Holiday treats: Getting poached, going nuts
Now that most of our friends are older—and even with our adult children—we often ask, when invited to dinner, if we can contribute the dessert course.
Le Duc, who never met a cake he could not coax into a ganache-filled cloud, and who rolls pâte sablé with unflappable elan, usually found fruit-based desserts unpromising. But as we age, he has retreated from those super-rich treats. Also, he realizes that, if free to choose, I will cook it.
This winter, I am bringing David Lebovitz' recipe for poached pears, a magical dessert, light but flavourful, pleasing to just-a-taste as well as "I'm saving myself for dessert" types, and adaptable to calorie-reduced diets (sort of.)
I faithfully follow Lebovitz' recipe for poaching, including his variation of the addition of a good handful of dried sour cherries; the resulting syrup is redolent of spices you can't quite pin down. To add that "sinful quality" I pass a bowl of mascarpone, another of toasted almonds, and offer a plate of sliced paneforte, but spice cake or cookies would be delicious, too.
A guest can choose the relatively austere pears (even with no syrup, you can taste the flavour in the fruit) or ramp it up to the full mascarpone Monty. Lebovitz' readers have offered many variations in the comments section.
A gift tradition
As I do each holiday season, I'm reposting a candied nuts recipe. They're festively irresistible, and can be made last-minute, only 10 minutes to prep and 30 to bake.
The recipe is perfect to make with a young cook; children instinctively enjoy the pleasure of making something special to give.
What are your favourite "I'll bring dessert" choices?
Le Duc, who never met a cake he could not coax into a ganache-filled cloud, and who rolls pâte sablé with unflappable elan, usually found fruit-based desserts unpromising. But as we age, he has retreated from those super-rich treats. Also, he realizes that, if free to choose, I will cook it.
This winter, I am bringing David Lebovitz' recipe for poached pears, a magical dessert, light but flavourful, pleasing to just-a-taste as well as "I'm saving myself for dessert" types, and adaptable to calorie-reduced diets (sort of.)
I faithfully follow Lebovitz' recipe for poaching, including his variation of the addition of a good handful of dried sour cherries; the resulting syrup is redolent of spices you can't quite pin down. To add that "sinful quality" I pass a bowl of mascarpone, another of toasted almonds, and offer a plate of sliced paneforte, but spice cake or cookies would be delicious, too.
A guest can choose the relatively austere pears (even with no syrup, you can taste the flavour in the fruit) or ramp it up to the full mascarpone Monty. Lebovitz' readers have offered many variations in the comments section.
As I do each holiday season, I'm reposting a candied nuts recipe. They're festively irresistible, and can be made last-minute, only 10 minutes to prep and 30 to bake. The recipe is perfect to make with a young cook; children instinctively enjoy the pleasure of making something special to give.
Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts
1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
Generous pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lb. walnut or pecan halves, or whole peeled hazelnuts
1 egg white, room temperature
1 Tbsp water
1. Preheat oven to 300F
2. Mix sugars, salt, cayenne and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside.
3. Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add nuts, stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, toss until evenly coated.
4. Spread nuts in a single layer on a parchment-covered baking pan. Bake 30 min., stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from oven and separate nuts as they cool. Transfer to bowl and break apart any nuts that stick together.
To give as a gift, package in a mason jar, tin or paper cone.
1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
Generous pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lb. walnut or pecan halves, or whole peeled hazelnuts
1 egg white, room temperature
1 Tbsp water
1. Preheat oven to 300F
2. Mix sugars, salt, cayenne and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps; set aside.
3. Beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add nuts, stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle nuts with sugar mixture, toss until evenly coated.
4. Spread nuts in a single layer on a parchment-covered baking pan. Bake 30 min., stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from oven and separate nuts as they cool. Transfer to bowl and break apart any nuts that stick together.
To give as a gift, package in a mason jar, tin or paper cone.
What are your favourite "I'll bring dessert" choices?
Comments
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/
My "will bring" dessert? Pineapple upside down cake, somehow very festive this time of year. And I love love love making "mini" pineapple upside down cakes instead, bite-sized, slow to make (of course), but fun to spread on a doily and serve.
One of my sons, believe it or not, after spending 9 months in Geneva (school then working), taught himself to bake European cakes. (He's better at following recipes than I am.) He makes a variation on Smitten Kitchens apple sharlotka that is heavenly!
And yes, the ingredients for both are in the cupboard. My boys will be home for the holidays, and certain baking expectations are my responsibility... and also, now, my son's!
In Summer, the dessert I bring is almost always a tart of whatever fruit is ripe and beautiful. My winter choice is usually a moist lemon pound cake. Baked in a bundt pan, drizzled with vanilla glaze, and surrounded by fresh citrus leaves and kumquats or homemade marzipan fruits, it's a gorgeous and delicious presence on the buffet table.
In graduate school, when I had lots of friends and very few dishes, I came up with this dessert for a crowd: Buy a packet of foil-backed paper muffin cups, crush some good butter cookies and put a spoonful of crumbs in each cup, sprinkle the crumbs with rum or bourbon. Make a double recipe of a rich chocolate mousse and spoon it into the cups. Refrigerate until it's time to serve, then add a dollop of whipped cream to each and garnish with grated chocolate. With a goblet full of plastic spoons handy, these mousse cups will make a lot of people too happy to miss dishes and silverware.
C.
The other is a Cranberry Nut Pudding:
1 1/2 cups of fresh cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans (or a few less)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
Vanilla ice cream
Arrange berries evenly over the bottom of a buttered (or Pammed) 1 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar and chopped pecans. Beat eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until thick. Pour batter over cranberries. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes (check starting at 30 minutes) or until a wooden pick in center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream. 6 to 8 (small) servings
materfamilias: I would put up happily with the mess for your homemade blackberry pie! And when you have a reputation it's hard to say no when asked to bring your "famous" treat.
C.: Marzipan fruits around the bundt cake, what a delightful presentation. I am lazy but I have seen some gorgeous ones at the market.
Muffin tins as dishes, ingenious.
Susan: Thank you for the recipe, so festive!
hostess: I am still having a hard time selling fruit for dessert to Le Duc- he loves cakes, mousse, creme caramel, etc. But I too prefer fruit or at least fruit-based desserts.
Another light dessert solution is fruit-only sorbets, such as those made here by Solo Fruit. They do contain some fruit juice concentrate, so there are a certain number of grammes of sugar in them, though there is no white sugar. However they are far less sweet than other sorbets, and very refreshing. I like the pear, and the trio, which includes ginger.
I was going to say "cheese", of course, more in terms of limiting sugar than in being fat or calorie light...
Swissy: I like the idea of a summer/winter version of a cake! My mouth was watering reading your description.
Susan: Thank you; the order of ingredients can make a real difference.
Darla
http://www.food.com/recipe/coconut-cranberry-chews-14593
Leslie: Thanks for the link! A substantial cookie makes a wonderful dessert, easy to carry and a guest can choose the quantity he or she wishes.
Eleanorjane: Triple the butter and sugar to make more goo- you would be revered at my table.
Anon@11:44: I don't think they are the gateway to broccoli, but as long as a picky eater will eat nuts, they're pretty addictive!
Love your blog - thank you for that too! Have a wonderful season of holidays.
JoyceP in Wisconsin
I was looking for something to take to a New Year's Day dinner and Susan's Cranberry Pudding sounds like just the thing - thank you. A combination of sweet and tart is better than sweet and rich after a big meal.
Viktoria: This is sophisticated comfort food and I am certain it's absolutely wonderful.
I found a recipe here:
http://scandikitchen.typepad.com/scandikitchen/2012/12/christmas-recipe-ris-a-la-mandes-ris-a-la-malta-creamed-rice-pudding.html
Also, I thought the tradition of including a whole almond with a gift for the "winner" made it fun, too.
Do you think the cherry sauce is important?
The cayenne is a great tweak, thanks!
Do you think the cherry sauce is important?"
Actually, in the tradition I adhere to the whole almond is added to the hot Christmas rice porridge, which is plain porridge, served with sugar, cinnamon, milk, and a ham sandwich on the side.
The dessert is made from the porridge leftovers and cherry sauce goes nowhere near it. But I expect there are as many recipes as there are people who make it. Mum-in-law makes a version from regular rice leftovers, she even uses take-away rice. Honestly, it´s rather horrid...;-)