In my house on Christmas Eve, when it comes to the meal, anything goes. But don't mess with dessert. My daughter's yule log cake is essential. When I casually wondered to her nephew whether Aunt Kori would be making the cake, he said with alarm, "She'd better."
Wondering about other dessert traditions, I went to . The corner of the shop was stacked with boxes of imported cakes and special Christmas treats, all part of the Italian holiday tradition. Owner/baker Tony Marzullo reeled of the "must-haves" at the close of the meal: panettone (sponge cake with raisins and a little chocolate), pandora (plain sponge cake with powdered sugar), honey balls (tiny fried balls of dough mixed with honey) and Sicilian cassata (cannoli cream with chocolate chips, covered with fondant and decorated with dried fruit). With the exception of the cassata, these are all imported from Italy.
There are also the platters of cookies: pignoli almond, rainbow with raspberry or
apricot filling, torrone, almond cookies dipped in dark chocolate and amaretti. Although the cookies are made here, the almonds used for the almond flour are imported from Europe.
"California almonds are very dry," says Marzullo. "They don't have the oil that
makes the difference." And what a difference it makes in his delicious almond-based pastries and beautiful hand-made marzipan "fruit."
At , Manager Joe Barba insisted their panna cotta is the perfect ending to a feast. His sister, Angela Zenuti, is the baker and pasta maker for the restaurant.
Panna cotta is a milk-based pudding, a lighter version of crème bruelle, which is served cold, traditionally with fruit. Zenuti's panna cotta is topped with a thick layer of fresh raspberry sauce. The sauce was a perfect, tart counterpoint to the smooth, cool pudding, with the seeds from the raspberries adding a welcome bit of crunch – smooth, sweet and sour combined for a wonderful dessert. I had intended to taste just a spoonful or two but soon the entire dessert was gone.
Then there was where I was delighted find that my old friend Armand
Vanderstigchel is the chef there. In addition to all his chef work, Vanderstigchel was a co-host of the PRB series Adirondack Cuisine and has been a featured chef on almost 100 TV network shows, including the Food Network. He's written three cookbooks and food companies have turned to him as a consultant and for recipe development.
Vanderstigchel thought people might want to make something traditional but simple – gingerbread. He suggested the Candy Land Gingerbread Cake that he created for the Bender Hammerling Group.
"Even though I can construct a recipe from scratch, the brand felt that it had to be super-simple and user-friendly for everyone, so we used a fool proof box mix," he said. "I thought of a gingerbread house with all the colors and figured chopping up the candy and using it inside and outside the cake would add flavor and a festive presentation. This is a recipe that folks will feel motivated to make for its simplicity and appeal."
Candy Land Gingerbread Bundt Cake
Serves 10-12 people
Ingredients:
2 boxes gingerbread cake mix
2 eggs (for cake mix)
1 can vanilla frosting
1/2 cup Welch's Fruit Snacks, chopped and divided
Directions:
1. In a large bowl combine both boxes and prepare according to directions.
2. Mix in 1/4 cup of chopped Welch's Fruit Snacks.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Pour prepared batter in a greased 9x3 bundt pan.
4. Place in 350°F oven and bake for 40 minutes until firm and inserted wooden
toothpick comes out dry.
5. Cool cake and carefully remove bundt pan.
6. Prepare frosting by microwaving a 1/2 cup of frosting for 5 seconds or until thin
enough to drizzle. Do not heat too long, otherwise frosting will separate- heat 5 seconds at a time.
7. Quickly drizzle the warm frosting glaze over cake with glaze decoratively running
down the sides.
8. Immediately sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chopped Welch's Fruit Snacks
decoratively over cake.
