Delicious & Simple Holiday Desserts

By: iTopTopics Staff

Desserts: Holiday Sweet Treats

The holiday season has officially begun. Outside the weather is chilling. The yard is filled with beautiful fall leaves. Let’s fill up the house with sweet delicious smell of fresh baked desserts with these simple recipes.

Traditional pies or tarts are always a great way to send your guests home with a sweet delicious taste left in their mouths to remember your hospitality. We always believe entertaining should be enjoyable for both your guests and yourself. So here are some all-time favorite and easy-to-made dessert recipes to follow for your festive events this holiday.

Photo by Annie Spratt

Dessert Recipe: Pear Tart

Photo by Toa Heftiba

Ingredients:

• A fresh, no pre-baking pie crust (use any basic pie crust you are familiar with to make the crust. This can be made ahead of time and kept in the freezer)

• 3 eggs

• 4 large & ripe (but firm) Anjou or Bosc pears, cut into 1/5 inch thin slices, length-wise

• 1 cup crème fraîche

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tsp almond extract

• Apricot marmalade

Beat the eggs; add crème fraiche, sugar, almond extra & corn starch, mix well.

Arrange the pear slices on the fresh tart crust, gently pour the mixture over pears until it fills up the tart.

Bake in the 400 F degree pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or till golden brown.

Spread a thin layer of apricot marmalade on top of the tart for the golden shining coat.

Serve at room temperature.

Dessert Recipe: Raspberry Pie

Photo by Toa Heftiba

Ingredients:

• A fresh, no pre-baking pie crust (use any basic pie crust you are familiar with to make the crust. This can be made ahead of time and kept in the freezer)
• 6 cups fresh raspberries
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten with 1 tbsp warm water
• 1 tbsp of powder sugar

For the rasberry filling, mix together raspberries, lemon juice, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla in bowl.

To assemble the pie, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Take dough out of freezer and slice in half. Place other half back in the freezer.

Place dough gently in pie dish and prick the surface with a fork.

Place raspberry filling inside but be sure not to overfill.

Take the rest of the dough and roll out thin again. Cut long one-inch wide strips of dough and weave onto the pie.

Seal edges of pie and brush beaten egg yolk all over to give shining top effect.

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

When the pie is cool, dust powder sugar on top.

Serve at room temperature.

Dessert Recipe: Poached Pears

Photo by Annie Spratt

Ingredients:

• 1 quart water

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 3 crushed cardamom pods

• 1 pod from a vanilla bean, scraped vanilla bean and seeds

• 6 whole peeled firm (not too ripe) Anjou or Bosc pears

• Crème fraiche & roasted almond slices (optional)

Combine water, sugar, honey, wine, vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks in a large pot and bring to a simmer.

Add the pears into the pot; make sure they are all soaked in the poaching liquid.

Cook for 30 to 40 minutes or till the pears are translucent from the outside and tender to fork.

Remove the pear from the pot and set aside.

Continue cook down the liquid till thickening; drain the poached liquid for sauce

Place the pear on a plate, add a little butter on top; pour the warm sauce on top, served with crème fraiche and slices of roasted almonds.

Dessert Recipe: Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Photo by Hieu Le

• Pre-baked pie/tart crust

• 1 cup whipping cream

• 4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 2 cups of fresh raspberries

• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

• 6 tablespoons raspberry jam

Bring cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer chocolate ganache to bowl and chill in refrigerator. After 30 minutes, whip the ganache until thick and firm until stiff peaks form.

Spread the raspberry jam, then a thick layer of the ganache to fill up almost to the edge of the crust, top with fresh raspberries. Sift the powder sugar and cocoa powder on top before serving.

Dessert Recipe: No bake Cheesecake

Photo by Erol Ahmed

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-baked graham cracker crust

• 2 of 8-ounce packs of cream cheese, softened

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup heavy whipping cream

• 1 cup blueberries

• 1 cup blackberries

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the heavy whipping cream and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Fold in the fresh berries.

Add the berry mixture to the pre-baked crust.

Refrigerate at least an hour or until set.

Dessert Recipe: Raspberry Panna Cotta

Photo by Mantra Media

Ingredients:

• ½ cup whole milk

• 2 cup heavy cream

• 1.5 lb of fresh raspberries; save some fresh ones for garnish

• 1 pack of unflavored gelatin

• ¼ cup packed brown sugar

• 1 tsp. vanilla

Puree the raspberries until very smooth and push the puree through a sieve to remove seeds

In a large saucepan, mix the gelatin with the whole milk, cook in medium heat, stir constantly till the gelatin dissolved completely and bring the mixture to simmer.

Add the strawberry puree, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla.

Continue to stir the mixture in low heat till the sugar dissolved.

Coat the ramekins with cooking spray, fill them with the mixture.

Cover and refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours.

Run knife around edges of ramekins, and invert onto serving plates.

Arrange the remaining raspberries around for garnish.

Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Dessert Recipe: Crème Brulee

Photo by Alex Munsell

Ingredients:

• 4 cups heavy cream

• 1 whole vanilla Bean, scraped the seeds (or 2 teaspoon of vanilla extra)

• 10 whole large egg yolks

• 3/4 cups sugar

• 6 tablespoons superfine sugar

Simmer the cream with vanilla beans or extract over medium heat. Strain the cream using a really fine mesh strainer.

Whip egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow and thick.

Slowly pour the warm cream while you still whipping the yolk till half way through with the cream, then you can pour the rest in to avoid too hot to cook the custard mixture.

Pour custard mixture into ramekins.

Place ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Pour water in bottom of baking sheet until it comes halfway up the ramekins.

Bake for 30 minutes in pre-heated 325 F degree till the custard set. Do not cook the custard turns golden brown, that’d be too long.

Cool ramekins on countertop; then chill for a couple hours in the fridge.

To serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of powder sugar over each ramekin of custard. Use a kitchen torch to quickly brown the sugar. There should be a thin, crisp surface of burned sugar on the top.

Serve immediately!