We like to add a sprinkle of “Christmas dust” to holiday foods and beverages: red and green sparkling sugars. We switch to silver sparkling sugar for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Interchangeable is sanding sugar, which is a finer grind than sparkling sugar. Both add a sparkle flavor and color to cookies and other baked goods and desserts; and the crystals, much larger than table sugar, do not dissolve when subjected to heat.

Some people also refer to it as decorating sugar or pearl sugar; but as you can see in our Sugar Glossary, those are slightly different).

What do we do with it? We add a pinch of holiday garnish.

 
Sparkling sugar is available in enough colors for any occasion. We buy ours at KingArthurFlour.com and Wilton.com. If you have other holiday suggestions, let us know!

Turn your turkey carcass into turkey stock
or turkey soup. Photo by Marius Zjbie |
Wikimedia.

Why? Because the kitchen roasted several turkeys every day for turkey sandwiches (including our favorite combo: turkey, roast beef and chopped liver). What to do with all the leftover carcasses? Make turkey soup, which was called chicken soup on the menu. No one could tell the difference.

Why not just call it turkey soup? Because most customers aren’t accustomed to the concept of “turkey soup”; they want chicken soup. In industry terms, it wasn’t a bait-and-switch; most “pumpkin” pie is made with a different orange squash, among other secrets of the trade.

You can make either turkey stock or turkey soup with your turkey carcass. We typically make stock, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a lot of it from the large carcass. After all, if you’re going to simmer bones for four hours, would you rather end up with one pint of stock or four pints?

Stock Preparation

1. REMOVE all the meat from the turkey carcass. It’s OK if small bits remain.

2. BREAK up the bones of the carcass so they’ll fit in the pot. Place the bones and skin in a large stock pot and cover with cold water by an inch. You can the neck, heart and gizzard (but not the liver). Add a yellow onion that has been quartered, some chopped carrots, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf, celery tops, and some peppercorns.

3. BRING to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a bare simmer—as low as you can make the flame.

4. SIMMER for at least 4 hours, uncovered or partially uncovered (so the stock reduces). At intervals, skim off the foam that rises to the surface. You can reduce the stock as much as you like by continuing to simmer it, uncovered. The more reduced, the more concentrated the flavor (and the less there is to store).

5. REMOVE the bones and and strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer.

If you’d rather make soup than stock, add seasonings to the pot at the beginning of cooking:

 
When ready to serve, warm pieces of leftover turkey in the soup and add noodles, rice, and any vegetables. We lightly steam carrots, celery and onions in the microwave; then add them to the soup along with the turkey, as we reheat it.

STOCK, SOUP, BROTH: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Stock (as well as soup and broth) can be made from any meat or seafood, and from vegetables as well.

 
*The collagen gelatinizes at around 165°F.
  

[2] Bavarian Cream, or crème bavaroise, is prepared in a mold and unmolded onto a serving plate (photo © Massimiliano Pieraccini | iStock Photo).

[3] This layered raspberry bavaroise is, from top down, raspberry bavaroise, raspberry compote, and coconut dacquoise, atop a crunchy almond cookie crust (photo © Detoni).

[4] Before it was used as a pie filling, Bavarian cream (crème Bavaroise in French) was a molded dessert. Here’s the recipe for this fresh peach version (photo © Taste Of Home).

November 27th is National Bavarian Cream Pie Day. Before there was Bavarian Cream Pie, there was crème bavarois—Bavarian Cream, an early 19th century dessert credited to the great chef, Marie-Antoine Carême (photo #2). It was called bavaroise, for short.

Bavarian cream is a dessert consisting of milk thickened with eggs and gelatin, into which whipped cream is folded. The mixture sets up in a cold mold, is chilled, and unmolded for serving.

It can also be made with crème anglaise (a pourable custard sauce) combined with gelatin, beaten egg whites, and lightly whipped cream (see the different types of custard).

The cream mixture can be flavored with vanilla, fruit purée, chocolate, liqueur, etc. It is then poured into a decorative or plain.

Photo #2 is an example of a Bavarian cream in a plain mold, but is handsome nonetheless.

The history of Bavarian Cream Pie follows, but elsewhere on The Nibble are:

> The history of pie.

> The history of pie à la mode.

> The different types of pie: a photo glossary.

> The different types of custard: a photo glossary.

> How to fix runny fruit pies.

> The year’s 31 pie holidays.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF BAVARIAN CREAM PIE

While the connection to Bavaria is obscure, Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833) created great dinners for royalty and others at the top of society, so the dessert may well have been created to honor guests from Bavaria.

As with custard and other foods originally served in a dish, at a point lost in history, some chef poured the custard cream* into a pie crust to create Bavarian Cream Pie.

Bavarian Cream Pie is one of a variety of cream pies. Simply stated, the cream—be it banana cream, Bavarian cream, chocolate cream, coconut cream, whipped cream, etc.—is added to a pie shell.

The pie can be served unadorned, topped with shaved chocolate or chocolate sauce, or, as in two of the photos, topped with fresh fruit.

Note that not everything called “Bavarian cream” is the real deal.

Real Bavarian cream does not pipe smoothly because of its gelatin content. In the U.S., some products called “Bavarian cream” pie, and certainly Bavarian cream doughnuts, are actually filled with a version of a crème pâtissière (pastry cream).

Pastry cream is not the same as Bavarian cream. Pastry cream uses different ingredients such as butter, cornstarch and milk instead of gelatin, heavy cream, and egg yolks. Bavarian cream is much richer with more depth of flavor than pastry cream.

So the pastry cream versions are “faux” Bavarian Cream Pie. But you may enjoy them all the same.
 
 
CREAM VS. CREME VS. CRÈME: THE DIFFERENCE

What’s the difference between creme and cream? Why do some people write “creme pie” instead of “creme pie?” What about crème?

Crème, pronounced KREHM, is the French word for cream. In America, French recipes were served at the tables of the wealthy, many of whom knew how to pronounce French properly.

As these recipes entered the mainstream, people who did not know French began to pronounce crème (KREHM) as cream (KREEM). Some people dispensed with the accent mark, to provide a mashup of French and English, and either became acceptable.

But to display your erudition, when discussing a French dish, e.g. Crème Brûlée, use crème; when discussing an American dish, e.g. Chocolate Cream Pie, use cream.
 
________________

*Bavarian cream is not the same as custard. It is a lightened up custard cream.
 
 
 
 

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There are significantly more than one hundred small companies producing pickles all across this great land of ours. They’re small batch, hand packed and much tastier than mass-produced pickles.

For most of us, pickles have been a commodity condiment: inexpensive, readily available, and something we didn’t spend a lot of time pondering. While most of us familiar with the big national brands—Vlasic, Claussen and Mt. Olive, for example—how many of us can name a small, local pickle producer?

Take a look at our review of almost 50 artisan pickle brands. You’re sure to find stocking stuffers, host and hostess gifts, teacher gifts and anything else you need.

There are sweet pickles and spicy pickles, pickle chips and spears.

And the best news: pickles are low in calories, a guilt-free gift.

This radish and beet chutney from LoveBeets.com is delicious with turkey sandwiches plus cheese, cold meats, on a baked potato or with sausages.

It’s also a nice gift for your Thanksgiving host, who in turn may send you home with some leftover turkey. The recipe makes enough for 6 gifts or more, depending on the size of the jar.

RECIPE: RADISH & BEET CHUTNEY

Ingredients For Approximately 4.5 Pounds Of Chutney

Yummy beet and radish chutney. Photo courtesy LoveBeets.com.

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the beets are cooked and the juices have thickened.

2. SPOON chutney it into sterilized jars* and seal the lids while it’s still hot. Use immediately, or keep, refrigerated, for up to 6 weeks. The flavor will improve if stored for a few weeks.
Find more beet recipes at LoveBeets.com.

 
*To sterilize jars, run them through the hottest cycle in your dishwasher or boil in a pan of water for 10 minutes.