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ABTKids Daily

Week of December 7-11, 2020

Scene from Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker. Photo: Doug Gifford.
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Experience the excitement of classical ballet at home with ABTKids Daily!

Welcome to ABTKids Daily, American Ballet Theatre’s new home for families and educators to discover digital content for their virtual classrooms.  Join us each day to Meet an ABT Dancer, engage with an ABT Teaching Artist, learn fun facts and enjoy ballet-themed activities from the comfort of your own home.

As America’s National Ballet Company®, ABT is dedicated to preserving and extending the great legacy of classical dancing, through exciting performances and educational programming of the highest quality, presented to the widest possible audience.

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday

Join us each Monday morning to bring the joy of classical ballet to your family. A weekly curriculum will be posted for your discovery!

 

ABTKids Daily is generously supported by
Bloomberg Philanthropies

 

Explore this week’s materials below or view the archive here.

 

Watch ABTKids 2020: B is for Ballet!
Presented in partnership with Random House Children’s Books,
the program is inspired by B Is for Ballet: A Dance Alphabet.

Week of December 7-11, 2020


To Read

To Watch

To Do

Cooking Week


Order Now!

The ABT community came together to create ABT Kitchen, its first-ever digital cookbook! Featuring artwork by ABT dancer Javier Rivet, this cookbook follows the journey of a dancer from Warm-Up (Breakfast) to Curtain Call (Dessert).

And now we turn it over to our Cooking Week hostess the Sugar Plum Fairy!

 

Welcome from the Sugar Plum Fairy

https://www.abt.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ABTKidsDaily_SugarPlumIntro.wav
 

As everyone knows the holiday season is my favorite time of the year! Children fall asleep with thoughts of my magical Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy floating and dancing in their dreams.This year, I have put forth a challenge to all of my friends at American Ballet Theatre to submit recipes fit to be served at my annual Sugar Plum Banquet. We received so many sugartastically delicious recipes that I just couldn’t wait until the annual Sugar Plum Celebration to share!

A big thank you to all of the ABT dancers, musicians, staff and crew for sharing their favorite dishes and desserts. I am pleased to introduce you to Zimmi, Kyle, Claire, Delia, and Emily as they introduce and share their recipes for our ABTKids young and old.

And don’t forget to watch Emily’s amazing video starring ME! The fabulous Sugar Plum Fairy! And don’t forget to complete the Sugar Plum Fairy coloring activity and put it on your fridge, so you can think of me every time you have a treat this holiday season!

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Monday

Bluebird Pancakes

by Zimmi Coker

Ingredients

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine – microwave and let cool to room temperature
1 large egg
Fresh blueberries, as desired

Preparation

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, and egg.

Next, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed. Be sure not to over-mix.

For best results, let mixture sit for 10 minutes, which makes the batter fluffier.

Then add a pat of butter on the griddle on medium heat. Pour your pancakes and immediately place blueberries on top!

Cook until golden brown and enjoy warm, family-style!

Makes 4-6 servings.

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Tuesday

Standing Ovation Pound Cake

by Kyle Pickles

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1½ cups butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing the pan
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Lightly grease a Bundt pan with butter and dust with flour, tapping out any excess flour.

In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Add 2 eggs and 1 cup flour and mix well. Continue with adding 2 eggs and 1 cup flour, and mix; then add the remaining 2 eggs and 1 cup flour and mix. Finally, add the vanilla.

Pour ingredients into Bundt pan and bake for about 75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (Cooking times may vary depending on the temperature of your own oven).

Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting on a cooling rack to cool completely. The cake is great on its own – but feel free to serve with some macerated berries.

Variation: You can add some chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts work best) on the bottom of the Bundt pan before filling the batter.

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Wednesday

Prince Cocoa Mint Cookies

by Claire Florian

Ingredients

¾ cup butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet
chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 (4.5-ounce)packages chocolate covered mint wafers, such as Andes mints

Preparation

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, sugar, and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut-sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. When cookies come out of the oven, press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute. For smaller cookies, break mints in half.

When the mint softens, use a toothpick or the back of a spoon to swirl the green filling for an extra flourish.

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Thursday

Princess Praline's Peanut Butter Fudge

by Delia Brengel

Ingredients

½ cup butter, plus extra for greasing
2 cups sugar
1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup peanut butter chips
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of the pan. Grease the foil with butter.

Place butter in a large microwaveable bowl. Melt butter in the microwave, about 45-60 seconds.

Add sugar and evaporated milk to bowl and stir. Heat in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl, stir, and return to microwave for another 2 minutes.

Remove the bowl, add marshmallows, peanut butter chips, and vanilla immediately. Stir to combine.

Quickly pour the mixture into the greased, foiled pan. To help set the fudge, let it chill in the fridge overnight.

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Friday

The Nutcracker Cake Pops (and a Puppet Show Too)

by Emily Hayes

The Nutcracker Cake Pops

Simple Vanilla Cake

Ingredients

1 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup Buttermilk or Whole Milk
Pinch of Salt

Preparation

Butter and Flour one 9 inch round cake pan and preheat the oven to 350F.

Cream the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add in one egg at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir until just combined. Repeat with the second half of the dry mixture. Add the buttermilk and beat until just combined. Spread the batter into the lined cake pan and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Simple Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
2 tbsp Milk

Preparation

Whip the butter until creamy. Slowly sift in the Powdered sugar one half cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until the icing is smooth and silky.

Assembly

After the cake has fully cooled, crumble it into fine pieces. Add in a little bit of icing at a time until the mixture holds together when it is formed into a ball. Form the cake pop mixture into your desired shapes and let them chill in the fridge for 10 min.

Heat up a small amount of candy melts or chocolate and prepare the lollipop sticks and foam board. When the cake pops have finished chilling, take a lollipop stick and dip one end into the candy melts. Push it into the cake pop about half way and wipe off the excess chocolate. Stick the lollipop stick into the foam board to hold the cake pop upright as it sets.

Melt some more candy melts in your desired dipping colors and add in a small scoop of paramount crystals or shortening to thin out the mixture. While the cake pops are slightly cold and the candy melts just warm, dip them head first into the chocolate. Rotate and lightly tap off the excess for a clean polished look. Let the cake pops set at room temperature.

Decorate your cake pops however you would like! Sprinkles, chocolate, candy, fondant and much more. Get creative and happy baking!


Cooking Word Search

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Explore the ABTKids Daily Archive

ABT JKO School Children's Division Online Community Classes

In the Spring of 2020, @ABTSchool launched virtual classes taught by former ABT dancers, ABT JKO School faculty and ABT teaching artists – all certified in the ABT National Training Curriculum.

Recommended for ages 2-4 and 5-8, these classes engage ABT’s youngest students and their families, as well as the global community at large, by exploring musicality, fostering creativity and imagination, and teaching ballet fundamentals.

View the full series on @ABTSchool IGTV or ABT’s YouTube Channel.

@ABTSchool IGTVYouTube

Photo: Richard Corman.
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