‘Tis the season for delicious holiday treats! Our staff is opening up their recipe boxes and sharing some of their favorite holiday desserts. We’ve got everything from comforting classics to unexpected new flavors that the whole family will keep going back for!
German Chocolate Cake
Photo credit: Kraftheinz website
Contributed by: Tara Block, Office Assistant & Data Entry Lead
“I started making German Chocolate Cake about 10 years ago. My grandma and her siblings would often talk about my great-grandmother’s famous German Chocolate Cake and having already had a passion for baking I decided to give it a go. I remember we sent a slice to my great Aunt in Berkeley and she had nothing but good things to say and so it became a popular request for me to make around the holidays. I’ve already gotten inquiries for this year so I’ll be whipping one up this Christmas for sure!”
Recipe: https://www.kraftheinz.com/bakers/recipes/503077-baker-s-german-s-sweet-chocolate-cake
Blueberry Jello Salad
Source: The Cooking Bride
Contributed by: Tiffanie Gammon, Mental Health Professional
“This is a fun blueberry dessert that we have typically during the holidays. It’s not complicated and it’s yummy. I often substitute the cream cheese in the recipe for a healthier version with Neufchâtel cheese & we love adding nut toppings 😉”
Recipe: https://stockpilingmoms.com/blueberry-jello-salad/
Ingredients:
- 2 3-oz packages of black cherry jello
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 can blueberry pie filling
- 1 can large can crushed pineapple, un-drained
Topping:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
Instructions:
- Dissolve jello in hot water.
- Stir in pie filling & pineapple.
- Pour into a 9×13 glass dish and refrigerate until firm.
- Beat topping ingredients until fluffy.
- Spread on the congealed jello mixture.
- Sprinkle with chopped nuts and refrigerate.
Ducana
Contributed by: Alison Workman, Family Health Advocate
“Ducana or ducuna is a sweet potato dumpling, wrapped and steamed in banana leaf, like a little present.
In the Caribbean, enslaved people (like my family) tended to live on huge plantations (vs smaller households). To save money (because the slaveholders did not even want to feed them) slave families were often granted tiny “plots” of land to grow their own food. Root vegetables, like sweet potatoes and arrow, grew very easily and were familiar because similar to the root vegetables Africans used at home. So, any root vegetable got to be called “ground provisions” or just “provision” (the root is providing for your sustenance). This dish, here made with sweet potatoes, is made throughout the Caribbean islands, but sometimes using different roots or provisions, or a mixture of several, like yams, sweet potatoes, dasheen root (taro), eddos and cassava.”
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (500 grams) sweet potatoes
- 1 cup (250 milliliters) of coconut milk
- 5 ounces (150 grams) brown sugar
- 4 ounces (125 grams) raisins
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 1 ounce (30 grams) nutmeg
- 1 pound (500 grams) flour
- 2 ounces (60 grams) baking powder
- Steamed banana leaf
Instructions:
Peel and grate potatoes. Mix with remaining ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Cut pieces of steamed banana leaf (or foil) into 10-inch (25 centimeter) squares. Spoon mixed ingredients onto a banana leaf. Fold and tie the leaf with string as shown in photographs (roll into a tube if using foil). Poach in lightly salted water. Boil for approximately 1 hours.
Video: How to make Ducuna/Ducana //: St Vincent and Grenadines Style// CARIBBEAN VEGAN FOODIE
Apple Crisp
Contributed by: Francine Lubin, Office Assistant & Data Entry Lead
“My family has a tradition of making apple crisp just in time for Thanksgiving. When I lived in Massachusetts, I would go apple-picking so we had fresh apples for the recipe. Recently we revived the tradition with apples I picked in October. Though apple season is mostly over, store-bought apples work just as well for this recipe! The key is to mix sweet, red apples (gala, fuji, Honeycrisp) with tart, green apples (granny smith) for a richer flavor.”
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
Spiced Apples
- 6 assorted apples, peeled and sliced
- 2 tbsp of brown sugar
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½-1 squeezed lemon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Pinch of Vanilla Extract
- (optional) pinch of ground cloves
Crisp Topping
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- ¾ cup of old-fashioned or quick oats
- ¾ cup of all-purpose flour**
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup of melted butter
**My mom substitutes oat flour due to gluten sensitivity. It complements the oat topping very well!
Instructions
Prepare
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (optional) Butter or grease 8×8 baking dish. Set aside.
Make spiced apples
- In a mixing bowl, add chopped apples, granulated sugar, 3/4 tsp of cinnamon, and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Make topping
- In a separate mixing bowl, add the topping ingredients (brown sugar, oats, flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, salt, and diced cold butter).
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the oat mixture, using a slight downward twisting motion, until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs. Alternatively, you can use two forks or even your hands to cut butter into the mixture.
Bake
- Spread topping over apples in the baking dish, and gently pat to even it out. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.
Serve
- Serve warm and enjoy! We love to top ours with some vanilla ice cream (specifically Haagen-Dazs!), or whipped cream. Also goes well with some caramel drizzle on top. 🙂