Christmas dinner desserts for two (or more!)

12/19/12 Cook’s Corner

Betty Kaiser

The days until Christmas are dwindling down to a precious few and I have to admit that I’m already tired of cooking. Due to time, travel and health constraints, our family celebrated an early Christmas here in Oregon. I hummed along to Christmas carols as I made batches of fudge, Lemon Bars, Mexican Wedding Cakes, frosted sugar cookies and decorated gingerbread men.

Now it’s hard to get in the spirit of cooking another Christmas dinner—especially a simple dessert for Christmas Day that only serves two people. Cooking in small amounts has never been my forte. So that means we have a conflict. My husband and I have dramatically different ideas about special desserts and I will have to narrow the selection down to one pie, one pudding or one cake.

Our family really doesn’t have a traditional Christmas dessert. My daughter and I are the bakers and we usually take requests. She often bakes pumpkin and pecan pies along with a killer apple pie. My choices lean to a lemon meringue or fruit pie and a chocolate pecan pie. Oh, yes, and if Chuck has anything to say about it there will be some kind of cheesecake.

I really don’t like cheesecake. I think it’s boring, expensive, time consuming and a massive waste of calories. However, I am willing to compromise. So I searched until I found a recipe for a lemony ricotta cream cheese filling that I think will be acceptable. It’s also baked in a pie shell, making it more appetizing to me.

Another dessert that I am seriously considering is a simple Flan. The French call it crème caramel; the Spanish call it flan. We call it custard. No matter the name, it is a sensational ending to any meal.

Then again, maybe I’ll bake some Individual Cranberry-Apple Cobblers. The recipe is super simple: you mix apples, cranberries, walnuts and raisins together and put them in single-serving dishes. Then you cover the fruit with a simple topping and bake. Very easy, very festive and delicious—especially if you can find some eggnog flavored ice cream to go with it.

I wish you all a warm and loving Merry Christmas. Enjoy!

LEMONY CREAM CHEESE PIE

1 lemon

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut up and softened

1 3-ounce package cream cheese, cut up and softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup cottage ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 large eggs

1 (9-inch) baked pastry shell

Optional garnish: Lemon peel strips

Pre-heat oven to 350° F.

Using a fine shredder, remove yellow peel from lemon; set grated peel aside. Peel and cut up lemon, removing the seeds.

In a food processor or blender, combine grated lemon peel, cup up lemon, the two packages cream cheese, sugar, ricotta and vanilla. Cover and process or blend, stopping and pushing mixture down as needed, until smooth. In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Using a wooden spoon, stir in cheese mixture.

Pour cheese mixture into pastry shell. Bake until center appears almost set when shaken, 35-40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

To garnish with lemon peel strips, cut 1-inch wide strips of lemon peel several times crosswise down to one edge but not through it. Wrap the strips around toothpicks and insert into pie. Serves 8.

FLAN

1/3 cup sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325° F.

To caramelize sugar, in an 8-inch heavy skillet, cook 1/3 cup sugar over medium-high heat, shaking skillet occasionally, until sugar starts to melt. Do not stir. When sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring as needed with a wooden spoon, until all of the sugar is melted and golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Immediately divide caramelized sugar among six 6-ounce custard cups (or pour into an 8-inch flan dish or baking pan). Working quickly, rotate cups or flan dish so sugar coats the bottoms as evenly as possible. Cool.

Place custard cups or flan dish in a 12x9x2-inch baking pan. Pour egg mixture into cups or dish. Place baking pan on an oven rack. Pour very hot tap water into the baking pan around the cups or dish to a depth of about 1/2 inch.

Bake until a knife inserted near the centers comes out clean, 35-40 min. for custard cups or 30-35 min. for flan dish. Remove cups or flan dish from water. Cool on a wire rack. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly.

To serve: Carefully unmold flan onto dessert plates or a serving platter. Spoon any caramelized sugar from cups onto tops of flan. Serve with whipped cream. Makes 6 servings.

INDIVIDUAL CRANBERRY-APPLE COBBLERS

2 medium baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup raisins

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Dash salt

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Butter four 5-inch quiche dishes or large custard cups. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together apples, cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar, walnuts and raisins. Spoon mixture evenly into prepared dishes. Set aside.

Topping: In a small bowl, combine eggs, flour, melted butter, 1/4 cup sugar, orange peel, vanilla and salt. Stir with a fork until smooth. Spread topping evenly over fruit mixture.

Bake until topping is golden brown and fruit is tender, about 30 min. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Makes 4 servings.

Keep it simple and keep it seasonal! Betty Kaiser’s Cook’s Corner is dedicated to sharing a variety of recipes that are delicious, family oriented and easy to prepare.