The weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year's Day bring out all sorts of expectations about food.
We journey from party to party, sampling everything from chocolate truffles to glazed ham. In between, we sip flutes of champagne and try to figure out which winter ale or warm cocktail will best soothe our overworked palates.
The crescendo often comes on Christmas Day. Some cooks prepare a classic stuffed goose. Others might celebrate with an herbed rack of lamb or a roast of prime rib.
But for many home chefs, what really separates the Christmas feast from those prepared on Thanksgiving or Easter is a truly special winter dessert.
In France, it's often a Bouche de Noël, a classic log-shaped cake filled with chocolate, vanilla or chestnut cream. In Italy, it might be panettone, a cake-like sweet bread flavored with dried fruits.
Although Christmas desserts range from crunchy cookies to creamy custards, homemade cakes tend to lend an appreciable sense of distinction to the meal. They not only present well, they bring a rainbow of tastes and textures to the table.
Most cakes come in two basic categories: foam cakes and butter cakes.
The key ingredient of foam cakes is whipped egg whites, which hold air in the batter and give volume to the finished product. Angel food cakes and sponge cakes are classic versions of foam cakes.
Butter cakes are more rich and dense. They are typically produced by mixing creamed butter and sugar together before adding eggs and an assortment of dry ingredients. Holiday fruitcakes are a variation of basic butter cake.
For anyone making cakes at home, it is important to remember that care must be taken when measuring, preparing and mixing the ingredients. For novice bakers, an ounce of creativity can lead to a pound of frustration.
The following recipe, a family rendition of cranberry cake, yields a tasty butter cake that is a perfect dessert for the holiday season. Because it is somewhat tart, it is best served slightly warm with some sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. It has a knack for meeting big expectations and helping to defray food-borne guilt, at least for a few minutes.
Cranberry Upside Down Cake
3 Tbsp. softened sweet butter
½ cup sugar
Approx. 3½ cups cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan. Combine the softened butter, sugar and cranberries in a food processor and blend together. Spread the mixture evenly in the cake pan and set it aside.
6 Tbsp. sweet butter (unsalted)
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1¼ cups flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup milk
1/3 cup currant jelly
Cream the butter, beat in the sugar, then the egg, vanilla and orange rind. Mix the dry ingredients and add them alternately with the milk. Pour the finished batter over the cranberry mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack for 20 minutes and then carefully invert it on a serving plate.
Melt the jelly while stirring over low heat. Brush it over the cake top as a glaze. Serve warm as suggested above.
Gregory Foley
