Have A Figgy Old Fashioned Christmas!

'Tis the season for all things figgy. Figgy puddings, trifles, cookies and such just seem to fill the Christmas bill.

It's also the time for cocktails redolent with the spices and deep, rich flavors we associate with the season. In the spice vein, that might include cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and allspice, while in the classic holiday fruits category, raisins, figs, dates, oranges, cranberries and the like would qualify. Which brings me to this year's Dinner Plan-it holiday cocktail, the Figgy Old Fashioned.

Made with a Black Mission fig, warm spice simple syrup, bourbon (or rum perhaps for yet another, sweeter twist) and kissed with a touch of orange bitters, it's a cocktail that will have you remembering Christmases of old by a crackling fire with those you love. Cheers, friends...lots of Christmas cheer to all of you!

Figgy Old Fashioned

• 1/2 oz fig simple syrup* 
• 2 dashes Regan's orange bitters
• 2 oz good bourbon - I used Bulleit or a good spiced rum like Pittsburgh's own Maggie's Farm for a sweeter cocktail
• 2 Amarena Fabri or Luxardo cherries - reserve one for garnish
• 2 strips fresh orange peel - reserve one for garnish
• 1 or 2 whole cloves for garnish

In a cocktail mixing glass, muddle one cherry and the simple syrup together. Add spiced rum and stir well. Strain into Old Fashioned glass (what else would you use?!) over a large ice cube and stir well, add the bitters, twist the peel over the surface of the drink and lightly swipe the orange side of the peel around the rim of the glass. Garnish with another cherry and a clove studded orange peel.

Cheers!

* Fig Simple Syrup: 1 C sugar, 1 C water, 1/2 C dried Black Mission figs - cut in halves or quarters, 3 green cardamom pods - cracked lightly, 1 cinnamon stock - 4" long, 4 whole cloves. 

In a small pot, bring sugar and water to a boil and all the rest of the ingredients. Immediately reduce heat to bring the contents down to a simmer and continue simmering for 5 minutes. Let cool in pot, then strain the liquid into a small bottle. You're all ready to make cocktails now!

NOTE: Try using big, plump Medjool dates (be sure to remove the big pits in the center before adding to the pot) instead of figs if you wish...equally fabulous!

Gingerbread Figgy Pudding and Dark Rum Trifle

There are flavors that send me time traveling back to the Christmases of my childhood. Christmas dinners back then always started with orange sherbet in gingerale (fancy!) and ended with traditional desserts - usually more than one. 

Aunt Anna and Uncle Bert, PapPap, the cousins, my sister, mom and dad were all seated around the big old dining room table swapping jokes (occasionally even a slightly naughty one!) and telling stories until long into the night. Sometimes we'd play cards around the same old table...Flinch, 500 Rummy, Canasta...good old-fashioned games those were. 

It's the nose-tingling scent of warm spices in the air - ginger, clove, allspice, cinnamon - that I think triggers those wonderful memories.  We always had a mincemeat pie or a plum pudding with those very same Dickensian notes - rum or brandy, dried fruits and spices. I was on a quest to recreate the flavors of Christmases of old. But with a twist. What to do, what to do.

So I decided a trifle would lighten up somewhat heavy flavors with a fluffy vanilla cream.  Fresh pears came to mind to add a little crunch and brightness. Thus the dessert came together. 

It was beautiful! Even better, it was just what I had in mind.  Gingery, spicy goodness all together with creamy mousse and lovely dark rum...and just a glimmering of zesty orange. 

Maybe it wasn't the simple, easy days of the 1950's again, but that's okay.  Back then we didn't have our kids and grandkids to make brand new memories together and to share some of the old stories with.  You know, that's what special family dinners are all about...remembering the past and making memories for the future. 

Wishing you all nothing but the sweetest of your own warm remembrances...and to making some of the best stories ever!
 

Gingerbread Figgy Pudding and Dark Rum Trifle

• 2/3 of an 8"X8" pan of gingerbread, cubed - I used the recipe from "The Cake Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free" by Ann Byrn using a Hodgson Mills Yellow cake mix.  (If you are using a normal, NON-gluten-free mix, make an 8"X8" pan and make cupcakes out of the rest of the batter.) Snack on the 1/3 that's left!

• 2 oranges, Cut the peel off with a sharp knife and make strips 3" X 1/8".  Cut the oranges in half and juice.  Reserve.
• 1 cup dried Black Mission figs, diced
• 1/2 cup dark rum, or more if needed, I used Kraken
• 2 Bosc pears, cored and diced

• 1 package French vanilla mousse mix, prepared. I used Dr. Oetker brand - gluten-free
• 8 ounces Cool Whip Lite®, thawed

• candied orange peel, see recipe below - use peel from above

Bake an 8" X 8" pan of gingerbread a couple of days ahead of when you want to serve the trifle. 
 
You're going to make the trifle the day ahead of when you want to serve this - quite nice for a more relaxed party, yes?  The morning you're making the trifle, put the diced figs into a 2 cup measuring cup.  Add the reserved orange juice and the rum.  If the rum doesn't cover the figs completely, add more until it does.  Set aside for several hours before making the trifle.
 
Later in the day, make the French vanilla mousse according to package directions.  Let sit for a few minutes and then gently fold the Cool Whip into the mousse.  Set aside.
 
Assembly:  To the bottom of a nice trifle dish or other tall, pretty bowl, make a layer of 1/2 the gingerbread cubes.  Strain the liquid from the figs - RESERVE!  Scatter half the figs over the gingerbread, drizzle half the reserved OJ and rum over the that, layer half the mousse mixture over top and repeat layers ending with mousse.  Refrigerate overnight loosely covered with foil.
 
Before serving, decorate the top with candied orange peel and serve in beautiful goblets.

Candied Orange Peel:

• the orange strips from above

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the orange strips, bring to boil again.  Boil gently 15 minutes.  Pour through a strainer and rinse while gently stirring the strips to rinse thoroughly. Set aside.

In the same pot, bring 

• 3 cups sugar
• 3 cups water

to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes to an hour.  Let cool.

Pour the orange strips through a strainer and collect the liquid in a large container.  THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL ORANGE SIMPLE SYRUP!  It would be a shame to waste it.  Use it for cocktails or to drizzle over yellow cakes or...well, just use your imagination.  Refrigerate it.

Okay, back to the candied orange peel....now spread 

• 1 cup of sugar 

on a baking sheet.  Toss the orange peel with it until the strips are totally coated with sugar.  Let sit like that overnight. 

Use what you want for garnishing the trifle and save the rest for something else.  Wouldn't the orange simple syrup and candied orange peel make a lovely Christmas morning Bellini?  Maybe with a little cranberry juice for color?  

Christmas-y Candy Cane-tinis

Ho! Ho! Ho! Do I have a Christmas cocktail to make your spirits bright!  Candy Cane-tini anyone?

How do you concoct this cocktail? First you start with a homemade candy cane vodka.  And that is as simple as could be. Take a bottle of vodka - not the most expensive, but not the cheapest on the shelf either. Add 20 mini candy canes, shake and wait patiently for the candy to dissolve.  

Oh, get that mournful look off your face...it's usually done in a couple of hours. Not quite instant gratification, but the next best thing to it. And does this pretty bottle make a lovely gift. Actually the recipe makes 2 bottles...a gift for someone special and one to keep!

How about the martini...what else do you need to serve this up to all your holiday guests? I'll give you the full details below along with the recipe for the cocktail, but for starters you'll need White Creme de Cacoa, simple syrup or agave syrup, heavy cream and just a little club soda or seltzer to make some serious Yuletide yummy-ness. What are we waiting for? Let's make some cocktails!

Candy Cane Vodka

• 1 - 1.75 liter bottle of vodka (that's the big one with the handle or equivalent)
•  40 mini candy canes
• 2 wine bottles (I get mine at the wine making store along with corks and plastic sleeves that shrink and make them look all pretty)

Snap the candy canes so they fit through the opening of the bottles and put 20 in each bottle.  

Using a funnel, pour vodka into the bottle up to where the neck narrows at the shoulders of the bottle. Cork the bottle, turn upside down and move it around a little to dislodge the candy from the bottom and set on a kitchen counter or someplace else out of the way. That's it essentially. When you pass the bottles occasionally, check to see if the candy is dissolved and turn them upside down to agitate and help dissolve the candy.  

If you want to get all fancy (I did), you can put plastic sleeves on the neck and shrink them down to seal so they look all pretty.  It's easy.  Ask at the wine supply store. 

You don't have to stop the fancy-ness there, you can get bottle labels to print out on the computer and really do them up! Just ask the wine peeps at the store - they'll be happy to sell you anything and everything you can imagine to make the prettiest gifts this side of the North Pole.  

Christmas-y Candy Cane-tinis

• 2 1/2 oz. Candy Cane Vodka (yep! The stuff YOU made!)
• 2 1/2 oz. White Creme de Cacao
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup or agave syrup
• 1 oz. heavy cream
• splash of club soda or seltzer
• mini candy cane for garnish

Add vodka, Creme de Cacao and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker.  Add ice 3/4 of the way up the tin. Cap tightly and shake until the tin frosts over and is very cold.  

Strain into a martini glass (if you wish, you can crush candy canes and rim the glass with them ahead of time - fancy!), add a splash or so of soda or seltzer and float the cream over the surface of the liquid in the glass. Garnish with a mini candy cane.  

Cheers everyone!     

Dark Rum Cranberry Apple Mincemeat Squares

Finally!  The very first batch of Christmas cookies are done. Honestly, I didn't think it was ever going to happen.  

Just so much going on with work, Christmas shopping, a fun trip to Cleveland last weekend, sauerkraut making class yesterday (more on that SOON!) and just all the everyday stuff we all have going on. How do any of us do this?!

One way I am doing it this year is to simplify.  Instead of a fussy cookie, this super easy bar cookie was what I managed to fit in between everything else today. Bar cookies are a busy cookie baker's best friend, you know.  

In this case, it was a simple matter of throwing some ingredients into the food processor and pulsing a few times, chopping an apple to mix with store-bought mincemeat and a couple other items and then layering the two before baking.  Cool, cut into squares and there you have it.  Almost instant, deliciously Christmas-y cookie bars.  

Yep, all the cookies this year are going to be just as easy....don't we ALL need a little break?!

  Dark Rum Cranberry Apple Mincemeat Squares

 

• 2 cups oats, gluten-free to makes these GF or regular if gluten isn't an issue
• 2 cups flour, Jules gluten-free flour or regular all purpose flour if gluten isn't an issue
• 1 3/4 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter, cold, cut into small dice
• 1 cup pecans

• 1 jar mincemeat, Crosse and Blackwell brand
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored, fine dice
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tablespoons dark rum, I used Kraken - use your favorite

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9" X 13" baking dish with 2" sides.  Butter all the way up and well.
 
Using a food processor, add oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and butter.  Pulse until the butter is well incorporated.
 
Press 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom of the buttered pan.  Press firmly and evenly into place.
 
Add the nuts to the flour mixture in the bowl of the food processor and pulse until the nuts are chopped into the mixture.  Set aside.
 
Mix the mincemeat, diced apple, cranberries and rum together well.  Spread evenly over the flour mixture in the bottom of the pan.  Using your hands, evenly spread the flour and nut mixture over the top of the filling.  Press down firmly and evenly.
 
Bake 60-70 minutes until the top is browned nicely and the filling begins to bubble up around the edges.  Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack.  I like to wait until the next day to cut this into squares. 
 
NOTE:  This could be even easier if I didn't go to the bother of adding fresh apple to the mixture.  Why do I do it then?  Because my mom always added fresh apple to her mincemeat mixture.  She said it gave a fresher taste.  I agree.  That's why I add cranberries and rum, too.  Well....maybe the rum is just to make it a little boozy tasting.  Nothing wrong with that.