Christmas Recipe and Christmas Cards Blog Hop, Round 2 (Dec. 10-11)

Welcome to Round Two of the Christmas Cards & Cookies Blog Hop! You should have come from April's blog. If you are starting here and wish to hop from the beginning of the hop, please visit Dena’s blog. There was so much response to the Christmas Cards & Cookies Blog Hop that it had to be split between two weekends. Round One was held last weekend. Round Two is this weekend, beginning on Saturday, Dec. 10th, through Sunday, Dec. 11th. We have a talented group of women who love papercrafting and baking. Each of them is sharing a recipe for a yummy Christmas treat along with a Christmas card or tag. Hopefully, you’ll pick up some great ideas for your own Christmas gift giving this season. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

My project today is based on my favorite Christmas treat, Struffoli (aka Italian Honey Cakes). I wish I could say I got to make these but I ran out of time. Here is a picture of this yummy dessert:

I can take a spoon and just eat this all day! Here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 16 ounces honey
• 1 cup margarine
• 4 cups flour, sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• Optional decorations such as: sprinkles, silver balls, candied fruits, toasted pine nuts, or anything else you like!

Directions

1. First, pre-heat the oven to 350°F, and then rease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
2. Next, place water, margarine and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. After that, remove from heat and let stand as the margarine melts in the hot water. Stir in the flour and mix well. Return the saucepan to medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the pan. This should take about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let it cool in the pot.
3. After that, add the eggs to the mixture, one at a time, and beat using an electric mixture or a wooden spoon (the beating has to be vigorous to fully incorporate the eggs). When all the eggs are incorporated, put the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe tiny balls onto the pastry sheets; the balls should be the size of marbles, or just a little bigger. If you do not have a pastry bag, you can put the dough in a sealable plastic bag and cut out one corner’s tip and pipe them out that way (just make sure that your dough is cool!).
4. Meanwhile, bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the balls from the oven and let cool on wire racks.
5. And then, in a large saucepan, heat the honey until it boils. Let it boil for 5 minutes, but don’t leave the stove and be careful that it does not boil over.
6. Next, if it starts to boil up, lower the heat. Dip the puffs in the honey. You can throw 10-12 balls in at once. Make sure they are evenly coated in honey, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them onto a plate.
7. Lastly, once all of the balls have been dipped and removed, you can wet your hands and start working on your artistic side. Take the balls and form them into a mound or a wreath on another clean plate. Then finish off the masterpiece with some decorative touches like sprinkles or candied fruit.
8. Struffoli is ready to serve!

My project will be given out on Christmas Day next to each person's plate. The stamp is from RAK from my FB friend Tina and I just had to use it :)

I write the ingredients on side one and the directions on side 2. The holly stamp is from my Fiskars set and I used my new liquid applique pen from Marvy to frost Gingy. His eyes are the Opaque Licorice pearls from CTMH. I cut this tag envelope at 7 inches from Cricut's Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please be sure to visit Tami's blog next to see what she has to share with you.

1. Dena J - http://missdjones.blogspot.com

2. Theresa Thescrapbookingqueen: http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com

3. Lynda B-J: http://memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/

4. Jearise H: http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/

5. Linda T: http://www.lindascreativity.blogspot.com

6. April N: http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com

7. Susan B: http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/

8. Tami McD: http://tamboscreations.blogspot.com/

9. Melissa Haereiti: http://timeweavers.wordpress.com

Until next time.....