Since I was a little girl, oranges have always been associated with Christmas to me. Growing up, I read all the Little House on the Prairie books and loved watching the TV show. I loved wearing my hair in pigtails and pretending I was Laura Ingalls. As an adult I even found out that one of my cousins would call me “Half-Pint” when I wasn’t looking. In one of her books, Laura recalled getting excited that she got an orange in her stocking. But did little Elisa find that weird? Not at all. In our house, it was actually pretty common for an orange to fill out our stockings. Growing up, we didn’t always get the newest or hottest toys on the market. Mom and Dad always provided for us, of course, but we didn’t always have a lot of extra money to go around during the holidays. In fact, between the office salary my Momma brought home and Daddy’s preacher's salary, it was a miracle that three fast-growing and big-eating kids got anything at all! So, we enjoyed what we had.
One year Mom popped some popcorn and bought a bag of cranberries, and we all sat down and made the garland for the Christmas tree using needle and thread. And that wasn’t all we made ourselves. All our Christmas treats came from our oven too. I remember pushing cloves into oranges as a naturally festive way to scent our home. One year, my Mom lovingly sewed me a pretty purple stuffed animal because buying the brand name doll wasn’t in the budget. So even though we had tough and lean times, it always felt like we had so much that we just didn’t notice. We just wanted to eat our oranges and play with our gifts. It’s amazing what parents can accomplish for their kids.
But there was one Christmas memory I will never forget. One that I think of every time I buy my yearly Terry’s Chocolate Orange. We lived in Kentucky and Dad came home with a surprise. A chocolate that was shaped like an orange! It was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life. Then my Daddy performed a little Dad magic and showed me how you hit it on the table to break it apart into slices that looked like oranges. My mind was blown. How could chocolate be so dang cool? THEN we ate a slice. HOW DID THE CHOCOLATE TASTE LIKE ORANGES?! WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT?! I remember Dad giggling at my reaction. Now, I’m not saying that may have been a formative memory for me and why I became so interested in baking and making sweets, but it sure does stand out. That moment is the only thing that I remember about that specific Christmas. But every single year of my life I buy a Terry’s brand orange and think about my Dad and that story. Isn’t that what the holidays are about? Well, that can change as you get older. I know that, as I grew up, and especially after I met and married Mr. Marie, I find myself just wanting more time with my family this time of year. That’s why, if you know us personally, we’re always telling people “Presence, not presents”. Time is too short, and the holidays are too wonderful not to spend as much of it making memories with your family, biological or chosen. And if you can fit a Terry’s Chocolate Orange in here and there, that’s just icing on the cake.
…or is it chocolate on the orange?
Croissants
Credit to Claire Saffitz and the New York Times
Dough:
4 ¾ cups bread flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water, room temperature
½ cup whole milk, at room temperature
¼ cup butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, chilled
Butter block:
1 ½ c of Kerrygold unsalted butter, cold
Egg wash:
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of cream
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast, and stir to combine. Combine the milk and water and add to the flour. Mix on low speed until a tight, smooth dough comes together around the hook, about 5 minutes. Remove the hook and cover the bowl with a damp towel. Rest for 10 minutes.
Add butter to the dough and mix on low speed for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
Form into a ball and use a serrated knife to make two diagonal cuts in the shape of an x. Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover airtight. Let rise in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
While the dough is rising make the butter block. Place the butter between two pieces of parchment. Using a rolling pin, smack the butter to begin softening it. Once still cool but pliable, roll butter into roughly 8” x 8” square. Wrap the block with parchment in a square shape. Roll the butter diagonally to fill out the corners to make an even 8” x 8” square with sharp corners. Chill in the fridge until you are ready to use the dough, for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
After resting, let the dough come to room temperature for 5 minutes. Turn out on your work surface and deflate with your heels. Roll dough into a rectangle roughly 9” x 16”. Freeze dough, wrapped airtight for 20 minutes.
Remove dough from the freezer and the butter block from the refrigerator. Set the butter aside while you roll the dough. Using a ruler, make sure the dough is at least 9” wide and 16” long. When the butter is pliable but still very cold, place directly in the middle of the dough. Fold each end over the butter block and seal. Use your fingers to seal the sides as well. You want the butter completely covered by the dough.
Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll into a long rectangle, roughly 24” long and about ½” thick. Do a book turn. Fold the bottom ¼ of the dough up towards the middle. Do the same with the top ¼ of the dough. Fold the dough in half like you are closing a book. Wrap airtight and freeze for 15 minutes. Then move the dough to the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Remove dough from the refrigerator and press with a rolling pin to start to soften the dough and make it more pliable. Repeat the book turn. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, roughly 24” long and about ½” thick. Do a book turn. Fold the bottom ¼ of the dough up towards the middle. Do the same with the top ¼ of the dough. Fold the dough in half like you are closing a book. Wrap airtight and freeze for 15 minutes. Then move the dough to the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Bring dough to room temperature for 5 minutes. Press with a rolling pin to start to soften the dough and make it more pliable. Roll to 14” x 17”. Wrap the dough airtight and freeze for 20 minutes and let rest in the refrigerator overnight.
Remove dough from the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Reroll to 14” x 17” if needed. Trim the longer side to 16”. Cut into four equal 4” x 14” rectangles. Cut the rectangles diagonally to make two equal triangles. You will have eight long triangles.
Stretch the wide part of the triangle to roughly 3”. Roll the top over itself and keep rolling to the bottom of the triangle. Secure the tail under the croissant. Repeat with all eight triangles.
On a half sheet baking pan covered in parchment, place 4 croissants and loosely wrap. Repeat with the other four. Let rise for 2 ½ hours.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk the egg yolk and cream together until there are no yellow streaks. Brush the egg wash over the smooth surfaces of the croissant. Bake croissants for 20 minutes then rotate the pans and bake another 10-15 minutes to the desired color.
Serve immediately and save your leftovers for bread pudding
Croissant Orange and Chocolate Bread Pudding
12 croissants
7 eggs
2 cups of whole milk
2 cups of heavy cream
½ cup of sugar
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 ½ cups of good chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of butter, cubed
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut croissants into cubes. Toast for 10-15 minutes until toasted and golden brown. Allow to come to room temperature.
In a very large bowl combine eggs, milk, cream, sugar, zest, and juice of the orange. Whisk well until completely combined. Add the croissants and let soak overnight, stirring once.
The next day, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Butter a 9 x 13 casserole dish lightly. Pour in half of the bread pudding mixture and level out. Sprinkle half of the chocolate chips over the mixture. Pour the rest of the mixture on the top. Sprinkle it with remaining chocolate and butter.
Place parchment onto the top of the pudding and seal airtight with foil. Bake until firm but jiggly, 30-35 minutes, Remove the foil and parchment and bake another 20 minutes.
Serve warm.
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