White Chocolate Star Tree Recipes

Steps:

• Line a 12 1/2-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with acetate.
• Place 2 3/4 pounds chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan with 2 inches of water to a simmer, and then reduce heat to low. Set bowl with chocolate over saucepan, and let melt, stirring gently with a rubber spatula, until chocolate registers 118 degrees on a candy thermometer. (Watch the chocolate carefully, as heating and cooling times may vary.) Remove bowl from saucepan. Add remaining chocolate, and stir until chocolate cools to 82 degrees. (Remove any unmelted pieces with spatula.) Return bowl to saucepan, and let stand, stirring occasionally until chocolate registers 86 degrees to 87 degrees.
• Pour chocolate into prepared sheet, spreading evenly. Tap bottom on work surface to even out chocolate. Refrigerate until set, about 45 minutes (chocolate will be easier to cut if slightly soft).
• Place chocolate on a work surface. Heat 1/2 inch of water until steaming. Working with 1 cutter at a time, starting with the largest and working down to the smallest, place cutter in water to heat. Remove with tongs, and dry completely. Press cutter into chocolate, pressing all the way through. (You can use the bottom of a small bowl to help press down if it's too difficult.) Carefully remove chocolate from cutter. Repeat with same-size cutter. Then repeat with remaining star cutters, cutting out 2 of each, but only 1 of each of the smallest 3 stars. Cut two 1-inch rounds. Reserve chocolate scraps.
• To assemble the trees: Melt 3 ounces of scrap chocolate. Using melted chocolate as glue and a small paintbrush, glue 2 rounds together for truck. Glue 1 of the largest stars on trunk, followed by remaining largest, rotating each slightly to stagger points. Repeat, gluing stars, largest to smallest, and rotating each slightly to stagger points and create a tree shape. Turn the last (and smallest) star on its side to create the tree topper. (For a medium tree, leave out the 2 largest stars; for a small tree, leave out the 4 largest.)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
• Reduce speed to low, and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until thoroughly combined. Divide the dough into four parts, and flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place a clean piece of parchment paper or a Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat) on work surface, and dust generously with flour. Place one disk of dough in center, and roll to 3/16 inch thick. While rolling, occasionally run a large offset spatula under the dough to distribute the flour and prevent sticking. Use more flour for the top or bottom of dough if necessary. Transfer parchment paper and rolled dough to a cookie sheet that fits in freezer. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes or until the dough is chilled through. (This may be done in the refrigerator, but it will take longer.) Repeat process with remaining dough (you can stack sheets in the freezer to chill).
• Remove dough and parchment from the freezer, and transfer to work surface. Using the cutout templates and a paring knife or utility knife, cut three of each size star. Using a plastic straw, poke a hole in the center of each cookie. Remove the templates from the dough, and pull away scraps from the stars. If the stars are too close together, carefully use a spatula to transfer them to a parchment or Silpatlined baking sheet. Return cut cookies to the freezer to chill before baking; this will prevent excessive spreading. Reroll scraps, and cut out remaining stars.
• Once the cookies are chilled through, remove them from freezer, and place in the oven. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, rotating at least once, until cookies begin to get color. Remove from oven, and transfer to a heat-proof surface.
• Decorate the cookies with Royal Icing and sanding sugar or nonpareils if desired. Place one of the largest cookies on a plate, and place an 11-inch wooden skewer in the hole. Stack the remaining two largest cookies on top, spiraling them so that the points don't line up. Continue to stack the cookies in descending-size order. If you have left the cookies undecorated, dust them with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serve.

Steps:

• Using a very clean pastry brush, paint the branches with bittersweet chocolate until completely covered. (Of course, this does not make them edible!) You may need more than one coating. Place the coated branches on a sheet of parchment paper until the chocolate has fully set.
• For the base of this presentation, use a small plastic container as a mold, the size of which depends upon the size of the branches you've coated in chocolate. Center the branches inside the container and add bittersweet chocolate, filling it to the top. Allow to harden. When the chocolate has set, remove the plastic container. Use bittersweet chocolate to "glue" whatever you've chosen to hang from the tree. There is no set pattern, just let your eye guide you as you randomly decorate the branches. Use as many or as few as you like, depending on the size of your tree. It will look more interesting if color is added (i.e. fresh fruits, orange peels, white chocolate leaves, etc). Use the chocolate tree as a centerpiece for the dining room table during dinner. When it is time for dessert, your guests can simply pick the petit fours and candies from the tree.
• Assorted items to hang from the "tree", for example: cookies, petit fours, fresh fruits such as cherries or raspberries, orange peels, white chocolate leaves, etc.
• How to Temper Chocolate(From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres):
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.

Steps:

• Place chocolate in a microwave-proof bowl. Melt on Medium (50% power)for 3-4 minutes, stirring every minute. Add Rice Bubbles and coconut. Stir to combine.
• On a sheet of baking paper, spoon or pipe mixture into a cross shape. You will need 6 crosses in graduation sizes. Chill in refrigerator for 20 minutes, until firm. Reserve ramaining chocolate mixture.
• Place the largest cross on a flat board or serving plate. Spoon a little of the remaining chocolate into the centre. Sit the next cross on top, pressing down lightly to secure. (Place each cross in different directions). Continue with remaining crosses, finishing with the smallest. Chill in refrigerator for 20 mins to set.
• Dust with icing sugar. Top with a shortbread star if desired.