This weekend was my friend Meme’s annual Holiday Cookie Exchange and it was as lovely as ever. This is always quite the to-do, with more than a few pastry chefs in attendance so you know the offerings will be pretty good, but it’s also important to show well. I mean, these are my peers. I can’t show up with a crap cookie. The horror. In years past, I’ve made ridiculous cookies. Last year I carefully candied thin kumquat slices to top buttery sable cookies. It took a million hours and was beyond ridiculous but they were beautiful and rather delicious. This year, I knew my cookies were good, very good in fact, (I made these) and holiday appropriate with a really great ginger bite, but they were rather plain looking. Even I was underwhelmed. So that morning, I decided to up the ante and get crafty. I would make the platter upon which these cookies would rest. Yep. I made a platter.
STRESSCAKE 