This recipe for Pistachio Christmas Ribbon Bars brings together 1/2 lb butter or 1/2 lb margarine, softened, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg in a practical dish for home cooking. It takes about 1 hr to prepare and cook. It makes approximately 36 servings.
This is a recipe from an old Sunset Desserts Cookbook, likely from the 1970’s, that was lost during a move. I searched high and low on the internet for this exact recipe, as I remembered it, to no avail. I finally found a copy of the recipe I had handwritten and placed in my mother’s very old cookbook many years ago. Eureka! I wanted to post it here, so that I wouldn’t lose it, and to share so others could enjoy them as well. I used to make these occasionally as a special treat for our family and for holidays and events. Rich and buttery with that wonderful coconut taste with a powdered sugar coating similar to wedding cookies. These are pretty simple to make and are “jr. chef assistant” friendly, especially for little hands to coat them in powdered sugar. Probably one of the best things about these cookies is that they are so great for a “make-ahead” cookie, as the dough is refrigerated and sliced, so you can break up the prep time into different days. Also, the baked cookies improve in flavor as they mature, so another “do-ahead” advantage. They are ideal for “care packages” to mail, if cushioned and packed securely, as they don’t go stale. I hope you enjoy these as much as our family and guests have 🙂
The traditional Caribbean Christmas cake, aka euphoria! This heavy-duty rum fruit cake takes some time to make: with the minimum soaking time the recipe extends over two days, but I always take a month! However, it’s of course not active working time 😉 and the cake is not difficult to make at all, so don’t let the length of the instructions scare you! The most tedious part is chopping the fruit – try to resist to urge to use a food processor, as chopping by hand will give you the best results. Have a glass of wine, listen to your favourite music and make a night of it! If, however, you do give in to temptation, be very careful not to process the fruit into a sticky mass: you want finely chopped, not jam! Serve this wonderful cake in thin slivers with a dollop of whipped cream.
A sticky-rum soaked cartoon of a cake. You must try it, is is worth every ounce of money and effort! My sister’s favorite request every Christmas. I start making it in October. This cake is euphoria. This is Fruitcake done right. YOU WILL NEED TO START THE BAKING PORTION OF THIS CAKE AT LEAST A WEEK BEFORE YOU WANT TO EAT IT. BEGIN SOAKING THE FRUITS AT LEAST A MONTH IN ADVANCE. Not really for the novice baker (only because you have to figure out the baking time on your own based on the size of the cakes you make). I recommend mini loaf pans for this. Merry Christmas!
This is my absolute favourite cake for the Christmas holidays. I would always look forward to this season just to get a piece of this cake. The longer the fruit sits in the alcohol the better is tastes, minimum 2 weeks, maximum 3 months. As for the cake, the longer it sits there better it tastes! But make sure you have it wrapped properly if you want to leave it sitting for a long time. Make at few days ahead of serving for good measure. Prep time is minimum time required for fruit to soak.
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