Ask A Wench – Sinful Indulgences!

Christina here and today’s Ask A Wench question is “What is your favourite ‘sinful’ food indulgence that you always allow yourself during the holiday season!” Brace yourselves for some truly delicious treats!

Pat:  My favorite sinful indulgence? Sugar! So very much sugar … I am a sugarholic. I do my very best to keep goodies out of the house, because, if they’re around, I eat them. But over the holidays, anything goes. It’s impossible to resist all the lovely chocolates and munchies everyone sets out, expecting guests to indulge. It’s impossible to make Christmas dinner without pies and cakes. And one must have cookies, at the very least, on hand for guests. Since we have lemons, we have lemon bars, lemon-blueberry cakes! and lemon brownies and … you get the message. They may have nutritious Vitamin C but do you have any idea how much sugar it takes to turn lemons into cookies?

Anne:  My holiday indulgence is sweet food, and especially chocolate. I enjoy baking, but I usually only bake biscuits (ie cookies) when I’m anticipating visitors. But in the lead-up to Christmas I always do a lot of baking, as I like giving people biscuits and sweets like Christmas Crack. Most of my friends have everything they need, so for the annual get-togethers I attend that ask for a small Kris Kringle gift, I bring a tin of home-baked biscuits.

I used to make homemade chocolates, and when I moved a couple of years ago, I found my old chocolate moulds, so I might make those for a change. My other sinful indulgence at Christmas is pavlova. Our Christmas comes in summer, so even though I like plum pudding and always buy a charity one, I often make a pavlova — again, to take to a lunch or dinner. But hey — it’s fruit, right?

 

 

 

Andrea:  I’ve never said “no” when offered chocolate during the holiday season! (But in the spirit of full disclosure, I never say “no” to chocolate at any time of the year!). Chocolate is always so alluring in December — all those lovely little bonbons wrapped in colorful foil, or gooey baked treats, or big chunks of sin-dark chocolate studded with nuts … They are are SO hard to resist.

However my favorite holiday indulgence is a Swiss pastry called Appenzeller Biber. A traditional specialty of the Appenzell region, it is a “To-Die for “combination of two layers of gingerbread pastry with a thick layer of marzipan sandwiched inside. The Swiss version is always decorated by pressing a wooden mold into the top layer of the gingerbread that usually features a bear or the canton’s crest. Years ago, my mother and I did some research and found a recipe for it, and I bake a homemade version of it every Christmas. (No bear but extra marzipan!). It’s very rich — and very delicious! (One can also make it into little bite-size cookies, which is what my older brother does). Hey, calories don’t count in December, right?

Nicola:  For me the holiday season is all about cheese! I eat cheese the rest of the year, of course, but I go into cheese over-drive at this time of the year. Top of my list of favourites is smoked salmon roulade with cream cheese. Naturally I will also have cheese and crackers. Then there are the herb and cheese fritters that we only make at holiday time because they are so fiddly to do but so worth it for a special occasion. You have to grate six different types of cheese to mix in with herbs, eggs, milk, flour and a pinch of cayenne pepper. There’s also a homemade tomato and balsamic jam to go with it. It requires a production line of grating, mixing, shaping and griddling but the fritters are melt-in-the-mouth delicious. We try not to eat them too quickly after all that hard work. Finally, there is the piece de resistance which is cheese served with Christmas cake. Cheddar goes so well with fruit cake and sweet icing. Having cheese with cake is a Yorkshire tradition from my childhood. Some people are horrified by the combination but it tastes fantastic, to me at least. After all that indulgence I will probably fall asleep and have cheese-induced dreams …

Mary Jo:  The holiday season has a distracting array of goodies, but I’m particularly fond of the beautiful French cake known as a “bûche de Noël,” or a Yule Log cake in English. Developed in France in the 19th century, it was originally found mostly in French speaking countries, but in recent years has become more popular in the US.

It’s basically a roll cake with a sponge base baked in a large flat pan. After baking it’s spread with icing, then carefully rolled up. The outside is lushly iced again with a fork or spoon being used to create a rough, bark-like texture. Chocolate icing is popular because it makes the cake look more log-like. Sometimes one end of the cake is cut off and reapplied at an angle as another way of making it look more like a log.

Often the cake itself is vanilla, but there are any number of variations. Decorations are added, including things like meringue mushrooms, berries, or inedible items like season’s greetings, little sleighs, Santa Clauses, tiny Christmas trees or whatever else the baker chooses.

My first acquaintance with a bûche de Noël was at a nearby French bakery which produces marvelous treats and is fortunately enough off my usual path that I don’t get there often. <G> Made with the best ingredients, there were beautifully decorated chocolate and vanilla logs large enough to serve at a party.  (Which I did.)

Since then I’ve seen Yule log cakes more often in regular grocery stores. The basic chocolate roll cake is delicious, and the appearance and decorations are a delightful holiday treat. Time I ordered one for this Christmas!

Susan:  What treat do I love for the holidays? Gingerbread! It’s a delicious bit of indulgence that comes in so many varieties – gingerbread cake, gingerbread cookies, gingerbread men, ginger snaps, gingerbread houses … I love spicy gingerbread and I’d eat it any time of year, but of all the desserts and treats, that one means Christmas to me. When my boys were little, we made trays of gingerbread men and constructed gingerbread houses decorated with candies and frosting – those houses were adorable, though they rarely looked perfect, and the kids had a great time decorating and then plucking away at them until they were demolished.

These days I’ll make gingerbread cake though I’ve discovered a local bakery that makes a scrumptious gingerbread bundt cake with drizzles of cream cheese frosting. The last few years, I’ve ordered it for our holiday gathering, and any leftover slices go in the freezer to be gobbled now and then until gone. Gingerbread has a long history too, ancient, medieval, Renaissance, Tudor, 19th century – name an era and you’d find some form of ginger cakes and biscuits, sometimes as desserts, sometimes to soothe the stomach, as ginger is helpful for tummy aches. And let us not forget the Gingerbread Man in fairy tales, and also spicy, feisty, funny, brave Gingy in Shrek, who makes sure his friends get safely away even if it puts him in peril. Run, run, as fast as you can …

Christina:  I’m with everyone else – chocolate is a must at Christmas! My favourite chocolatey treats are home made and they are incredibly simple – you just melt some chocolate (either milk, dark or both) and add puffed rice. Make sure the rice is completely coated then scoop up bite-sized portions onto a tray and place in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened, then they’re ready to eat. It’s delicious!

It also wouldn’t be Christmas for me without saffron buns. Everyone in my family loves them and we usually start baking batches in early December. As they disappear very quickly (they’re great for breakfast!), I usually end up making several more batches. Last year was probably a record as I did it seven times! (40 buns each time … yes, that’s a lot of buns.) But the smell of the saffron as they bake really give the house that Christmas scent and I have to admit I also love eating the dough – very naughty but I can’t resist!

How about you – what sinfully delicious treats will you be indulging in during the festive season?