We all--me, mom and sisters--all make our holiday specialties: cookies, biscotti, fruitcake, tartlets, etc. When we put all our cookie contributions together, we have a big, delicious assortment to enjoy after the meal. Seems like after Thanksgiving, everyday seems so full of filling food--especially sweets--and by Christmas none of us wants a heavy dessert. The cookies hit the spot, and we can experiment and try new things to share each year.
Christmas dinner means a chocolate dessert around here - bittersweet choc tart, flourless choc cake, various semifreddos, or mousse. This year I'm doing Merrill's Chocolate Mousse with Cointreau and Chocolate Shards, with a dollop of whipped cream (will let it set up in my grandmother's pretty deco glasses.) Subbing Grand Marnier for Cointreau, since that's what I have on hand.
I'm making the Elote Pay de Chocolate - it's a southwestern chocolate mousse type pie with an almond graham cracker crust. So easy but a huge crowd pleaser!
We are making arielleclementine's wonderful chocolate stout gingerbread cake with pear cider cream cheese icing! http://food52.com/recipes/2907-the-snake-bite
p.s. Frozen pitted cherries are fine, just thaw them. Canned cherries are fine if they're in syrup or water, drain them. But not the kind of cherries in syrupy goo for pie filling.
bigpan, laughing about the turkey sandwiches. There was a tradition in my family for decades. You'd serve the main beast (crown roast of whatever, turkey, etc.) with all the trimmings and sides. When my grandfather had polished off most things, he'd push back his plate and bark the order, "Now bring out the leg of lamb." It was a joke, after such a full meal, but he sort of meant it. We called his bluff a few times. His laughter at that was the best present. (And believe it or not, people ate it.) I can never hear "leg of lamb" without thinking fondly of him.
A plate of juicy oranges and pomegranate arils sounds refreshing and colorful, like a sorbet between courses.
Because we have such a big group, we have to go full-freight: Buche de Noel, Poached Pears in Wine for those who don't like chocolate cake with meringue woodland bits, mince pie (for a certain generation), raspberry tart. A lot of Cointreau whipped cream on the side.
We like to wait a couple hours, then have turkey sandwiches !
But on another note we had an Eastern dessert that was simply a plate of peeled and sliced navel oranges, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with pomogranate arils and a dusting of cinnamon. Light and refreshing. (and save the sandwiches for midnight)
A friend gifted me with a dozen Meyer Lemons from her tree so I'm making a Lemon Tart with Candied Lemon Slices. Extra good because I can make the Lemon Curd (Alice Medrich's Genius Recipe here on food52) ahead of time, as well as candy the lemon slices. Then on Wednesday I'll bake the tart crust, fill it and chill until dinner time. [One little secret I learned from a pastry chef in Lyon is to frost the crust with melted chocolate and let it dry before adding the lemon filling. It's a taste surprise.]
I am making the caramelized pear cake from Bi-Rite: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Caramelized-Pear-Cake-103934. It looks beautiful and is great with toasted crushed hazelnuts and vanilla ice cream.
This year I am making Tiramisu for my sister in law's bday and bread pudding or my brother in law's bday. A ew year's ago I made a kumquat cranberry trifle with gingerbread.
I still want pumpkin pie. However I just make the pie filling (any recipe) in a greased casserole and avoid the high calorie crust. Goes over well with kids who don't like crust.
Hi lloreen, I wanted to make something i can do ahead of time, but is still really impressive and absolutely decadent, so I'm going make midge's burnt caramel pudding: http://food52.com/recipes/9628-burnt-caramel-pudding
It's heavenly and oh so easy. Best of luck, and happy holidays!
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I LOVE this recipe and its a real crowd pleaser. Makes for a fun presentation too! http://food52.com/recipes/19506-salted-pumpkin-creme-brulee
Enjoy!
http://food52.com/recipes/22911-cherries-on-fire
It's much easier than my description - sorry, I tend to over-write things. I just didn't want anyone to set their kitchen cabinets on fire. A great, festive dessert.
A plate of juicy oranges and pomegranate arils sounds refreshing and colorful, like a sorbet between courses.
Because we have such a big group, we have to go full-freight: Buche de Noel, Poached Pears in Wine for those who don't like chocolate cake with meringue woodland bits, mince pie (for a certain generation), raspberry tart. A lot of Cointreau whipped cream on the side.
But on another note we had an Eastern dessert that was simply a plate of peeled and sliced navel oranges, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with pomogranate arils and a dusting of cinnamon. Light and refreshing. (and save the sandwiches for midnight)
It's heavenly and oh so easy. Best of luck, and happy holidays!