Holiday Desserts

With Christmas Eve just two days away, I thought I would take a moment to group together some of my favorite holiday dessert recipes, both ones I have tried on the blog, ones others have made for me, and ones I am hoping to try (if my husband is willing to humor me messing up the kitchen all over again--I love you, honey!!). I will include links to each recipe and hope you will forgive the lack of step-by-step directions. Recipes I have yet to try will probably have their own blog entries at a later date.

First, holiday cookies:
Gingerbread men: not going to lie--I go Betty Crocker mix on this one, because let's be honest--the fun is really in the decorating anyway. You still have to make the icing though, so I simply mixed powdered sugar with tablespoons of milk. It comes out just like royal icing, but without the egg that can be dangerous for pregnant guests. I mainly decorated the edges and faces of the gingerbread men and women with icing and Christmas colored M&Ms.

However, I also found a mini-gingerbread man cookie cutter and not only made some bite-sized cookies for my party, but also some cute gingerbread mom cookies for my new and expecting mom friends!

Mint chocolate chip cookies (I've also seen these called Grinch cookies) found here. These are best served warm--when the chocolate and mints are still gooey and delicious. These were a hit at a cookie swap I went to last year and are SO simple to make!

Chocolate crinkles recipe found here. These are my husband's favorite cookie, and they are amazing--their texture and taste is rich and moist, almost like eating a brownie. Added bonus? My husband made them himself this year to help me get all the food ready for our Christmas party. Love that guy.

Miscellaneous dessert recipes from blog:

Peppermint bark

Christmas tree cupcakes

Red wine chocolate cake

Finally, the recipes I have left to attempt are:
Nutella Chocolate Fudge with Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Ganache
Red Velvet Cake Roll
Button Sugar Cookies (not so much a Christmas dessert as a gift for my mom)

Feel free to share any holiday dessert recipes you have tried and loved, and stay tuned for post-Christmas blog updates! Happy holidays and enjoy!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

What better way to celebrate May the Fork Be With You's 50th blog post than with cake, chocolate, and wine? Better yet, what if there was a recipe that combined all three of those yummy items with a honey mascarpone frosting? Oh yeah. This exists. And it. is. delicious. Recipe found here.

You will need:
For the cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey

First, preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla extract. Finally, add yogurt and red wine.

Next, in a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking soda and powder, and salt. Fold mixture into the red wine mixture, blending well but taking care not to overmix. Pour into greased 5x9 loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. When finished baking, allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, combine mascarpone cheese, whipping cream, and honey in a medium bowl and whip using a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Serve on top of cake, and enjoy a slice with a glass of red wine (and an evening reading May the Fork Be With You)!

Turkey Wontons

After Thanksgiving, my mom and sister were kind enough to send my husband and I home with some delicious leftover turkey. It would have been wonderful as is, but I wanted to see what other recipes I could find to use the turkey more creatively. I found: turkey wontons. Now, finding the wonton wrappers to make this dish happen proved to be something of a challenge. It took trips to four different grocery stores, but I finally located some near the soy products at Whole Foods (along with gelato-filled cupcakes!! Seriously, I could just move into that store *dreamy sigh*). Any way! If you have some leftover turkey this holiday season and are in the mood for some Chinese food, give these a try.

You will need the following:
Wonton wrappers
Soy sauce for sealing wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying

For filling:
1 lb. ground turkey (I used shredded turkey leftovers)
1-2 Tablespoons of minced ginger root
5 scallions, white and light green part thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
About 1-1/2 cups cooked chopped greens, squeezed dry, such as spinach, chard, kale, or mustard greens
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1-2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 egg

I made my wontons more crab-rangoon style (not sure if this negates their wonton-ness or not, so feel free to check out the website's cooking method too and decide which your family would prefer).

First, combine all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl, taking extra care to shred the turkey leftovers to help them stick to the remaining ingredients better.

Next, lay out your wonton wrappers. Using a small brush, paint the edges with soy sauce to help the edges stick together. 

Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wonton wrapper, then fold the wonton in half, forming a triangle. Use a fork to fully seal the edges.

Once all the wontons are made, heat oil in a large skillet. Carefully place 3-4 wontons in the skillet at a time, cooking 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and place on a plate with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Serve with extra soy sauce for dipping or, if desired, veggie fried rice or noodles. Enjoy!

Bleu Cheese Steak with Croutons

While watching Food Network at the gym one day (and yes, I am fully aware of the irony behind that statement), I watched Bobby Flay grill a steak with bleu cheese on top. Bleu cheese is not my favorite of the cheeses (no one can replace you in my heart, goat cheese!), but my husband really enjoys it. So, I decided to give the idea a go. I actually used a recipe from allrecipes.com, since it received higher ratings: topped with bleu cheese and homemade croutons, this recipe is a perfect meal for date night--or a weekday dinner that will take your steak to a whole new level!

You will need:
2 (6 ounce) beef tenderloin filets, 1 1/2 inches thick
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 slices white bread, crusts removed and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

First, set your steaks on your broiler pan and turn on your broiler. Broil about 6 inches from the broiler for 5-8 minutes per side, or until desired level of doneness is achieved.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine butter and bleu cheese. Set aside.

Saute bread cubes in olive oil until lightly browned. Set aside.

Finally, when steaks are cooked, remove from the oven. Top them with the bleu cheese butter and place back under the broiler for a minute or two, until the cheese melts. Before serving, top with croutons and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top. The steak will be incredibly moist and flavorful!

Serve with mashed potatoes (or, since the cheese makes this a slightly heavier main course, a salad). Enjoy!

Candy Cane Martinis

Let me preface this by saying that you really should not make this into a martini. We found this listed as a martini, and it tastes delicious...almost like a drinkable, girl scout thin mint cookie. However, it is also nothing but alcohol, and does not lend itself to longevity in drinking (some of our Christmas party guests discovered this the hard way). It would make for a perfect shot, however!

You will need:
1/2 oz Peppermint Schnapps
1/2 oz Creme de CaCao
1/2 oz vodka
Ice

Optional garnishes: crushed peppermints or mini candy canes for glass rim)

If making these into martinis, first prepare your glasses by dipping the rims of the glasses into water and then crushed peppermint dust. Pour all other ingredients except for garnishes into martini shaker.  Shake and pour into desired glass (really--shot glasses here, people!). Garnish with mini candy canes if desired and serve.

Enjoy responsibly, and happy holidays!

Red Velvet Mini-Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I was never terribly familiar with red velvet cake. I've always been a straight-up chocolate cake girl, and my family never really made it for me to compare the two. But we were hosting a Christmas party, and what better combination of colors for Christmas than a red base--and green Christmas tree-looking frosting??? (Idea for Christmas tree frosting from Pinterest; recipe for cupcakes from allrecipes). The result was amazing--this was easily the best frosting recipe I have ever tasted, and the cupcakes themselves were so flavorful and chocolate-y that I am looking for additional ways to make red velvet cake in the future. Do yourself (though maybe not your waistline) a favor, and give these a try!

You will need (for 30 cupcakes or 60 mini cupcakes):

For cupcakes:

2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups flour (the latter amount will make a denser cake)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 (1 ounce) bottle McCormick® Red Food Color
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

For vanilla cream cheese frosting:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar

*If desired: green food coloring and sprinkles

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Add in your eggs one at a time. Next, mix in sour cream, milk, food coloring, and vanilla. Finally, fold in flour mixture, making sure that batter is well-combined, but not over-mixed. Spoon into greased or lined cupcake pans so that each cup is 2/3 full.

For cupcakes, bake 20-25 minutes. For mini-cupcakes, bake 12-15 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or when the cakes spring back when touched.

Allow cupcakes to cool and make your frosting. First, cream together butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add sour cream and vanilla. Finally, add the confectioners' sugar in batches (this will keep you from spraying sugar all over your kitchen!). If you want to make Christmas tree frosting, add about a 1/2 oz of green food coloring to the frosting and finish mixing.

To decorate, use a piping bag or ziploc bag with the tip cut off to create a tree-shaped mound of frosting on top of each cupcake. Top with round sprinkles and a star-sprinkle on top for a delicious Christmas dessert!

As you can see, these mini cupcakes make a great addition to any holiday spread--I know I had more than a couple at our party. So give them a try, and I hope that you and your guests enjoy them. Happy holidays!

Peppermint Bark

One of the first things I watch for around the holidays is Ghiradelli's peppermint bark squares. Maybe it's because they are seasonal and limited, a la McRib, or maybe it's because they are minty chocolate goodness; either way, my younger sister and I usually have some on hand during our Black Friday outings. So this year, I decided to see if I could make my own. Turns out, it's not that hard--and it's far cheaper and chocolate-ier than Ghiradelli.

You will need:

12 oz. dark chocolate (I used Dove--it's the only dark chocolate I really love)

12 oz. white chocolate (I used Baker's--it melts easiest)

24 hard peppermint candies

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. In a glass bowl, microwave your dark chocolate in 15-30 second intervals, stirring in between each microwaving to prevent burning. When completely melted, pour onto parchment paper. Using a spatula, make sure that the melted chocolate covers the entire bottom of the pan evenly. Place in the refrigerator to harden for 10-20 minutes.

In the mean time, unwrap your peppermint candies and place in a ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin to break the candies, hitting and rolling until you have mostly peppermint dust and a sprinkling of larger peppermint pieces in the bag. Alternately, you could place the candies in a food processor. I just hate the dishes and like the arm workout of the rolling pin.

Microwave your white chocolate in the same way that you microwaved the dark, then fold in the peppermint dust and pieces until well-mixed (note: you can also strain out the large pieces and sprinkle those on top at the end if you would like the peppermint bark to look even prettier; the inside of my stomach, however, is not as discriminating). 

Finally, pour the peppermint-y white chocolate over the top of the refrigerated dark chocolate layer. Be sure to work quickly and carefully to spread the white chocolate layer over the dark chocolate layer, as the heat of the melted white chocolate will start to melt the refrigerated dark chocolate layer below. 

Place back in the refrigerator to harden for another 30-60 minutes and remove from parchment paper. (Note: you probably shouldn't eat the giant piece of peppermint bark--but I liked knowing that I could).

Break into pieces and enjoy!