[2] Filling the well with ice cream (photo courtesy Proud Italian Cook).

[3] A simpler take: no frosting needed. Here’s the recipe from Vincenzo’s Plate | Huffington Post.

In past years, we’ve offered ways to turn panettone and pandoro—Italian holiday breads—into foods from fondue and tiramisu to PB&J and Nutella sandwiches.

 
This year’s tip: Turn your your panettone into a holiday ice cream cake (the difference between panettone, pandoro and panforte).

It couldn’t be easier. Just cut the panettone in half, scoop out a well in the center and fill it with ice cream. The sweet, yeasty dough, filled candied fruits and nuts, is a delicious complement to ice cream.

You can:

 
We adapted this recipe from Proud Italian Cook.
 
 
RECIPE: PANETTONE ICE CREAM CAKE

Make this recipe one or two days in advance, so the ice cream can harden.

Ingredients

1. CUT the panettone in half horizontally with a serrated knife (if using two pints of ice cream, make the cut higher, at the 2/3 mark). Hollow out the lower portion, leaving a 1-inch base and sides.

2. BRUSH the cut surfaces of the panettone with the optional liqueur.

3. FILL the well with the first flavor of softened ice cream, packing it down firmly (photo #2). Add the optional layer bof brandied cherries. Top with the second layer of ice cream and firmly add the top layer.

If using frosting you can frost the cut rim on the bottom layer as “glue” to help adhere the top (but you won’t be frosting the top until the next day).

4. WRAP the entire panettone in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer until the ice cream hardens. To serve…

5. REMOVE the cake from the freezer, place on a serving platter, and garnish the top as desired (photo #1). Slice and serve.
 
Want a fast hack?

 
 
PANETTONE & PANDORO HISTORY

Who first created these sweet holiday breads, and when? Here’s the scoop.

Here’s a holiday dessert for cheesecake lovers: Spiced Eggnog Cheesecake.

The recipe is from Anne Callaghan, corporate chef of the Charlie Palmer Group in Las Vegas.
 
 
RECIPE: SPICED EGGNOG CHEESECAKE

Ingredients For 10-12 Servings

For The Crust

 
For The Filling

 
For The Garnishes

Sugared Cranberries

 
Chocolate Holly Leaves

[2] A gingersnap crust adds to the holiday theme (photo © Splendid Spoon).

1. MAKE the crust. In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, crushed gingersnaps, sugar and melted butter together. Press into bottom of 9-inch spring form pan. Bake in a 325°F oven for 10 minutes. Let cool on a rack before adding the filling. Increase the oven heat to 425°F.

2. MAKE the filling. In food processor or mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, whipping cream and flour until smooth. Add the eggs, rum, vanilla bean, nutmeg and cinnamon and continue beating until combined. Pour over the crust.

3. MAKE the swirls. Place small spoonfuls of melted chocolate dots equal distance around top of cake and one in the middle. Insert a toothpick into the middle of each chocolate dot and the filling underneath it, and make outward swirls towards the next dot. Continue until you have the majority of the cake covered in swirls.

5. BAKE the cheesecake in a 425°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 250°F and bake for 45 minutes longer or until the edge is set, but the center still jiggles a little. Turn off the oven and run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake; let it cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove cheesecake to rack and let cool completely before garnishing.

6a. PREPARE the garnishes: Make the simple syrup by placing the sugar and water in small saucepan over medium heat; as mixture simmers, stir until combined. Pour the syrup over the cranberries and let cool to room temperature; then, place it in the refrigerator for ½ hour.

6b. REMOVE the cranberries from the syrup and shake off any excess syrup. Place the granulated sugar on a large flat plate and roll the individual cranberries in sugar until they are lightly dusted. Place the sugar-coated cranberries on a large plate, making sure that they do not touch.

7a. MAKE the chocolate holly: Melt semi-sweet chocolate over a double boiler and let cool slightly. Place the melted chocolate between two pieces of waxed paper, and roll out the chocolate until it is 1/8-inch thick. Place on baking sheet and refrigerate until firm.

7b. USING a sharp knife, cut out holly leaf shapes and use the back of the knife to make leaf details. Garnish the top of the cheesecake with several clusters of chocolate holly leaves and sugared cranberries.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF EGGNOG
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHEESECAKE

Topping ice cubes with edible glitter: We love this idea from A Subtle Revelry. It’s spot-on for New Year’s Eve or any holiday of the year, plus celebrations like birthdays and festivities like the Super Bowl.

For sparkling wine, ginger ale, water and other light-color drinks, it’s easy to add glitter to your glass.

You can use them in darker drinks, of course, but they show best when light refracts through them.

Here are step-by-step instructions (which can be summed up as “make ice cubes” and “top with glitter”).

If you don’t want to use ice cubes—in the sparkling wine, for example—you can use the glitter as a glass rimmer.

In addition to sparkling glitter in some two dozen colors, there are gold stars, and dozens of other shapes and colors. Just check out these options.

Just make sure what you buy is edible (see the next section).
 
 
WHAT IS EDIBLE GLITTER?

Edible glitter is made from starch-based food products that can be digested by the body.

“Non-toxic” glitter may sound safe, but it isn’t edible: It is manufactured from plastic and is not digestible.

Don’t let the name fool you, either. Products names such as luster dust, pearl dust, sparkle dust, twinkle dust, shimmer powder etc., may sound edible. And online blogs and videos may promote their use.

But unless the product says edible, it isn’t.

Here’s more about it from the FDA.
  

What do you do when you’re a well-known Champagne house that wants to grow, but is constrained by lack of land and legal restrictions in the Champagne province of France?

Head to vineyards in the New World!

Some, including Mumm, Moët et Chandon, Roederer and Taittinger, have found success bringing their time-honored craft to the California.

Domaine Chandon was established in Napa Valley “way back” in 1973, Mumm Napa a few years later.

A more recent entry—the first bottling was released this spring—is Louis Pommery California, a Chardonnay-based wine with 4% Pinot Noir grapes. The effort yields a toasty-floral aroma and palate notes of apple, peach, and very well-balanced acidity and minerality.

At $24 a bottle, it’s affordable for holiday toasting, gifting…and year-round weekend dinners or apéritifs.

The sparkler pairs perfectly with appetizers, fish and seafood entrées, chicken dishes, pasta with white or oil sauces, lemon tart, and much Asian cuisine.

Discover more at ChampagnePommery.com.

New sparkler in town: Louis Pommery California, scion of the great French champagne house (photo courtesy Chilled Magazine).

Alexandre Louis Pommery, a retired wool merchant, co-founded his eponymous champagne house in 1856. But following his death in 1858, his widow, the former Jeanne Alexandrine Louise Melin, took over operations.

At age 38, she was the mother of two, and in charge of not only a family and household, but a vineyard and champagne house.

She had a very clear idea of the style of wine she wanted to make: delicate, fine, and very dry. In 1874 she developed the brut champagne style, steering the world away from sweet champagne to this drier style [source].

Today, brut is by far the leading sparkling wine style produced worldwide.

More about Champagne:

[2] You can cut shapes with cookie cutters (here’s how from Martha Stewart).

[3] Marshmallows with red food color (photo courtesy Plush Puffs).

Let everyone else go crazy at the mall, crazy with wrapping paper, crazy with Christmas dinner prep.

We have a chillaxing day with nothing to do but make these marshmallows (someone else is cooking this year).

Unlike supermarket marshmallows, homemade marshmallows are tender, melt in your mouth and have great flavor.

You can flavor them with different extracts, tint them with food colors and cut them into any shape (photo #2).

Don’t like peppermint? Use any of the extracts you have: almond, anise, banana, cinnamon, coconut, hazelnut, lemon, maple, pumpkin…McCormick makes more than 20 flavors.

We’ll be packaging the marshmallows in cellophane bags with holiday ribbon, as party favors for Christmas dinner.

And we’ll be making an extra pan for us: for snacking, dropping into hot chocolate, and to dip into chocolate fondue.

Prep time is 40 minutes. Thanks to McCormick for the recipe.

BONUS: The history of marshmallows, originally made from the sap of a marsh plant.

And here’s a recipe for Peppermint Crunch Marshmallows, with pieces of candy cane inside.
 
 
RECIPE: PEPPERMINT MARSHMALLOWS

Ingredients For 24 Marshmallows

 
Preparation

1. SPRAY a 9-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; then coat with some of the confectioner’s sugar. Set aside.

2. MICROWAVE* 1/2 cup of the water, the granulated sugar and corn syrup in a 4-cup glass measuring cup or a medium microwavable bowl, on HIGH for 7 minutes†. Then stir to dissolve the sugar and microwave on HIGH 5 minutes longer (the mixture will have a slight yellow tint). Carefully remove hot bowl from microwave. Meanwhile…

4. SPREAD the marshmallow mixture in the pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Immediately drop the food color over top and swirl with toothpick.

TIP: We used both red and green food colors. We swirled the green (photo #1), and then dropped red dots in the “white space” for a modern art effect.

5. SIFT 2 tablespoons of the confectioner’s sugar over top and let stand at room temperature overnight; or refrigerate at least 3 hours.

6. PLACE the remaining confectioner’s sugar in a large bowl. Cut the marshmallows into 1-1/2-inch squares (or into shapes with cookie cutters). Add the marshmallows in batches to the bowl of sugar and toss to coat well. Shake off the excess.

STORE the marshmallows in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

________________

*Stove Top Directions: Cook the syrup mixture in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, until the mixture just begins to color and reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer. Continue as directed.

†Microwave ovens vary; adjust cooking times as needed. Cooking times are based on a 1200 watt microwave oven.