Holiday Morning French Toast |
 |
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (divided)
3 tart apples (Granny Smith) peeled, cored
and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 loaf Italian or French bread, cut into
one-inch (1") slices
6 large eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
|
Combine brown sugar, butter and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Add apples and cranberries, toss to coat well. Spread apple mixture evenly over bottom of baking dish. Arrange slices of bread on top. Mix eggs, milk, vanilla and remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon until well blended. Pour mixture over bread, soaking bread completely. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil, in a preheated 375°F oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven: let stand 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Makes 12 servings. |
Cranberry Nut Bread |
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon. salt
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel
1 beaten egg
1-2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries
3/4 cup chopped nuts |
 |
In a mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and orange peel. In another mixing bowl combine beaten egg, milk, and cooking oil. Add to flour mixture, stirring just till combined. Stir cranberries and nuts into batter.
Pour nut-bread batter into a greased a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan or two 7-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 2 inch loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 1 to 1-1/4 hours for single pan or for 40-45 minutes for the smaller pans or till toothpick inserted near the loaf center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove; cool thoroughly on wire racks. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 1 large loaf, or 2 small loaves.
Christmas Pudding |
 |
Ingredients:
plain flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground all spice
4oz (100g) fresh breadcrumbs
1¼lb (550g) seedless raisins
12oz (350g) sultanas (a pale yellow seedless
grape)
12oz (350g) currants
6 oz (150g) candied peel, chopped finely
2oz (50g) blanched almonds, chopped
8oz (225g) soft dark brown sugar
8oz (225g) shredded suet
4 eggs
6 fl. oz (200ml) milk
4 fl. oz (100ml) brandy (use milk for
non-alcoholic version)
Pinch of salt |
Christmas pudding is traditionally made on Stir-up Sunday, which is the 25th Sunday after Trinity, and is allowed to mature until Christmas. Properly made Christmas pudding should not be heavy or cloying and is a perfect culmination to the Christmas meal.
Begin the day before you plan to steam the pudding. Sift the flour, spices and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the breadcrumbs, dried fruits, peel, almonds and sugar. Then add the suet and mix well. Beat together the eggs, milk and brandy separately and then add to the main mixture and ensure that all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Usually at this time the family gathers around to stir the pudding and make a secret wish. The mixture should have a sloppy consistency and should be covered and left overnight. When you are ready to steam the pudding, pack the mixture into a lightly greased basin and cover with a non-stick baking paper and then enclose the entire basin in foil and tie with string. Traditionally unbleached calico or muslin was used.
Place the pudding on a steam rack or upturned saucer in a saucepan of simmering water for 5 hours to steam. The water should come half way up the basin. Remember to top up the water in the saucepan as needed during the steaming process. Once the cooking time is over allow the pudding to cool completely. When this is done remove the foil and the non-stick baking paper and replace with fresh ones. The pudding should then be stored in a cool dry place to mature until Christmas day.
To reheat the Christmas pudding, steam as before for about 3 hours. After removing the wrapping serve with rum or brandy butter. Traditionally the pudding is lit before serving. This is done by heating some brandy in a ladle and then setting it alight, the lit brandy is then carefully poured over the whole pudding.
Plum Pudding |
Ingredients:
2 large cans of plums
1 (16 oz) loaf of cinnamon raisin bread
2 packages of jello custard pudding mix
2 Tablespoon light brown sugar
4 extra large eggs
1 quart of whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Begin by French toasting the raisin bread: beat 2 eggs and about 2/3 cup of milk and vanilla; dip the bread
and fry in buttered pan until golden brown. Do the entire loaf. Line the bottom and sides of a deep bowl with the French toast. Drain the plums of all liquid and remove the pits. Allow them to drain until they are as dry as possible. Place the plums in the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle with the brown sugar. Cut the remaining French toast into 1 inch cubes. Sprinkle cubed toast into the bowl. Prepare the custard according to the package directions (add an additional two egg yolks to the custard mixture for richer results). |
 |
Pour over the bowl ingredients. Sprinkle with ground nutmeg and chill overnight or until custard is well set. Serve with whipped cream or hard sauce (see below for a good hard sauce recipe).
Brandy Butter |
 |
Ingredients:
6oz (175g) unsalted butter
6oz (175g) soft dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons of brandy
Beat the butter and sugar together until soft and creamy. Then gradually add the brandy to the mixture, ensuring the after each addition you beat the mixture well. This prevents the butter from curdling. Then place the mixture into a covered container and chill for at least an hour before serving. The Brandy Butter will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator, so it can be made well ahead of Christmas Day. |
Hard Sauce |
Perfect for Christmas and Thanksgiving pies or bread or even by the spoonful.
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, softened
1 egg
2 boxes of powdered (confectionary) suger
Sherry (Harvey's Bristol Cream works well)
Mix butter and egg. Add sugar slowly, mixing as you add. As it gets thicker, add a little sherry at a time until it is desired consistency (generally like icing for a cake). Refrigerate. |
 |
Cranberry Sauce |
 |
Ingredients:
1 lb. (2 cups) whole cranberries
3/4 cup orange juice
1 orange cut in half
1 cup sugar
Mix cranberries and orange juice and cook under medium heat until all berries have popped. Remove from heat, and add sugar. Squeeze juice from the orange half into cranberry mixture; place orange peel in (remove when serving). |
 Breads, Puddings and Sauces
Cakes and Pies
Cookies and Candies
Beverages
The HTML, FLASH, JAVA, graphics and original descriptions contained on these pages are not public domain and are not available for download or use. Unless otherwise specified these are all the exclusive property of Copyright ©1994-2016 MOON Productions® The Rattt Trap, Cybele Designs and Designs by Char are owned by MOON Productions. All rights reserved. Best viewed at 1024 x 768 with IE 5.5 or higher.
|
