Christmas Morning Gift
Make-ahead holiday favorites make Christmas morning cooking a breeze.
Christmas morning has been getting much easier, although less exciting, at our house. Our son is 12 now and doesn't feel compelled to rush down the stairs at 5 a.m. to see if Santa found his way to our neighborhood.

We enjoy lingering around the tree with steamy mugs of coffee, tea and hot cocoa; emptying our stockings; nibbling on cookies; and later, feasting on make-ahead brunch items that fill our home with the holiday aromas of cinnamon, spice and apples.

One recipe is a "soak overnight" casserole that mimics the flavors of french toast. Call it bread pudding if you like, but I know you'll call it delicious.

Then there is a spicy applesauce cake that my mother would make from ingredients in the pantry. I like to eat it warm with a dollop of hard sauce, a whiskey-laden icing that's traditionally used on English plum pudding. So why not enjoy it on other desserts?

Speaking of hard sauce, be sure to watch our latest cooking marathon, "Cooking With Beer and Wine," on Sat., Dec. 2, at 10 a.m. We'll be putting the "spirit" into holiday cooking with a new collection of recipes and great demonstrations.

Ingredients:
5 tablespoons butter
2 large (or 3 small) baking apples, cored, peeled and sliced
1 cup firmly packed
dark-brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon ground
cinnamon
8 slices 1-inch-thick large-diameter French bread
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add apples. Stir occasionally until tender. Add brown sugar, corn syrup and cinnamon. Cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour into buttered 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Arrange bread slices over apple mixture. In bowl, beat eggs, milk, vanilla, salt and cinnamon until blended. Pour mixture evenly over mixture in pan. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove cover and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until firm and brown. Cool for 5 minutes, then flip onto large platter or foil covered cookie sheet with 1-inch edge.

Submitted by Sylvia Cawthorne Nath of Greensburg for our "B Is for Brunch" marathon.

More Recipes
Magazine Home
Printer Friendly Page

FOR DESSERT . . .

Applesauce Spice Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking
powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly
grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 large egg
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups applesauce
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar (for topping)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. Mix dry ingredients with whisk. Add raisins and walnuts. In separate bowl, cream sugar and butter. Beat in egg; stir in vanilla and applesauce. Fold in the dry ingredients.Bake 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan. Turn out onto serving platter and dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Hard Sauce
Mix 1 stick softened butter with 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar until smooth. Blend in 2 tablespoons brandy.