake cookies/biscuits in to the
Let’s Make Christmas event

hosted by the lovely Vanessa!

And, as they are VERY Christmassy,
I am also entering them into
Tea Time Treats for December

Hosted by the lovely Kate
this month!

I am also entering these into Becky’s FABULOUS
Big Christmas Bakeoff

Comments

Heather :

6 December 2011 at 3:43 am

Oh how pretty! love these beautiful cookies. Im enjoying your advent treats very much

A Trifle Rushed :

6 December 2011 at 5:53 am

Karen, what pretty cookies. I have the same cutters so may just copy you, they are delightful. Jude x

Marie :

6 December 2011 at 8:10 am

Your cookies are beautiful Karen. I love using the edible glitter too! Expensive, but a little goes a very long way. xxoo

Dom at Belleau Kitchen :

6 December 2011 at 8:58 am

well I am deeply offended!… just because its Christmas you think you can simply go ahead and bake something glorious and so pretty like this… disgusting… and if it wasn't for my obsessive compulsive disorder and my need to see numerical blog posts through to their inevitable conclusion, I would never come back here again!

Jennifer :

6 December 2011 at 9:30 am

I was listening to that Carol on Saturday afternoon in my local Cook Shop (the Carol is one of my favourites) – they have some beautiful things – wish I had seen some cookie cutters like these, I'll have to go back for another look.

Aoife - Babaduck :

6 December 2011 at 9:45 am

They're gorgeous! I did a spiced version last year & iced them with fondant… they vanished into thin air.

Cheryl :

6 December 2011 at 11:24 am

Ohhh I would like to dip the one side in dark chocolate – they look delicious!
Hugs
Cxxx

Kentish Keg-Meg :

6 December 2011 at 3:13 pm

Great Christmas cookies. So beautiful looking. Love the poetry of Christina Rossetti.

Neesie Natters :

6 December 2011 at 9:45 pm

Hmm….now I need new cutters, edible glitter and orange extract!

I've gotta dash…. ;D

Neesie Natters :

6 December 2011 at 9:45 pm

Hmm….now I need new cutters, edible glitter and orange extract!

I've gotta dash…. ;D

Baking Addict :

6 December 2011 at 10:24 pm

Oh these look gorgeous. Glitter is definitely a must. Must try the orange blossom water. I also need to get some snowflake cookie cutters asap.

Lauren :

6 December 2011 at 11:01 pm

The cookies look fabulous! I need some snowflake cutters. And some orange extract, as well, it seems. Well, that'll give me something to buy with my Christmas money!

Psychgrad :

8 December 2011 at 3:18 am

So pretty! I love the cut-outs. The orange extract addition would taste great!

Choclette :

9 December 2011 at 10:00 pm

The cookies look gorgeous, sound divine and I have just bookmarked this page. That orange extract sound rather good too.

Ren Behan :

15 December 2011 at 9:08 pm

Beautifl cookies! I love that they are so white and also orange-flavoured

Maya Russell :

17 January 2013 at 12:20 pm

I missed these at Christmas but they look so lovely I’ll come back to the recipe next Christmas.

Maya Russell :

4 April 2013 at 3:31 am

Shared on Twitter as @maisietoo – https://twitter.com/maisietoo/status/319653241858166785