A gift for your favorite lover of luxe black truffles: truffle croissants!

Baked exclusively for Williams Sonoma by San Francisco’s Le Marais Bakery, these handmade, small-batch croissants are indeed a treat.

They arrive frozen, to be baked fresh at home for an experience that instantly transports you to Paris.

Light and flaky, these savory croissants are filled with:

 
They’ll make a holiday breakfast or brunch a very special experience.

Perhaps with these truffled scrambled eggs?
 
 
GET YOURS HERE

Exclusive to Williams Sonoma for the holiday season, the package of 10 croissants is available at Williams-Sonoma.com.

Are you sure you want just one package?
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUFFLES

[1] Truffle croissants from Williams Sonoma (photo © Williams Sonoma).

[2] Truffles are sliced with a special truffle shaver. Both are available from Gourmet Attitude (photo © Williams Sonoma).

[1] Save time making and par-baking a pie crust, with this beauty from Three Babes Bakeshop in San Francisco (photo © Good Eggs).

[2] The pie crust is delivered frozen, to store in the freezer until you’re ready to bake your pie (photos #2 and #3 © Three Babes Bake Shop | San Francisco).

[3] Voilà: your pie!

This article features a par-baked pie crust that you can buy, ready to fill and re-bake (photos #1, #2 and #3—see details below).

It’s appropriate for pumpkin pies and other pies of the season.

Inveterate pie bakers will have come across an instruction to “par-bake” the crust.

Par-baking means to partially bake an empty pie shell before adding the filling.

Blind baking and pre baking are synonyms for the same technique.

Par-baking is called for when the filling takes less time to bake than the crust—such as custard pies, cream pies, quiche, all with lots of eggs in the filling.

You may even have seen pie weights—stainless steel balls or ceramic beads that weigh down the bottom of the crust.

Why? So that the dough keeps its shape and doesn’t puff up, only to slump down in a mess when the par-baked crust comes out of the oven.

But you don’t need special pie weights.

Dry beans from your pantry do just fine, and can be reused to bake more pies.

No dry beans? No pie weights? Use uncooked rice!

No matter what you use, place a round of parchment paper or aluminum foil between the crust and the weights/beans/rice. And allow the pie shell to cool completely before adding the filling.

Note Re Beans & Rice

 
Your recipe will no doubt provide the instructions for par-baking. But if you need a tutorial, look here.
 

BUY A DELICIOUS PAR-BAKED PIE SHELL

Good Eggs, a Bay area grocery delivery service that provides fresh groceries, including baked goods and sustainable meat, dairy and eggs, from top Bay area producers. Here’s more about Good Eggs.

One of their time-savers this holiday season is this par-baked pie shell (photos at left) from Three Babes Bake Shop in San Francisco.

Good Eggs only delivers locally, but you can order the crusts directly from Three Babes Bakeshop, which ships nationwide.

Save time with this beautiful, par-baked, ready-to-fill crust.

Keep it in the freezer until ready to use. Then, just fill the frozen pie shell and bake as per your recipe’s instructions.

It’s a prettier fluted crust than we could ever hope to make.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF PIE

> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PIE & PASTRY

This festive mocktail is a refreshing apéritif for the holidays—and can be made into a cocktail with a splash of gin, tequila or vodka (we like gin or flavored vodka best).

Or, see the tip below to add spirits, including flavored vodka.

Thanks to Pampered Chef for the recipe.
 
 
RECIPE: CRAN-RASPBERRY FIZZ

Let the sorbet soften at room temperature as you prepare the other ingredients.
 
 
Ingredients For 16 Servings

 
Preparation

1. SLICE two of the limes into wheels for garnish. If you have a mandoline with a v-shaped blade, it’s much easier. Set aside.

2. POUR the cranberry juice concentrate and water into a large pitcher.

3. JUICE the remaining limes and add to the pitcher. If you have a citrus press, you can juice them right into the pitcher.

4. SCOOP the sorbet into the pitcher using an ice cream scoop; whisk to combine.

5. ADD the ginger ale and the lime slices. Stir gently to mix (you don’t want to burst the bubbles). Serve over ice.

[1] This Cran-Raspberry mocktail can be easily turned into a cocktail (both photos © Pampered Chef).

[2] This Large Plunger Pitcher from Pampered Chef does the mixing for you.

[1] Butternut squash (photo © Good Eggs).

[2] Sweet potatoes (photo © North Carolina Sweet Potatoes).

[3] You can mash either butternut squash or sweet potatoes. The choice is yours (photo © Chef Ingrid Hoffmann)

It’s the time of year where lots sweet potatoes and winter squash are served up.

They’re both orange, a color that owes thanks to lots of the antioxidant† beta-carotene.

They’re both yummy.

But are they equally nutritious? Nope.
 
 
SWEET POTATO SHOCKER

Sweet potatoes have about double the calories, carbs, and sugar than than butternut squash (see the chart below—source).

While sweet potatoes do have more fiber and protein than butternut squash, the numbers are not significant like the calorie and carb numbers:

 
We side with the squash.

And actually, cup for cup acorn squash is the most nutritious of all the winter squash varieties—but it’s smaller and thus yields less meat‡.

It has more calcium, folate, magnesium (nearly one-third of a day’s worth in one cup) and potassium than butternut, hubbard and spaghetti squash.

Of course, all winter squash varieties deliver on nutrition. In addition to fiber and protein, their nutrition includes:

 
So at it’s basic best, winter squash is health food!
________________

*There are 11 types of winter squash: acorn, banana, buttercup, butternut, delicata, hubbard, kabocha, pumpkin, spaghetti, sweet dumpling and turban squash. Summer squash has a thin peel that can be eaten. Yellow squash and zucchini are examples.

†An antioxidant is an enzyme or other organic molecule that reduces the rate of particular oxidation reactions and can counteract the damaging effects of oxygen in tissues. Here’s more about antioxidants.

‡In addition to referring to the flesh of animals used as food, “meat” also designates the edible part of anything, e.g. a fruit or nut.

Rum Raisin ice cream is typically a holiday special in American grocery stores, although it’s delicious year-round.

Raisins are plumped up with rum and mixed into vanilla ice cream.

But if you buy a commercial brand, you’re more likely to get raisins plumped in rum flavor instead of alcohol. And that doesn’t produce much rum flavor.

So the joy of making your own Rum Raisin is getting an authentic rum hit in every bite.

Our recipe is below. But first…
 
 
THE HISTORY OF RUM RAISIN ICE CREAM

Rum Raisin ice cream was first introduced to the U.S. market in the 1980’s by Häagen-Dazs®. But it has a much older history.

The origins of Rum Raisin ice cream can be traced back to a popular ingredient in European dessert dishes, called Málaga. It was a sweet condiment or sauce made using marinated Málaga raisins.

Málaga raisins were made from Muscat grapes on Spain’s Costa del Sol (home of the port city of Málaga).

These meaty, juicy, higher-sugar raisins were special enough to earn a P.D.O. certification (Protected Designation of Origin) from the E.U., certifying that they are produced in the specific region.

Among other uses, the raisins were soaked in wine and added to cakes and other desserts. And, they were exported across Europe.

The First Rum Raisin Ice Cream

The Sicilians were the first to create Málaga gelato, the forerunner of Rum Raisin ice cream, using the Málaga raisins marinated in Sicily’s Marsala wine (the history of ice cream).

The raisins were soaked overnight and mixed into vanilla gelato, providing a bursts of sweet raisins and Marsala in every bite.

But in the late 17th century, Europe saw a massive increase in sugar and rum imports from the Caribbean. Many traditional recipes were adapted to incorporate them.

It turned out that rum was an excellent substitute for wine in the making of Málaga—and with more of an alcoholic flavor!

As a result, the Sicilians switched to using rum in their Málaga gelato. The recipe came to the U.S. during the late 19th century wave of Italian immigration [source].
 
 
RECIPE: RUM RAISIN ICE CREAM

Make a more eye-catching ice cream with a mix of dark and golden raisins (sultanas). You can also toss some dried cranberries into the mix.

Most recipes suggest marinating the raisins in rum overnight. The longer they marinate, the more alcoholic they get. For the full buzz, you can marinate them for up to a week.

We prefer the more complex flavors of dark rum. If you don’t have any and don’t want to buy a bottle, you can use what you have on hand. You can also use spiced rum.

For a separate use, you can use the marinated raisins as a topping on scoops of ice cream (caramel, chocolate, strawberry…), or layered in a parfait.

If you’re tempted to add more rum, note that alcohol does not freeze. The more rum, the softer, creamier consistency of the ice cream. Adding a tad more than the two tablespoons of reserved rum, and you’ll end up with soft serve.

The day before, read the manufacturer’s directions on your ice cream maker; you may have to freeze the bowl overnight.

And if you don’t have the time or inclination to make ice cream from scratch, here’s how to make Rum Raisin ice cream with store-bought vanilla. Check out the different types of vanilla ice cream below
 
 
Ingredients For 1-1/2 Quarts

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the raisins and rum in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let marinate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Then drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the rum. Set the raisins and reserved rum aside.

If you don’t have 8 hours to marinate, speed the process by placing the rum and raisins in a small saucepan over high heat. When the mixture begins to boil, remove it from the heat, let cool and allow to soak for two hours.

(Note: You don’t have to throw out the rest of the rum marinade. It’s perfectly drinkable!)

[1] Rum raisin ice cream. For more eye appeal, use a mixture of both dark and golden (sultana) raisins (photo © Wisconsin Dairy).

[2] PDO Málaga raisins, the original raisins in Rum Raisin ice cream, are especially plump and juicy (photo © Spanish Shop Online).

[3] A dark rum is preferable for Rum Raisin ice cream (photo © WP Wines).

[4] Just want to buy a pint? Haagen-Daz is a standard—but we mix in some real rum (© Haagen-Dazs).

[5] Which type of vanilla ice cream should you use? We prefer the creamier French Vanilla or Old Fashioned Vanilla (photo © Alden’s Organic).

3. POUR the custard through a fine strainer into a large bowl. Stir in the drained raisins along with the 2 tablespoons of reserved rum, the cream and the vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of the custard, and refrigerate until chilled or overnight.

4. POUR the custard into an ice cream maker, and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions until churned and thick. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until set, at least 4 hours.

5. SERVE. For adults, consider passing the rum bottle or a small pitcher of rum, to optionally pour over their ice cream.
 

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF VANILLA ICE CREAM

Some brands offer only basic vanilla, others also make French Vanilla.

Alden Organics, offers three types of vanilla ice cream:

 
Which type should you buy?

For the Rum Raisin ice cream, pie à la mode or other dessert, it’s up to you. The flavor nuances are less easy to discern in a shake or a malt.

But here’s a fun suggestion: Buy all three and have a taste test!
 
________________

*Some brands also add egg yolks to their Old Fashioned Vanilla ice cream.