America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen"... it's Christmas baking.

Erin and Julia make a festive stollen... Lisa shares the best way to ship cookies... and Elle makes Bridget showstopping meringue Christmas trees.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

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-Stollen is a German Christmas bread that I grew up with.

In fact, it's very important in my house, and I'd argue that it's not Christmas unless there's stollen on the breakfast table.

Now, believe it or not, I've never made stollen.

We've always bought it from a local German grocer down the street.

But today Erin's going to show me how easy it is to make.

-I certainly am, Julia.

This is one of my favorite holiday desserts, as well.

And it's not only beautiful, but it also tastes divine, and it's very special.

It almost looks intimidating to make.

-Yes, exactly!

That's why I've never tried.

-Okay, well, I'm going to take that intimidation right out, throw it out the window, and I'm going to show you how to make it.

-Okay.

-Alright?

So first we're going to start with our raisins.

So I have 1 cup of raisins here that I have added 1/2 cup of brandy to.

-Mm-hmm!

-I put it into the microwave covered and microwaved it until it was steaming.

And it's been sitting here for about 15 minutes.

Okay.

-You plumped the raisins up.

-I'm plumping them up, yes.

So now I'm just going to strain that brandy off.

I'm going to use it later.

And just give it a little press, press, press.

And I'm going to transfer the raisins right over to this bowl.

So I have 1/2 cup of candied lemon peel.

And I have 1/2 cup of candied orange peel.

-Mmm!

The real stuff.

-Yep.

-1/2 cup of toasted slivered almonds.

So far, pretty easy, right?

-Yeah.

-Now let's move over to the dough.

I have 17 and 1/2 ounces of all-purpose flour, and I'm going to add to it 4 teaspoons of instant, or RapidRise, yeast.

-Okay.

That's a lot of yeast.

-It is.

We're making a couple of loaves here, so... -Oh, okay.

-And it's going to give our bread a great yeasted flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now we're going to add 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of table salt.

So just whisking those ingredients together.

I'm going to add a paddle attachment.

So I have 1 cup of whole milk here that's at room temperature.

-Okay.

-That's important.

And I have 8 tablespoons of melted butter.

I'm going to add 1/2 cup of sugar.

This is a lightly sweetened bread.

The sweetness comes from the fruit.

So we're just using 1/2 cup.

One egg.

Egg is going to give us a little richness.

And 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

So I just want to whisk this together.

What we're doing is dissolving the sugar, incorporating the egg, and really combining it all.

Now we're going to add that brandy.

-[ Chuckles ] -So this is a really great flavor and it's a wonderful spirit.

So now I'm just going to whisk all this together.

Now we're going to combine our wet and our dry.

So we're going to turn this on low.

It's already whisked together.

I'm just going to slowly add this.

Now I'm just going to slowly add the fruit into our bowl until it's all combined.

Alright.

Okay.

We're there.

Everything is mixed together.

It's combined.

And now we're going to refrigerate it overnight.

-Well, it makes sense actually.

It's a very dense, very rich dough.

And it's a yeast bread, so you need to give that yeast a little time to do its thing.

-Absolutely.

It's going to develop a lot of flavor overnight, Julia.

You don't want to rush this.

It's for a special day, right?

You want it to be perfect.

Okay.

So we're going to refrigerate this between 12 and 24 hours.

Alright, Julia, we're moving on to the filling.

So I have 7 ounces of almond paste.

And almond paste and marzipan are very similar.

They have the same ingredients, which is basically almond, sugar, glucose syrup, and water.

Basically almond paste is a little coarser than marzipan.

Marzipan sometimes has an egg white added to it and it can be finer.

And sometimes they add food coloring and kind of make, like, little kind of marzipan fruit and... -Fruits and pigs.

-Exact-- Fruits and pigs.

Yeah.

-Yes.

Yeah.

-Exactly.

So we're just using the almond paste, and this has a ton of flavor.

This is like the star of the bread, right?

We have the dried fruit and the brandy and all that, but this is really like -- this is where it's at.

-Yep.

It's my favorite part.

-I'm just going to add 7 ounces to the bowl.

And we're going to add 1 tablespoon of butter.

And you can see I'm using the bowl that I made the batter in.

Right?

-Makes sense.

-There's no need to dirty up another bowl.

1 tablespoon of water.

-Okay.

-And then we have a pinch of nutmeg.

And we're just going to put this on medium for about a minute until it all comes together.

Just going to use my bowl scraper.

This really ensures that I get every little bit out.

And it allows you to have a snack.

-[ Chuckles ] -Now we're just going to refrigerate this until it's firm, but we're not going to knead it until our dough is ready.

Alright.

So this is our filling.

It has refrigerated overnight.

Nice and cold.

-Yep.

-And we have our dough over here.

This refrigerated overnight, and it also sat out at room temperature for one hour.

-Oh, okay.

It's really firmed up.

-Yes, it has, yep.

-Thank goodness.

-Absolutely.

So we're going to start with the filling.

I'm hoping that you're going to help me here.

-Yay!

-This is like a perfect -- kind of like a two-person project.

-Well, also I get to learn how to make it so I can surprise my family this year.

-Absolutely.

Alright.

So we want a generously floured counter.

And I'm just going to cut this in half because you're making two loaves.

-Mm-hmm.

-Why don't you flour your station?

-Okay.

-Generously.

This is pretty simple.

We're just going to press this with our hands into a 2x7-inch rectangle.

-Okay.

-Okay?

You have a ruler over there.

-2 inches by 7.

Must be exact.

-Must be exact.

-[ Laughs ] -Alright.

I'm good.

You're good?

-Yep.

-Now we're going to move on to our dough.

So this is a pretty sticky dough, as you saw when we were making it.

-Mm-hmm.

-Now I'm just going to dust this.

You have enough flour down there.

So I'm going to divide this in half again.

Half for me.

Half for you.

So what we're going to do with this is we're going to press it into an 8x10-inch rectangle.

-Okay.

-The short side, 8 inches, along the edge of the counter.

-With our hands?

-With our hands.

Yes.

-Not with a rolling pin?

-Not with a rolling pin.

-No.

-Oh, it is easy to maneuver.

-It is, yeah.

Use flour as you need it.

-Okay.

-Triple-checking.

Okay.

You're good?

-I'll triple-check.

10...by 8.

-Alright.

Next up, we are going to take our filling.

This is a 7-inch-wide piece of filling, right?

And this is an 8-inch-wide piece of dough.

So we want 2 inches at the top, and naturally we'll have 1/2 inch on either side.

We're going to perform this, like, really interesting fold.

And this fold is supposed to symbolize Baby Jesus swaddled.

-Mm-hmm, yeah, and the speckled dotted fruit represent the gifts from the Magi.

-Absolutely.

-It's a Christmas bread.

-Absolutely.

Okay.

So what we're going to do is we're going to lift this so that it folds over by about 2 inches and it just abuts the filling.

You're not moving the filling.

You're just kind of lifting it.

This top fold, we're going to fold back 2 inches.

Now we're just going to pinch the sides so that the filling doesn't come out.

-Sealed on that end.

Sealed on this end.

My bottom is sticking out a little bit.

That's right?

-Yes.

-Okay.

-So we have two rimmed baking sheets.

And I've lined one of them with foil that has been lightly sprayed with vegetable oil.

-Two rimmed baking sheets.

It's almost like you're creating an air pocket in between the two sheets.

And you're going to bake it like that.

-We're going to bake it like this, and it's going to make sure that the bottom doesn't get too brown.

Okay.

So...gonna lift up your loaf.

-Uh-huh.

-And we're just centering them onto the tray.

-Okay.

-And... we want 4 inches of space in between.

-Alright.

-'Cause it will -- It's a yeasted dough, so it's going to... -It's going to grow.

-...expand a little bit.

Yeah.

-Alright.

-Now I'm just going to cover it with lightly greased plastic wrap.

So we're just going to let this sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes and let it kind of start to soften a little bit more and rise, alright?

-And I have a little cleanup to do.

-Yes.

-[ Both laugh ] -Okay, Julia, these have sat here for about 30 minutes and they've come a little bit more to room temperature and the yeast has done a little bit more kind of rising.

So now we're going to bake them.

So I have an oven set at 350.

Middle rack.

And we're going to bake them for about 40 to 45 minutes -- I'm going to rotate it halfway through -- until the internal temperature is about 190 to 195 and they're going to be nice and golden brown.

-[ Sniffs ] Oh, that's the smell, Erin!

-Isn't that gorgeous?

-Yes!

-Perfect, Julia!

-Oh!

They're beautiful!

-We know that they're ready by looking at them because they're golden brown, but also we're going to take the temperature.

They should temp out between 190 and 195.

-Okay.

-Alright?

And we've nailed it.

We're going to use butter.

I'm going to brush these with 2 tablespoons of butter, so they each get 1 tablespoon.

And this is just going to kind of act as the glue for our powdered sugar.

-A-ha!

-And now while it's hot...

Butter and then powdered sugar.

-A lot of it.

-A lot of it.

I'm not going to hold back.

-Mnh-mnh!

Powdered sugar should get all over your shirt on Christmas morning.

-If it doesn't, you're not eating it right.

-You're not eating enough.

-No.

You're not eating enough.

Now we just have to let them cool for about three hours.

But first I'm going to transfer them to a cooling rack.

-I'm really excited, Erin.

-It's been three hours, and we have the license to dive in.

But, first, more sugar.

-Yep.

-Okay?

This is great.

It lasts for about like a month at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap.

And, yeah, the fruit really kind of helps to keep the bread moist.

-Mm-hmm.

-It moistens over time.

-It does.

-If it lasts that long.

-Wouldn't in my house.

-No way.

Alright.

So I'm just going to slice.

-Oh-ho-ho!

[ Sniffs ] That's the smell!

-Mm-hmm!

-Ohh!

-Isn't it gorgeous?

-Yes!

-Ahh!

-Mmm-mmm-mmm!

-Is this piece good for you, Julia?

-Oh, it looks gorgeous.

-Alright.

-I've only had aged ones.

I'm really excited to try a fresh one.

[ Chuckles ] I've never had one this good.

This is delicious!

-Mm-hmm.

-It is tender and moist.

And the flavor of the brandy comes through.

-The toasted almonds.

-Mm-hmm.

-The brandied raisins.

-Erin, this is, by far, the best stollen I've ever had.

-Great.

-Thank you for letting me make it alongside you and learn.

-That was a lot of fun.

-Yeah, it was a real gift.

-Thanks.

Yes.

-So there you have it.

If you want to make stollen this Christmas, start by making an enriched yeast dough studded with candied fruit and toasted almonds.

Make an almond-paste filling.

And let the loaves cool for three hours before coating with a generous amount of powdered sugar.

From "America's Test Kitchen," the ultimate recipe for stollen.

I can't wait to surprise my mother with this.

-Giving someone a box of gorgeous homemade cookies through the mail, it's a wonderful thing, but not if they arrive a shattered mess or if they're stale or mushy.

To find out the best way to ship cookies and bars so they arrive in perfect condition, we made nine different kinds of cookies and bars and we boxed them up in various combinations using different packing materials.

We stored the boxes for six days to simulate shipping time, occasionally tossing them around to mimic the indignities that happen along the way.

Then we unpacked them.

Lessons learned -- first, choose wisely.

These cookies did well -- ginger snaps, biscotti, meringues, and spritz cookies.

These are all varieties of cookies that are baked until they're dry throughout.

They stayed intact, crunchy, and fresh-tasting.

Moist brownies and pecan bars also did well, but chewy cookies that started out just slightly moist, including our perfect chocolate-chip cookies, ended up stale.

And delicate lace cookies arrived as broken shards.

Second, remember "like with like," both in texture and flavor.

Moist items like brownies turn crisp meringues to mush.

Ginger snaps transfer their spicy flavors to milder cookies, and not in a good way.

Third, you want to stack bars in small sets.

You want to put parchment between each piece and wrap the whole stack tightly with plastic wrap.

Put cookies in zipper-lock bags.

Now, how many cookies we packed into each bag didn't matter as long as we packed the box properly, so pack with padding.

For maximum shock absorption, surround your wrapped cookies with plenty of lightweight bulk.

Recycled packing peanuts, bubble wrap, or, our favorite, air-popped popcorn all work well.

You want to put the most delicate items in the very center of the box.

And now you're going to put 3 to 4 inches of packing material on all sides, top and bottom.

And that's it.

Now your friends and family can enjoy your cookies from far away.

-We all take note of size, shape, and material when we choose cookware, but did you know that appearance matters, too?

You can make browned butter or sear food to create a fond in any skillet, but a light-colored skillet is ideal simply because you can see what's going on in there.

It's really hard to know how much browning you've got when you're working in a dark pan.

In the case of browned butter, you can see that some of the milk solids clinging to the sides of the skillet are already starting to pick up color, and in a dark pan, that'd be impossible to notice.

You don't want to be staring at a dark skillet trying to assess the color because then you're going to risk burning your butter.

Color matters in bakeware, too.

Dark cake pans and muffin tins, they absorb heat more readily, so cakes and muffins baked in them will have darker sides and bottoms.

Like this...versus that.

Next time you reach for a skillet or pan, take a second to consider its appearance.

It matters more than you think.

-The only thing better than receiving a box of Christmas cookies as a gift is making them.

And if you're into upping your Christmas cookie game this year, I've got a treat for you because Elle's here and she's got an adorable Christmas cookie.

-That's right, and today I'm going to upgrade your Christmas cookie game.

-Awesome.

-My family has a big cookie party every year, and I love adding new things to the rotation.

Today we're going to start with meringue.

-That's unexpected.

-Yeah, it is very unexpected.

But it's so easy.

-Okay.

Great.

-You're going to love it.

We're going to start by adding 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 3/4 cup of granulated sugar.

-Okay.

-This is going to keep our meringue from being weepy.

-Hm.

-Nothing sadder than a weepy meringue.

-Don't want sad meringue.

-You don't.

-Especially during the holidays.

-No, you want it to be firm, you want it to be pipeable, and you want it to hold its shape when baked.

-I love that you're doing this, too, instead of using confectioners' sugar for meringue.

-Confectioners' sugar doesn't have enough cornstarch to hold its own here.

-Okay.

-Yeah.

-Making it super stable.

-That's right.

-Great.

-Okay, so now that that's mixed well, I'm going to set this to the side.

So I have my stand mixer here with a whisk attachment.

To it I'm going to add 4 egg whites... 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla.

-Alright.

-Now, here is a place where you can change the flavor of your meringue if you want.

You could add peppermint.

You can add orange extract.

If you use peppermint, though, use it sparingly.

-Okay.

-Alright.

I have 1/8 teaspoon of salt here.

And I'm going to use about nine drops of green food coloring.

One, two, three, four... five, six, seven, eight, nine.

I'm going to whip this egg-white mixture for about one minute on medium-low.

We're just looking for it to get foamy.

[ Whirring ] -Ooh!

Christmas is here!

-There we go.

Alright.

That looks good.

It's nice and foamy.

The next stage of this is going to medium-high... -Okay.

-...for another minute.

And we're looking for billowy mounds.

-Hm.

-That looks kind of billowy.

Think we're ready to move on to the final step, which is adding our sugar and cornstarch mixture.

Same speed.

-Okay.

-Medium-high, but adding gradually until we get stiff peaks of meringue, which will take about 2 or 3 minutes.

-Alright.

-Alright.

Let's see where we are.

-Oh, yeah.

That's stiff peaks.

-That's a stiff peak.

-I'm excited to see what we're going to make here 'cause this is a mystery to me.

All I know is green meringue.

-I know.

It's the fun of the mystery.

And we're going to make something really exciting.

-Okay.

-Okay?

So we have to work quickly here to fill our piping bags.

-You want me to hold the bag?

-Would you, please?

-Yeah.

-Thank you so much.

-There we go.

-Alright.

So these bags are fitted with a star tip, and it can be 1/4 of an inch to 5/8 of an inch.

-Okay.

I love meringue anything.

-Shake our meringues down.

Also, turning your bag down at the bottom before filling it keeps your...anything from oozing out while you're trying to fill your bag.

-That's always disappointing.

-So just a little twisting.

It is a little disappointing.

You waste a lot of good stuff when you don't do that.

-Absolutely.

-So now we're all set.

We are making -- Are you ready to know?

-Yes!

-Deh-deh-deh-deh!

Drum roll!

-Yes.

-Christmas trees!

-Christmas trees.

-Okay.

We're going to start with making a 1-inch base.

I squeeze from the top and I use my left hand as my guide.

There you go.

You got a 1-inch base.

So we need 25.

-Okay.

Per sheet pan?

-Right?

Yeah, per sheet pan.

And also just you notice we have two sheet pans lined with parchment.

Now, you could use Silpat here, but it has to be very clean.

Silpat is actually really great for meringues if you have it.

So the next layer is a little smaller than the first.

You told me about rotating my piping bag whenever I'm making something, and I do that every time, and this -- -Offsets.

-Yeah!

It offsets the layers of your Christmas tree.

-Works out here.

That's great.

-It does.

So that's, like, our second layer.

-Ohh!

So just a wee bit smaller.

-Just a wee bit smaller.

-It's a three-layer tr-- Oh, that looks like a tree.

-It's a tree!

-[ Gasps ] And you're pulling up to get that beautiful point.

-Yeah.

-Oh, yes!

Alright.

You said the bottom was about an inch?

-Yes.

You got it.

-Alright.

And then one more for good luck.

-Oh, yeah.

-That looks great.

-Ohh!

-That looks great.

We got trees.

-I feel the power!

[ Both laugh ] Okay.

So now we have to put some stars on these trees.

-I can't stop!

-[ Laughs ] -Alright.

Miss Food Stylist.

-I know.

These are my favorite tools!

I take them everywhere I go.

-You know Elle means business when she breaks out the tweezers.

-You know it.

-Yes.

Alright.

-You know it.

-[ Gasps ] Little stars!

These are just sugar stars?

-Yeah.

These are just sugar stars.

-I can't.

-You can buy them at the grocery store.

Very easy.

-Oh, my gosh.

-So you just place them gently on top.

I think I'm all starred up.

-You are.

Alright.

That one's for you.

-Thank you.

Those look great.

Alright.

So we have some nonpareils which are going to be our Christmas bulbs.

-Yes!

-I know.

They're so adorable.

Now, this is something I don't think you need to have a spoon for.

I think you might be able to use your hands with that.

-I will use the spoons I was born with.

-Yeah.

-And I love this.

-I do, too.

It's fun.

It's actually very relaxing.

Okay.

So these are ready to go into the oven.

I have the oven set at 225 degrees.

Two racks -- upper and lower middle positions -- because we cook them together.

-Right -At 30 minutes, which is halfway through the cooking time, we're going to rotate the levels and spin the pans.

-Alright.

-Okay?

After an hour, we're going to turn the oven off and we're going to let them sit in the oven for another hour.

So, once they're out of the oven, we're going to transfer the parchment paper with the meringues on them on a cooling rack.

And we're just going to leave them there until they cool completely.

Bridget, our trees are cooled... -Mm-hmm.

-...completely.

As beautiful as they are, we're not done yet.

-Okay.

-We have to make some Christmas tree stands for our trees.

-Yay!

-Yeah, yeah.

First things first, we have to cut some holes in our trees to be able to put our stands in it.

So we're just going to use the tip of our paring knife, find the center... and just rotate.

Perfect circle like so.

-Look at that.

-Yeah.

Get a little dust out.

-It's a lot easier than real trees.

-Yeah.

Way easier than real trees.

I've already melted a dozen Hershey's Kisses in the microwave.

So we've created chocolate glue, and we're going to just dip the tip of our Hershey's Kiss... -I can't wait to see this.

-...into the melted chocolate.

And then we're going to pick up our tree.

The little holes that we created.

-[ Gasps ] Yes!

-There you go.

-That is adorable!

-It's adorable.

It's one of the most amazing bites you'll ever have.

These meringues look adorable.

We have one last bit of beauty to add to this.

It's the snow.

-It's the snow.

-It's a forest of trees.

What would it be without a little snow?

-Oh.

Confectioners' sugar is great for everything.

-It's great for everything.

Who wouldn't want to eat these cookies?

-And what a great way to serve it, too.

It looks like we're on a Christmas tree farm.

A very tiny one.

-A Very tiny one.

[ Both laugh ] -May I have one?

-Yes, you may have.

Let me give you one.

Maybe two.

-[ Gasps ] Two, please.

The first one, I won't even register how it tastes.

I'm just so excited to eat it.

I just can't get over how adorable that is.

-Alright.

Happy holidays.

-Happy holidays to you.

[ Light crunching ] These are like little fairy trees.

-Mm-hmm.

-So crisp.

-Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

-Mmm!

-This is delicious as it is cute.

-Well, that's going to win all the holiday bake-offs.

These are absolutely perfection.

-Well, thank you.

-I'm gonna win first place at the bake-off this year!

[ Laughs ] And if you want to add these adorable Christmas meringue trees to your holiday baking roundup, first use a mix of sugar and cornstarch.

Let the meringues cool in a turned-off oven.

And then use chocolate kisses as an easy and delicious tree stand.

From "America's Test Kitchen" via the North Pole, Meringue Christmas trees.

You can get this adorable recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes.

Those are all on our website, americastestkitchen.com/tv.

Now, what other shapes can we make?

What about, like, reindeer?

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