NPR Taste Test: Pastries To Sweeten Your Holiday Party

Pastry chef Aggie Chin showed up at Weekend Edition with a box of scrumptious bite-sized desserts. She talks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about sweet treats to prepare for your holiday party — and offers a few recipes to try yourself.

Listen to their conversation at the link above, and check out some of those recipes here.

Gingersnaps
Yogurt Crémeux
Cranberry compote

Gingersnaps

4 oz butter
6 oz sugar
1 oz brown sugar
2 tsp molasses
1 oz egg white
6 oz all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove

In a mixer fitted with a paddle, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

Add the molasses and mix to incorporate.

Add the egg white.

Sift together the dry ingredients and add all at once. Mix on low speed until just incorporated.

Gather the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill the dough in the refrigerator until cold and firm, about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Place them on sheet trays lined with parchment.

Bake for about 12-14 min until the cookies puff up a little then fall and look totally dry.

Yogurt Crémeux

3 oz heavy cream
3.5 oz white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 sheet gelatin, bloomed
5 oz greek yogurt

Heat the cream to a boil. Add the gelatin to melt.

Pour the cream over chocolate to melt. Whisk to fully incorporate the chocolate and cream.

Add the yogurt and whisk together.

Pour into a container and chill in the refrigerated overnight.

Cranberry compote

6 oz fresh cranberries
3 oz sugar
3 oz water
orange zest
1 tbs orange juice

Combine everything in a pot and cook until all the cranberries pop.

Cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator.

To assemble: Crush some of the gingersnaps. Put a spoonful of crushed cookies in the bottom of a cup, top with cranberry compote, then some of the yogurt cremeux, top with more crushed gingersnaps.

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