The Holidays at Cafe Drake HRV 2013

As always the holidays were a merry blast at Cafe Drake HRV. Our mother visited for Christmas and contributed many seasonal favorites from the family archives plus a few new classics: homemade yeast rolls, cranberry and nut casserole, Swiss fondue, chocolate mousse and Corsetiere's Despair. Christmas Eve was a multi-course affair complete with cocktails, bacon-wrapped baked butter crackers, homemade pate and pickled pomegranate seeds, rabbit braised with onions and chestnuts, rutabaga gratin and so much more. Two recipes - one old and one new - are shared below.

Baked Cranberries

An appropriate side dish for most holiday meals, equally delightful with ham, turkey or any game meats, also try sometime as an easy and quick warm dessert, topped with plenty of whipped cream. Although the amount of sugar used is large, every bit is needed to offset the stubborn tartness of the fresh berries.

Mix together 2 cups fresh cranberries, 2 cups of chopped apples (unpeeled) and 1 cup sugar. Place in a well-buttered casserole dish. Top with a mixture of 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans seem to be the best choice by far). Now dot the casserole with chunks of butter, thoroughly, and bake uncovered for 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven.


Corsetiere's Despair

A wonderfully retro dessert credited originally to Lexie Dean Robertson of Texas, our version comes straight from the genius mind of gourmet guru and food writer Rozanne Gold. Rich and evocative of winter in almost every way, a little goes a long way; the recipe below should satisfy at least 4-6 dinner guests.

Begin with 1/2 lb. of red and white peppermint hard candy or candy canes. Unwrap all. Coarsely chop 1/3 of the candies and grind the remaining to a very fine powder in a food processor or Magic Bullet. Whip 1 pint of heavy cream with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold all of the powdered candy and half of the coarsely chopped into the cream and place in a souffle dish or deep mold. Sprinkle remaining crunchy bits of candy on top. Add 3-4 drops of red food coloring and slash through mixture with a knife, making dramatic swirls. Freeze until hard, about 3 hours and serve very cold.