Holiday Eggnog Steamer

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I started Vegan Tuesdays back in early September in an effort to become more proficient in vegan cuisine, to reduce my consumption of dairy and to try and feel a bit healthier. Three months into Vegan Tuesdays and I’ve never felt more inspired. Putting together my Vegan Tuesday posts and testing out different vegan recipes has definitely breathed new life into me (and into my kitchen). I’ve really enjoyed Vegan Tuesdays and am incorporating more and more vegan dishes into my weekly menu plans. I’m especially looking forward to trying some holiday-inspired vegan recipes this upcoming season. 

First up? A deliciously, creamy cup of holiday eggnog – vegan style! :) This eggnog is good. Really good. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this holiday beverage over the weekend while cuddled up in a blanket reading a book. It has all of the delicious flavour of eggnog without the dairy and eggs. It’s rich without being overpowering. It’s subtly sweet with the perfect hint of spice. And it’s heart warming and comforting – everything a holiday drink should be. Promise me you’ll give this yummy drink a shot. 

Wishing you all a wonderful week. And to all of my American friends, have a great Thanksgiving! Please feel free to send me leftovers. xo


Ingredients
  • 2 and 1/4 cups of plain soy milk  (or almond milk)
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of rum extract (to taste)
  • 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 cup of granulated sugar*
  • 1/4 cup of bourbon or amber rum (optional)
  • nutmeg for garnish

Note: Use soy milk that is either unsweetened or lightly sweetened (about 5 grams per cup or less). If you use sweetened soy milk, do not add any additional sugar as directed in the recipe.

Note 2: If you use the bourbon or amber rum, reduce the amount of rum extract to 1/4 teaspoon


Method

1. In a small saucepan, heat the soy milk over medium heat until steaming and gentle bubbles form around the edge.

2. Stir in the vanilla extract, rum extract, sugar and ground nutmeg. Add bourbon or amber rum if using.

3. If you have a milk frother or a hand immersion blender with a frother attachment, froth the eggnog mixture. Pour eggnog steamer into mugs. The foam will settle at the top. Garnish with freshly ground nutmeg.

* if you are making this a vegan beverage, be sure to use vegan granulated white sugar *

Yield: 2 cups of holiday eggnog steamer

Source: loosely adapted from Canadian Living Magazine December 2012

Gingerbread Trifle with Cinnamon Custard

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This past Boxing Day, I hosted the first annual vegetarian Christmas dinner at the condo. I had a long list of dishes I wanted to make this Christmas, but I only ever get asked to bring the vegetable side dishes to holiday functions. I guess people assume vegetarians know how to cook vegetables. *hehe* I never get to bring tasty vegetarian main dishes! So, I invited my parents, sister and her fiancé Jonny for Christmas dinner on the 26th (like we all needed to eat more food!) and I made a huge spread of vegetarian food. I made a fresh basil goat cheese ball and bruschetta for an appetizer. For dinner, I made polenta cakes with roasted vegetable ragout topped with baked goat cheese (recipe to come) and my favourite salad. For dessert, I made this awesome gingerbread trifle with rich chocolate sauce and cinnamon custard. It was pure heaven. Everyone loved it. I made mini trifles for everyone, as I knew they trifle would be quite rich. The recipe was quite time consuming, as I had to make the gingerbread cake the morning of the dinner. And then I had to make the custard and chocolate sauce an hour of two before serving the dessert. But all of the effort was well worth it. For special days & holidays, this gingerbread trifle is a show stopper. The spicy gingerbread soaked up the rich chocolate sauce. The cinnamon infused custard was so flavourful. A wonderful, wintery dessert!


Also, I’d like to thank Jonny’s mom for the awesome homemade perogies she sent me for Christmas. They were delicious….and devoured within 24 hours of being received :) Thank you so much!



Cinnamon Custard Ingredients

  • 3 cups of 2% milk
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup of cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup of light brown sugar; packed
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Dark Chocolate Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 tin (300ml) sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate; chopped
  • 1/2 cup of water

Assembly

  • 1 cup of chilled whipping cream (35%)
  • 1 teaspoon of white sugar
  • 1 recipe of gingerbread cake; cooled
  • chocolate curls
  • ground cinnamon for sprinkling



Method


1. Make the Custard: bring the milk and cinnamon up to a simmer over medium heat. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, brown sugar and vanilla. Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly until all of the milk had been added. Return the mixture to medium heat. Whisk the mixture until the custard thickens and becomes glossy (about 5 minutes). Remove mixture from the heat and add the butter. Stain into a bowl and directly cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap. Chill completely.


2. Make the Chocolate Sauce: heat the condensed milk and chocolate over low heat, stirring until melted. Whisk in the water and set aside.


3. Make the Whipped Cream: when ready to assemble the trifle, whip the cream into soft peaks. Fold half of the whipped cream into the custard. Add the sugar to the remaining whipped cream and chill.


4. Assembly: slice the gingerbread into cubes (about 1 inch cubes). Arrange a layer of sliced ginger bread at the bottom of a trifle dish. Dollop a third of the chocolate sauce over the gingerbread and spread. Dollop a third of the cinnamon custard over the chocolate sauce and spread. Cover the custard layer with another layer of gingerbread cubes. Repeat the process two more times ending with cinnamon custard. Chill until ready to serve.


5. To Serve: spread the reserved whipped cream over the trifle and garnish with chocolate shavings and cinnamon.


NOTE: Per Anna’s suggestion, I added 1/2 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the gingerbread cake and it added a whole extra layer of flavour and texture to the cake.


Source: Anna Olson’s Back to Baking

Cranberry Eggnog Muffins with Streusel Topping

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Even though I now own my own home, I love to spend Christmas eve with my parents at their house and then sleep over. Mom and dad always give my sister and I Christmas Eve PJs. One of my favourite traditions! I love getting my new PJs and hopping into bed after a wonderful Christmas eve meal with my parents, grandparents, sister, brother-in-law and boyfriend. Then in the morning, my mom, dad, sister and I all wake up and sit around the Christmas tree and open presents one-by-one. We watch Christmas movies or listen to Christmas music. Mom makes coffee and tea. I inevitably devour a whole box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. My sister and I open our stockings and eat the cute little Christmas oranges that Santa always puts in the toe. Our stockings are so cute. My mom knitted them when we were little and embroidered our names on them. Every year I look forward to opening my Christmas stocking. It’s the thing we do every Christmas that most reminds me of being a kid.

After we open our gifts, mom always puts together the yummiest of Christmas breakfast treats. Last year she made incredible german apple pancakes. The year before that she made mini savoury quiches for breakfast. I believe she also made potato pancakes that year. Yum!

 This year I thought I would bring a special treat for everyone to contribute to our family Christmas breakfast. These little cranberry eggnog muffins are the perfect treat to serve at a Christmas breakfast or brunch. I’ve been saving this recipe for quite some time and finally was able to whip up a batch today. The muffins are absolutely delicious. Wow! I had trouble not devouring an entire dozen after they came out of the oven. The eggnog flavour is just strong enough without overpowering the muffin. The cranberries are tart but sweet. The muffin crumb is nice and delicate. And the streusel topping creates a nice crunchy top to the muffin. This recipe is a real winner. These muffins will make your Christmas all the merrier and all the more bright. :)

Do you have any family traditions for Christmas morning?

Muffin Ingredients
  • 2 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of white granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar (to sweeten the cranberries)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup of eggnog (low-fat works well)
  • 5 and 1/3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped fresh cranberries

Streusel Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter; slightly softened
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400’F. Line muffin tin with liners.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar, eggs, eggnog, melted (cooled) butter and vanilla extract. Stir well until combined. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. 

4. Toss the chopped cranberries with the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Fold cranberries until the batter. Divide batter evenly between prepared muffin liners, filling them about 2/3 of the way full.

5. To make the streusel topping: combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with two knives or a pastry cutter until a coarse, crumbly mixture forms. Stir in pecans if using. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the muffin batter.

6. Bake muffins for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean or yields a dry crumb. Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool completely.

Makes 18 to 20 muffins.

Source: Annie’s Eats