Christmas ideas

Christmas In July

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Cranberry FlummeryCranberry Flummery

 1 10 to 12 oz. pkg. fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed if frozen

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp. orange zest
  • ¼ cup fresh orange juice
  • 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • 1 ¾ cups heavy whipping cream, cold
  • 4 cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 12 gingersnap cookies, lightly crushed
  • Thinly sliced candied ginger, for serving

 Make cranberry layer: In a medium saucepan, bring cranberries, sugar, orange zest and juice, and ¼ cup water to a boil on medium-high. Reduce heat and simmer until berries start to burst, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Press gently through a large mesh sieve set over a clean medium sauce pan, scraping what is on the underside of the sieve into the pot. Stir in butter to melt then stir in eggs, egg yolk, and salt. Return to low heat and cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens slightly, 7 to 10 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat and let cool completely. Using an electric mixer beat cream in a large bowl until medium peaks form. Place yogurt in a large bowl and gradually whisk in cooled cranberry mixture. Spoon rounded 1/3 mixture into bottom of each of eight 10 oz. glasses and sprinkle with layer of crushed cookies (about ½ tbsp.). Spoon layer of cream (about 2/3 cup) over all and repeat layers, finishing with cream. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Sprinkle with candied ginger

 Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

 THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

 

 

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Christmas Sugar Cookies.jpg

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick salted butter, plus 2 tbsp.
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Use an electric mixer to cream the sugar and butter, whipping the two until the butter is almost white and the mixture is light and fluffy, almost like a slightly frosting. Stir in the flour.  Form the cookies into 1 inch balls, placing them about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.  Flatten them into a disc shape if you’re topping with sprinkles before baking.  Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden.  Decorate as desired.

Short on time, buy frozen sugar cookies, bake according to the cooking directions. Decorate with M&M’s, ready made icing, sprinkles, colored sugar, etc. Have fun!

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

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White Fruit Cake.jpeg

White Fruit Cake

  •  2 lb. white raisins
  • 1 ½ lb. canned cherries
  • 1 ½ lb. pineapple
  • 1 lb. light brown sugar
  • 1 lb. butter
  • 1 dozen eggs
  • 1 large orange extract
  • 1 small lemon extract
  • 8 cups nuts
  • 6 cups sifted flour
  • 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg

 Cut up nuts and drain fruit; coat with 4 cups flour. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Add 2 cups flour with baking powder and nutmeg. Add extract. Pour batter over fruit and nut mixture; mix well. Place in two greased tube pans. Bake at 250 degrees F for 2 ½ hours.

 Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

 THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

 

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Cherry Spice Cake

Cherry Spice Cake

Cake

  • ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 ½ cups cherry pie filling

Frosting

  • 8 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 packages (8-ounces each) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 3 tablespoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Red and green candied cherries, cut in half, to decorate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  For cake, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  In another large bowl, sift together next 6 ingredients.  In a blender or food processor, process pie filling until cherries are coarsely chopped.  Add dry ingredients and pie filling alternately to creamed mixture, mixing until smooth.  Pour batter evenly into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

For frosting, beat all ingredients in a large bowl until smooth.  Frost between layers, on sides, and on top of cake.  To decorate cake, refer to photo and place cherries on top of cake in wreath design.  Transfer remaining frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip.  Pipe decorative border along bottom edge and top of cake.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator.  Serve at room temperature.

Yield:  about 20 servings

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

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Eggnog Cake

Eggnog Cake

 Ingredients:

  • ½ cup soft butter
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 4 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2/3 cup eggnog
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • 6 egg whites

 Cream butter and sugar. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add alternately with water and eggnog. Stir in flavor. Beat egg whites in separate bowl. Add to dough 1/3 at a time. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees F.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

 THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

 

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Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House

  • 2 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 2 tablespoon soft light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 eggs

Decoration

  • 4 oz white chocolate
  • 4 oz semisweet chocolate
  • Green and red food colorings
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Put syrup, molasses, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, until melted. Sift flour and ginger into a bowl. Stir the baking soda into melted mixture, add to flour with enough beaten egg to mix to form a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and free from cracks. Cut off 1/3 dough; wrap in plastic wrap. Roll out remaining 2/3 dough thinly and cut out thirty-two 1/1/2 in squares of dough and place, spaced apart, on a baking sheet. Roll out remaining 1/3 dough and cut out six-teen 2 ½ x 1 ½ inch oblongs. Cut an inverted “v” at one of the short ends of each oblong to create a ‘pitch’ for ‘roof’. Both equal sides of “v” should measure 1 inch. Place on baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Break up and place white and dark chocolate in separate bowls over hand hot water. Stir occasionally until melted. Divide white chocolate between 3 small bowls and color green and red with food colorings. Assemble each house using dark chocolate as glue. Glue 4 walls together by alternating 2 square and 2 “v” pieces. Place 2 other squares on top to form pitched roof. Leave to set. Spread remaining dark chocolate over waxed paper. When almost set, invert onto another piece of paper, peel off waxed paper and cut chocolate into ¼ in squares for roof tiles. Secure tiles onto roof with melted chocolate, working from base to top. Using colored chocolate, fill pastry bags, snip off points and pipe in doors, windows and colored beads down all the joins. Leave to set. Dust with powdered sugar. Makes 8

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Christmas Cookies

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Christmas Tree Platter

Christmas Tree Platter

  • 1 package peanut butter cookie dough
  • 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk or lemon juice
  • Assorted food colors, colored sugars and assorted small decors

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide dough one half. Reserve 1 half; refrigerate remaining dough. Roll reserved half of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out tree shapes with cookie cutter.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Repeat with remaining half of dough. Reroll scraps; cut into small circles for ornaments, squares and rectangles for gift boxes and tree trunks. Bake 8 to 12 minutes depending on size of cookies. Mix sugar and milk for icing. Tint most of icing green and a smaller amount red or other colors for ornaments and boxes. Spread green icing on trees. Sprinkle ornaments and boxes with colored sugars and decorate as desired. Arrange cookies on flat platter to resemble tree. Makes about 1 dozen cookies.

Tip: Use this beautiful Christmas Tree Platter cookie as your centerpiece for this holiday’s family dinner.  It is sure to receive lots of “oohs” and ahs”!

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Christmas In July

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Malted Milk Chocolate Cupcakes

Malted Milk Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 tbsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. fine sea salt
  • 1 cup malted milk powder
  • 5 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • 1 ¾ cups whole milk, at room temperature
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • Chocolate frosting
  • 24 malted milk balls for garnish

Center an oven rack and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl of a stand mixer, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the malted milk powder and whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that the ingredients are well mixed. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heat resistant bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Once both are melted, remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the oil until the mixture is uniform. Scrape the chocolate mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, pour in 1 cup of the milk and blend with the paddle attachment on low speed until incorporated, scraping the bottom well to incorporate any dry ingredients patches. Once combined, kick up the mixer to medium-high speed for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the paddle, sides and bottom of the bowl. Whisk together the remaining ¾ cup of milk, the eggs and the vanilla in a separate bowl and add half this mixture into the batter on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the second half of the mixture, blending until well combined. Pour the thin batter into the paper-lined pans, filling the cups to just below the rim. Place the tins in the middle of the oven and bake until the cupcakes are perky and firm on the top, 24 to 26 minutes. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack until they reach room temperature. Once cool, frost the cupcakes with the frosting and place a malted milk ball on top for decoration. These cupcakes are best the day they are made but keep for 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Christmas In July

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Frosted Butter CookiesFrosted Butter Cookies

Cookies:

  • 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 ½ sticks (1/2 pound plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoons almond extract
  • ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 ¾ cups all- purpose flour

Frosting:

  • 4 large pasteurized egg whites
  • ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoons almond extract
  • 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 to 6 teaspoons milk, if needed
  • Food coloring gel (optional)
  • Sprinkles, jimmies, sanding sugar (optional)

For the cookies: In a large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat the powdered sugar, butter egg yolks, salt almond extract, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the flour and beat on low speed until large clumps of dough form. The dough will look too dry at first, so be patient. Pour the dough clumps onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Gather into a ball & flatten into a disk. Cover with a second sheet of plastic wrap and roll to 1/8 inch thickness. It will be a very large piece of dough. Slide onto a rimmed baking sheet to keep the dough flat and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Discard the plastic wrap. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Stamp out cookies with cutters of your choice. Simple shapes with clean edges work best. Arrange the cookies on the lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden brown on the edges, 12-15 minutes, depending on size. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet.

For the frosting: In a large glass or metal bowl, with electric mixer at low speed, beat the egg whites until frothy. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract. With the mixer running, add the powder sugar 1 cup at a time. Beat on low speed until smooth Increase the speed to high and beat until still, shiny peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Decorate the cookies as desired.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on size & shape

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com

Christmas In July

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Christmas Grasshopper PieChristmas Grasshopper Pie

Crust:

  • 3 cups Crushed chocolate wafer cookies
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips melted

Grasshopper Filling

  • 1 ¾ cups of whole milk
  • 12 ounces miniature marshmallows or 12 ounces marshmallow crème
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons crème de menthe liqueur
  • 3 tablespoons crème de cacao liqueur
  • 4-5 drops green food coloring

Holiday Marzipan Decorations:

  • ½ cup Marzipan
  • Green, Red and yellow food coloring
  • Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar mixed with a 1 teaspoon water

Toppings:

  • 2 cups whipped cream
  • 8 maraschino cherries
  • Holiday Marzipan Decorations

Crust: Toss the cookies crumbs and the butter in a large bowl until well coated. Butter and flour a 10 inch pie pan. Using your hands, press the crumb mixture onto the bottom and sides of the pan. The bottom, sides and edge of the crust should be ¼ inch thick. Using your fingers, flatten the edge flush with the top of the pan. Freeze for 30 minutes. Spread the melted chocolate over the cold crust and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to set before using.

Holiday Marzipan Decorations: Color about 1/3 cup marzipan with green food coloring. Pull off a piece of the remaining marzipan, roll it into a ½ inch ball and color it yellow. Color the remaining marzipan red. Divide the green marzipan into 6 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Roll out the red marzipan on a work surface covered with confectioners’ sugar to a thickness of 1/16 inches. Using a cookie cutter or working freehand with a knife, cut out ¾ inch flowers, curl up the edges of the petals. Roll out the yellow marzipan to a thickness of 1/15 inch. Using a plastic coffee stirrer, or working freehand with a knife, cut out 1/8 inch dots. Attach the dots to the flowers and the flowers to the balls with the confectioners’ sugar mixture

Method: Preheat the oven to 325 F. Bake the crust for 7-8 minutes or until the bottom feels crisp. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely. To make the filling, heat the milk in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water until bubbles appear. Do not allow the milk to boil. Add about one – fourth of the marshmallows and stir until melted. Add the sour cream and stir until thick and creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in the liqueurs and food coloring. Stir until fluffy integrated. Pour the filling into the crust, cover the plastic wrap, and freeze for 2-3 hours, or until firm. Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before serving. Spoon the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star shaped tip. Pipe seven mounds of cream in a ring around the border of the pie, just inside the crust, and a large mound in the center. Top each mound with a maraschino cherry. Place the marzipan decorations in between the mounds of cream.

Tested in the THASC kitchen. Photo by THASC.

THASC is a unique small American business producing cards and other promotional products.

www.thasc.com