Holiday Treat Tradition

Holiday Treat Tradition

Holiday goodies can be easy or complicated to make -- but always delicious. We, in the Public Affairs Office, have a tradition of sharing our favorite recipes with our readers. This year Elsie Jackson, Melissa Bell, Jennifer Gunn and Kristin Molinaro brought in the goodies our MCoE photographers Ashley Cross and Patrick A. Albright took pictures of. A couple of us submitted recipes but didn't have the time to bake the item to share with our coworkers. Those didn't make it to the page but can be viewed on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/BayonetAndSaber.

Cranberry Almond Biscotti ~ Recipe submitted by Melissa Bell

Ingredients

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, plus 1 egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch salt

1 lemon, zested

1/2 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted

3/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.

Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla.

Gently mix in the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, fold in the almonds and dried cranberries.

Divide the dough in half and roll the dough into two logs. If the dough is sticky, dust with a little flour. Roll the logs to the length of a sheet pan. Beat the egg white with a splash of water. Brush the logs with the egg white and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Transfer to a sheet pan and place at least three inches apart. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven let cool for 10 minutes. Remove logs to a cutting board and slice on the bias about 3/4 inch thick. Lay the biscotti back on the sheet pan and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. This will harden the biscotti. Cool completely on a rack.

Notes:

I added 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, 1/4 teaspoon extra vanilla extract and 1/8 cup extra sugar.

I mistakenly added the egg white to the mix instead of brushing it over the raw biscotti logs.

I used a regular cheese grater when zesting the entire lemon, but make sure to only use the yellow part and not the white -- the pith tends to be bitter.

Liberally flour your workspace when rolling out the logs as they tend to be extra sticky.

I didn't want to buy turbinado sugar, so I just sprinkled regular sugar over top. The dough was moist enough for it to stick without having to brush with egg whites.

Baking times may vary. I baked for an additional 5 minutes on the first round, and then an additional 10 minutes on the second go through.

You can alter this recipe so much; maybe try an orange almond cranberry or cherry version, or chocolate chip coffee flavored! Enjoy!

Very Addicting Crispix Mix ~ Recipe submitted by Elsie Jackson

Ingredients

12 ounces Crispix cereal

1 cup butter

1/3 cup Karo syrup

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups pretzels (small twists or sticks)

8 ounces of M&M's

1 cup pecan halves or peanuts

Directions

Spray 2 large cookie sheets or pans with Pam (or line pans with parchment paper). Mix Crispix cereal, pretzels and pecan halves. Spread on cookie sheets or pans.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add corn syrup and brown sugar. Bring to a gentle boil, cook 2 minutes, stir constantly.

Remove from heat and fold butter mix into cereal.

Bake at 300 F for 10 minutes. Stir gently with a spatula and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool. It will cool quickly, you may want to stir the mix as it cools to break up any clumps that may form.

When the mix is completely cool, mix in M&M's.

Christmas Kringle ~ Recipe submitted by Kristin Molinaro

Ingredients

For dough

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup lukewarm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast

1/8 cup melted butter

1 egg yolk

For filling

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoon grounded almonds (optional)

Directions

Stir the envelope of yeast into 1/4 cup of warm water (100-110 F). Add sugar until it dissolves and let sit 10 minutes until it has doubled in size (foam). The yeast is now active.

Pour yeast into a medium bowl and stir in lukewarm milk. Add egg yolk and melted butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add a little flour to your hands for easy mixing in the next step.

Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients and start kneading it until it pulls away from the edges of the bowl. Give the dough the shape of a ball. Sprinkle small amount of vegetable oil into a clean bowl, place the dough inside and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest for about 1 hour at room temperature until it has doubled in size. You can put the bowl near a warm oven to help the dough rise well.

While the dough rises, whisk together the butter with sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a rectangle of about 18x12 inches.

Spoon the cinnamon filling over the top (set aside about 1 tablespoon for the end), spreading evenly, and leaving a clean 1/2-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle with almonds. Roll up the dough into a log. Using a sharp knife, cut the log in half length-wise, leaving 1/2 inch at the top of the log uncut.

Start braiding the two pieces together, trying to keep the open layers exposed so the cut ends are on top. Form a wreath and pinch the ends together..

Transfer the bread to the baking sheet and brush the wreath with the remaining cinnamon filling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. For the last 10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 F.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pecan Praline Torte ~ Recipe submitted by Jennifer Gunn

Ingredients

Pumpkin Torte

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour*

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 1/3 cups Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese

2 sticks very soft butter

2 pounds or 8 cups Dixie Crystals Confectioners Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pecan Praline Topping

1/2 cup firmly packed Dixie Crystals Light Brown Sugar

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups pecan halves

*Spoon & Sweep method: Use a spoon to fill measuring cup with flour until required amount is obtained. Scooping measuring cup directly into flour bag will firmly pack flour resulting in too much flour required for recipe.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

You will need three 9 or 8 inch round cake pans. Cut 3 parchment rounds by placing a cake pan on parchment paper. Draw a circle around the bottom edge and cut using scissors. Repeat twice.

Place a parchment cutout into each cake pan and brush paper and sides with melted butter or spray with baking spray. Sprinkle evenly with flour and shake out excess, set aside.

Blend and sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. Set aside.

In a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients whisk egg using a hand held or stand mixer until well blended, add sugar and whip until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. On low speed add vanilla and pumpkin.

Stir in flour and mix until just combined. Scoop and divide evenly into prepared pans.

Place in oven and bake until the center of the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with a finger or an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 13-15 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn upside down on kitchen or paper towels which have been evenly sprinkled with powdered sugar. Allow to cool completely.

For frosting mix cream cheese and soft butter on low speed until blended. Add one cup of powdered sugar and mix on low speed until blended.

Gradually add remaining powdered sugar and mix on low to medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well.

For the pecan praline topping: If desired pre-toast the pecans for 8 minutes in a 350°F oven.

In a saucepan bring all the ingredients to a boil excluding the pecans. Boil for 3 minutes ensuring that the mixture will not boil over. Remove from heat and stir in the pecans. Set aside.

Remove parchment paper from one cake round and place cake on a serving platter. Frost the surface with approximately 1/3 inch cream cheese frosting.

Remove parchment paper from second layer and place onto frosted cake round. Frost once again with cream cheese frosting. Remove parchment paper from third layer and place onto frosted cake round.

Spread an even coat of cream cheese frosting on the surface.

If caramel topping is too firm to spread onto surface heat briefly until slightly softened. Do not allow to get warm! Spread onto surface of cake.

Keep refrigerated but remove from refrigerator at least one hour before serving.

Jennifer Gunn's lessons learned about Pumpkin Pecan Praline Torte

I find the best recipes while clipping coupons. This one was on a Dixie Crystals sugar coupon, which offered $1 off two 1-pound boxes of any variety of sugar. There's nothing like making something you've never tasted before and saving money in the process. A really good thing, because this recipe used a lot of sugar.

This Pumpkin Pecan Praline Torte is not hard at all, just time consuming. It took me a full hour and a half from start to finish and I probably should have taken more time. There are three components to the recipe: the pumpkin torte, the cream cheese icing and the pecan glaze or topping.

To torte

The recipe calls for pumpkin puree, which is NOT pumpkin pie filling. Who knew all canned pumpkin was not created equal? And the puree version is harder to find in stores than the pie filling, but trust me, it does exist. If you are having trouble finding straight up pumpkin puree, look for a can that boasts 100 percent pumpkin, has the words 'calabaza pura' or simply check the ingredients. If anything other than pumpkin is listed, that ain't it. The pie filling contains other ingredients -- like added sugar, spices and sometimes things you can't pronounce -- and the good (read healthy) ones are in the recipe list already.

Do not skimp on the sifting and the whipping. I sifted my dry ingredients twice -- makes for really smooth blending when you add them to the liquid ingredients. And speaking of liquid, beat the mess out of the eggs and sugar. The combination will react exactly according to the recipe. A torte, by its very nature is heavier in texture and taste than a cake. By sifting the flour, you are ensuring a smoother texture and by whipping the eggs and sugar, you bring air into the batter -- a fluffiness, if you will. Both of these will help balance the density of the torte.

It's all about the icing

Ah, butter. Julia Child knew this one ingredient was the answer to so many of life's kitchen questions. You wanna caramelize an onion? Fry it up in some butter. You wanna cook a chicken? Give it a serious butter massage first. Too much butter? There's really no such thing, but if you think so, cut the amount by a third or a half, just use the butter. For our purposes, the butter and cream cheese make for an oh, so yummy base for the cream cheese icing. Make sure they are soft. I let mine sit on the kitchen counter overnight and they were easy to blend. This recipe makes an awful lot of icing though, and in hindsight, I probably could have cut the entire thing by at least a third, as Julia suggests (all ingredients). Since I didn't want to do the math -- and in my defense, it was 3 a.m. -- I made the entire portion, as listed. Which probably lead to my eventual recipe downfall. Read on, for those details.

Glazed over

Confession: I cannot make divinity to save my life. And it's a holiday Family favorite, so I've had this particular culinary failing made public more times than I can count. So anything requiring bringing a sugary substance to a boil at just the right temperature for just the right amount of time intimidates me no end. But this syrup mixture was surprisingly easy. And since I was slathering them with syrup, I decided to toast the pecans to give them a little more crunch.

Putting the pieces together

Assembling this culinary confection was a snap, so much so, that I got a little cocky and worked too quickly. With the icing, I do recommend a decorator bag, but since I'm not a professional decorator, I used a Ziploc bag with the end snipped off to apply the cream between each layer. Just be sure that you use a freezer bag; a regular sandwich bag is too thin to do this kind of work and may tear. Now, if you're like me, you want your dessert to look exactly like the photo on the recipe. I failed in this endeavor, and I'll tell you why: too much icing on top of the torte plus too warm glaze equals a drippy, swamp-thing looking creation rather than a picture of perfection. For my do-over, I'll start by making less icing to begin with, using more between the layers and less on top and waiting a little longer for the glaze to cool before adding it to the cake.

As Julia Child would say, "Try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all, have fun. Bon appétit!"