Professor Butter Beard and Thomas Nast’s “Merry Old Santa Claus”
“The pleasure lies not in the cookies, but in the pattern the crumbs make when the cookies crumble.”— Michael Korda (British writer)
So, dear moonbeams, have you chosen your cookies to bake for Santa?
Over the past month, I have posed that very question to nearly one hundred starry-eyed munchkins as they prepared to leave my lap with visions of sugarplums and presents swirling in their heads. Chocolate Chip is a popular, but I must admit, rather safe choice. Snickerdoodles ranked high on the list, a favorite of Donner and Blitzen, but I rather consider them to be an autumnal “back to school” option. Now, those that mentioned “Oreos” did get an extra wink and a thumbs up to Dwindle the Elf to remember to add two more delicious treats to those Whoville stockings. Bolder answers included Brownies (heavy crumb potential), Mexican Snowballs (addictive, but rough on the velvet), Scottish Shortbreads (they know me, they know me!) and Peanut Butter (those require two or three additional glasses of milk).
A hint, dear moonbeams…. If you want to ensure inclusion on the “nice list,” opt for a Thumbprint Cookie! But more on that later.
Since the beginning of November, hints of the upcoming Santa holiday have invaded our favorite television programs, billboards, and Facebook scrolling. This week, I pondered on the question of where did the actual portrait of our current Santa Claus first appear? The idea can be traced back to ancient pagans and European folklore, but the white-bearded, rosy-cheeked, playfully plump jolly ole elf we know and love has a more current portrait history.
It was Thomas Nast, a cartoonist with Harper’s Weekly in the mid-to-late 19th century, who created the image of Santa Clause we recognize today. Taking the words of Clement Moore’s poem, Nast forged together a new identity for old St. Nick. He brought together the tales of the man who brings presents to children in European folklore and the Saint from the 3rd century CE, morphing them into a jolly man who wears radiant red, rides in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, and brings presents to the “good” boys and girls all over the world (in one night).
Nast’s cartoons were more than slightly politically aligned. If you look at his early renderings of Santa, American Civil War Union soldiers surround him, as he wears stars and stripes which mirror the flag behind him. There is also a marionette in the likeness of a certain Confederate leader. The statement his January 1863 cartoon(s) made was big. According to Ryan Hyman, a curator at the MacCulloch Hall Historical Museum, Nast was suggesting that Santa was from the Union, making it a Union holiday. Nast built on this during the Civil War – a time when people needed to be reminded of the simple gestures to bring happiness to their lives.
The 1881 image known as “Merry Old Santa Claus,” is probably Nast’s most famous portrait of the Christmas deity. To the casual observer (like me), it looks like Santa, with his bag of toys, wearing his characteristic crushed velvet suit. But actually, Hyman writes, “It’s more propaganda, this time related to the government’s indecisiveness overpaying higher wages to members of the military. On his back isn’t a sack full of toys—it’s actually an army backpack from enlisted men.” He’s holding a dress sword and belt buckle to represent the Army, whereas the toy horse is a callback to the Trojan horse, symbolizing the treachery of the government. A pocket watch showing a time of ten ’til midnight indicates the United States Senate has little time left to give fair wages to the men of the Army and Navy.
Few people may know that Nast went on to give us the donkey for the Democrats and the elephant for Republicans, and that he, very loudly, took on corrupt New York City politicians, but we can never underestimate the role he played in creating over two centuries of Christmas dreams. The artist, who also used his own likeness when drawing Santa, left us with his imprint on our culture throughout the rest of time. Nast’s Santa, dressed in immaculate red velvet and brilliantly white fur, will twinkle and “ho-ho-ho” in children’s visions until his next incarnation – much like Dr. Who’s magic regeneration on Christmas Eve.
But let’s pleasantly return to cookies. I believed I mentioned that Thumbprints are the most splendid choice this year! And, not just your grandmother’s Peanut Butter Thumbprints topped with a kiss of Hershey’s chocolate. This year, I’m suggesting playing on that classic standard. I’ve whipped up a recipe for dark chocolate brownie thumbprints, baked and then filled with a ganache made with white chocolate and a double dose of nutmeg-scented eggnog. And, if you really want that Christmas pony, sprinkle on a few shards of crushed candy canes.
I’ll close this week with one of my favorite Washington Irving quotes. “Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.” Bake an extra dozen or two of your favorite holiday cookies, leave some for Santa and the reindeer, and then surprise a friend with a cheery “ho-ho-ho,” and a plate full of yumminess.
Dark Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Eggnog Ganache
Four Dozen Cookies
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp instant espresso powder
8 Tbsp (one stick) unsalted butter
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I use morsels)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, cold
1 ½ tsp vanilla paste
Sanding sugar, for rolling
Eggnog Ganache:
1 cup white chocolate, roughly chopped (Again, I use morsels)
1/3 cup eggnog
1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon and instant espresso powder.
2) Melt the dark chocolate and butter together using a double boiler method (a bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water).
3) Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk in the sugar – the mixture will turn grainy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is smooth and thick. Whisk in the vanilla paste.
4) Add the dry mix to the chocolate and fold together until the flour disappears. Cover the dough with plastic and chill for at least two hours.
5) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough into a rounded tsp ball and roll in your hands. Then roll the dough balls in the sanding sugar to coat. Place them on the cookie sheet, allowing them 1 ½” to spread while baking. Steadying the dough balls with your fingers, use the end of a wooden spoon to press an indentation in the middle. Do not press all the way through!
6) Bake each pan for 10 minutes, rotating after 7 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool and repress the indentation as it will puff while baking.
7) For the ganache. Bring the eggnog to a simmer and then pour it over the white chocolate. Let sit for 4-5 minutes and then stir until smooth. Using a small spoon, or piping bag, fill the indentations with the eggnog ganache.
8) During the holidays, after the ganache is almost set (about 20 minutes), I sprinkle a little bit of candy cane shards over the ganache for “Santa Bling.”
