Holiday Sweets

Sweet Treats

Everyone loves baking cookies this time of the year. It's especially fun to do with the kids, even though that tends to lead to a mess. Sugar cookies and gingerbread are very popular around the holidays. This is likely because they are easy to make, and decorate. There is a place by my house called Gingerbread University, it's a cute little place to take the kids to decorate gingerbread houses and cookies.They also can be booked for parties or groups. Click on the link to visit their site, they also have kits that can be purchased online. I usually get the "Mommy & Me Cookie Kit" which comes with a 7" and 3" gingerbread man and all of the icing and candy to decorate. 

 

Sugar cookies are my favorite for cut outs and decorating. I've included a simple recipe for sugar cookies in the recipe section. If you'd rather take a short cut, Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix will do the trick. The Betty Crocker website has some really good cookie recipes that can be made using their sugar cookie mix. My favorite is the Mint Chocolate Chip cookie. Check out my Recipe page for the link.

American Pie

Warm apple pie with a vanilla ice cream….doesn’t that sound good? Apple and Sweet Potato pie are my favorites this time of the year. A few years ago a family member introduced me to Briermere Farm Stand. This place is right down the road from my house; I probably drove past it a million times and never knew that they had some of the best pies around. During this season the Apple Crisp and Strawberry Rhubarb  are my favorites from Briermere. The pies are kind of pricey, but they are homemade with fresh products and in my opinion worth the money. As for Sweet Potato, my grandma makes that the best and she’s not giving up her recipe! Other favorites this time a year are Coconut Custard, Lemon Meringue, and Pecan. I hear that Entenmanns puts out a good Coconut custard pie with their seasonal line up of pies and cakes. Check out my recipe page for an easy Apple Crumb Pie recipe.

More than Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake....Does anyone really eat this? We always hear about fruit cake during the holidays. It's suppose to be given as a gift, but it's common knowledge that no one actually likes it. So how is it that this cake is still around? That's a mystery to me. I had to include it in this post though because when you see fruit cake appear on the shelves it's definitely a sign that the holidays are here.

Now on to the yummy cakes! Have you guys ever had Jello Cake? Some people call it "Poke Cake". My Aunt Rose normally makes this cake this time of the year. It is so good, it's made by "poking" holes in to the layers of the cake then drizzling them with Jello mix, of course before it's had a chance to get firm. Then you put the layers together and ice, as usual. What makes this cake great is when you cut a slice, you see the pretty design that you made with the Jello, and it taste great.

For all of you chocolate lovers out there I heard from a friend that Death by Chocolate is one of their favorite desserts during this time of the year. I never had it so I looked it up and it does look delicious, I'm still searching for an easy recipe to try, let me know if you have one.

Cheesecake of course is great to have anytime of the year! Who doesn't love cheesecake, my favorite is Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. I also have a thing for the Strawberry Cheesecake made by Just Good Desserts, the cake pictured above is also one of their products. Doesn't it look pretty? It taste great to! 

Red Velvet Obsession

Every where we look now a days we see red velvet cookies, cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, and now even milk! It seems that we have fell in love with red velvet, and for good reason because it is sooooo good!! I have to admit I'm a bandwagon fan, I didn't think it was that great at first but now I love it. I've included a recipe for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies on my Recipe page. Here's a Red Velvet Cake from Just Good Desserts.

Let me know if you'd like information on placing orders. 

Look what I found...

The two food finds for this post were inspired by my co workers the first one is.....

Panettone

I asked my coworkers what some of their favorite holiday foods were and when I got this answer, I gave a blank stare, because I had never heard of it! So of course I googled it! When this picture came up I thought "oh that's what it's called!" I've definitely seen and tasted this before. It's an Italian bread that's usually made around Christmas and New Years. It's sweet, and made with lemon and orange zest with raisins and sprinkled with powdered sugar on top.

The second one is .....

Rugelach

I'm sure you've all seen this cookie before. My boss brought some in for us last week and sat it on the file cabinet by my desk, and I think I got up at least five times to go back to the tray. These cookies are so good. They are made all year round but are very popular on Hanukkah. Traditional Rugelach are made like croissants, by rolling a triangle piece of dough around a filling. My favorite is the raspberry raisin. I've included a recipe for Raspberry Raisin Rugelach Cookies on my recipe page don't forget to check it out.

So what are some of your favorite desserts? Please share your recipes or places we can find them.