Everything Christmas brings joy through recipes, Bible, more

It's not often I get the chance to post about anything other than desserts or food/kitchen-related things, but I found a great Christian book to help my family celebrate the season of Advent and Christmas, and since it does include lots of great recipes, that's enough excuse for me.

As its name would indicate, Everything Christmas includes a plethora of the season's best.  The book is divided into daily chapters starting with December 1 through Christmas Eve and also including a post-Christmas prayer.  You can enjoy it two ways, each day with your family as an Advent calendar, or using the index to find specific recipes, gift-giving ideas, easy crafts and decorations or to discover new traditions to adopt.

You'll definitely enjoy it year after year as it will become a Christmas tradition in your home.

The design is pleasing and easy to thumb through, with days alternating between forest green and burgundy pages.  The format may be small at only 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches, but it will be all the easier for your young ones to hold, and with 320 pages, it packs lots of Christmas joy, so you'll want to keep it handy on the coffee table for all your guests to notice too.

You'll also find poems, carols, stories, scriptures, trivia and humor.  I particularly enjoyed Princess Victoria's diary entry from Christmas Eve 1932, and a newspaper account of the first electric Christmas tree lights in 1882 New York City.  I'm saving the rest to discover with my family all through Advent, though.

As the book jacket states, "Opening Everything Christmas is like opening a box full of Christmas cheer."

The publishers are making the first chapter available online so you can see for yourself just how great this little volume is, and here's a sample recipe from that chapter -- but don't eat it -- it's for a craft.  This ornament recipe is near and dear to our hearts.  Nine years ago, our son's kindergarten teacher used it for each child to make an ornament to bring home.  Our son chose to make a star -- and nine Christmases later, it still smells good. 

Scented Applesauce-Cinnamon Ornaments Recipe
3 cups applesauce
3 cups ground cinnamon

Mix applesauce and cinnamon together until it is thick enough to hold a form.  Flatten the mixture on a flat surface and cut into cookie-cutter shapes.

Place cookie shapes on a cookie sheet to dry for 3 to 4 days depending on the size and thickness of the cookies.  If using as a hanging ornament, make a hole with a toothpick before drying.  Makes 15 ornaments.


Title: Everything Christmas
Authors: David Bordon and Tom Winters

Publisher: WaterBrook Press / Random House

Category: Holidays/Christmas & Advent
Format: Hardcover Book
Price: $14.99/$16.99
ISBN: 9780307729293
Publish Date: October 5, 2010
Pages: 320
Size: 5 1/2 by  7 1/2 inches

Martha's Foolproof Chocolate Fudge Recipe

This is a recipe from one of our church friends.  You can be sure that Martha will bring her foolproof chocolate fudge to any gathering, bake sale or Christmas boutique.  You can also be sure that everyone will ask her for the recipe.  She's used to it and brings along the photocopied recipe for all to enjoy.  I tell you, it is delicious -- just look at the ingredients -- and it is so quick and easy too.  Like she says, it is foolproof.



Martha's Foolproof Chocolate Fudge Recipe

Chocolate Nut Fudge: Tropical Foods/Flickr

One 6 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
One 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup chopped nuts
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
dash of salt

Melt chocolate chips with condensed milk in saucepan over low heat.  Add vanilla and salt.  Pour into 8 or 9 inch square pan lined with wax paper.  Chill for 2 hours and cut into squares.

Happy Thanksgiving To All

Clinton St. Baking Co.'s Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

I have special permission from Hachette Book Group to republish the Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe from Clinton St. Baking Company's brand new cookbook.  This recipe is a real hit.  Not only is it chocolate, which most people love, but there are benefits to having a good flourless cake recipe on hand for your guests.

With the increasing number of people with wheat or gluten sensitivities, allergies or diagnosed with Celiac disease,  and with Passover requiring abstinence from all leaven, you are bound to come across someone who will be thankful for a flourless cake.  This one is sure to please.

Also please note the special details in this recipe which many do not bother with, such as: using sugar to line the pan instead of flour (particularly necessary with this recipe), using fresh coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor, or specifying the percentage of the cacao.

Click this link for my review of the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook.



Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe
Makes one 10-inch cake

This cake is rich, dense and a true chocolate lover's dream.  It's also a great flourless dessert for Passover.  The secret is the freshly brewed coffee, which makes it really intense, moist and, well, caffeinated.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups strong, freshly brewed or cold coffee
3 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (52-62% cacao; see the note*)
7 large eggs
1 3/4 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (we recommend Valrhona or Ghirardelli)
Raspberry Caramel Sauce (page 178)
Real Whipped Cream (optional; page 178)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Lightly grease a 10-inch springform cake pan.  Add 1/4 cup of the sugar to the pan.  Shake the sugar along the buttered sides and bottom so that the pan is coated.  Tap the pan with your fingers to release any excess sugar and discard.
2. If the coffee is hot, pour it over the chocolate chunks in a bowl and whisk quickly to melt the chocolate.  If the coffee is not hot, place the chunks and coffee together in a microwave-safe container and heat together for 1 to 2 minutes on high, until the chocolate is melted.
3. Bring a pot of water to a simmer.  In a metal or glass bowl, whisk together the eggs with the remaining cup of sugar.  Place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk continuously until the eggs become light and fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, whip the cream to medium peaks either by hand or with a handheld mixer.
5. Add the coffee-and-chocolate mixture to the eggs in two stages, folding between each stage.  Gently fold in the cocoa powder and then the whipped cream, using the same method.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Wrap the bottom of the springform in heavy-duty foil.  Place the pan in a shallow baking dish and fill the dish with hot tap water until the water comes up 1 to 2 inches along the sides of the pan.
7. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Turn off the oven, prop open the oven door, and allow the cake to cool in the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 2 hours in the fridge or at room temperature.
8. To serve, remove the outer ring of the pan.  Cut the cake into clean slices using a knife dipped in warm water and wiped in between slices.  Serve with Raspberry Caramel Sauce and Real Whipped Cream.

*Note:  The best way to cut chunks from a bar of chocolate is to use a heavy chef's knife and chop the chocolate as if you were chopping an onion.  Cut it one way in strips, and then across the other way, to make chunks.  This method is good for chocolate chunks that will be folded into a batter ... or for a recipe in which you want to bite a piece of chocolate (like a chocolate chunk cookie).  For recipes that call for melted chocolate, the smaller you cut the chocolate, the faster it will melt in a double boiler.  Bittersweet chocolate and new gourmet chocolates that list their percentages of cacao are best for eating and baking recipes.  They have less sugar and more pronounced flavors that are best for recipes like a flourless chocolate cake or a chocolate sauce.

Title: Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook

Authors: DeDe Lahman & Neil Kleinberg

Restaurant Website: Clinton St. Baking Company

Category: COOKING

Format: HARDCOVER BOOK

Publish Date: 11/8/2010

Publisher: Hachette Book Group

Price: $29.99/$35.99

ISBN: 9780316083379

Pages: 224

Size: 8" x 10"

Cookbook Review: Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook

Customers wait in line for hours in the early morning New York cold to eat the sweet and savory foods at the Clinton St. Baking Company, and now thanks to their new cookbook, you can re-create their dishes in the warmth and comfort of your own home.

As the author says, "The point is, when you find a favorite joint, where the food hits the spot and you're completely at home -- your senses come alive, your belly is full -- what more could you want?  For the moment, life feels complete."

Just imagine preparing a Sunday brunch for your family and friends with all the flair of a professional restaurant while you all chit chat on the week's events or watch football in HD.

The cookbook's beautiful pictures will help you plan the menu.  The recipes from the chef-owner, combined with friendly banter from the author-owner, will make you feel as if you were all in the kitchen together.

---

I have special permission from Hachette Book Group to republish the cookbook's Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe.  It's a real hit.  Be sure to click the link.

---

You'll be able to prepare their world-famous brunches: soups, sandwiches, omelets and scrambles, pancakes, biscuits, and let's not forget the made-from-scratch desserts -- it's all there.

You won't want to miss their award-winning buttermilk fried chicken either.

Secrets are revealed; tips, methods and advice are shared, all with easy step-by-step directions; and their favorite brands are recommended too.

A couple of minor details--like assuming the reader already knows how to barbecue pulled-pork, or using corn syrup in their maple bourbon pecan pie--do not detract from a great book which you'll want to use again and again.

Title: Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook

Authors: DeDe Lahman & Neil Kleinberg

Restaurant Website: Clinton St. Baking Company

Category: COOKING

Format: HARDCOVER BOOK

Publish Date: 11/8/2010

Publisher: Hachette Book Group

Price: $29.99/$35.99

ISBN: 9780316083379

Pages: 224

Size: 8" x 10"

Baked pears for a tasty Thanksgiving dessert

You know I love fruit, and a lovely baked pear is one of my favorite desserts in the fall.  This recipe is for 6 pear lovers and it takes 2-3 hours.  It's well-worth the wait.  Besides, while its baking in the oven, you can prepare the rest of the meal, or watch TV.  But if you are in a real hurry, try out my other Baked Pear Recipe which only takes a few minutes in the microwave.

This is a great recipe for your Thanksgiving dessert buffet.  Click to find more fall desserts.

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving so there will be no Vintage Recipe Thursday.  I send an early wish for all of you to enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Flickr/tihakkar
 Baked Pear

Baked Pears
6 pears
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Select firm, well-ripened pears.  Wash.  Pare and core.  Place in baking dish.  Fill cavities with sugar.  Dot with butter.  Add water.  Bake in slow oven 325 F. 2-3 hours.  Baste frequently.  6 servings.

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Vintage Recipe Thursday is meant to preserve your own original vintage family recipes, or out-of-print, copyright-free recipes from old cookbooks, magazines, newspapers or postcards.

You're invited! Get the details by clicking to the Vintage Recipe Thursday Homepage.

I post recipes from the Household Searchlight Recipe Book, first published in 1931. My 16th printing is from 1943.  What will you post?

Tuscan crostata with berries recipe and 50 cents off coupon

It's not often that there are coupons for fresh fruits, so I'm sharing this information sent from Driscoll's public relations.  They hope you will visit Driscoll's website where you can get a 50 cent Driscoll's coupon and more recipes, both sweet and savory, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Below is one of their recipes for a tasty Tuscan crostata with berries.

Bon appetit,



Tuscan Crostata with Berries

Prep time: 20 minutes, plus chill time
Bake time: 25 minutes
Makes 8 servings

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Dash of salt
2-3 tablespoons ice water
1 package (16 ounces) Driscoll’s Strawberries, hulled, quartered
2 packages (6 ounces) Driscoll’s Blueberries (one package reserved for garnish)
2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1-2 tablespoons coarse sugar crystals
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Place flour, sugar, butter and salt in food processor bowl. Pulse 8-10 times until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add water 1 tablespoon at a time with motor running, pulsing just until dough holds together when a small bit is pressed between your fingers. Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to an 11-12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Gently fold dough into quarters and transfer to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Mound the strawberries and 1 package of blueberries in center of dough leaving a 1 ½ to 2-inch border. Sprinkle berries with granulated sugar.

Fold and pleat dough evenly up and around the berries. Sprinkle dough with coarse sugar crystals.

Bake in center of oven until crust is rich golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Cool briefly and serve warm with ice cream (optional) and remaining blueberries.

This recipe is shared with Patti's Comfy Cuisine Blueberry Roundup.

Dessert Trivia: German chocolate cake is NOT German

German chocolate cake is NOT German.  German chocolate cake is American, and was created by Mrs. George Clay, a Texas housewife who sent in her recipe to the Dallas Morning News in 1957.

Mrs. Clay's recipe was published in Food Editor Julie Benell's "Recipe of the Day" feature on June 3, 1957, according to The Dallas Daily News, formerly Dallas Morning News.  The food editor ran a correction two days later, noting to use half the amount of chocolate.

So where is the German connection?  Mrs. Clay's cake used Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate Bars.  According to Kraft Foods which currently owns Baker's, the bars were first developed in 1852 and named in honor of the inventor, Sam German.  They report that the recipe's popularity in 1957 even caused a spike in sales.

Mrs. Clay named her original recipe German's Sweet Chocolate Cake, but over the years the name was popularized as German Chocolate Cake.

So now you know,


Below are links to Baker's three versions of the recipe with the coconut-pecan filling and frosting.

Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate Bar/Kraft Foods

BAKER'S® GERMAN'S® Sweet Chocolate Cake

GERMAN'S® Sweet Chocolate Cake

Original BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet Chocolate Cake

Dessert Recipe: Ladyfingers

 
Vintage Recipe Thursday is meant to preserve your own original vintage family recipes, or out-of-print, copyright-free recipes from old cookbooks, magazines, newspapers or postcards. You're invited! Get the details by clicking to the Vintage Recipe Thursday Homepage. I post recipes from the Household Searchlight Recipe Book, first published in 1931. My 16th printing is from 1943. What will you post?

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Ladyfingers are light and very useful little cookies. You can use them for Charlotte cakes, trifles, tiramisu, with ice cream, or to encase fresh fruits, a mouse, or whatever your creativity dreams up.

If you wish to participate with one of your own vintage recipes, link up below.

Have fun,

Ladyfingers

Flickr/distopiandreamgirl
Ladyfingers encasing red currants

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

2 egg yolks, beaten until thick

1/3 cup cake flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Sift sugar.  Measure.  Fold gradually into egg whites.  Carefully fold in egg yolks which have been combined with extracts and salt.  Sift flour.  Measure and sift carefully.  Fold into mixture.  Cover a baking sheet with un-oiled paper.  Shape the lady fingers with a pastry tube having each about 4 inches long, and 1 inch wide.  Bake in moderate oven (375 F.) 10 minutes.  As soon as removed from oven slip from baking sheet, using a wide spatula.  Place the bottom of one lady finger on the bottom of another.  Lay on waxed paper.  Cool.  Dust with powdered sugar.  14 servings.

Link directly to your vintage recipe, not your main blog page,

so that we can always find your recipe.

Don't forget to hyperlink back to Joy of Desserts and to visit other participants.

Cookbook giveaway winners announced

Here they are, the lucky winners of the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook:

Lori of Here's A Hand To Hold On To

Janie of Gorgeous Mess

Andrea of Andrea The Kitchen Witch

Congratulations!  Keep following Joy of Desserts for more recipes, kitchen tips, giveaways, vintage fun and much more.

Category: COOKING
Format: HARDCOVER BOOK
Publish Date: 11/8/2010
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Price: $29.99/$35.99
ISBN: 9780316083379
Pages: 224
Size: 8" x 10"

5 prize-winning dessert recipes: YUMMM!!

It's great to try new dessert recipes, but sometimes we need something that's tried-and-true. That's one of the reasons I like to collect recipes from good friends and family, especially when those recipes are vintage and have been handed down for decades. These 5 dessert recipes are not only that, but they are also prize-winning.  Try them.  I know you will like them.

Photo: Kim Siciliano Salem/Flickr

Prize-winning cottage cheese cake recipe

Prize-winning baked caramel custard recipe

Prize-winning ginger cheese muffins recipe

Prize-winning chocolate pudding recipe

Prize-winning date macaroons recipe

Last chance to win famous NY bakery's cookbook

This is the last day to enter the Clinton St. Baking Company's Cookbook giveaway.  Hurry and click on the link if you want the chance to win this brand new cookbook just released today.  This baking company is famous for their brunch, desserts and their blueberry pancakes.  You don't want to miss out on this treat.

Virtual field trip to the Clinton St. Baking Company

Category: COOKING
Format: HARDCOVER BOOK
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publish Date: 11/8/2010
Price: $29.99/$35.99
ISBN: 9780316083379
Pages: 224
Size: 8" x 10"

Thanksgiving desserts: Joy of Desserts' 70+ recipe bonanza

Thanksgiving will be here all too quickly, so it's time to start planning your menus.  Of course there will be the tried and true favorites which we all have and cannot have Thanksgiving dinner without.  But in our family we also always try a few new dishes each year, just so that the holiday doesn't get boring and stale with the same old, same old.

Here is a list of more than 70 recipes full of fall flavors, and just perfect for gracing your Thanksgiving dining tables.  Just click on the links.

Have fun planning,

Pumpkin Pie - Home Shopper/Flickr

Pumpkins

Pumpkin Custard
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Jam
Caramel Pumpkin Brownie Trifle



Spices
Shoo-fly Pie
Prize-winning Ginger Cheese Muffins
Spice Muffins
Sour Cream Cookies
Spice Cake

Apples

Apple Breakfast Bread
Apple Fluff Pie
Easy Apple Brown Betty
Makes Its Own Crust Apple Pie
Fast, Easy Brie En Croute Apple Compote Dessert
French Apple Tart
Tartes Tatin (2 recipes -- French Caramelized Upside-Down Apple Pies)
Applesauce Kugel

Pears

Pear Banana Compote
Pears with Crackling Caramel Sauce (easy microwave recipe)
Quick and Easy Stuffed Pears

Poire Belle Helene - yuichi.sakuraba/Flickr

Tasty, Fast, Easy Pears Belle Helene
Warm Caramelized Pears With Clove Zabaglione

Caramel, Maple and Molasses

Caramel Apple Dip (also great with pears)
Molasses Cookies
Nectar Cake
Crackling Caramel Sauce (easy microwave recipe)
Warm Caramelized Pears With Clove Zabaglione Recipe
Prize-Winning Baked Caramel Custard
Caramel Pumpkin Brownie Trifle
Maple Coffee Ice Cream
Maple Parfait


Chocolate
Chocolate Whipped Cream Cupcakes
Chocolate Chiffon Pie
Chocolate Cupcakes
Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse
Honey Fudge and Raisin Fudge
Morton's Godiva Hot Chocolate Cake
Mars Chocolate Bars Brownies
Paul Newman's Favorite Orange Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Chocolate Brownies
Prize-Winning Chocolate Pudding
Chocolate Fruit Pudding
10-Minute Scrumptious Chocolate Cake Surprise

Nuts and Dried Fruits

Mocha Cake - All about craft/Flickr

Pecan Date Raisin Bread
Rolled Figs
Nectar Cake
Mocha Cake with Coffee Butter Icing
Sour Cream Cookies
Raisin Cake
Raisin Fudge
Prize-Winning Date Macaroons
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

More Tasty Desserts

First American Pound Cake
Mocha Cake with Coffee Butter Icing
Quick Coffee Cake
Upside-Down Cake
Julia Child's Cream Cheese and Lemon Flan
Honey Fudge
Victoria Fudge
Custard Sauce or Creme Anglaise
Graham Cracker Cake
Cream Pie, Macaroon Cream Pie, Banana Cream Pie and Pineapple Cream Pie
Brown Sugar Cookies
Cake Icings and Fillings
Gold Cake

Vintage dessert recipe: pumpkin custard

 
Vintage Recipe Thursday is meant to preserve your own original vintage family recipes, or out-of-print, copyright-free recipes from old cookbooks, magazines, newspapers or postcards. You're invited! Get the details by clicking to the Vintage Recipe Thursday Homepage. I post recipes from the Household Searchlight Recipe Book, first published in 1931. My 16th printing is from 1943. What will you post?

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Add your link below if you want to join in on the vintage fun with a recipe of your own.

Enter my latest giveaway, the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook.

Here's a great vintage dessert recipe for your holiday table, or anytime.

For anyone watching their waistline during the Thanksgiving or Christmas season, there is no need to forego desserts all together. This vintage custard recipe is very much like pumpkin pie without the crust which will save calories, and it's also great for those with wheat allergies. If you are still looking to cut down on calories, it's easy to substitute the whole milk for 2% or non-fat, and use just a bit less sugar. Of course remember that most important is moderation. This custard serves 6, not 1. ;-)

Have fun, eat dessert. 

Pumpkin Custard

Flickr/elana's pantry
Pumpkin Custards

1 cup cooked pumpkin, fresh or canned

1 1/2 cups milk, scalded

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon allspice

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine pumkin, sugar, salt. spices, and eggs. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly. Pour into well-oiled custard cups. Set in pan of warm water. Bake in moderate oven (375 F.) until an inserted knife comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream. 6 servings. Mrs. Herbert Kleis, Lackawanna, N.Y.

Virtual field trip to Clinton St. Baking Company in New York

When Martha Stewart says "I think Neil can be called the King of Biscuits," Travel and Leisure Magazine says they have the "Best Breakfasts," and The New Yorker says "the brunch crowd begins to form early," ... and it's still a 45 minute wait, it's easy to figure that the Clinton St. Baking Company must indeed be good.

So why not enter to win their soon-to-be-released Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook?  You could have their famous blueberry pancakes for breakfast -- or for dessert -- which New York Magazine voted best in the city, not once, but twice.