I’m calling these Chocolate Candy Cane Mountains. 🤣 I had some left over candy canes, Hershey Kisses (my favorite) and buttersnap pretzels. So I thought how about making my favorite chocolate covered pretzel treats with some candy canes?? 🥨
Chocolate Candy Cane Mountains
– Buttersnap Pretzels
– Candy Canes
– Hershey Kisses
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Place a Hershey Kiss on a butter-snap pretzel. Pop into the oven for 6 minutes.
While those are melting in the oven it’s time to crush the candy canes! Using a rolling pin –‘gently crush the candy canes inside their wrapper into small bite-size pieces. Empty the crushed candy canes onto a cutting board. I only used about 3 mini ones.
Once the pretzels are done, start pressing with your fingers a small piece of candy cane into each chocolate kiss. 😋
And now you have a simple version of a pretzel peppermint bark for all to enjoy!
I was super inspired by Delia’s Classic Christmas Special on YouTube where she made an Old Fashioned Christmas Pudding. It’s a very old recipe, dating back probably hundreds of years. Most people don’t make this recipe from scratch because it’s time consuming, but she convinced me the homemade version is way better than any store bought Christmas Pudding and I’m a girl whose all about tradition. 🤗
I do admit I had a hard time translating some of her English ingredients & measurements, but I did my best to convert them to what would be comparable in American cooking. For example, the traditional recipe calls for suet which is a form of meat fat. Lard would be the closest match, but I was more comfortable substituting with butter since I don’t cook with lard. That may effect the density of the Pudding and the longevity, I haven’t looked into that, but I know many people leave butter out of the fridge for extended periods of time and have no issues.
The actual recipe is quite simple to make, but you do have to steam the pudding for 8 hours over a low boil covered in a layer of parchment & foil. The problem here is that most people don’t have 8 hours to spend at home dedicated to a Christmas Pudding, but I can assure you that it was very low maintenance. I only had to add boiling water twice to the pot and I chose to look at it as a way to spend time with the family.
Another note is that you have to make the 1st part of the recipe the night before you steam the pudding because it has to ferment and soak up all the alcohol. So that’s something to think about as well. You will have to plan ahead with this recipe.
After the long boil you let the pudding cool down completely and then place fresh parchment & foil over top tied with a twine handle. The tradition is to store it under your bed until you are ready to serve. Some people are known to store their pudding for years, which made me laugh and think this was probably a recipe the Vikings would indulge in from time to time. I will only be storing it for a week this year, but this also could make prepping it a little less hectic since there’s no real date when you need to eat it by.
On the day you do want to eat it, you have to steam for another 2.5 hours before serving. Traditionally brandy is poured over top and lit on fire at the table before serving with some type of a rum sauce. I might skip the fire part and go right to the sauce though. 😋
1 cup of prepared holiday fruit (cooking aisle) or a combination of dried currants, raisins & or cranberries.
1/8 cup blanched slice almonds (pre-bought)
1 medium cooking apple diced
1 tspn pumpkin spice seasoning
1/4 tspn nutmeg (fresh is better)
1 tspn. Orange zest & Lemon zest
Alcohol Mixture:
2 eggs beaten
2 Tablespoons Rum
2.5 oz of Stout or Dark Beer
2.5 oz of barley wine
(I didn’t have barley wine so I just omitted it.)
Day 2 Flour Mixture:
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
Additional Items:
Foil
Parchment paper sheets
Twine
Heat safe bowl – medium size (Pyrex)
Directions:
In a large bowl mix together the 1st 3 ingredients until combined, and then add the remaining top ingredients.
Next, combine together in a smaller bowl the alcohol mixture. Pour over top of the fruit mixture.
Have each person in your family stir the Christmas Pudding and make a wish until it’s fully combined. 🌟
Cover with plastic wrap and foil overnight – leave on your counter.
Day 2: Add in the dry flour mixture and stir together. Pour mixture into a buttered heat-proof bowl and cover with parchment paper and a piece of foil. Tie a piece of twine around the parameter of the bowl securing once on the left side and then on the right side knotting. Next carry the twine over the top of the bowl creating a handle and tucking both pieces under the the parameter twine knotting together.
Create your steamer by adding a few inches of boiling water to a deep pot and place the bowl in the water so that it covers a little over half of the basin. Keep the burner on low for 8 hours to steam making sure there is water. I found I only needed to add water twice. At 3 hours & 6 hours.
After 8 hours of steaming, remove bowl from pot and let pudding cool completely. Change the foil and parchment again adding another twine handle. Store in a cool dark place. On the day you serve steam for another 2.5 hours and flambé before serving. Brush or lightly drizzle some rum over top of the pudding and light on fire.🔥 Serve with a rum sauce below.
And voila! You have a Christmas Pudding.😀
My Easy Rum Sauce:
1/3 cup Milk or Eggnog
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of brown sugar
Splash of rum
In a small sauté pan melt the butter and add in the sugar until dissolved, pour in the rum and then the milk/eggnog. Bring to a simmer for 3-5 minutes and pour into a serving bowl.
Hi Y’all! I love everything pumpkin and have been making a new pumpkin recipe at least once every 3 days! This recipe feeds 2-3 people. I prefer the thinner bread for this recipe, just because it adds a more custard flavor.
You do want to work fairly quick with a thinner bread so that it doesn’t get to soggy, so wait to dip into the egg batter until pan is hot and ready.
Here is my recipe for pumpkin French Toast. 🍂🧡🎃
Ingredients:
1 loaf of bread – I prefer Arnold’s Sourdough or Country White for this recipe.
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup puréed pumpkin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon real vanilla extract
freshly grated nutmeg
Additional Ingredients
Real maple syrup
Stick of Butter
Powdered sugar
Directions:
In a shallow bowl mix together all of the ingredients except for the bread.
In a fry pan add in a pat of butter and turn to medium high heat.
Dip a few slices of bread into the batter and place in pan once the butter is golden.
Leave for 5 minutes and flip. Once both sides are golden brown place on a plate and cover with a piece of tin foil until all of your slices are cooked.
Top with powdered sugar, butter and maple syrup. 😁
Now that I’m on somewhat of a Maternity Leave, I have all this extra time to get my creative juices flowing and come up with new tasty recipes!
Today I created a simple country biscuit with some local sourwood honey. I highly recommend testing out different honey’s and seeing which one you like best! 😋
These biscuits can be made Sunday night and stored for the week as grab-and-go breakfast biscuits. They are super convenient and I would probably double the recipe for a family. The ingredients are readily available in any grocery store and you can create your own variation. These are not messy or greasy which is always a plus on the go!
Ingredients
1 package Pillsbury Grands Biscuits Country Style
1 package Canadian Bacon
1 package Swiss
Good Quality Honey
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Place the biscuits on a non-stick pan for about 11 minutes until a light golden color.
Let cool for a few minutes leaving the oven on. Slice the biscuits and layer with a piece of ham, Swiss, and then add a very generous drizzle of honey. This is what makes these delicious! 🍯 😊 Put biscuit top back on and line on tray.
Place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes until Cheese is nice and melted. Serve plain or top with honey, 😀
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