Holiday Coffee Cake and Muffin Round Up

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...While it may be wretched excess, I think a holiday breakfast or brunch is incomplete without a coffee cake or muffins on the table. Butter, after all, needs a vehicle on which it can be spread. I watch what I eat for most of the year, and go so far as to lose 5 pounds just before the holidays begin. Then my reserve crumbles and I start to eat foods I wouldn't normally allow to cross my lips. When January rolls around I have, of course, regained the 5 pounds I lost back in October. Now, the cynics out there will note that I've lost and gained the same 5 pounds for 50 years running, and because everyone knows cynics have a mean streak, they'll also gleefully do the math for anyone who will pay attention to them. Ignore them. The optimists, however, will see Mrs. Feeziwig and say only that she "knew how to keep Christmas well." Really well. The recipes in today's round-up are for the optimists among you. They have all been tested and eaten with complete abandon and wouldn't be here if they weren't delicious. I hope you find something here that tempts you. Here are the recipes for some of my favorite coffee cakes and muffins.






Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake










Pom Koec - Belgian Coffee Cake











Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake











Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake










French Breakfast Puffs











Coffee Walnut Snack Cake











Raspberry Streusel Muffins












Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze











Morning Glory Muffins










Budapest Coffee Cake














Marionberry Muffins

Holiday Breakfast Round-Up + Pink Saturday

We have lots going on today. It's Pink Saturday and we've been asked to share our favorite holiday movie with you. That's way too easy, so I'm going to cheat a bit and simply give you a visual clue. There will be no homework for anyone who can correctly name my favorite movie. Are you ready?



....and finally I want to share some ideas for holiday breakfasts with you. The recipes that appear below are easy to make but they produce dishes that are festive enough to make holiday meals special. I must admit I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to holiday breakfasts. The Silver Fox makes breakfast on Thanksgiving and Christmas morning, so the recipes are, of necessity, very straightforward and easy to complete. As an aside, they are also very easy to clean up after. Add one or several of them to the menu for your holiday breakfast or brunch and I know you'll be happy with the results. Here are some of my favorites.






Asparagus and Mushroom Strata









Eggs Florentine












Oven Baked Scrambled Eggs









Frittata with Spring Herbs and Leeks











Pumpkin Pancakes with Orange Caramel Syrup









Baked French Toast with Cardamom and Apricot Preserves










Breakfast Polenta with Chorizo and Queso Fresco










Smothered Eggs in Spoonbread











Swiss Onion Tart











Brussels and Liege Waffles







This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Mincemeat Tart with Apple annd Streusel Topping

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It stands to reason that those who make and preserve mincemeat would have plans to use it. That's pretty much the case here, save for this one tart. I never plan to make it, but it always ends up on our table, You see, Bob and I are of two minds when it comes to desserts like this. He loves them and I don't. Don't get me wrong, I love mincemeat, but I have a barely sweet tooth and find this particular pie almost treacly in its sweetness. I snipped the recipe from Family Circle magazine some thirty years ago, but I suspect is roots are firmly planted in the kitchens of Mennonite and Amish communities. On reflection, it is very much like the Funeral Pie I featured here several months ago. Over the years, less and less mincemeat seems to make it into the jars that are sold for the holidays. There was a time when a jar could make a lovely 9-inch pie, but when you shave an ounce here and an ounce there, pies that are suppose to celebrate abundance get mighty stingy. I'm convinced that the apples and streusel that are piled onto this tart were devised to camouflage the scant amount of filling in the pie shell. The original recipe called for piling apples onto the mincemeat and then covering them with streusel. It was a bit of a mess to look at , so I decided to use spirals of overlapping apple slices and less of the streusel topping. It's still awfully sweet , too sweet for my tastes, but at least it looks more planned and festive. I use two, rather than the three, apples called for in the original recipe and I cut the streusel ingredients in half. Those among you who love mincemeat and highly sweetened desserts will love this tart. Here's the recipe.

Mincemeat Tart with Apples and Streusel Topping...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Family Circle magazine

Ingredients:
1 unbaked pastry shell for a 9-inch pie or tart pan
2 cups homemade or bottled mincemeat
2 apples, pared cored and thinly sliced
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a pie or tart pan with pastry.
2) Spread mincemeat evenly in pie shell. Place apples in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice and granulated sugar and toss to coat. Spread in an overlapping pattern of concentric rings on top of mincemeat filling.
3) Combine flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle over apples.
4) Place pie or tart pan on a baking sheet to catch spills. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Mince Pies - The English Kitchen
Mincemeat Gingerbread - Cooking with K
Mincemeat - Felice in the Kitchen
Christmas Flavor Ice Cream - Antics of a Cycling Cook
Cranberry Port Mincemeat Brioche Rolls - What's for Lunch Honey?
Funeral Pie - One Perfect Bite
Green Tomato Mincemeat - One Perfect Bite

Southern Nut Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Fruit cake is a misunderstood confection. While we love it, most of our guests move it around their plates or hide it under napkins when they don't think we are looking. If your first bite of fruit cake was a disaster, chances are I'll never be able to convince you of its merits. That's a shame because a well aged fruit cake is a wondrous mix of jeweled and drunken fruit suspended in a spare but flavorful batter. In order to please our guests I periodically seek out recipes for Christmas cakes and puddings that might have more universal appeal. This year I decided to try Maida Heatter's Southern Nut Cake. I'm happy to report it is a lovely cake and it has been well received by those who've tried it. I thought the cake was dry when I first sampled it, so I wrapped it in brandy soaked cheese cloth and let it sit for several days before serving. That did the trick. If you are looking for a fruitless fruit cake, you'll love this nut extravaganza. While it is expensive to make, it's easy to do and would make a marvelous addition to your Christmas table. Here's the recipe.

Southern Nut Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Maida Heatter

Ingredients:
1 pound toasted walnuts, broken in large pieces
1 pound toasted pecans, broken in large pieces
3-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup brandy or bourbon, divided use
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs

Directions:
1) Move an oven rack to lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 x 4-inch tube pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Butter paper and dust pan with fine dried bread crumbs. Set aside.
2) Place walnuts and pecans into a very large mixing bowl or roasting pan.
3) Combine flour, baking powder, mace and salt in another bowl. Whisk to combine.
4) Combine milk and 1/4 cup brandy or bourbon in another bowl. Set aside.
5) Cream butter in large bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and beat at moderate speed for two or three minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each until incorporated. Increase speed and beat until light and fluffy.
6) On low speed alternately add flour mixture in three additions and milk mixture in two, beating only until smooth after each addition. Pour batter over nuts and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until nuts are coated with batter. Turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top to even.
7) Bake for 1-3/4 hours or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Transfer cake to a cooling rack. While cake is still hot brush top with reserved 1/4 cup brandy or bourbon. Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes. Cover cake with a cooling rack and invert to remove paper. Invert again and cool in upright position. Let cake age for 24 hours before serving. Yield: 16 servings.

Pan de Polvo

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Pan de polvo, also known as polvorones, or Mexican wedding cookies, are sinfully delicious. This version is unusual. Last spring, having, of course, finished reading The Economist and Atlantic Monthly, I was paging through InStyle magazine and came across Eva Longoria's recipe for the cookies. It was quite unlike any I'd seen before and I made a mental note to give them a try. I, of course, forgot all about it until Anna Ginsberg of Pillsbury Bake-Off fame featured them in her wonderful blog Cookie Madness. I decided I had to give them a try. I did. I can report they are lovely cookies, and while they won't replace my personal favorite, the desperate housewife's recipe is well worth a try - especially for those of you who enjoy old favorites in new guises. These shortbread cookies originally came from Spain and this version infuses the cookies with the flavors of cinnamon and anise. The cookies are traditionally served at Christmas and weddings, but because they are easy to do, they are favorites of young bakers. Both my girls loved to make them and would practice on their friends and boyfriends. I loved to have them make them for Christmas because these elegant cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes, were crowd pleasers. If you have some time and are looking for something new to fill your cookie tray, consider trying this version of Mexican wedding cookies.

Pan de Polvo...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 whole sticks Mexican cinnamon
1 teaspoon anise seed
1-1/2 cups water
.
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup butter-flavored shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
.
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cinnamon sticks, anise seed and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer gently for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, strain, and set liquid aside to cool.
2) In a separate bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer,) cream butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Once creamed thoroughly, add almond extract. Meanwhile combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add ¼ cup cinnamon water to creamed mixture, adding slowly until all liquid is absorbed. Add flour mixture and blend until dough is uniform. Chill dough for 15 minutes or until it can be handled easily. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie begin to brown slightly.
3) While cookies are baking, mix cinnamon and sugar and set aside. When done, remove cookies from the oven and, while cookies are still warm, gently roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Allow to cool before serving. Yield: 3 dozen cookies.