LCBO Food & Drink Holiday 2017

½ tsp (2 mL) pure vanilla extract ½ cup (125 mL) cocoa powder or icing sugar or gold sanding sugar 1 Prepare and measure all ingredients before starting to cook. Bring icewine to room tem- perature. Finely chop chocolate. Heat cream and butter in a medium-size saucepan, until it comes to a boil. Stir in icing sugar until melted. Add the chocolate all at once, then remove pan from heat. Stir gently until chocolate is melted. Immediately add icewine and vanilla. Gently and slowly stir in. Turn into a bowl. 2 Press a piece of plastic wrap over the sur- face and leave on counter until mixture cools to room temperature, about 2 hours. Then refrigerate until firmed a little but still spoon- able, about 2 hours. 3 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 1¼-inch-wide (3-cm) ice cream scoop that holds 2 tsp (10 mL), or a melon baller, scoop up chocolate mixture. Gently press chocolate into the scoop, smoothing the top to create a flat bottom for truffles and wiping off any chocolate on the sides of the scoop. Drop chocolate truffle onto lined sheet. (If chocolate sticks to scoop, lightly spray scoop with oil be- fore spooning up chocolate.) For a round truf- fle, gently roll 2 tsp (10 mL) of chocolate mix- ture between your palms until fairly smooth, and place on lined sheet. Refrigerate truffles for at least 1 hour to firm or up to 2 days. 4 To coat cold truffles, place about ¼ cup (60 mL) cocoa powder, icing sugar or sanding sugar in a small bowl. One at a time, place a cold truffle, flat-side up, in bowl. Gently hold- ing the sides, twirl truffle to evenly coat. Then sit on a parchment paper-lined container that has a tight-fitting lid. Repeat until all truffles are coated. Seal and store in a cool place or refrigerator, and serve within 2 weeks. Makes about 24 truffles WHAT TO SERVE Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage Port LCBO 191239 $17.40 Port is a perfect after-dinner drink during the festive season. This example offers layers of sweet, ripe dark berry, as well as coffee and chocolate elements that will stand up to and heighten the flavours in the truffles. Southbrook Framboise LCBO 341024, 375 mL $18.95 The sweet, intense raspberry flavour of this local fruit wine offers both a delicious complement and contrast to these rich truffles. There may be no better match than raspberries and chocolate.

a ¼-inch (5-mm) thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place on parchment-paper- lined baking sheets, leaving a generous space between each cookie. Add silver or gold dra- gées for decoration if you wish. Bake until cookies feel dry to the touch and bottoms are just beginning to darken, 25 to 30 minutes. Leave on sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remain- ing dough. Store in airtight containers in a cool place; they will keep well for a week in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer. If desired, ice cookies just before serving. Makes 60 cookies, about 2 inches (5 cm) wide COURVOISIER ICING GLAZE 1 In a bowl, stir 5 cups (1.25 L) icing sugar with ¼ cup (60 mL) corn syrup, ½ cup (125 mL) Courvoisier and 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract. Place cool cookies on a rack over a piece of waxed paper. Slowly spoon glaze over cook- ies. If not the thickness you wish, stir in a little more Courvoisier to thin, or icing sugar tomake it thicker. $90.95 For a perfect conclusion to your meal, serve this fine spirit neat or in coffee. Its deep, spicy character and its vanilla-caramel and dried fruit flavours will certainly harmonize with these cookies. Stone’s Green Ginger LCBO 24828 $11.45 If you love the bold taste of ginger and can’t get enough of this spice then boost the experience by matching these cookies to this sweet spicy ginger wine. Serve it well-chilled, over ice and enjoy the burst of flavours on your palate! While Canada’s award-winning icewine is best served chilled, these rich truffles laced with icewine are divine either chilled or at room temperature. One or two served with coffee will give just the right touch of sweetness to cap off a grand dinner party. Two good-quality chocolate bars are what you need for these addictive truffles. ¼ cup (60 mL) Riesling or Vidal icewine 7 oz (200 g) good-quality chocolate, preferably 70% cacao DARK CHOCOLATE ICEWINE TRUFFLES WHAT TO SERVE Courvoisier VSOP Cognac LCBO 9902

COURVOI S IER GINGERBREAD

A lacing of Courvoisier lifts this classic holiday sweet to an elegant, classy cookie. Because of the luxurious Cognac, these cookies lean to the soft and chewy side rather than the crispy- crunchy type. If you decide to ice the cookies, lace the icing with Courvoisier as well (recipe follows). Now that’s a grown-up cookie! 4 cups (1 L) all-purpose flour 1 tbsp (15 mL) ground ginger 2 tsp (10 mL) ground cinnamon 1 tsp (5 mL) salt ½ tsp (2 mL) each ground allspice, nutmeg and cardamom 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, melted 1 cup (250 mL) lightly packed brown sugar ¼ cup (60 mL) fancy molasses ⅓ cup (80 mL) Courvoisier VS Cognac 2 eggs, lightly beaten Silver or gold dragées for garnish (optional) Courvoisier Icing Glaze (optional) 1 In a large bowl, stir flour with ginger, cin- namon, salt, allspice, nutmeg and cardamom until evenly blended. In another large bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat butter with sugar until completely dissolved. Beat in molasses, then Courvoisier and eggs, beating in each un- til incorporated before adding the next. Gradu- ally stir in flour mixture, kneading in the last with your hands. Dough will be soft and sticky. 2 Form dough into 4 balls, then flatten into discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrig- erate until firm, about 2 hours or up to a week. (They can be frozen up to a month, so long as they are first overwrapped with foil or slipped into freezer bags.) 3 To bake, remove dough from refrigerator and leave on counter until soft enough to eas- ily roll out, about 20 minutes. 4 Preheat oven to 275°F (135°C). 5 Place 1 disc of dough on a piece of parch- ment paper and cover with a large piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll to

⅓ cup (80 mL) whipping cream 1½ tbsp (22 mL) unsalted butter ½ cup (125 mL) icing sugar

238  FOOD & DRI NK HOLIDAY 2017