I saw a photo in the new French magazine I just subscribed to and… my little head took off on distant journeys with recipes, festivities, and an absolute desire to recreate it all in my kitchen!
Clearly, this Christmas appetizer Letter cake is not made in 5 minutes, and if like me you have limited space (my kitchen is an odd L-shape with very few work surfaces which I will soon renovate or I won’t survive) it’s a commitment, but it’s intriguing, tasty, tantalizing, and also cute, don’t you think???
It’s simply many letters with a soft dough (and thank goodness it’s in French otherwise…) each filled and decorated differently to give our guests many different and very appetizing flavors!
I also suggest other appetizers such as:
SAVORY HEDGEHOG FOR APERITIF CLEVER RECIPE
HOW TO MAKE NUMBER-SHAPED CAKES
CHRISTMAS APPETIZER–LETTER CAKE
ASI’s Kitchen
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Minutes
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 10 medium eggs
- 1.75 cups milk
- 1.75 cups vegetable oil
- 3 packets yeast for savory preparations (for me Pizzaiolo)
- 2 cups grana padano (grated)
- to taste salt and pepper
- to taste guacamole sauce
- to taste crackers of your choice
- 1 clove bell pepper (for me red, diced)
- 3 slices avocado (for decoration)
- 4 wedges lemon
- to taste fresh mint (for decoration)
- 6 oz salmon cheese
- 3.5 oz ricotta
- to taste cucumber (for decoration)
- 5 slices smoked salmon
- to taste golden croutons (for decoration)
- 2 red onions
- 4 wedges flatbread
- 3.5 oz ready ham pâté (or foie gras)
- 6 oz herb cream cheese
- 2 pinches freshly chopped herbs (for me basil, parsley, and chives)
- 3.5 oz ricotta
- 3 breadsticks
- to taste fresh parsley (for decoration)
FOR PREPARING THE CHRISTMAS THEMED LETTER CAKE APPETIZER
To make the letters of the Christmas appetizer I took the recipe for the clever savory tart almost doubling the ingredients so…
In a bowl, we put 3 cups of flour, 5 medium eggs, 0.875 cups of milk and vegetable oil, 1 and a half packets of yeast for savory recipes, and 1 cup of grated cheese.
Using electric whisks, mix well to have a smooth and lump-free mixture: if needed, add a little more milk!
Line a baking sheet of 14 x 10 inches with parchment paper.
Lightly oil it, then pour the mixture, which will be cooked in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes or according to your appliance’s characteristics.
Once cooked, let it cool and then cut out the first 2 letters.
I did everything by hand and you can tell, I’m sure, but overall I don’t mind it! Sure, I could have made the O rounder, plumper, and less skinny, but…
Repeat with the other part of ingredients the same preparation and once baked and cooled, cut out the other 2 letters plus the two dots of the French E dieresis…
After preparing the guacamole sauce as indicated in my recipe above and here → https://blog.giallozafferano.it/asilannablu/guacamole/
put everything in a piping bag with a small round nozzle and decorate the N by tracing like a braid on each part of the letter.
Add diced red bell pepper, a few leaves of mint, some lemon wedges, and some slices of fresh avocado.
For the letter O in the word Noël, mix ricotta with the salmon cheese creating a kind of mousse.
Also with a piping bag and a large star nozzle, make many tufts covering the entire letter.
Add some fresh cucumber slices, some golden croutons (those for soups to be clear), and a few little roses made with strips of smoked salmon.
For the letter Ë, prepare the caramelized onions in this way → https://blog.giallozafferano.it/asilannablu/bocconcini-di-polenta-con-cipolla-caramellata-ricetta-antipasto/ and line the base of the soft pasta letter.
Cut the ready ham pâté or fois gras into chunks and place them on the surface.
Cut the Romagna flatbread into diamond wedges and distribute it here and there, and… voilà the letter Ë of Noël is ready!
For the letter L, mix the fresh herb cheese with the fresh herb mince and the ricotta.
Place everything in the piping bag with a round plain nozzle and make many diagonal strips covering all the dough.
Place scattered pieces of breadsticks and some fresh parsley leaves.
Attention… we have finished our preparation ^_^!!!
The dough can be made the day before, but the decoration is preferable to be done a few hours before lunch to maintain freshness and maximum deliciousness for the Christmas Appetizer!
Enjoy your meal!
Annalisa
