When I sounded the call for cinnamon in this month's
We Should Cocoa Christmas special, 32 bold bakers rallied to the cry. Unsurprisingly Christmas baking took centre stage. I just love, love, love the wonderful assortment of festive cakes, tarts, desserts, chocolates, muffins and so many delightful biscuits that have been inspired by that most excellent of spices, cinnamon.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those that have supported
We Should Cocoa tin 2012, either by hosting, entering or commenting. Without you all, this challenge would not exist.
New to We Should Cocoa, Karin from
Sinnesfreuden kicked things off this month with her spicy
Christmas drinking chocolate popsicles. These are such a great idea and are perfect for Christmas gifts. Each year I plan make some, but I haven't managed it yet.
Janice of
Farmersgirl Kitchen made some
choc-ful Christmas muffins which, of course, included cinnamon. In making them she got to use her super new red mixing bowl, Christmas platter and muffin carrying case. Lucky thing.
How much wouldn't I have given to get a bag of these
chocolate covered mulled wine marshmallows for Christmas. These have got to be pure heaven in my book and are made by Becky of
Mintcustard in an attempt to cheer herself up after being rather horribly ill.
Jo of
Food Travel Life has entered the interestingly named
Cinnalate, a banana, chocolate and cinnamon loaf which looks really tasty.
Another fabulous Christmas gift idea comes from
Laura Loves Cakes. Laura made these
Christmas wreath cookies which look stunning with their wonderfully contrasting colours.
One of my favourite things to drink as a special winter treat is hot chocolate flavoured with cinnamon, so I was really pleased to see this entry for
Cinnamon Hot Chocolate from Elizabeth of
The Law Student's Cookbook. This one has vanilla as an addition which I'm now keen to try.
I haven't yet seen a copy, but all the reports of
Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi have been positively glowing. These gorgeous sounding
warming spice cookies made by Jill of
Tales of Pigling Bland have only added to my desire to obtain a copy. Though I think her addition of cherry brandy and chilli chocolate can only have improved them.
Layers of chocolate cream and cinnamon have got to be one of the best things ever. This frozen
chocolate cinnamon parfait by the
Nutty Tart is a brilliant idea for a make-ahead dinner party dessert. It incorporates a rather clever method of pasteurising the egg yolks that I've not come across before.
This round-up just gets better and better. Corina of
Searching for Spice has made a dessert which I will most certainly be making in the summer when the raspberry season is in full swing. This
white chocolate and raspberry tart cleverly makes use of a cinnamon crust.
Now for the brilliantly named
Christmas Mazurka, just the thought of it makes me want to get up and dance. Quite why it has this name remains a mystery, but what a brilliant bake for Christmas. Thanks to Lucy of
The KitchenMaid for another excellent recipe.
My own contribution of
cinnamon stars were a great success and I think I shall be making these for years to come.
Cinnamon and ginger make for a good combination and when combined with chocolate they jump up to another level entirely - well it works for me anyway. Susie of
Fold in the Flour was a little disappointed with these
chocolate glazed gingercakes, but I would be delighted to indulge in one.
Dom's balls, much like his thighs, have become a thing of legend at
Belleau Kitchen. This year he dipped them in chocolate for that extra special touch. Although I didn't do the chocolate bit, I did make some of these
chocolate dipped cinnamon balls for Christmas gifts this year and can confirm they are delicious.
Cinnamon and chocolate came as a bit of a surprise to Janine of
Cake of the Week who hadn't come across this combination before. I think she was convinced after making these delightful star shaped
cinnamon biscuits sandwiched with a chocolate water ganache, so not nearly as fatty a biscuit as you might imagine.
Hooray for
Caroline Makes who made these divine
chocolate cinnamon rolls - it's good to have some yeast bakery included. I know these are divine because I made some myself a while back.
More balls from
Rita Cooks Italian, quite different to Dom's but equally good looking. These
cinnamon and ginger chocolate balls are made with dates and mixed nuts and sound delicious.
Time for some more muffins now from Snowy of
Cookbooks Galore. These
cinnamon, coffee and chocolate muffins have a wonderful secret chocolate centre.
I was a little bit shocked to read that Claire of
Under the Blue Gum Tree heaves at the very thought of cinnamon. However, she wasn't going to let this put her off entering this month (brave girl) and I'm so glad she didn't, because this
West Indies chocolate tart from Eric Lanlard's
Tart it Up looks and sounds an absolute delight.
I've been meaning to try my hand at German honey biscuits for an age, but it's one of the many recipes that continues to elude me. Carina of
Nutritious Deliciousness has come to my rescue though with these fabulous looking chocolate covered
lebkuchen.
I am so very excited by this entry from Laura of
How to Cook Good Food. I just love gingerbread houses and all the remembered fairy tales of childhood that go with them, but I can't imagine ever having the patience to make one myself. I just adore this
gingerbread house for Christmas complete with gingerbread men to live inside it.
Those cookies just keep coming and bring them on I say. These festive
spiced cranberry and chocolate chip cookies look utterly scrummy which is no surprise as they come from Michelle of
Utterly Scrummy Food for Families.
How about this spectacular tower of Dutch pancakes filled with speculoos spread and mascarpone? Well, I for one would be very happy to try a slice. Kavey of
Kavey Eats thought this
quick and easy speculoos & mascarpone pancake cake was just what was needed in the run up to Christmas when we are all short of time and I think I'm inclined to agree.
Bundt cakes are another bake I have yet to try. I've been looking for a silicone ring mould for a couple of years now, but no success so far. This
chocolate and cinnamon bejeweled Christmas bundt cake is a particularly fine specimen and comes from the highly creative
Homemade by Fleur.
These
Nutella-filled cinnamon sugar muffins had me drooling at the very thought. I have a weakness for cinnamon doughnuts and these muffins made by Natalie of
HungryHinny sound even more appealing - they look pretty fabulous too.
I made chocolate crackles for the first time this year as Christmas gifts but am now regretting not having seen Suelle's version first. You'll find these
very tasty
chocolate-cinnamon crackle tops over at
Mainly Baking where you might just end up staying a few hours as there are so many excellent bakes to peruse there.
Another hot chocolate, decadently made with double cream this time. This
cinnamon cocoa was enjoyed by the lovely Hannah of
Corner Cottage Bakery in the quiet of Christmas Eve.
This wonderful rich
chocolate and chestnut torte rounded off the Christmas day meal at
Elizabeth's Kitchen. I am a big fan of chocolate and chestnuts, but I reckon this torte sitting on a base of buttered nuts, must be one of the best.
And the final entry, which will round off the feast nicely, come wrapped in fine looking Christmas tree cases.
Christmas chai inspired cupcakes with chocolate buttercream from Caroline of Cake Crumbs and Cooking.
Maybe that wasn't the final entry after all. Another impressive Christmas day entry comes from Sarah of
Maison Cupcake with her
Christmas Buche de Noel. Cinnamon extract is the secret ingredient here, not something I've come across before so I am duly intrigued.
Chestnut puree baked into a savoury loaf of bread sounds like heaven to me but with added cocoa, cinnamon and chilli too, I just can't see how it could get any better. Jen from
Blue Kitchen Bakes brings us this
chocolate and chestnut spiced loaf.
And some more Christmas goodies have emerged from the ether. Karen of
Lavender and Lovage got into the festive spirit communed with her inner child. She made these delightful and colourful
little spiced chocolate Christmas tree cakes.
Kit of
I-Lost in Austen always wows me with her stunning creations and even more stunning photography. These
cinnamon, oat and chocolate chip pancakes have me wanting to invite myself along for breakfast.
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