Some recipes define a season. Others define a family.
In this holiday video, our team shares six of their favorite recipes, each with its own story and a healthy dose of nostalgia.
A Secret Worth Keeping
Traci remembers her dad’s whispered secret about “mincemeat” pie that wasn’t really meat at all.
Traci’s Mincemeat Pie (Without Meat)
Adapted from Curious Cuisiniere
Ingredients (for 8 mini pies or 1 full pie)
For the crust:
- 1¼ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into chunks)
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 2–3 tbsp ice cold water
For the filling:
- 2½ cups fruit mincemeat (store-bought or homemade with dried fruits, apples, spices, and a splash of brandy or rum)
Instructions:
Make the crust:
- In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, salt, and butter until it looks like wet sand.
- Add the beaten egg and pulse again.
- Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together (not sticky).
- Wrap in plastic and chill for 15–60 minutes.
Prepare the pies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Roll out dough to about 1/16-inch thick.
- Cut rounds to fit your pie pans and press into greased tins.
- Fill each tin ⅔ full with mincemeat.
- Top with crust, seal edges, and cut small slits for steam.
Bake:
Bake for 20 minutes (mini pies) or up to 40 minutes for a full pie. Crust should be golden and filling bubbly
The Perfect Loaf
Suzanne’s pumpkin bread has evolved over the years, but none have topped the magical loaf baked on a snowy night.
Suzanne’s Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup canola oil
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 15-oz can solid-pack pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- Dark chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put liners in muffin tins. This will fill at least 1 12-cup muffin tin and probably enough for another partial tin full.
- Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into large bowl. Make well in center; pour in oil and eggs. Beat on low speed until well blended. Add pumpkin; continue beating until completely mixed in. Add chocolate chips. Turn batter into prepared tins.
- Bake in oven for about 20 minutes – check with a toothpick – done when it comes out clean.
The Smell of Christmas Morning
For Morgan, her mom’s fallen apple muffins mean excitement, warmth, and kids rushing down the stairs.
Morgan’s Fallen Apple Muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 cups raw apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions:
- Beat the oil, sugar, and eggs together.
- Stir in dry ingredients until they are all incorporated.
- Add vanilla, apples, and walnuts.
- Put batter in muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
A French Challenge
Claire takes on her in-laws’ beloved Bûche de Noël, a three-hour labor of love rolled in chocolate.Claire’s Bûche de Noël
Recipe taken from Sally’s Baking website
Ingredients: Cake:- 1 and 1/3 cups (157g) cake flour
- 2 Tablespoons (10g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, divided
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons (15g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- less than 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (about 1/16 teaspoon)
- pinch salt
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder (optional for dusting)
- 1 ounces (28g) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cold heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) Frangelico liqueur
- 1/4 cup (30g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (5g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (60g) finely chopped hazelnuts (optional)
- 6 ounces (170g) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 12×17-inch baking pan with nonstick spray or grease with butter, so the parchment paper sticks. Then line it with parchment paper so the cake seamlessly releases. Spray or grease the parchment paper too. We want an extremely nonstick surface for this cake roll.
- Make the cake: Whisk the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside until the next step. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and 1/2 cup (100g) sugar together on high speed for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Transfer to another bowl. Using the same mixing bowl you just had the egg whites in (no need to clean it), add the egg yolks, remaining sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Beat together on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until thickened and light in color.
- Add half of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Beat on low speed for 10 seconds. Repeat with remaining egg whites and beat on low for 10 seconds. Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low or fold with a silicone spatula until combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture. Avoid over-mixing and deflating those egg whites. Batter will be very light.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Gently bang the pan on the counter a couple times to pop any air bubbles. Bake for 15-16 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly poked with your finger. Cake will look a little bubbly on top when it’s done. That’s ok. Avoid over-baking cake because it will crack if over-baked. As the cake bakes, get started on the next step.
- Prepare to roll: As the cake bakes, place a piece of parchment paper (larger than the cake) or a thin kitchen/tea towel flat on the counter. (Note: I find a kitchen towel is better to help prevent cracking.) Using a fine mesh sieve, dust parchment/towel with 3 Tablespoons (15g) of cocoa powder. Once the cake comes out of the oven, quickly run a knife around the edges to loosen it. Immediately invert it onto the parchment/towel. Peel off the parchment paper that was on the bottom of the cake as it baked. Starting with the narrow end, begin tightly rolling the hot cake up with the parchment/towel. Do this slowly and gently. The cake will be warm. Allow the cake to cool completely rolled up in the parchment/towel. Feel free to place it in the refrigerator to speed it up, about 3 hours and up to 1 day.
- During this time, make the meringue mushrooms: Preheat oven to 200°F (93°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a completely clean residue-free large glass or metal mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg white, cream of tartar, and salt together on high speed until foamy, about 2 minutes—this is a small amount and the whisk on a stand mixer might not reach it, so whisk by hand until foamy if needed. With the mixer running on high speed, slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff glossy peaks form, about 2 more minutes. Snip off the end of a plastic bag or fit a round piping tip in a piping bag. I use and recommend Wilton 2A piping tip or any tip with around a 1/2 inch opening. Pipe quarter-sized circles (these will be the round mushroom tops) and 1-inch tall cones (these will be the stems). You will have enough meringue batter for about 16 mushrooms. I usually only make 8-12 and discard leftovers, but feel free to make all 16. Using a moistened finger (just a dab of water is fine), smooth down any peaks. If desired, lightly dust mushroom tops with cocoa powder using a fine mesh sieve. Bake for 2 hours. Do not open the oven as the meringues bake. Turn off the oven after 2 hours and let the meringues sit inside the cooling oven for 20 minutes. Remove meringues from the oven and cool completely. When they’re just about cool, melt the 1 ounce of chocolate in a double boiler or use the microwave. If using the microwave, melt in 15 second increments, stopping and stirring between each until melted and smooth. Cool for 5-10 minutes. (Easier to adhere mushrooms if the melted chocolate is a bit cool.) Once meringues have cooled, use a flat spatula to remove them from the baking sheets. Dot a bit of chocolate onto the center of the bottom of a mushroom top. Adhere a mushroom stem to it. Place back on the baking sheet to set. If stems or tops still have a little peak, scrape off with a knife or your spatula, as you see me do in the video above. Leaning them against the rim is helpful if they keep toppling over. Repeat with remaining tops and stems to form mushrooms. Let chocolate cool and harden, about 1 hour.
- Remove the cake roll from the refrigerator and allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes to warm up as you prepare the whipped cream.
- Make the whipped cream: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, Frangelico, confectioners’ sugar, and cocoa powder on medium-high speed until medium to stiff peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.
- Gently and very slowly unroll the cake. Spread whipped cream evenly on top, leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the cake. I like using a large or small offset spatula to spread. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top. Gently roll the cake back up, without the parchment/towel this time. Roll it slowly. This part is messy. Carefully place on a cutting board. If the exterior of the cake looks moist, dust with a little cocoa powder. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days before shaping and topping with ganache.
- Make the ganache topping: Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it begins to simmer. (Do not let it come to a rapid boil—that’s too hot.) Pour over chocolate, then let it sit for 2-3 minutes to gently soften the chocolate. Slowly stir until completely combined and chocolate has melted. Ganache will be thin, so it has to thicken before using. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour to thicken.
- Remove rolled cake from the refrigerator. Diagonally slice a 3-4 inch section off one end. At this point, I usually place the cake on a serving platter. Place the angled side against a side of the roll, forming a branch. Slowly pour and spread thickened ganache all over the top and sides of cake. Feel free to leave the cut ends exposed (as you see in these photos) or spread ganache over the ends—there should be plenty of ganache to use. Use a fork to make textured lines resembling tree bark. Feel free to wipe the serving plate if ganache dripped all over.
- Decorate with meringue mushrooms, sugared cranberries and rosemary, and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
- Cover leftover cake and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Sticky, Sweet Memories
Amy’s monkey bread brings back childhood debates over nuts or no nuts (and now her kids get the final say).
Amy’s Monkey Bread
Recipe taken from Pillsbury
Ingredients:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 cans Pillsbury flaky layers original biscuits (8 count)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, if desired
- ½ cup raisins, if desired
- ¾ cup salted butter or margarine, cut into pieces
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Instructions:
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. If using shortening, use a paper towel or pastry brush to evenly spread it around the pan.
- In large 1-gallon plastic food storage bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Shake the bag up and down several times to mix well.
- Separate the 2 cans of dough into 16 biscuits. Place biscuits on cutting board and cut each biscuit into quarters. Working with 8 to 10 biscuit pieces at a time, shake in the bag to thoroughly coat.
- Arrange the coated biscuit pieces in the prepared pan. If using, sprinkle walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces as you arrange them. Once the pan is full, evenly sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top.
- In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter pieces over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until completely liquid and no pieces remain. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar and whisk together until completely combined. Slowly pour the mixture evenly over the biscuit pieces.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and no longer doughy in the center. To check for doneness, gently pull apart a piece near the center with a fork—if it separates easily, the bread is fully baked.
- Loosen the edges of the bread from the pan with a metal spatula. Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then, place a serving plate upside down over the pan. Using oven mitts, carefully flip the plate and pan over, then remove the pan. If the bread doesn’t release, gently tap the pan to help it come loose. If any biscuit pieces or caramel are left behind in the pan, place them back on top of the bread. Pull apart and serve while warm.
A Coastal Classic
Cecily’s family celebrates Florida-style with stone crab claws and her signature dip with aprons on, music up, and laughter all around.Cecily’s Stone Crab Claw Mustard Dip
Ingredients:- ½ cup mayo
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Pinch of salt