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It’s that time of year again, when holiday event follows holiday event and, as a rule, those holiday events involve food. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as we don’t overindulge.
Most of the holiday meals involve either a turkey or a ham — or both, depending on the size of the dinner party. Add to that the side dishes — green bean casserole, candied sweet potato, squash, mashed potatoes, salads of all sorts, vegetables galore. By the time you’ve cleaned your plate, you’re pretty full.
There is, however, always room for dessert. And that is the course of the meal that I prefer to prepare. If I had to do it all over again, I would consider pastry chef as a career.
Preparing dessert is usually a presentation event. Everyone loves to see a nicely symmetrical layer cake or perfectly constructed banana split. Those draw “oohs” and “aaahs” from your dinner guests.
But for the holidays you really want to make dessert a can’t resist course. You need a wow factor that will make even the fullest dinner guest request just a tiny slice of whatever has been presented to the table full of people. When possible I have tried to include recipes that use local products, such as apples, cherries, pumpkins and cranberries.
So I looked for some wow-factor dishes, and believe you will be the star of the holiday meal if you put one of these sweet endings together.
Cranberry Apple Crisp
4 large green apples, peeled, cored and
sliced to ½ inch
1 cup fresh cranberries
¾ cups brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup rolled oats
¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, softened
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly coat an 8-inch square baking pan with butter. Add apples and cranberries to the pan.
Combine sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and softened butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over the fruit and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Serve hot with ice cream or cold with whipped cream.
Serves 6.
Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecake
1 ¼ cups granola
3 ounces wafer cookies, crushed
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
¾ teaspoons ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons butter, melted, combine with above
8 ounces goat cheese
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 16-ounce packages cream cheese
1 ¼ cups pumpkin puree, solid pack
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Toss the granola, cookie crumbs, brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in the butter and pat mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Beat the goat cheese and sugar together using an electric mixer set on low speed. Add the cream cheese and beat for one more minute. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to beat on low speed for 20 minutes or until the mixture is extremely smooth.
Transfer the batter to the prepared spring form pan and bake in the middle of the oven until set, about an hour and 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours until cake is completely set. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Serves 12.
The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie
3 cups all purpose flour
Pinch salt
¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
2 eggs, separated (yolks for the pastry, whites for the glaze)
3 tablespoons ice water, more if needed
For caramel apples
1 cup sugar, plus ¼ cup for the top
3 tablespoons water
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup red wine
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 lemon, halved
8 apples (Granny Smith or Gala)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cinnamon stick, freshly grated
¼ cup unsalted butter
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
To make pastry, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in chunks of cold butter with a pastry blender, a little at a time, until the dough resembles cornmeal. Add the two egg yolks and the ice water and blend for a second to pull the dough together and moisten. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Form into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest in refrigerator for one hour.
While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.
Place the sugar and water in a small pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has melted and caramelized. Remove the pot from the burner and add the cream and wine slowly. It may spit and bubble, so be very careful. When the sauce has calmed down, return pot to the flame, add the vanilla bean and heat slowly, until the wine and caramel are smooth. Continue to cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat and cool until thickened.
Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze in the lemon juice. Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the core with a melon baller. Put the apple halves in the lemon water to prevent them from browning. Once complete, remove the apples from water and toss with the flour and cinnamon.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap the plastic and cut the ball in half. Rewrap and return one half to the fridge until ready for the top crust.
Let the dough rest on the counter for 15 minutes so it will be pliable enough to roll out. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Carefully roll the dough up onto the pin and lay it inside a 10-inch glass pie pan. Press the dough into the pan so it fits tightly.
Slice a couple of the apples at a time using a mandolin or very sharp knife. The apples need to be thinly sliced so that, as the pie bakes, they collapse on top of one another with no air pockets. This makes a dense, meaty apple pie. Cover the bottom of the pastry with a level of apples, shingling the slices so there are no gaps. Ladle about 2 ounces of the cooled wine-caramel sauce evenly over the apple slices. Repeat the layers until the pies is slightly overfilled and domed on top. Top the apples with pieces of the butter.
Now roll out the other ball of dough. Brush the bottom lip of the pie pastry with a little beaten egg white to form a seal. Place the pastry circle on top of the pie, and using some kitchen shears, trim off the overhanging excess from around the pie. Crimp the edges of the dough together with your fingers to make a tight seal. Cut slits into the top of the pie to allow steam to escape while baking. Place the pie on a sheet tray and tent it with a piece of aluminum foil, so the crust does not cook faster than the apples.
Bake the pie for 25 minutes on the middle rack. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup sugar with the freshly grated cinnamon. Remove the foil from the pie and brush the top with the remaining egg white. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar and return to the oven. Bake for another 25 minutes, until pie is golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let pie rest at room temperature for at least an hour to allow pectin to gel and set.
Serves 6.
Pumpkin And Maple Cream Cheese Pie
1 15-ounce can of solid pack pumpkin
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 9-inch graham cracker pie shells
3 tablespoons bourbon (alcohol will cook out)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Chocolate syrup
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
For cream cheese layer, in a small mixing bowl, combine ¼ cup of the pumpkin, the cream cheese, maple syrup, 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice, 1 egg and the vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly into the pie shells and smooth. Set aside.
For the pumpkin layer, in a large mixing bowl combine the remaining pumpkin and the bourbon. Beat with electric mixer at low speed until mixed. Add sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, remaining two eggs and remaining pumpkin pie spice. Beat until smooth. Pour evenly over cream cheese layer to fill pie shells and smooth.
Place pies on large baking sheet. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until set 1 inch from centers. Cool completely on wire racks. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Makes 2 pies, serves 12.n
Rich Adams is a dedicated foodie, writer and former editor of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune. He can be reached at rrileyadams@gmail.com
It’s that time of year again, when holiday event follows holiday event and, as a rule, those holiday events involve food. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as we don’t overindulge.
Most of the holiday meals involve either a turkey or a ham — or both, depending on the size of the dinner party. Add to that the side dishes — green bean casserole, candied sweet potato, squash, mashed potatoes, salads of all sorts, vegetables galore. By the time you’ve cleaned your plate, you’re pretty full.
There is, however, always room for dessert. And that is the course of the meal that I prefer to prepare. If I had to do it all over again, I would consider pastry chef as a career.
Preparing dessert is usually a presentation event. Everyone loves to see a nicely symmetrical layer cake or perfectly constructed banana split. Those draw “oohs” and “aaahs” from your dinner guests.
But for the holidays you really want to make dessert a can’t resist course. You need a wow factor that will make even the fullest dinner guest request just a tiny slice of whatever has been presented to the table full of people. When possible I have tried to include recipes that use local products, such as apples, cherries, pumpkins and cranberries.
So I looked for some wow-factor dishes, and believe you will be the star of the holiday meal if you put one of these sweet endings together.
Cranberry Apple Crisp
4 large green apples, peeled, cored and
sliced to ½ inch
1 cup fresh cranberries
¾ cups brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ cup rolled oats
¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, softened
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly coat an 8-inch square baking pan with butter. Add apples and cranberries to the pan.
Combine sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and softened butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over the fruit and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Serve hot with ice cream or cold with whipped cream.
Serves 6.
Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecake
1 ¼ cups granola
3 ounces wafer cookies, crushed
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ¼ teaspoons ground ginger
¾ teaspoons ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons butter, melted, combine with above
8 ounces goat cheese
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 16-ounce packages cream cheese
1 ¼ cups pumpkin puree, solid pack
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Toss the granola, cookie crumbs, brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in the butter and pat mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Beat the goat cheese and sugar together using an electric mixer set on low speed. Add the cream cheese and beat for one more minute. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to beat on low speed for 20 minutes or until the mixture is extremely smooth.
Transfer the batter to the prepared spring form pan and bake in the middle of the oven until set, about an hour and 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours until cake is completely set. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Serves 12.
The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie
3 cups all purpose flour
Pinch salt
¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks
2 eggs, separated (yolks for the pastry, whites for the glaze)
3 tablespoons ice water, more if needed
For caramel apples
1 cup sugar, plus ¼ cup for the top
3 tablespoons water
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup red wine
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 lemon, halved
8 apples (Granny Smith or Gala)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cinnamon stick, freshly grated
¼ cup unsalted butter
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
To make pastry, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in chunks of cold butter with a pastry blender, a little at a time, until the dough resembles cornmeal. Add the two egg yolks and the ice water and blend for a second to pull the dough together and moisten. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Form into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest in refrigerator for one hour.
While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.
Place the sugar and water in a small pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has melted and caramelized. Remove the pot from the burner and add the cream and wine slowly. It may spit and bubble, so be very careful. When the sauce has calmed down, return pot to the flame, add the vanilla bean and heat slowly, until the wine and caramel are smooth. Continue to cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat and cool until thickened.
Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze in the lemon juice. Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the core with a melon baller. Put the apple halves in the lemon water to prevent them from browning. Once complete, remove the apples from water and toss with the flour and cinnamon.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap the plastic and cut the ball in half. Rewrap and return one half to the fridge until ready for the top crust.
Let the dough rest on the counter for 15 minutes so it will be pliable enough to roll out. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Carefully roll the dough up onto the pin and lay it inside a 10-inch glass pie pan. Press the dough into the pan so it fits tightly.
Slice a couple of the apples at a time using a mandolin or very sharp knife. The apples need to be thinly sliced so that, as the pie bakes, they collapse on top of one another with no air pockets. This makes a dense, meaty apple pie. Cover the bottom of the pastry with a level of apples, shingling the slices so there are no gaps. Ladle about 2 ounces of the cooled wine-caramel sauce evenly over the apple slices. Repeat the layers until the pies is slightly overfilled and domed on top. Top the apples with pieces of the butter.
Now roll out the other ball of dough. Brush the bottom lip of the pie pastry with a little beaten egg white to form a seal. Place the pastry circle on top of the pie, and using some kitchen shears, trim off the overhanging excess from around the pie. Crimp the edges of the dough together with your fingers to make a tight seal. Cut slits into the top of the pie to allow steam to escape while baking. Place the pie on a sheet tray and tent it with a piece of aluminum foil, so the crust does not cook faster than the apples.
Bake the pie for 25 minutes on the middle rack. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ¼ cup sugar with the freshly grated cinnamon. Remove the foil from the pie and brush the top with the remaining egg white. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar and return to the oven. Bake for another 25 minutes, until pie is golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and let pie rest at room temperature for at least an hour to allow pectin to gel and set.
Serves 6.
Pumpkin And Maple Cream Cheese Pie
1 15-ounce can of solid pack pumpkin
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 9-inch graham cracker pie shells
3 tablespoons bourbon (alcohol will cook out)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Chocolate syrup
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
For cream cheese layer, in a small mixing bowl, combine ¼ cup of the pumpkin, the cream cheese, maple syrup, 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice, 1 egg and the vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly into the pie shells and smooth. Set aside.
For the pumpkin layer, in a large mixing bowl combine the remaining pumpkin and the bourbon. Beat with electric mixer at low speed until mixed. Add sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, remaining two eggs and remaining pumpkin pie spice. Beat until smooth. Pour evenly over cream cheese layer to fill pie shells and smooth.
Place pies on large baking sheet. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until set 1 inch from centers. Cool completely on wire racks. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Makes 2 pies, serves 12.n
Rich Adams is a dedicated foodie, writer and former editor of the Cheboygan Daily Tribune. He can be reached at rrileyadams@gmail.com
