Abigail's Christmas Cakes & Breads Recipes

Almond Butter Cake Recipe

3 c White flour; sifted
3 ts Baking Powder
1/2 ts Salt
3/4 c Butter; or shortening
1 1/2 c Sugar
3 Eggs; unbeaten
1/2 c Almonds; finely chopped
1/2 c Raisins; finely cut
1 c Milk
1 ts Vanilla

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift together three times. Cream butter thoroughly. add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each. Add nuts and raisins and beat well. Add flour, alternately with milk, a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Add vanilla. Bake in two greased 9-inch layer pans 375F for 25 minutes, or until done.

Spread frosting (try a lemon butter frosting) between layers and on top and sides.

Decorate top with wreath of holly, using pieces of maraschino cherries or red cinnamon candies for berries, and slices of angelica or citron for leaves and stems. Or decorate with poinsettias made of candied cherries. Slice cherries in rings, cut rings in half, and arrange to form petals of poinsettias - Holiday Baking Recipes.

Black Walnut Cake Recipe

1/2 c Butter
4 Eggs; seperated
2 c Flour; sifted
3/4 ts Salt
1 c Sugar
1 ts Vanilla
2 ts Baking powder
1/2 c Milk
1 c Black walnuts; fine chopped

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks all at once. Add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together. Set aside 1 cup of the dry ingredients. Add the remaining flour mixture and the milk in small portions, alternately, mixing well with each addition, starting and ending with an addition of the dry ingredients.

Mix together, the reserved flour and the nuts, and stir into the batter, mixing just until blended. Beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold them into the batter. Bake in a 9"x5" greased and floured loaf pan, or 3 quart mold at 350F about 50-60 minutes, or until done. Frost with your favorite icing - Holiday Baking Recipes.

Christmas Log Cake Recipe

Batter

1 c White flour, sifted
1/4 ts Salt
1 ts Baking powder
4 Eggs
1 c Sugar
1/4 c ;water
1 tb Lemon juice

MERINGUE MUSHROOMS

2 Egg whites
1/4 c Cream of tartar
1/4 c Sugar
Cocoa, powdered

BUTTER CREAM

1 c Butter, sweet; softened
3 Egg yolk

ICING

1 tb Espresso, powdered
1 tb Milk
3 c Sugar, confectioners; sifted
Food coloring, green

Grease a jelly roll baking sheet. Line with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper. Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs at high speed about 5 to 10 minutes. Add sugar by tablespoonfuls. Continue beating until the butter is very thick. Then add lemon juice and water. Fold in dry ingredients in four stages, 1/4 cup at a time. Spread evenly on the baking sheet. Bake at 375 F. for 15 minutes or until the sponge springs back when tested.

Sift powdered sugar onto the sponge. Turn out onto a clean tea towel. Remove parchment paper. Trim edges of the sponge if they are crispy. Roll up gently, leaving towel inside, while still warm. Let cool. Beat egg whites, and when foamy add the cream of tartar. When soft peaks form, gradually beat in the sugar. Beat until meringue is stiff and glossy. Pipe meringue through a pastry bag, making and equal number of stems and caps to resemble small mushrooms. Bake mushroom pieces at 250 F. about 45 minutes.

When cool, glue them together with butter cream icing and dust lightly with cocoa in a fine strainer. Beat egg yolks and butter together until smooth. Add coffee and milk. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Mix about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of the frosting with green food coloring for the ivy decoration.

TO ASSEMBLE: Unroll cooled sponge, remove towel, spread with butter cream icing. Roll up. Cut off at a diagonal, a 2" slice. This is the tree stump. Frost the outside, then add the stump and frost. Make ivy patterns. Add the mushrooms. Dust the whole piece very lightly with powdered sugar, to simulate snow. Keep in refrigerator. Cut with serrated knife - Holiday Baking Recipes.

Christmas Tree Cake Recipe

1 pk Cake Mix (any flavor)
5 c Confectioners' Sugar
3/4 c Crisco Shortening
1/2 c Water
1/3 c Non-dairy Creamer
2 ts Vanilla Extract
1/2 ts Salt
1 tb Green Food Coloring
Peppermint Candies
Pretzel Rods
Large Gumdrops

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 pan. Prepare, bake and cool following package directions. For decorator frosting: Combine confectioners sugar, shortening, water, non-dairy creamer, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 3 minutes. Beat at high speed for 5 min. Add more confectioners sugar to thicken or more water to thin as needed. Reserve 1 c frosting. Tint remaining frosting w/ green food coloring.

Cool and cut diagonally and invert one piece so that it takes on a tree shape with a wide base. Spread green frosting over all. Decorate tree with reserved white frosting and peppermint candies. Make trunk from pretzel rods. Roll out large gumdrop and cut with star cookie cutter. Top tree with gumdrop star. Decorate with colored mint candies, as ornament decorations, and use reserved white icing to make a tree garland - Holiday Baking Recipes.

White Christmas Cake Recipe

1/2 c Water
4 oz White confectionery coating
1 c Butter or margarine, -softened
2 c Sugar
4 Eggs, separated
1 tb Vanilla extract
2 1/2 c All-purpose flour
1 ts Baking soda
1 c Buttermilk
1 c Flaked coconut
1 c Chopped pecans


FROSTING

8 oz Cream cheese, softened
1/2 c Butter or margarine, -softened
1 ts Vanilla extract
1 lb Confectioners' sugar
1 tb Milk

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in confectionery coating until melted. Cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks; mix well. Beat in coating and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix well.

Stir in the coconut and pecans. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into the batter. pour into three greased and floured 8- in. square baking pans.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until it tests done. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely. Combine frosting ingredients ina mixing bowl; beat well. Frost tops of two layers; stack on serving plat with plain layer on top.

Frost top and sides - Holiday Baking Recipes.

Christmas Stollen Recipe

1 c Milk
1/2 c + 2tb granulated sugar
1/2 ts Salt
1 pk Active dry yeast
1/4 c Warm water
5 c Sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 c Finely chopped candied -citron
1/2 c Finely chopped candied -cherries
1 c Slivered almonds
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 c Seedless raisins
2 Eggs, beaten
1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/4 ts Nutmeg
1/2 ts Cinnamon
2/3 c Sifted confectioners sugar
2 tb Hot water

Pour milk into a saucepan. Heat to scalding. Turn off heat; stir in 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the salt. Let mixture cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water; let mixture rest for 5 minutes. Pour lukewarm milk mixture into yeast solution. Stir in 1 cup of the flour. Beat dough with electric mixer or egg beater until smooth. Cover bowl with cloth towel; let dough rise in a warm place 1 hour and 30 minutes or until double in bulk.

Punch down dough in bowl; fold in citron, cherries, almonds, lemon rind and raisins. Add eggs, 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of the softened butter and the nutmeg. Stir in 3 more cups flour; mix dough until smooth. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead, working in enough of remaining flour to make dough smooth and elastic. Divide dough into halves; roll each portion into an oval, about 1/2" thick.

In a small saucepan, melt remaining butter; brush it over ovals. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon with remaining 2 Tbsp granulated sugar; sprinkle mixture over ovals. Fold ovals in half, lengthwise. Place them on buttered baking sheet. Twist ends of each oval toward each other to form a crescent. Loosely cover ovals with wax paper and a cloth towel. Let Stollen rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until double in bulk. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake Stollen 45 minutes or until golden.

In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar with enough of the hot water to make a thick icing. Dribble icing over hot Stollen; let Stollen cool before slicing. Makes 1 Stollen - Holiday Baking Recipes.

Easy Christmas Stollen Recipe

1/2 c Raisins
1/2 c Mixed candied fruit; chopped
2 tb Brandy
3 c Flour
3/4 c Sugar
3/4 c Almonds, ground
2 ts Baking powder
1/4 ts Baking soda
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Cardamon, ground
1/4 ts Nutmeg, ground
1/2 c Butter
1 c Farmer cheese (or cottage -cheese)
2 Egg; slightly beaten
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
1/2 c Walnuts; chopped
2 tb Butter; melted
1 1/2 c Sugar, confectioners
2 tb Milk
Candied cherries
Whole almonds

Combine the raisins, mixed candied fruit and brandy; let stand at room temperature for an hour. Combine the next eight ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Process the farmer cheese in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add the cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla, raisin mixture, and walnuts to the dry ingredients, stirring until moistened.

Shape the dough into a ball. Turn the dough out on a floured surface, and knead until smooth (one to two minutes), adding more flour if necessary. Roll dough to form an oval about 12" x 8-1/2". Brush the dough with a tablespoon of the melted butter. Fold the long side of the dough over to within about an inch and a half of the opposite side. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 350 F. for 40 to 45 minutes or until the loaf is lightly browned. Brush with the remaining melted butter.

Transfer the stollen to wire rack to cool. Combine the confectioners' sugar and milk, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled bread. Garnish with candied cherries and almonds.

Italian Christmas Breads Recipe

1 c Warm water (105 to 115 -degrees)
2 pk Active dry yeast
1/2 c Sugar
2 ts Salt
1/2 c (1 stick) butter or -margarine, softened
3 Eggs, beaten
1 Egg, separated
5 1/2 To 6 - cups sifted -all-purpose flour
1 c Raisins
1 c (8 oz) mixed candied peel
1/2 c (4 oz) red candied cherries, -halved
1 tb Butter or margarine, melted
2 tb Water
2 tb Sugar

Sprinkle yeast over water in a large bowl, stirring until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup sugar, salt, 1/2 cup butter, 3 eggs, the egg yolk and 3 cups flour; beat with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually, add remaining flour; mix in last part with hand until dough leaves side of bowl. Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Knead until smooth, 5 minutes. (Dough is soft. )Place in lightly greased large bowl; turn to bring greased side up. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Grease well and line inside of 8" springform pan with 4" strip of buttered brown paper. Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured pastry cloth or board. Knead in raisins and candied fruits until well distributed, about 5 minutes. Place dough in prepared pan. Brush top with 1 Tbsp melted butter. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place, free from drafts, until more than double in bulk, about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a sharp knife, cut deep cross on top of bread. Brush with egg white combined with 2 Tbsp water. Bake 30 minutes.

Remove bread form oven. Brush again with egg white mixture and sprinkle with sugar. Continue baking 30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Remove from pan; cool on rack. Makes 1 loaf.

Swedish Julbrod Recipe

1 Bread Machine
1 c Milk
4 tb Butter
1 Egg
1/4 c Sugar
1 ts Salt
1 ts Cardamom
3 c Bread flour
2 1/2 ts Yeast


2/3 c Raisins
2/3 c Citron; sliced
1 tb Almonds; chopped

Use Raisin Bread Cycle. At beep add the raisins, citron, and chopped almonds.

Candy Bar Angel Cake

1 Angel food mix (prepared) -- cut into 1 " cubes
3 oz Fat-free vanilla pudding (instant)
1 ts Pure vanilla extract
12 oz Cool Whip Lite. -- thawed
3 2/3 oz Butterfinger. candy bar -- Crushed

Place angel food cubes in a 9 x 13" baking pan. Mix vanilla pudding according to package directions, adding the vanilla extract. Spoon vanilla pudding mixture over the cubes. Then, spread whipped topping over top pudding. Sprinkle with crushed candy bar.

Dark Fruit Cake Recipe

1 lb Blanched almonds
3 lb Seedless raisins
2 lb Currants
1 lb Candied cherries, Cut in half
1 lb Dried figs, chopped
1 lb Dates, cut up
1 1/2 lb Chopped mixed candied peels
1 lb Candied pineapple, cut up
1 c All-purpose flour
3 c Soft butter
3 c Brown sugar, packed
12 lg Egg yolks
5 1/2 c Sifted all-purpose flour
1 ts Salt
2 ts Cinnamon
2 ts Mace
2 ts Allspice
2 ts Nutmeg
1 ts Cloves
3 ts Baking soda
3/4 c Prune juice
1/4 c Brandy
12 lg Egg whites

Combine nuts and fruit in a very large bowl or roasting pan. Add 1 cup of flour and toss by hand to coat fruit with flour. Cream butter well ( you can use your electric mixer for this part of the recipe). Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.

Sift 5 1/2 cups flour with salt, spices and soda and add to creamed mixture alternately with prune juice and brandy. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add this mixture to the fruit and nuts and blend well.The easiest way to blend this large amount of mixture is with your hands. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture.

Measure into prepared pans and press well into the corners. Heat oven to 275F. Bake cakes in 8x4x3-inch pans for about 3 hours, in 9x5x3-inch pans or Bundt pans for about 3 hours and 15 minutes and in 10-inch tube pans about 3 1/2 hours or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Let stand in pans a few minutes, then turn out on racks and cool. Strip off paper and wrap cakes in cheesecloth dampened with brandy and then in foil and store in a cool place. Recipe makes 15lbs.

This recipe makes a very large amount (about 28 cups) of batter and can be baked in a number of different sizes of pan. If you want to make several small cakes for gifts you can divide the batter among 9 8x4x3 inch loaf pans using a generous 3 cups of batter for each. Or if you wish to use larger loaf pans you can put the batter in 6 9x5x3 inch pans using a generous 4 1/2 cups batter in each. Bundt pans make attractive cakes and this amount of batter is enough for 3 12 cup Bundt pans using a generous 9 cups of batter in each. If you use 10-inch tube pans you can make 2 cakes using 12 cups of batter for each and an 8x4x2 1/2 inch loaf pan with the remaining batter.

Christmas Orange Breads Recipe

1/2 c Prunes (baby food jar)
3 Eggs
1/2 c Orange juice
4 ts Baking powder
3/4 ts Salt
1/4 c Raisins
1/2 c Chopped nuts
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Mashed banana
2 1/2 c Unbleached flour
1 1/2 c Mixed candied fruit

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, raisins, nuts, and candied fruit together. Combine and beat slightly the banana and orange juice; Set aside. Beat eggs into prunes one at a time. Alternately, add prune/egg mixture and banana/orange mixture to dry ingredients mixed with fruits and nuts. Pack into 9X5X3 loaf pan lightly sprayed with Pam and lined with wax paper.

Bake at 350F for 1 hr. or until done. Cool 20 min. before removing wax paper and turning out on a rack. Cool before icing.

Icing: Mix powdered sugar into an egg white until smooth thin icing is made. Dot icing with cut up candied glace cherries as desired.

After frosting is firm, wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate. Improves with freezing.

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