Cayla Gallagher - Reindeer Food: 80 Festive Sweets and Treats to Make a Magical Christmas

Copyright 2020 by Cayla Gallagher All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Gallagher, Cayla, author. Title: Reindeer food: 85 festive sweets and treats to make a magical Christmas / Cayla Gallagher. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing, 2020. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020017586 | ISBN 9781510759510 (print) | ISBN 9781510759527 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Cookies. | Christmas cooking. | LCGFT: Cookbooks. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX772 .G25 2020 | DDC 641.86/54dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017586 Cover design by Daniel Brount Cover photo by Cayla Gallagher Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-5951-0 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-5952-7 Printed in China CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Welcome to my third book in the series of Whimsical Treats! So far, weve baked tons of magical goodies in Unicorn Food and Mermaid Food, and now were in the kitchen with Santa and his reindeer. Christmas is, by far, my favorite holiday and Ive always wanted to write a Christmas cookbook. I kept coming up with more and more ideas; I felt like a kid in a candy shop! Youll find here a selection of classic recipes and flavors, as well as some wintry treats like the . Youll see Ive used several shapes and sizes of piping tips when decorating with buttercream. These provide you with endless decorating possibilities and are so simple to use. If youre just starting to build your baking tool kit, I recommend purchasing a beginners piping set, which usually includes several basic tips, a piping bag, and a coupler (a tool to attach the tips to the bag).

All used here are quite common and should be easy to find. I highly prefer using gel food coloring as it provides a deep, vibrant color with only a couple drops, whereas liquid food coloring requires you to use much more to achieve the same pigmentation. It can also change the consistency of your recipe and add a mild food coloring flavorwhich you wont get with the gel. My one exception to this is the , which uses liquid red food coloring, because the cake likes the added moisture! I genuinely hope you find joy and inspiration from this book, that you love the recipes, and, most important, I wish you the most wonderful holiday season! If you ever have any questions about any recipes found here or in my other books, dont hesitate to reach out to me on social media. Lastly, thank you for picking up this book. Becoming a cookbook author has always been a dream of mine, and I never imagined that I would be fortunate enough to write multiple cookbooks so early on in my career.

I am endlessly grateful for your support. Thank you for believing in me. I feel like the luckiest girl! CAKES WINTRY SNOWSTORM CAKE MAKES A 6-INCH CAKEThis cake brings a blizzard right into your kitchen! Its a blueberry marble cake, topped with the most delicious cream cheese frosting. Hidden underneath the trees at the top are fresh strawberries, which cut through the sweetness of the cake and are juicy and refreshing! If you love the holidays, but arent necessarily a fan of classic holiday flavors, this cake is for you. Cake Batter:1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature2 cups sugar3 teaspoons vanilla extract6 large eggs3 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon salt1 cups sour creamBlue food coloring1 cup frozen blueberriesCream Cheese Frosting:16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature2 teaspoons vanilla extract7 cups confectioners sugarBlue and black food coloring3 fresh strawberriesSilver star sprinklesBake the Cake: Grease and flour 3 (6-inch) round cake pans and preheat the oven to 350F. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and smooth.

Add the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, mixing with each addition. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the batter in 2 additions, alternating with the sour cream. Divide the batter in half. Dye one half blue (about 3 drops) and add the blueberries. Spoon dollops of both colors of batter into your prepared pans.

Gently swirl the dough with a knife to create a marble effect. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Cool completely. Make the Frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Assembly: Slice the tops and bottoms off the cakes to smooth the surface and remove any excess browning. Assembly: Slice the tops and bottoms off the cakes to smooth the surface and remove any excess browning.

Stack the cakes, spreading about cup of frosting between each layer. Then coat the entire cake in a thin layer of frosting. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. Take of the remaining frosting and place it in a piping bag fitted with a #19 (small star) piping tip. Set aside. Divide the remaining frosting into 3 bowls.

Use just a couple drops of food coloring for the first bowl, then dye the other two progressively darker shades of blue. Use some black food coloring to help deepen the blue. Pipe a small amount of white frosting around the base of the cake. Spread about 2 to 3 inches of light blue frosting directly above the white frosting, followed by 3 inches of medium blue frosting. Spread dark blue frosting the remaining way up the sides and on top of the cake. Use a cake spatula to smooth the sides of the cake and gently blur the borders between each color.

This will make it look like the night sky! Next, pipe the white trees onto the cake. Start with the top of the tree, piping a dollop and dragging it upward, creating a triangle. Continue down the tree, creating a tall triangle. If you would like the tree to be fuller, add another layer of branches directly on top. Trim the stem and tops off 3 strawberries, creating a flat base for them to rest on. Repeat the tree technique on the strawberries, starting at the top of the tree and working downward toward the base.