Left-over Turkey Hash

Now that Christmas Days is past and done, perhaps you are once again left with too much Turkey. While you probably already have a few staple recipes that you use for these left-over pieces, it certainly doesn't hurt to add more to your repertoire especially something that's so easy to make and that packs in a lot of flavor.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Love cranberries! So glad to make anything with them 'cause I love the freshness and tartness that they impart to any dish that you use them in. Great to discover as well that you can make them into an upside down cake....wonderful... now my favorite upside down cake. The pineapple has truly met its match! Enjoy this beautiful and delicious cake that's wonderful as a dessert dish for the holidays!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspooon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoon butter and 1 stick butter (room temp)
6 Tablespoons sugar plus extra 1/2 cup sugar (separate each sugar)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 1/3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not thaw)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole or 2 % milk



Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease a round cake pan with a little oil or use a non-stick spray. Set it aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set it aside.

Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter and sugar on medium heat in a small saucepan. Continue to stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Pour this evenly over the bottom of the cake pan and and top with the cranberries, smoothing the layer and pressing it down gently with your fingertips.  Sprinkle the nuts. Distribute them evenly. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer beat the remaining stick of butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Pour in the vanilla extract and then add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. Batter will be thick.

Spoon the batter over the cranberries and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. I did not use a baking sheet but found out later that the cranberry sauce bubbled over. Perhaps next time, I will place the round pan onto a sheet before baking.

Bake in a preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let the cake cool down for about 15-20 minutes before you remove them from the pan. Run a blunt knife between the sides of the pan and the cake. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving platter. If any of the berries stick to the pan - as they might - just scrape them off with a knife and return them to the cake.

This reminds me of a cobbler and so like a cobbler this is perfect with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream! Better if serve warm or at least room temp and on the day it is made.

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This recipe was adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Cranberry Upside Down Cake.

Banana Eggnog and Chocolate Loaf Cake

For us the holidays are not complete without Eggnog. I have never had this drink until I came to the US and immediately fell-in-love with it. I feel like I am drinking custard sauce when I have it and that's why I love it. And yes, I have even used it as custard on cakes and definitely as creamer on my coffee. Even though I have had it for years, I have never attempted cooking or baking with it. I thought 2013 would be the year to make something with eggnog. I didn't have to think hard as to what I wanted to use it for. I already planned to use up some browned spotty bananas for a cake and decided to add some eggnog to the mix. The eggnog taste is quite subtle on the batter itself  hence I decided to add some eggnog glaze. Of course to make it even more scrumptious, I threw in some choco chips! Anything is good with chocolate, right?

Candy Cane Blossom Cookies

It's that time of year for gift-giving. My two kids are in school now so I had to think of some gift ideas for their teachers. I know I could have taken the easy way-out and just joined in with the group gift but I fancied doing something a little more creative - something that showed a little effort at least. I have been inspired by so many lovely gift ideas from Pinterest and holiday magazines that I thought that now I have a legitimate excuse to make something cute! I got myself some Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses which I only got acquainted with last year and vowed to myself then that come Christmas 2013 I would make something with it.

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

You can never have enough Christmas cookies. My kids love cookies so occasionally I indulge them by making a batch of choco chip cookies that they truly love. I was about to bake another set of cookies when I thought of adding some Christmas colors to them - still chocolate cookies but with specks of red and green. Thankfully, it's the time of year when holiday M&Ms are aplenty so I grabbed a pack from the store for baking and for nibbling, too. To double the chocolate goodness I added a bar of Ghirardelli dark chocolate which I coarsely chopped and lovingly folded into the cookie batter. The result is a luxurious and truly scrumptious Double Chocolate Chip Holiday Cookies. Crisp on the edges, soft and chewy in the middle, full of chocolate goodness that practically melts on your mouth - see below for proof....need I say more? Please enjoy in moderation. :-)