White Chocolate Popcorn in a coffee mug makes a great gift for teachers, and kids can help with the process.
Christmas baking has been a part of my family’s holiday tradition for as long as I can remember. My grandmother always loved, and lived through her example, the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The only gift is a portion of thyself.”
This was never truer for my family than at Christmas time. Handmade and home baked goods were always an important part of our family life, both the spending time together baking and making and the delivery process of seeing dear friends.
The gift of a homemade holiday treat is much more than just the sustenance that gift may provide. It is the gift of not having to cook a holiday dessert, the gift of having something to share with your holiday company as they gather in your home. It is also the gift of spending time with your children or grandchildren to make delicious treats for them to share. It’s the gift of showing your love for the recipient by giving the gift of you, a portion of yourself, during an incredibly busy time of the year.
I was very fortunate to grow up next door to my maternal grandmother and two unmarried aunts for whom I was named, and I spent a lot of time underfoot in my grandmother’s kitchen. From the time I was old enough to help, I assisted my grandmother and aunts with one of our holiday baking traditions — making fruitcakes in the fall. This usually occurred on a weekend when I was staying with them while my parents were headed to a University of South Carolina football game. My job was to separate the candied fruit and dredge it in flour to keep it from clumping together in the cakes.
Aunt Mary would line the ancient baking pans with waxed paper and grease them with butter so they would release easily. Aunt Mimi would mix the batter — not the gross, dark stuff of many fruit cake jokes but a light butter batter that was almost like a pound cake in which the candied fruits and pecans were suspended. Gran-Gran would supervise the entire process, making sure it was done to her specifications.
The baked fruitcakes would be lovingly attended to with copious amounts of bourbon to “ripen” them in time for Christmas gift giving, usually just to family or very close friends. I have never made one of Gran-Gran’s fruitcakes as an adult, but every Christmas I pull out a beautifully illustrated version of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory and savor the times in my childhood when the morning would arrive when it was “fruitcake weather.” No matter how many times I read the story, it brings me to good tears savoring the memory.
Another of our family’s Christmas traditions was making beautiful candy plates. This was usually a group project that also involved both houses. My mother taught school, and as soon as the Christmas break arrived, she would begin making her part of the annual ritual: Mamie Eisenhower’s chocolate fudge, date nut roll, and the most mysterious of her concoctions — homemade divinity candy. She’d pray for sunny, cool weather since the temperamental candy could be subject to our Lowcountry humidity.
Meanwhile, all year long my grandmother would save the gold metal containers that held her preferred brand of margarine. She’d also save what she deemed were the most beautiful Christmas cards from the previous year. One day in the fall, she’d spread the cards on the kitchen table, cut the parts out she thought would look the prettiest and glue them to the container lids. Aunt Mimi would make party mix, although my family called it “scrabble,” and we’d fill the newly Christmas enhanced gold containers with it.
Once the containers were filled with the party mix and the candy made, the assembly process began. A wicker basket would hold a festive paper Christmas plate, the gold container containing the scrabble would be placed in the center, surrounded by the delectable homemade candies. The plates were wrapped in red or green cellophane and tied with a ribbon bow. My father, older brother George, and I were dispatched to deliver them while my mother pulled together last-minute tasks for Christmas Day.
Over time, my mother succumbed to the vagaries of weather and decided to mothball the candy plates in favor of a new chocolate, pecan, and bourbon pie recipe that had been given to her by some friends from Kentucky. When my mother started her Christmas break from school one year, the weather forecast called for rain. Not just a little rain, but a virtual monsoon straight through until Christmas Day. Mother decided to substitute the usual candy plates for the chocolate bourbon pies but still wrapped them in the cellophane and large bow.
Daddy, George, and I made the regular deliveries and explained the reason for the deviation from the usual candy plates. Apparently, the pies were a big hit … a few weeks after Christmas our Baptist minister’s wife asked for the recipe. Not wanting to list “bourbon” as one of the ingredients, my mother just listed it as “flavoring,” dispatched my brother to their house with the recipe and a small bottle of “flavoring,” and told the minister’s wife that any time she needed more just to let her know. After that year, the pies replaced the candy plates as our Christmas offerings.
I enjoy carrying on my family’s Christmas baking traditions, although I have my own favorite set of recipes. My usual gift giving fare includes white chocolate popcorn, Champagne mustard, and Irish Crème cheesecakes. As the holiday season approaches, I enjoy scouring stores — everywhere from dollar stores to hobby and craft stores to high end gourmet and kitchen stores — for great packaging ideas in which to present the gifts.
Another wonderful benefit for your Christmas baking recipients is the gift of not having to figure out what to do with or where to store the present after the holidays. At some point, we all reach the tipping point of having too much stuff! Giving a gift that is meant to be consumed alleviates this problem for the receiver, leaving only tasty memories behind.
I hope these recipes will inspire you to start some baking traditions with your family and create new holiday memories for them. If you are giving a gift that is made from a treasured family recipe, consider including a copy of the recipe along with a little story of why it’s important to you. While you’re at it, find a copy of A Christmas Memory to read or one of the movie adaptations and think nostalgically about long-ago Christmases and the making of fruitcakes, even if, like me, you don’t ever want to eat one again!
White Chocolate Popcorn
This makes a great teacher gift and is easy if you use a microwave to pop the popcorn and to melt the chocolate. Children can even help with the process! To add a little extra something to the gift, place a zip-close bag or decorated holiday bag in an insulated thermal tumbler or mug. Fill the bag, letting it come over the top of the container, secure it with a ribbon, and use the ribbon to tie the top of the container to the gift. The addition of colorful M&M candies adds a little color and continues to layer the salty sweet flavors.
½ cup of popcorn, popped in an air popper (about 14 cups once it’s popped) or 2 bags fat-free microwave popcorn, popped
12 ounces white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil or plain Crisco
2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt to taste (use less if using microwave popcorn)
1 cup M&M candies
On the counter, cover a large area (about 4 feet) with 2 sheets of waxed paper, enough to spread the popcorn to dry. Combine chips and coconut oil or Crisco in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Continue to microwave in 30 second intervals until chips are fully melted and mixture can be stirred until smooth. In a large bowl or roasting pan, combine the popcorn and melted white chocolate mixture. Stir until popcorn is thoroughly coated.
Turn popcorn out of pan onto waxed paper. Spread popcorn to separate so that it is not clumped together. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Allow to dry and then store in airtight containers or package for gift giving. Makes 14 cups.
Champagne Mustard
I’ve been making Champagne mustard for cooking and to give as presents since I was newly out of college. The powdered mustard can be found in bulk in some grocery stores, or if you decide to make a lot of it, a trip to the food supply store may be worth your while. Present the mustard in a glass jar and tie with a festive ribbon — I like the jars with a metal bale and rubber gasket that provide a good seal, but any glass jar will work. Make a label by following the template directions that can be found online for different sizes of labels, or hand write one. Makes 4 cups.
4 whole large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup dry mustard
½ cup Champagne or prosecco vinegar
¼ cup sherry
In the jar of an electric blender, place all ingredients. Blend on high speed for 5 minutes. Place a heatproof glass bowl over the top of a saucepan filled with water. Pour contents of the blender into the bowl — the mustard and vinegar should not come into contact with any kind of metal after they are mixed together.
Cook for about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. This will last several weeks if kept refrigerated. This is excellent on meats, for leftovers in sandwiches, in salad dressing and deviled eggs.
Irish Cream Cheesecake
For an extra special Christmas gift, I make Irish Cream cheesecakes. To get a little ahead on holiday baking, the cheesecake part can be made early in the month of December, then wrapped and frozen. Closer to Christmas, allow them to thaw, apply the ganache, and let them set in the refrigerator for several hours. The cakes can then be wrapped in plastic wrap and cellophane, and tied with a big ribbon bow for presentation. Any liqueurs can be substituted for the Irish Creme, such as Grand Marnier, Amaretto, or Crème de Menthe for a Grasshopper cheesecake.
Crust
1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with foil and then assemble pan. Grease foil and sides of pan with butter or baking spray with flour.
Grind graham crackers in food processor. Add butter, sugar, and cocoa powder, and process until well combined. Press crust mixture into bottom of springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Transfer crust to rack to cool. Keep oven at same temperature.
Filling
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
½ cup Irish Cream liqueur
¼ cup Crème de Cacao (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Using the large bowl of an electric mixer or with a handheld mixer, beat cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add sugar and flour, beating well. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined. Add vanilla, Irish Cream, and Crème de Cacao until all are incorporated into cream cheese mixture. Scrape beaters and sides of bowl to loosen any lumps, beat again until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into crust. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F. Reduce oven temperature to 250 F. Bake until center is set, about 50 minutes longer. Cool cake in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Let cool to room temperature, then chill in refrigerator overnight.
Ganache
½ cup whipping cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon Irish Cream liqueur
Combine cream and chips in a microwave proof bowl. Heat for 1½ to 2 minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave. Add liqueur and stir until smooth and all chips are melted. Remove sides from pan and place cheesecake on a plate or cardboard cake round covered with wax paper. Pour glaze over the top of the cheesecake, spreading with a spatula to cover the top and sides. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes. Trim paper from edges of cake and serve. Serves 12 to 16.
