Christmas will soon be here, and I was feeling quite festive and inspired the other day. So I made a Christmas themed cake. The red and green colors showing through the cake and the red and green sprinkles give a very festive appearance. The trick to get the red and green in the cake is actually quite simple, the same technique I used at Halloween (see {Orange Poke Cake}). This also makes the cake extra moist!
Christmas Layer Cake
2 round white cake layers, baked (cooled, optional)
1 package green instant gelatin mix (lime)
1 package red instant gelatin mix (cherry, raspberry, or strawberry)
2 cups boiling water
2 packages instant whipped topping (or use real whipped cream)
1 cup cold milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Christmas sprinkles
The cakes need not be cool, but should be removed from pans and placed on plates. Pierce the cakes all over with a fork.
In small bowls, dissolve each of the gelatins in one cup of boiling water. Whisk until dissolved. Carefully pour one over each cake. Cool.
A few hours later, whip the topping mix with the milk and vanilla. Spread half of this one one of the cakes. Top with other cake. Spread top with remaining topping. Garnish with sprinkles.
You may use a boxed mix, purchased cakes, or your own homemade cakes for this recipe, however white cake must be used in order for the colors to show through. You could decorate the cake with any type of frosting instead of cream or whipped topping, but I like the texture and light, fluffy appearance of the topping, almost like snow.
This is a Christmas pie recipe I came up with while staring at a jug of eggnog in the fridge. It is an easy way to make a simple cream pie, but had the Christmas flavors of eggnog and spices. I also found some cute little gingerbread man sprinkles to garnish it, though whipped cream would work as well. I like to use one of my favorite pie crust recipes, and oil-based pastry which is lighter and easier than a traditional pie crust. A shortbread or graham crumb crust would also be nice, but a prepared frozen or refrigerated pie shell could be used as well.
Spiced Eggnog Cream Pie
1 prepared pie crust, baked and cooled
(I used {Oil-Based Pie Pastry})
2 cups eggnog
2 packages (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix (no cook)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
gingerbread man sprinkles (or desired garnish, optional)
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggnog, pudding, and spices for approximately two minutes until thickened. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pie shell. Garnish as desired. Chill before serving.
Here is another Halloween recipe edition. It is simply a basic brownie recipe with the cream cheese swirl topping. There are plenty of recipes like this around, and any one of them will work. It is the procedure that changes slightly. Instead of putting dollops of the brownie batter alternately with the cream cheese batter into the pan; pour all of the brownie batter into the pan, then pour the cream cheese batter on top. Then use a butter knife to swirl the two batters together into a cobweb design. Then sprinkle black and orange Halloween sprinkles over top. This is a picture of the brownies before they were baked.
They don't look much different once they are baked, and they taste just like any other cream cheese brownie - with a Halloween twist!
