Anne BralyWhat is it about the Christmas season that makes us want to bring out bags of flour and sugar and make confections from morning till night to share with friends and family? Whether making them or being on the receiving end, it certainly gets you in the holiday spirit.
For Gigi Gross of East Ridge, it's all about holiday tradition. "Folks love homemade food gifts, and once you start giving them, people start to expect them every year," she says.
Not only does she make gifts of food for neighbors and family friends, she and several other women from her church, First Presbyterian, gather two weeks before Christmas every year to make food for church members who live in nursing homes.
"We all have our specialties," she says, noting that this is the 13th year they will be cooking for shut-ins, visiting them with homemade treats and singing carols.
Like many cooks, the holidays bring back memories of cooking with family for Gross.
"It's a wonderful memory that my mom and I had cooking together, having fun and preparing for family and friends," she says. "Now Mom is with our Lord, but I just feel so close to her, warm and cozy as I am using her recipes and doing what she did with her mother."
When asked what her favorite holiday confections are, Gross finds it hard to come up with one answer. Is it her mother's pecan tarts or coconut cakes? Oh wait, she says, maybe it's her great-grandmother's applesauce cake that she would serve with boiled custard, the latter being a family favorite.
"Christmas is my most-favorite time of year," she says, so she wants to share her recipe for applesauce cake chock-full of spices, fruits and nuts. Perfect for the season.
"It's been in our family for so long that our family says they know it is Christmas when they are served this dessert."
Applesauce Cake
2 1/2 cups applesauce
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups light brown or white sugar
2/3 cup of butter (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts (English or black)
3 cups flour, sifted
1 cup coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve baking soda in applesauce, and set aside while mixing other ingredients. This is the liquid for your cake.
Cream sugar and butter, then add eggs and spices. Sprinkle a little flour over nuts and raisins, and add them to the sugar/butter mixture. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, alternating with the applesauce (a little with each cup of flour) until well-blended. Fold in coconut, vanilla and salt. Pour into greased and floured tube pan, and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Serve with boiled custard (recipe below), if desired.
Note: I start out at 350 degrees and bake the cake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 300. If baking in loaf pans, bake for 50 to 55 minutes, then test with toothpick. This is better to make ahead of time, wrap and let mellow.
Boiled Custard
1 quart (4 cups) whole milk
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons vanilla
Butter
In a double boiler, heat milk. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, beaten eggs and cornstarch; cream well, add to scalded milk and mix. Cook over double boiler, stirring constantly until desired thickness is reached. Take off heat, and add vanilla and a dab of butter.
Note: My great-grandfather spooned it over his cake, but it is usually served in a stemmed custard dish, then topped with a dab of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com.