All the right ingredients for some sweet inspiration, just in time to add some serious cheer to your holidays
Written by Nicole Davis | Recipes by Shelia Kohen
Peppermint. Gingerbread. Sugar cookies. Wafts of these delicious smells probably bring you right to the holidays, scenes of Christmases past dancing in your memory. Desserts have an exclusive place on our tables when we commemorate special occasions, especially the holidays, and a traditional holiday meal wouldn’t be complete without a sweet ending, right?
Within these pages, we’ve put a spin on some traditional holiday desserts, both “healthifying” them and adding some unique ingredients.
If you’re looking for something creative, something lighter or something with a can’t-put-my-finger-on-it surprise, keep reading and bookmark the recipe for your upcoming celebrations.
Pear-and-Cranberry Rustic Tart
Called a galette in France or a crostata in Italy, tarts — open-face pies usually filled with fruit — have a storied history. They date back to the 1500s, when they were filled with premium ingredients and served to nobility.
Today, tarts are for everyone, and they’re surprisingly easy to make. This rustic pear-and-cranberry tart screams holiday! with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, but an unexpected ingredient — roasted garlic — produces a sweet creaminess that complements the tanginess of the cranberries and brightness of the fresh pears.
Served warm with vanilla ice cream, this tart is everything your holiday table needs.
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, unpeeled
1 cup, plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
⅓ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp culinary lavender buds
1 large egg, separated
½ cup unsalted chilled butter, cut in cubes
2 lbs fresh pears
½ cup fresh or frozen whole cranberries
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp raw sugar
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wrap the garlic in foil and roast for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool. While the garlic is roasting, make the crust by adding the flours (except for the 1 Tbsp all-purpose), confectioners’ sugar, salt and lavender to the bowl of a food processor. Process on low until it is thoroughly mixed, about 8 seconds.
Add the butter and process on low until it resembles a coarse crumb, about 30 seconds. Add the egg yolk and process on low until the dough starts to come together, about 15 seconds.
Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form a ball; flatten to a disc and wrap well. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, in a small bowl, mix the 1 Tbsp flour, brown sugar and spices together.
Peel, core and slice the pears. In a large bowl, squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin and mash it a bit with a spatula. Add the pears and cranberries, spreading the garlic as evenly as possible among the fruit. Sprinkle spice mixture over the fruit and toss.
To roll out the dough, remove the plastic wrap from the chilled dough and place it between sheets of parchment paper. Roll out to 12-13”, keeping the dough evenly flat and round. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and remove the top sheet of parchment paper.
Pile the fruit mixture in the center, leaving 2-3” of dough around the edge. Drizzle the honey over the fruit. Fold the edges of the dough over toward the center. Brush the dough with the slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake at 400°F in the center of the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Honey Lemon Bars
A classic dessert, lemon bars are sweet and tangy. They gained popularity in the 1960s after the recipe appeared in a Betty Crocker cookbook, and they’ve been a staple ever since. In the traditional recipe, a bright lemon curd sits atop a buttery shortbread crust, and the whole thing is dusted with confectioners’ sugar.
This variation honors that tradition, but with a twist — roasting the lemons before adding them to the curd gives the juice a deeper flavor and thicker consistency. The addition of sage and ground ginger provides both earthy and spicy notes to each bite. Wow your guests with the depth of flavor in these delicious bars.
Serves 10
Ingredients:
4-5 lemons
1 tsp olive oil
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
⅛ tsp salt
2 Tbsp fresh sage leaves, minced
½ cup unsalted butter, cut in small cubes
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup honey
1 tsp lemon zest
¼ tsp ground ginger
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Prepare an 8” square pan by buttering the pan and lining with parchment paper with an overhang on two sides.
Roast the lemons: Zest one of the lemons for 1 tsp of zest. Cut the lemons in half crosswise and place on a baking sheet, cut-side up. Brush the cut sides with oil. Place in the center of the oven and roast for 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Once cool, squeeze them for ½ cup of juice.
Make the crust: Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Place 1 cup flour, sugar, salt and sage in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and process until clumps form, about 30 seconds on low. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until lightly brown.
Make the filling: Place the eggs, honey, lemon juice and zest in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk. Whisk together until incorporated, about 1 minute. Then continue to whisk another 2 minutes on medium.
In a separate bowl, mix together the ⅓ cup flour and ginger. Add to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour over the crust and bake until set, about 30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Once cooled, loosen the sides with a warm knife and lift out of the pan by the parchment on the two ends. Cut into 10 bars with a warm knife. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Cake is a quintessential American dessert, and chocolate cake has a special place in the ranks. The first chocolate cake on record dates to the 1800s. Called a Mahogany cake, according to Anne Byrn’s book American Cake, it was as much an experiment in baking science as it was a delicious reddish-brown treat.
Fast-forward to today, and chocolate cake with creamy chocolate frosting graces many a dessert table, especially around the holidays. Made without flour, the chocolate cake recipe we’re sharing is all about the chocolate. And the beets. Yes, beets.
Roasting this root vegetable and adding it to the batter adds sweetness and produces a rich, moist texture — a mouthfeel that’s totally luxurious without feeling indulgent. Omitting the flour from this recipe makes it gluten-free, too. Topped with a silky ganache instead of frosting, you’ll think you’re eating at a French patisserie.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
2-3 red beets, scrubbed and tops removed
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature
⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
⅓ cup heavy cream
Pistachio nuts, crushed, for garnish
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare an 8” cake pan by buttering the sides and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
Roast the beets: Wrap the whole beets in foil and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 45-60 minutes, until a knife in the center goes in easily. Let the beets cool for 15 minutes or so. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Peel the skin from the beets and cut in chunks. Add the chunks to a food processor and puree to a smooth consistency, 40-50 seconds on low. Set aside.
Make the cake: Melt the bittersweet chocolate and the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a simmering pot of water. Stir until smooth. Pour into the bowl of a mixer.
Add the sugar, salt and vanilla extract and beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth. Mix in the beet puree until combined. Add the cocoa powder and mix just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25-27 minutes, until the edges are set but the center is a bit wiggly. Let cool, then invert onto a plate.
Make the ganache: Melt the semisweet chocolate and the cream together in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir slowly until chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread over the top of the cake. Garnish with pistachios. Allow the ganache to set before slicing. CS