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Crystallized Nuts

Ingredients:
2 ½ c. brown sugar
½ c. cream or half and half
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and boil over medium heat. Cook until mixture reaches a temperature of 244 degrees (stirring constantly). Remove from heat.

Quickly add vanilla & whole nuts. Continue to stir until candy mixture grains on the nuts. Spread onto wax paper. After hardened – break and store in air tight container.

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Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
5-6 medium size sweet potatoes
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
6 tbsp. butter

Topping Ingredients:
1 c. Brown sugar
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. nutmeat (½ c. pecan & ½ c. walnut: grind together in food processor)
⅓ c. flour
⅓ c. butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil sweet potatoes 30 min with skin on.Peel potatoes once cooled and mash. Add the next 4 items (vanilla, sugar, eggs and butter).

Mix together and put in 9 x 13 pan. Mix the topping ingredients together and spread over top potato mixture. Do not cover and bake for 45 minutes.

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Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:
2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
1 square (1 oz.) sweetened chocolate
1 tbsp butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Nuts to taste if desired

Directions:
Add chocolate and butter to powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Then add the egg and beat until thick. Add in vanilla and any nuts if desired. Line an oven safe pan with wax paper and pour in fudge mixture. Refrigerate until firm (about 2-3 hours). Cut the fudge while it’s still cold and store in an air tight container at either room temperature or the fridge.

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Pistachio Nut Ice Cream Dessert

Ingredients:
2 pkgs. instant pistachio pudding mix
1 ½ c. milk
½ gallon vanilla ice creamed, softened
2 pkgs. unsalted Ritz
⅓ c. butter, melted
1 container cool whip
¼ c. pistachios

Directions:
Mix milk, pudding, and very soft ice cream. Blend together for a couple of minutes, set aside.

To make ritz cracker crust, mix 2 packages of crushed ritz cracker and melted butter. Push into a pie pan.

Pour the ice cream mixture into the ritz cracker crust and freeze. Just before serving, spread cool whip over pie and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

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Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a second large bowl and mix well. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture 1 cup at a time. Chill the dough for 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out the dough and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Place the shapes on the prepared cookie sheet. If decorating with colored sugar, brush the cookies with milk and sprinkle with colored sugar (if using royal icing, leave unfinished). Bake until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.

Remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely. If using royal icing, decorate the cookies as desired.

Royal Icing:
Combine the confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl. Mix slowly with an electric mixer until stiff enough to form peaks; the icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. If the frosting is over-beaten, it will get aerated which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit to settle, and then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the frosting.

Add up to 1 tablespoon food coloring and mix with a rubber spatula until the color is uniform. Gels are best with royal icing. You don’t want to thin them with liquid colors. Be careful of adding too much color, which reduces the sheen of the frosting and can break down the consistency of the frosting over a couple of days. Store the icing at room temperature, covered, with plastic wrap on the surface.

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Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

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Cream Cheese Icing:
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ lemon, juiced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Toss in the apples and stir to coat them with the butter. Add the lemon juice and the apple cider. Cook until the apples have softened and the cider has reduced by half. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and pulse into a coarse paste. Reserve.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, both of the sugars and a pinch of salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the pureed apples, the egg and vanilla. Stir to combine. Toss in the walnuts and raisins.

Butter and flour a loaf pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put it in the preheated oven. Bake until a toothpick, inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely.

Cut the cake in half equatorially and spread half of the icing on the bottom layer. Replace the top half and ice the top of the cake, leave the sides bare. Slice and serve.

Cream Cheese Icing:
Beat together all of the ingredients in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

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