Among the most-loved days of the year are the winter holidays. Beginning with various special days: St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucy Day, Winter Solstice, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Orthodox Christmas, and Three King’s Day, a full month is packed with joyous celebrations, bringing happiness to a chilly time. Memories of past holidays and folks no longer with us glow with warmth remembered and clutch the heart.
Among these pleasurable thoughts linger the tastes and smells of home and family: popcorn freshly popped, buttered, and shared by all; warm baking scents of spices and chocolate wafting from the kitchen. Almost everyone possesses some olfactory evocation of holiday contentment from earlier in life. Beloved family recipes are handed down from those departed to be recreated each year for newcomers to the family nest: Aunt Sophie’s latkes, Grannie’s sugar cookies, Mom’s oyster casserole, Dad’s special wassail. We cherish their recipes to help keep their memory alive.
Supplementing the traditional repertoire with newer additions or updates is commonly done, too. The inclusion of something more current, which appeals now, and, if approved, may join the honor roll of yearly delights is definitely not unheard of!
In that spirit of sharing, here are a few special recipes to perhaps consider adding to that family recipe book. From my family to yours. Happy Holidays!
Penuche
An old-fashioned brown sugar fudge—no chocolate
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Directions:
In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt butter.
Add white sugar and brown sugar, and a pinch of salt.
Gradually stir in milk and heavy cream mixed together.
Keep heat low, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. (I use a wooden spoon.)
Allow to reach a slow boil and continue until the temperature reaches soft ball stage (238° F).
Remove from the heat and let stand until cooled to just warm, then beat well in the pan until it becomes thick and creamy. Add 2 tsp of vanilla during beating.
Pour onto a buttered platter to finish hardening, then cut into squares.
Traditional Pound Cake
Really, a half-pound cake
Ingredients:
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 2/3 cup white sugar
6 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
colored sugar (optional)
Directions:
Butter well, and flour, a 10” tube pan.
Cream the butter. When fluffy, add vanilla and
grated nutmeg.
Gradually add the sugar, a third of a cup at a time, beating well with each addition.
Then add, one at a time, five large eggs, beating well between additions.
Gradually stir in flour, then beat in a sixth large egg.
Spoon batter into the tube pan, keeping the batter as even as possible around the center tube.
Place into a COLD oven, setting the oven to 300° F after the cake is in.
Bake it for 90 minutes, or until it is nicely browned on top and smells “done.” Set on a rack, in the pan, for 5 minutes or so, then gently upend the cake out of the pan and onto the rack to cool.
Optional: Frost the top with a snow-like topping for serving, and sprinkle with colored sugar or sparkling sugar.
Hot Spiced Cider
Mulled Cider
Ingredients:
1 gallon apple cider
Up to 1 cup of brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice berries
slices of orange or lemon
Directions:
Pour cider into a large soup pan.
Add brown sugar, to taste.
Cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and whole allspice berries can be tied into a square of cloth or dropped directly into the cider. Other spices are appropriate, too, like cardamom or even chile. Ground spices can also be used, but make the cider muddier.
Slices of orange and lemon look and smell beautiful floated on top.
Heat for 20 minutes, until steaming, then serve into mugs. Rum, brandy, or red wine are delightful added at the end of heating for the adult crowd.