Happy Holidays

Wishing all my readers a delicious holiday season and a new year filled with millions of culinary delights.

Bread & Butter Pudding

Don't go making a face and leaving the page now. This is not the damp, tasteless bread & butter pudding you were given as a child. This is a great dinner party dessert, and I am serving it as part of my Christmas meal because it is not only full of flavor, but also the least taxing of puddings!

The great Swiss chef, Anton Mosimann first showed me how great this dish could be. Here is my version, using a special ingredient appropriate to the holiday season: panettone.

Ingredients

1/2 pint milk
1/2 pint heavy cream
5 oz sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
a quarter of a panettone, sliced thinly
1 oz sweet butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
a little powdered sugar

Method

Bring milk, cream and salt slowly to boil Beat eggs and sugar together until creamy, then beat in hot liquid. Butter a baking dish, then butter the panettone thinly and arrange in dish. Pour the custard through a sieve over the dish. Leave to stand for 20-30 minutes. Set the oven to 325 degrees. Place the baking dish in a larger ovetnproof tray containing enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of your dish (a bain marie) and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the custard has just set. If the top is not browned at this point place it under a hot broiler for a few minutes, taking care not to overcook or singe. Serve warm, dusted with powdered sugar and a jug of cream.

Marzipan for the Christmas Cake

Makes about 1 1/4 pounds

1 pound blanched almonds
3 large egg whites, at room temperature 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar 

Grind the blanched almonds (the Vitamix is ideal for this job) into a fine powder. Sift the powder through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Regrind any almond particles remaining in the sifter. 

In a bowl whisk the egg whites with the salt until they are frothy, whisk in the vanilla and almond essences.


Stir this mixture into the almond powder. Sift in 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, kneading the mixture together in the bowl, and sift enough of the remaining 1 cup sugar to form a smooth, pliable dough (add more sugar if the dough is too sticky). 


Quarter the dough and wrap each piece tightly in foil. The marzipan paste keeps, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 8 weeks.

Egg Nog

Makes around 24 servings

2 lbs sugar

32 oz heavy cream

12 eggs, separated

4 cups bourbon

2 cups cognac

6 oz rum

32 oz whole milk

nutmeg

pinch baking soda

Beat egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is thick and creamy. Add milk and spirits and stir well, then chill.

Just before you are ready to serve the egg nog whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Do likewise with the cream. Fold these into the egg yolk mixture along with the pinch of baking soda and a grating of nutmeg. Serve from a large punch bowl.

Tip: I found myself with some leftover egg nog, so I thought I'd make 'egg nog ice cream'. I added more cream and a little powdered sugar, just enough to make the mixture up to 4 cups. This is the maximum my ice cream maker can handle in a batch, but it's also important to reduce the proportion of alcohol or your egg nog ice cream will not freeze. Churn the mixture then put in freezer for it to continue hardening.

Holiday Cookies

This cookie dough is similar to the shortbread dough I posted a while back, in that it is an all-butter dough and uses rice flour to give an even shorter bite. But it's a little easier to roll out thinly and better behaved with my collection of cookie cutters. This recipe will make around 24 cookies - depending on the size of your cutters.

Ingredients

3 sticks butter (French or Plus Gras), softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

powdered sugar in a sifter
chocolate glaze or icing to decorate

Cream butter, cup of powdered sugar and vanilla extract until very pale and fluffy. Sift flour with salt and mix gently but thoroughly into the creamed mixture. Gather dough into a ball, place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Roll out dough 3/8 inch thick and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. The dough is quite resilient so you can re-roll the scraps multiple times.

Bake on cookie sheets lined with baking parchment (325 degrees for about 20 minutes). The cookies should just begin to turn golden. Cool on racks. Decorate according to your mood.

This display is inspired by my Manhattan holiday shopping trip - I had not prepared for the snow, and I sure hope those doggies aren't urinating on the fire hydrants!

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients (for 6)

1 butternut squash
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
salt and pepper
2 cups stock (home-made chicken or Thanksgiving turkey stock are good; or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons thick coconut milk
fresh cilantro or chives

Method

Prepare and cook the squash by cutting it in half, removing the seeds and stringy bits, brushing with a little olive oil and roasting the halves cut-side down at 400 degrees until tender, 40 minutes or so. (The Vitamix recipe book offers a handy tip - first prick the squash and microwave it briefly. This softens it a little, making it much easier to halve and scoop the flesh.)

Place the stock plus 1 cup water, the squash, onion, celery, carrot, salt and pepper into the Vitamix container in this order, and replace the lid. Process, starting at Variable 1 and gradually increasing speed to Variable 8. Blend until steam starts escaping from the lid (about 6 minutes). Check seasoning and consistency, adding more hot water if desired.

To serve, pour into warmed soup bowls. Swirl a little coconut milk into each and sprinkle chopped herbs over.

Christmas Cake

With Thanksgiving just behind us it's time to start thinking about the Holiday Season. For generations the Grant women have made made their Christmas cakes at the beginning of December. That way they have three weeks to mature. I'd like to share our family recipe with you.

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened
8 oz light brown sugar
8 oz all purpose flour
1/8 teasp salt
1/2 teasp allspice
1/2 teasp cinnamon
1 teasp baking powder
6 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz currants
8 oz sultanas
8 oz raisins
4 oz candied cherries
2 oz candied citron
4 oz blanched almonds, chopped
a little milk
4-5 tablesp brandy

Method

Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch cake tin with parchment, greased well. Cream fat and sugar until very pale. Sift flour, salt spices and baking powder. Toss the dried fruit in a little of the flour mixture. Add egg and flour mixture to creamed fat in several alternating batches, beating well between each addition. Stir in the prepared fruit and almonds, using a little milk if needed to give a soft dropping consistency.

Place mixture in cake tin; smooth top making a depression in the center. Bake in a warm oven (335 degrees F) for 1/2 hour, then reduce heat to 290 degrees for a further 3-3 1/2 hours. Allow the cake to firm up before removing from tin. When cold remove paper. Prick bottom of cake and sprinkle brandy over. Repeat this process several times, every few days.

Spread warmed, sieved apricot jam over top and sides of cake. Roll out a think layer of almond paste the size of the top, and another in a band for the sides. Press onto cake and mold edges together. Frost with royal icing or powdered sugar and water glaze. For a less sweet decoration simply sift powdered sugar over the marzipan covering. Decorate with Christmas ornaments.

On a Sweeter Note

Just as I've refused to post a recipe for turkey, I am not going to touch pumpkin pie either. But I do want to urge you to use fresh pumpkin not canned. Yes, I know I promised you recipes that won't tax you, but the taste difference is enormous. So please, for me... This year I have made a small pumpkin pie, and on Sunday I made up a batch of pecan squares (because they keep well and go down even better), but for my piece de resistance I have broken with tradition this year and used my old friend and great baker, Peg's fabulous caramel torte recipe. It's quite involved, but it is delicious and you now have a whole year to practise it!

Peg's Caramel Walnut Torte

Crust:
10 oz butter, 8 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 3.5 cups flour
- Roughly beat butter and sugar (not to a cream, just so there are still small lumps of butter in the mix). Incorporate egg yolks and vanilla, then flour and salt. Form into a ball and chill well.

Filling:
3 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 2 cups heavy cream, 7 oz butter, 5 cups walnut halves
- Heat sugar and water to 320 degrees. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Heat up to 225 degrees then allow to cool.

Topping:
8oz best quality bitter chocolate, such as Ghirardelli or European. 1 cup walnuts, finely crushed.

Assembly and baking:
- Grease a 6" round cake tin. Place a circle of pastry in the base, and use rest to line the sides. Seal joints with an egg-white wash. Add cooled filling. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Presentation:
- Allow cake to cool and solidify. Remove from mold. Ice top and sides with chocolate and roll sides in crushed walnuts.