Sweet, Savory, Decadent, Healthful - All occasion baking with Mani Niall

Bountiful Season-

While winter might not seem like the most fertile time to harvest anything, there is an abundance of squash, cranberries, shelled nuts and yams.  After you have had your fill of pumpkin pie, stuffed roasted squash, bowls of salted nuts and cranberry sauce, there is still a long winter ahead.  And plenty more squash and cranberries and nuts….you can see where I’m going!

December is a great time to bake for family and friends, to bring food as gifts or to simply have snacks on hand.  Cookies are a must.  Dried fruit and nut breads or teacakes are better when homemade with tasty ingredients instead of the overly sugared, artificially colored commercial fruitcakes.  As always, you need a showstopper dessert in your repertoire, something you can be proud to serve at any commemorative meal or holiday gathering.

So I set out to see what I could do with the vegetables and nuts easily harvested all winter.  Each recipe is based on the familiar – that’s a great way to get people to try something new.  Carrot cake and carrot cupcakes are all the rage. Zucchini bread is made from the abundance of zucchini straight from a summer’s garden.   Why not try grating butternut or acorn squash, even sweet potatoes?  The grating blade on a Cuisinart style food processor does the work in seconds. 

Cranberry Orange Walnut Jumbles
The few tablespoons of milk keep the center of this cookie soft while the edges are crisp. Adaptable to just about any group of dried fruit and nuts – dried cherries and almonds, apricots and pecans, pumpkin seeds and chopped dates.  For that matter, substitute the juice and zest of lemons or limes for the orange.  Make it your own cookie!

Butternut Squash, Walnut and Ginger Bread
Feel free to use any hard golden squash or a member of the sweet potato/ yam family.  The easiest way to peel a squash is to cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and place the flat side down on a cutting board.  Use a sharp knife to peel most of the skin, then use a potato peeler to get the narrow strips of skin still adhering.  Cut into manageable chunks for a hand grater or a food processor.

Maple Yam Tart with Almond Crunch
It always surprises me how much people crave pumpkin pie, especially after Thanksgiving! In my efforts to keep it real and fresh, I have tested pumpkin, yams and sweet potatoes.  Preparing your own pumpkin is difficult, as it requires the right pumpkins, such as sugar pumpkins, and they are not easy to find. I prefer sweet potatoes and yams.  Of the two, nothing compares to the rich golden hue of yams. The filling for a tart is slightly thinner than a pie, which suits this rich creamy filling.  Finally, the crisp almond crunch sets it off perfectly.  Pumpkin pie lovers will rave!