Holiday Desserts: Something for Everyone

  • September 09, 2020
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  • Holiday Desserts: Something for Everyone
Mama loved to end her meal with something sweet, whether it was a simple sugar cookie or a couple of chocolate Kisses. Papa, on the other hand, could gorge himself on an entire box of Heavenly Hash. Sister Edna likes cakes. She will bake one at the drop of a hat and snack on it all day. Brother Henri Clay adores sweets. He never seems to get enough cakes, pies, cookies, candies, ice cream, or whatever sweet concoction anyone comes up with, and for holidays, he relishes in all the desserts. Baby Brother Bruce favors lemon pie and homemade ice cream.

 

I, thank goodness, rarely crave sweets. When I do, a couple of Oreos, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a small Butterfinger will do the trick.

 

When it comes to holiday feasts, we really blow it out. Henri says to bring it all on, so there is always a great variety.

 

For years, our Aunt Eva, who was not a terribly good cook but a terrific baker, supplied a four-layered coconut cake that was outstanding for the Thanksgiving feast. Aunt Claudia, the family pie-maker, produced the best-ever apple pie and a pecan pie that was stupendous. Aunt Taye was the candy-maker and her divinity fudge was unsurpassable.

 

But Aunt Eva has passed on, and we haven’t tasted any of Aunt Claudia’s pies or Aunt Taye’s candies in years, so it’s my generation’s turn to walk in their shoes.

SWEET POTATO PIE Makes 1 pie to serve 8

This sweet potato pie is usually my offering for the holidays. I ate so many sweet potatoes as a child, I was nicknamed "Patate Douce."
  • 3 medium-size sweet potatoes (about 1 ¼ pounds)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground mace
  • Pinch of salt
  • ½ cup evaporated milk
  • Flaky Pie Crust (recipe follows), unbaked
  • Whipped cream
In a medium-size saucepan of boiling water, cook the sweet potatoes until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain, let cool, then peel and mash. You should have about 3 cups.

 

the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-size bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mace and salt. Stir in the mashed sweet potatoes and add the evaporated milk. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

 

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell and bake on the bottom rack of the oven until the center is firm, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove and serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream.

 


  CRANBERRY CRUMB TART Makes 1 tart to serve 10

This cranberry tart is also from my repertoire of holiday desserts. I never did like cranberry sauce, but for the past several years, I’ve experimented with fresh cranberries and like the flavor and texture in a dessert such as this one.
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 ½ cups to 3 cups sugar
  • 1 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed, drained and picked over (about two 12-ounce bags)
  • Prebaked Tart Shell (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour and 1 ¾ cups of the sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Continue cutting until the mixture forms nickel-size clumps that crumb easily.

 

In a medium-size bowl, combine the remaining ¾ cup sugar (or more if you want it sweeter) with the salt. Add the cranberries and toss to coat well.

 

Spoon the cranberries into the prebaked tart shell, mounding them slightly in the center. Using your fingers, lightly squeeze pieces of the crumb topping and drop them gently over the berries. Do not press the topping into the fruit.

 

Bake until the toping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling around the edges, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. Unmold the tart and place on a serving platter. Serve at room temperature.

 


PREBAKED TART SHELL

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
Place the flour in a medium-size bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar and salt in ¼ cup cold water. Sprinkle over the flour mixture, tossing the mixture until the dough begins to come together.

 

Turn the dough out onto a flour surface and form it into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large round, 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Trim to a 13-inch circle. Dust the dough lightly with flour and fold into quarters. Place it with the point in the center, in a 9 ½ to 10-inch tart pan, about one inch deep, with a removable bottom. Open up the pastry and fit it into the pan, folding in the excess to reinforce the sides. Press the pastry against the fluted sides of the pan and trim off any excess dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line the pastry with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the pastry is almost dry 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork, and continue to bake until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

 


  OLD-FASHIONED APPLE PIE Makes 1 pie to serve 8

I’m not sure how Aunt Claudia made her apple pies, but this one comes mighty close to what I remember.

  Pastry:

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

  • 3 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch slices
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup heavy cream
To make the crust, place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the shortening and butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, add enough of the ice water through the feed tube for the dough to gather into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

 

To make the filling, toss the apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cream together.

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

 

Divide the dough in half. Roll out one piece to an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough, leaving the edge untrimmed.

 

Spoon the apple filling into the pie shell. Roll out the remaining dough into another 11-inch circle. Carefully place over the top of the pie. Trim and crimp the edges. Any excess dough can be used for decorating the top of the pie if you wish.

 

Cut four steam vents in the top of the pie.

 

Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for 40 minutes more. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 


  FLAKY PIE CRUST

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup vegetable shortening
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
In a mediums-size bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add three tablespoons water, one tablespoon at a time, stirring lightly with a fork after each addition. Add one more tablespoon of water, if needed, so that the dough holds together. Gather into a bowl and flatten slightly.

 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and fit it against the bottom and sides without stretching. Trim to ½ inch of the edge, fold the extra dough under and crimp decoratively.

sweet potatoes , food

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