Candy Cane Chocolate Tart Food

CANDY CANE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a mixer bowl or by hand, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg, almond extract, vanilla, and salt. Blend flour into mixture in several additions, beat until just combined.
• Remove half the dough from the bowl. Blend red food coloring into the half remaining in the bowl until the coloring is even. Cover dough a kitchen towel to keep it from drying out as you work. Use a floured teaspoon to measure 1 teaspoon each of white and red dough for each cookie. Roll into 4-inch ropes on a lightly floured surface. Place a red and white rope side-by-side, press together lightly and twist to form a spiral. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Curve top down to form handle of a candy cane. Bake until set, about 9 minutes. While the cookies are baking, put peppermint candies in a resealable plastic bag and crush into small pieces with a rolling pin. Mix the candy with the sugar. Place cooling rack over shallow pan. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet and gently place onto cooling rack. Sprinkle with candy/sugar mixture.
• Optional: Cool cookies, drizzle with melted chocolate, and add more candy mixture on top of chocolate.

CANDY CANE CROQUEMBOUCHE

Steps:

• Make the pastry puffs: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring 1 cup water, the butter, granulated sugar and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and sift the flour directly into the pan; stir with a wooden spoon until a paste forms. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is shiny and pulls away from the side of the pan, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed to cool slightly, about 2 minutes. Beat in 1 egg until incorporated, then beat in 1 more egg. Whisk the third egg in a small bowl, then beat into the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, until just smooth and tight. (You may not need all of the third egg.)
• Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Pipe 1 1/4-inch rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart; you should have about 50 puffs. (Alternatively, drop the dough in small mounds onto the baking sheets with a spoon.) Smooth the dough peaks with a dampened finger, then transfer to the oven and bake until puffed, 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking until golden, 5 more minutes. Turn off the oven but leave the puffs inside to dry out, 5 to 7 more minutes. Remove from the oven and pierce a small hole in each puff with a paring knife to let steam escape; transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Make the filling: Put the white chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour it over the chocolate. Gently whisk until smooth and cool, about 7 minutes; whisk in the peppermint extract. Stir in the mascarpone until combined. Cover and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip.
• Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the hole in each puff and pipe in the filling. Transfer the filled puffs to a baking sheet; refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
• Make the icing: Whisk the confectioners' sugar and milk in a large bowl until smooth. Assemble the croquembouche: Dip the bottom of a puff into the icing, letting the excess drip off. Transfer the puff to a platter, icing-side down. Repeat with more puffs, arranging them side-by-side in a 7-inch circle. Fill in the circle with more puffs to stabilize the base of the tower. Continue building a conical tower of puffs, using the icing to hold them in place. (If the icing becomes too thick, whisk in more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.)
• Dust the croquembouche with confectioners' sugar and sprinkle with crushed candy canes; chill until set, about 15 minutes.

CHOCOLATE CANDY CANE TOWER

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla and 4 cups water. Whisk until just combined -- a few small lumps left is just fine.
• Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil to the pan and swirl to coat evenly. Add about 2 cups of batter to the pan to make the first pancake. Cook for 6 minutes on the first side, adjusting the heat as needed to cook gently without burning. When small bubbles start to burst on the surface, sprinkle over a few chocolate chips and slide the pancake onto a flat plate. Place the pan over the plate and flip the pancake back into the pan. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, then remove the pancake to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Continue with the remaining batter, going down by about 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup for each pancake. When the pancakes get small enough, feel free to simply flip with a spatula. You should end up with about 8 pancakes.
• Place the cream cheese, butter, sugar, peppermint extract, salt and milk in a large bowl. Beat with a handheld mixer on medium speed until fully combined and light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Place the largest pancake on a flat cake stand. Spread some of the frosting over the top of the pancake, leaving a 1/3-inch border on the outside. Sprinkle with some of the crushed candy canes. Continue stacking the pancakes with the frosting and the candy canes, going down in size as you stack. Insert a long skewer through the center of the cake to hold the layers in place. Trim the skewer so that the top is flush with the top of the cake, and cover with more frosting. Decorate with mini meringue cookies on top if desired.