December 29, 2011: Black Forest Bundt Cake Recipe

I wanted to make a really special dessert for Christmas and I knew that everyone in the family loved chocolate. Me? Not so much. But a Black Forest cake is a way to please everyone, including myself. I found a recipe for Black Forest Bars in an old cookbook but since it called for an odd-sized pan, I decided to adapt it for a Bundt cake pan. And since I couldn’t find any kirsch liqueur at the grocery store, I decided to use almond flavoring, which goes really well with cherries and chocolate. The result is this recipe, which is quite delish; the bottom crust layer adds another texture to make it extra special.

Black Forest Bundt Cake

Shortbread Crust:

¾ cup almond meal

2 T. sugar

½ t. baking powder

6 T. butter, chilled

Cake:

3 eggs, separated

¼ cup warm water

1 t. almond extract

½ cup sugar

¾ cup sifted flour

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ t. baking powder

1 can cherry pie filling

1 t. amaretto

Cream Filling:

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

2 t. amaretto

¼ cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare crust by blending together almond meal, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles fine meal. Pat mixture into 9” round cake pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

To make cake, beat together egg yolks and water until foamy. Add almond extract and sugar; beat until thick and pale. Mix together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder; pour into sifter. Gradually sift into egg yolk mixture, folding in while sifting. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold into batter. Pour batter into bundt cake that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Bake at 375 degrees 15 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove to rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely; cut in half horizontally to make two layers.

To prepare cream filling, whip cream until peaks form. Add amaretto and powdered sugar and continue to beat until stiff.

Mix one teaspoon amaretto into cherry pie filling.

To assemble cake, carefully turn crust pan upside down over serving plate and tap bottom to release crust. Spread cherry pie filling over crust. Place bottom layer of cake on top of cherry pie filling. Spread 2/3 of whipped cream filling over cake, place top layer of cake on top of whipped cream. Place remaining whipped cream in a pastry bag with decorative tip and pipe rosettes on top of cake. Refrigerate until serving.

Serves 12 – 16

December 21, 2011: Chocolate Caramel Pecan Turtle Pie Recipe

This recipe – which would make a wonderful holiday dessert – is courtesy of my dear mother-in-law, Judy. It’s special enough for Christmas dinner and the combination of ingredients will please the chocolate lovers as well as the traditional dessert lovers in your family.

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Turtle Pie

Filling:

1 14-ounce bag vanilla caramels

½ c. butter

½ c. heavy whipping cream

2 cups pecan halves, roasted

Chocolate cookie pie crust or regular pie crust, blind baked

Topping:

1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips

2 T. butter

2 T. light corn syrup

½ t. vanilla extract

Prepared whipped cream topping

To prepare filling: add caramels, butter and cream to a heavy, medium-sized saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often with a whisk, until caramels and butter melt. Remove from heat and whisk until completely smooth. Stir in pecans.

Pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Cover and chill three to four hours, until completely cooled and firm.

To prepare topping: stir chocolate chips and butter in a heavy, small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in cream, corn syrup and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Pour over chilled pie and chill an additional hour. Just before serving, decorate with dollops of whipped cream.

Serves 10

December 19, 2011: Hot Buttered Rum Recipe

This recipe is an old one but a good one that I first tasted many, many years ago (30? 35?). It’s courtesy of a family friend in Silver City, NM who always served this beverage at his holiday parties. It’s just the thing to warm up your guests or even Santa as he goes about his gift delivery duties Christmas Eve!

Note: this recipe makes enough for lots of hot buttered rum; you may want to package it nicely and give it as a gift, along with printed instructions attached.

Hot Buttered Rum

2 lbs. brown sugar

1 lb. butter

1 T. ground cloves

1 T. ground cinnamon

Mix together (with your hands is the suggested manner).

To use: mix together 1/3 cup rum and 1 tablespoon mix in a mug; add boiling water to top of rim. Sprinkle ground nutmeg on top before serving. To make a larger batch, mix together 1 1/3 cup rum, 1/4 cup mix and about 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Garnish each cup with a cinnamon stick or mint leaf, if desired.

December 15, 2011: Natural Fragrance For Your Christmas Party

Every year I always want to entertain at Christmas but for some reason or the other, never actually plan a party. Not so this year! We are having a cocktails and hors d’oeuvres party Saturday night. Of course, I can’t just go buy premade food and beverages and put them on the table. I’ve got to plan and bake and plan and cook so that everything is just perfect for my guests.

One thing to keep in mind when planning a holiday party is that you should think about all five senses. Not only do you want your guests to taste delicious food and see spectacular decorating, you will want them to smell something yummy when they walk through the door. Here’s two easy ways to do this.

Clove-Studded Oranges

I’ve been making these at Christmas time for decades and I still enjoy the sight and smell of these easy decorations. Simply take several oranges and poke whole cloves through the skin. Feel free to get creative with designs. You don’t need to cover the entire skin of the orange with cloves, either, although the more you use, the more fragrant it will be.

The mini carnations in the vase? My husband got them for me for our anniversary - 3 WEEKS AGO!

In this picture, I’ve taken my oranges and put them into three wine glasses of varying heights. They also look good grouped together in a crystal bowl or vase or even placed in a row on a silver tray.

Simmering Spiced Apple Cider

A traditional Christmas drink, spiced apple cider not only tastes good, but it smells good as it simmers away. Either place all the ingredients in a kettle on the stove or use a crock pot to keep this drink warm until guests are ready to imbibe.

Spiced Apple Cider

1 gallon real apple cider (thick and murky, and definitely not the powdered packets)

1 medium-sized orange, thinly sliced

2 cinnamon sticks

½ t. ground cloves

½ t. ground nutmeg

2 cups dark rum (optional)

Place all ingredients in a kettle or crock pot. Simmer over very low heat for up to two hours.

December 11, 2011: Spritz Cookies Recipe

One of my very fondest memories from growing up was making spritz cookies with my mother each year. I absolutely love almond flavor and these buttery cookies are scrumptious without any decoration. Mom and I would tint the batch of dough in shades of green and red and then use our old, aluminum cookie press to make them in shapes of Christmas trees, holly flowers and stars.

I’m not sure if this is the recipe we used or not, but it’s from my favorite old Wisconsin Electric Power Company cookbook and it’s a good one.

Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter

½ cup plus 1 T. sugar

1 egg

¾ t. salt

1 t. vanilla

½ t. almond extract

2 ½ cups flour

Food colors, colored sugar and candy cookie decor (optional)

Cream butter; add sugar. Blend in egg, salt, extracts and flour; knead dough in hands until soft and pliable. If desired, divide dough into separate bowls and add food coloring. Press dough through cookie press onto ungreased cookie sheets; decorate as desired. Bake at 400 degrees about 8 minutes. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.