Christmas 2013 - Breakfast & Dessert

Christmas is always such a busy time of year and involves all kinds of cooking and baking! Sometimes I am thankful that my family doesn't have any traditions that we feel the need to stick to, because it helps us limit and control the amounts of food/baked goods we make (or so we think). Therefore, it allows some flexibility to make and try new Christmas recipes, which is exactly what Will and I did this year. We had my mother and her brother, Jim, down to our place for the day and served them a big breakfast, dinner and dessert. In this post, I'll share the breakfast and dessert recipes and in a later post, I'll share the dinner menu, so that way you are not flooded with five recipes in one sitting!




For breakfast this year, we tried a recipe for eggnog bread pudding that Will and I had both come across on The Kitchn a couple months ago. I don't recall if I've had eggnog before and if I have, it hasn't been a memorable experience. Will wasn't super familiar with it either, so we weren't quite sure how this would turn out. We just knew the pictures looked really good and that we were game to try it. Well, we followed the recipe word for word and it turned out successfully! It was very filling and was the perfect brunch/breakfast to keep the four of us full until dinner time.


Now I can't quite say the same for the cake. While it turned out beautifully, it definitely was a different flavor! I got this recipe from The Holiday Dessert Book, which was apparently a gift from my late grandmother to my late father, back when I was a kid. After finding a sweet note from her, I knew it was meant to be that I've acquired this book! So this was the first recipe out of here and it's also the first cake that I've made entirely on my own. I used to make birthday cakes with my dad al the time as a kid, but this is the first time I've ventured out on my own to make one! The Shaker Christmas Cake looked simple enough and it was fairly easy to make. I missed one step of whipping the eggs (whoops), but the cake still turned out and was plenty flavorful. The combination of rosewater and maple syrup icing created a floral/sweet taste! We had to re-read the recipe as we ate it to identify what the "odd" flavor was that we hadn't had before - the answer was rosewater! Let's just say a little goes a long way. So it was a fun experiment, but I'd have to have the right occasion to make it again and it most likely won't sneak onto our Christmas menu next year. Perhaps I will try the Irish Christmas Cake I mean to make every year.... we shall see! Enjoy these Christmas recipes a month late :)

Cooking Notes: We used 2% milk instead of whole milk, but otherwise stuck to the recipe and had complete success!

Eggnog Breakfast Bread Pudding (adapted from The Kitchn; serves 8-10)
1 12-oz. loaf French bread, sliced
4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups eggnog
2 cups 2% milk
5 large eggs
4 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp bourbon
Sifted confectioners' sugar and warm maple syrup, for serving

Generously butter the bread slices. Cut the buttered slices into 1-inch cubes and pile into a 2-qt. baking dish. Meanwhile, heat the eggnog and milk in a large saucepan over medium heat until bubbling gently but not boiling. While the eggnog/milk mixture is heating, combine the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk vigorously until light and frothy (we used a handheld mixer to speed up the process). Whisk one cup of the eggnog mixture into the eggs and warm them. Gradually whisk in the remaining eggnog mixture and bourbon.

Pour the custard over the bread cubes and gently mash down with a wooden spoon or your hands, making sure all of the bread is saturated. Chill for 1 hour or overnight.

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the casserole dish inside a large roasting pan and place in the oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the roasting pan, so it comes up halfway on the sides of the baking dish. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes, until the custard is set and the top is a light golden brown. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully lift the casserole dish out of the water. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy with sifted confectioners' sugar sprinkled on top and warm maple syrup.

Baking Notes: I did not whip the egg whites on accident, so it turned out dense. It still tasted fine and looked pretty, which is all that matters. I also have 9-inch cakepans, not 8-inch like the recipe calls for. Now that I've been to Vermont, I'd probably recommend using grade B maple syrup for the icing, not just regular maple syrup like I used.

Shaker Christmas Cake (adapted from The Holiday Dessert Book; serves 8-10)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks butter
1 cup milk
1/2 tbsp rosewater
6 egg whites
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Maple Syrup Icing
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the flour mixture and milk alternately to the sugar/butter mix. Stir in rosewater.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks stand up. Fold into the cake batter, then stir in the chopped pecans. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Boil the maple syrup until a candy thermometer reads 230 degrees. In a bowl, combine egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until stiff peaks stand up. Very slowly add the heated maple syrup to the egg white mixture, beating until the frosting is thick enough to spread. Ice the cake and sprinkle more pecans on the top and sides.