Christmas Eve Desserts & Cocktails

I realized after several days of vacation that I had never finished typing up my second post from our Christmas Eve feast! I've been sitting around enjoying Christmas gifts and ordering new fitness clothes via Christmas gifts, just la-de-daing on my computer a lot more than usual, yet somehow have neglected my blog! However, despite not posting anything for a couple days, I have been reading up on how to become a better blogger from this fantastic book Will Write for Food that should help the blog be more productive and hopefully expand readership.

Anywho, after a few days lollygagging around the beach condo, Apalachicola (if you've never been, go visit!) and biking in extreme high winds, I decided I should catch up a bit on some blogging. I have not snapped any shots of what we've been making at the condo, but in retrospect, I should have been since we have been enjoying the opportunity to grill. C'est la vie-there is always more food to be made! Instead I present you with our Christmas Eve dessert and a new cocktail, which we are still enjoying all of here at our little beach getaway. The brownies are extremely rich, but are a nice use of The Williamsburg Winery: Raspberry Dessert Wine in addition to drenching our Pork Tenderloin. Betsy found a fragrant and fantastic apple dessert that baked while we enjoyed dinner, enticing our nostrils for our impending dessert. After dinner, Will delighted us with the cure-all hot toddys, that would have wiped away our snowy winter blues, if we lived in any other part of the country besides Florida. Overall, these desserts and this cocktail offered a nice conclusion to a successful meal!

Cooking Notes for Brownies: I used the brownie recipe and then added the wine as I felt fit. This resulted in a fairly strong raspberry taste, without being overwhelming. If you're not a huge raspberry fan, I would recommend adding a little less than 1/4 cup. I would not add much more than that, even if you love raspberry!

Williamsburg Winery Raspberry Dessert Wine Brownies
1 box Betty Crock Fudge Brownies
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/8 cup water
1/4 cup Williamsburg Winery Raspberry Dessert Wine

Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread batter into a well greased 9 x 9 baking pan. Bake on 350 for 38-40 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream and a little more raspberry dessert wine dribbled over top.

Cooking Notes for Apple Dessert: The original recipe is included below-we used almonds for the topping since the recipe called for non-specific nuts.

French Apple Dessert (adapted from Betty Crocker; pictured above)
Streusel Topping
1 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp firm butter
Filling
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled tart apples (about 4-6 medium apples)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup Original Bisquick mix
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
Ice cream, to top

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 3-qt. baking dish with shortening. In a small bowl, mix 1 cup Bisquick mix, almonds, and brown sugar. Cut in 3 tbsp firm butter with a fork, until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Spread apples in the baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir the remaining filling ingredients until blended. Pour over apples and sprinkle with topping. Bake about 55 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean (it may take longer). Cool slightly, about 30 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream!

Recipe: Betty Crocker: French Apple Dessert

Cooking Notes for Hot Toddy: Will replaced the boiling water with hot apple cider. He also added a slice of ginger. We also quadrupled this recipe to make it for four people! I'm including the recipe for one below.

The Bourbon Hot Toddy (adapted from The Kitchn)
1 tsp honey
5 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole anise stick
1 small slice ginger
1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 cup hot apple cider
Slice of lemon

Add honey and spices to the bottom of a heat proof mug. Add the boiling hot apple cider and then the bourbon. Squeeze the lemon, drop it in, and stir until the honey is melted.

Recipe: The Kitchn: The Bourbon Hot Toddy