How to Host a Successful Dinner Party

A thousand points of light: What to say about candles that hasn’t already been said? A while ago, I whinged about the poor quality of tea lights imported from China (see my Dinner Party Guidelines and Tips blog dated Oct. 12, 2012. I’ve written several other blogs offering Guidelines and Tips. You'll find them in the Index under Dinner Party).

I feel I haven’t said enough about light. Who possibly could? Light is essential to our physical and psychological well-being, not only outside but inside our homes. I once saw photos of a professionally lit New York dining room that featured white walls, white tablecloths, white candles, and white flowers. White-on-white is a beautiful and elegant combination, but what really set the scene were hidden pink up-lights, trained softly on the walls. The place glowed. It was gorgeous.

While you may not own a mansion to allow such scope in design and decor, light remains a critical part of your everyday life - and of your life as host who welcomes others to your home. Light is like the little black dress of fashion fame. You can jazz it up - or down. Light is one of a home’s most important elements, helping to create a mood, a feeling of well being, or a feeling of unease. 

Would you rather sit in a room with fluorescent lighting, or bask in  the glow of a fireplace? Okay, I’ve biased the question, but which would you rather have? I’d rather sit under fluorescents at the laundromat, but give me a fireplace and warm lighting anytime, at home.

I’m writing these words the night before you read them. Even as I write, I have a lit candle beside me, providing the comfort and psychological warmth I’m missing by not watching TV with Ron. Just as candles are important in our lives, so is adjustable lighting. 

I’m a huge fan of lowering the lights when we entertain, and jacking them up when I cook or set the table or read or write a recipe - in other words, I’m a huge fan of dimmer switches.

Lighting dimmers work brilliantly with halogen lights in the ceiling, creating a mood of intimacy after the lights go down low (I feel a song coming on!), and one of efficiency when there’s no one around (Another song! I’d better jump in the shower and start singing!). Dimmer switches are a major element in setting the mood for any dinner party - as well as setting the mood in your home.

As you probably know, dimmers can be easily retrofitted on most light-switch plates. They can be pricey, but - if your electrical system allows it - buy the best one you can, starting with one or two rooms. A dimmer switch in the dining room will make an immediate difference in how you, your family, and your guests perceive the time they spend around your table.

Although it became a political phrase, one cannot ignore the effect a thousand points of light creates. Whether candles on the table, on the sideboard, or in the window, candles draw attention when the lights are dimmed. Menorahs, Christmas trees, Ramadan lanterns, and Diwali candles are all more beautiful when they’re lit. Each focuses the attention. Each makes us think. Each is a gathering point for those we love and those who love us back.

Indistinguishable from the real thing -
with battery-operated "flames"

The number one rule for candles at the dinner table? No scents! That rule is fixed and unbreakable. Everything else is optional, though I do hope you’ll consider some of these ideas.

Candles can be dangerous. Courtesy of the old “flame + Christmas decoration trick,” I once set fire to the foyer table during a holiday dinner party. The 21^st Century answer to that are the battery-operated candles that glow so beautifully on a mantel or wall sconce - just high enough that no one seated can tell that there’s no lit wick. This year’s improvement on that good idea are incredibly beautiful pillar candles with a flickering “flame” that is indistinguishable from the real thing. 

They’re still not widely available, but because they operate on a battery with a flickering disc of opaque plastic, these candles will never cause a fire. A bonus: Both types of battery-operated candles operate on a five-hour internal timer - set it and forget it.

They're expensive - roughly $170 for three of the flickering kind - but the safety factor and their realism make them a good value. Moreover, there’s no messy wax clean-up and the batteries seem to last forever. Mine go on at 5 each afternoon and turn themselves off at 10. Guests can never believe that these candles with their flickering “flames” aren’t real; the technology is amazing!

Hurricane lamps (with candles) are also an excellent idea, and are safer than towering candleholders or candelabras. A simple, charming oil lamp or oil lantern can provide exactly the right touch to make a dinner party cozy.

I once kept candles from toppling with melted candle wax or with bunched foil or rubber bands at their base. I now secure candles with a soft, waxy product specifically made for that purpose. It comes in a little tin and is available in discerning gift and card stores - the same sort of places you’ll find glass discs that slip over candles to catch wax drips and keep your table or cloth pristine. Michael’s, the craft store, also sells these.

A thousand points of light? I hope you use light in the best possible way during the holiday season! It always makes me a little sad when hosts don’t light the dinner-party candles at the table. Why “save” them? Every day is special - not just the “holidays”!

xox

Nicole 

Dinner Party Series: Early Christmas

Hazelnut Torte: Worth the effort!

We recently celebrated an Early Christmas Dinner for a visiting family member who lives out of town. Although we love turkey, we were ready for a change. Ron made most of the meal while I focused on dessert. We didn’t have the full complement of vegetables we usually do because we were trying to take it easy and spend as much time as possible with our guest, so Ron cobbled up his own version of Scalloped Potatoes, some lightly steamed broccoli and carrots, and a beautiful Baked Ham that we’re still eating to this day.

I’d normally make dessert and set the table the day or night before, but I was tired and turned in early, so I made dessert on the day of the event while Ron made the rest of the meal. Dessert was elaborate but well worth the effort: I made the splendid Hazelnut Torte I blogged June 13, 2012. If you have an extra day to bake and decorate this superb, gluten-free torte, by all means do! Be sure to check if any guests have nut or dairy allergies. 

Ron’s ham? It was quite simply the best we’ve ever had. We bought a 10-pounder, not thinking that the average serving is ⅓-lb. per person. I now believe it was enough for 30! Since feeding five of us our Early Christmas Dinner, we’ve breakfasted on ham and eggs, lunched on grilled ham sandwiches made with cheese and egg, munched our way through a ham-and-vegetable casserole - you get the point! This gorgeous chunk of meat cost $20 and proved a bargain. And yes, we still have plenty left! 

When we finally arrive at the highly prized soup bone, I’m going to pass along my late friend Denny Boyd’s Christmas Eve Pea Soup - the single-best pea soup I’ve ever made or tasted. 

How did Ron prepare that beautiful Baked Ham? His recipe follows in the blog below, as does his great recipe for Scalloped Potatoes. Tomorrow, I’ll feature more of my promised Guidelines and Tips for easier entertaining, and the day after that, Denny's fabulous soup, so you'll have a plenty of time to make it before Christmas Eve! 

And now I must dash to wrap Ron’s gift! It’s snowing in the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where I Live. There’s magic in the air!

Ron’s Baked Ham

I emitted a small whoop of joy when Ron decided to bake a ham for our Early Christmas Dinner - first, because he promised to cook it, and second, because it feels like only yesterday that we enjoyed our Thanksgiving bird.

Hamming it up for Christmas

Turkey is a holiday tradition at our house, but it’s great to have a change. I must admit, I’m a little nervous around ham, the way a woman on her first date worries that she’ll have a strand of spinach draped across a tooth after dinner.

(That actually happened to my Auntie Rigmor on her first date with my Uncle Bill. Didn’t make any difference. This Christmas Eve, they’ll celebrate 72 years of marriage. My aunt and uncle live in California, but have a long way to go to break any records. The honor for the longest marriage ever belonged to New Yorkers Daniel and Susan Bakeman, who were married 91 years and 12 days. I kid you not.) 

Ham unnerves me - with good reason. There was the infamous Year of the Clove, when I studded the ham with cloves so extensively that the kitchen smelled like a dental office. 

There was the Year of Catch Me If You Can, in which a clutch of wide-eyed guests watched as the cooked ham slid off the plate and onto the floor. I picked it up, carried it into the kitchen, and 30 seconds later trotted back to the dining room with the words: “Good thing I made two of these!” No one was fooled.

There was the Year of the Pemmican when I - thinking more is, well, more - cranked the oven to 425 deg. F. and let ’er rip! Which the ham did, falling from the knife like a chunk of jerky.

Over the years, I’ve come to believe that hams are a heap of trouble. I’ve been wrong. Ron’s ham was effortless to prepare (for me, at least) and as moist and delicious as they come. I usually score the fatty sheath on a ham (hence, the Year of the Clove), but Ron didn’t need to. The 10-lb. (4.5 kg) beauty he bought was so well trimmed that there was no fat to be found. If I ever get that lean, he’ll probably sell tickets.

The difference between men and women who cook is that if a woman offered you her Baked Ham recipe, there would be instructions for pan preparations and measurements and fussy little Notes and all those things women do. When a man cooks a ham, it’s a pinch of this and a pound of that and the “pineapple-glazed thing” or the “brown-sugar thing” ... Watch these videos and you’ll soon get the picture! 

You’ll note that the man demonstrating how to cook a ham touches it all over with his fingers. Then you’ll note that he appears to have a cold. YECH! (If you're an email subscriber to this blog and these YouTube videos show up on your screen as a “blocked plug-in,” watch them by clicking on the original post rather than the emailed version).

Ron’s Baked Ham:

To Prepare a Fully Cooked Ham:

One big sucker of a fully cooked (“ready-to-eat”), bone-in ham

Ham should stand at room temperature for 2 hr. before cooking.

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. Place ham on rack in uncovered roasting pan. If ham has fatty sheath, score in diamond pattern so fat can drip off. Insert meat thermometer away from bone (placing thermometer near bone produces false reading). Bake until ham reaches internal temperature of 135 deg. F. Tent ham with foil and allow to rest until ham reaches an internal temperature of 140 deg. F. and about 5 degrees less if ham will be glazed.

To Prepare the Glaze:

1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. dried mustard
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Remove ham from oven. Raise oven heat to 425 deg. F. while combining sugar, mustard, and vinegar in small bowl. Brush over ham. Return ham to oven and immediately lower heat to 325 deg. F. Bake a further 20 min. or until ham reaches internal temperature of 140 deg. F. Slice and serve.

Note: The cooking times and internal temperatures of various types of ham is actually a little complicated. Refer to the chart at http://askville.amazon.com/long-bake-ham-oven/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=344022 for detailed information about cooking times and internal temperatures, which vary with the type of ham and with whether or not it has a bone.

Ron’s Scalloped Potatoes

The single sexiest thing a man can do is learn to cook. If you don’t believe me, read the story of poor, lonely Kenneth, rescued by love only when he learned to cook (see my Aug. 10, 2011 blog titled Kenneth’s Slam-Bam-Thank-You-Ma’am Blackberry Pie).

Believe me when I say that Ron is a very sexy man. He doesn't just cook ... he sizzles (That should be good for another week’s dinners cooked by Himself)!

The day Ron prepared much of our Early Christmas Dinner, I suggested that a potato casserole would complement our ham to perfection. He agreed. This was the result.

Between the two of them, they licked the platter clean!

Ron’s Scalloped Potatoes:

4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 5 c.)

3 tbsp. (45 mL) butter

3 tbsp. (45 mL) flour

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) salt

Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) cayenne pepper

1-½ c. (375 mL) milk (Ron used skim)

1-½ c. (375 mL) grated aged cheddar, divided

1 medium onion, sliced paper-thin

Additional butter, as needed

3-to-4 tbsp. (45-to-60 mL) heavy cream

Paprika, as garnish

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. Grease a 1-½ qt. (1.5 L) heat-proof casserole dish (Ron used a 10-½-in. (27 cm diameter) circular dish. 

Place potato slices in cold water to keep from browning. Set aside. Melt butter over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Whisk in flour, salt, and peppers, stirring until melted. Continuing to whisk, slowly add milk, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat, stirring in 1 c. (250 mL) grated cheese until completely melted.

Drain potatoes, quickly blotting dry. Layer half of potatoes and all of onion into casserole dish. Pour half cheese sauce over potatoes. Dab with butter. Repeat with remaining potatoes, cheese sauce, and dabs of butter. Top with remaining ½ c. (125 mL) grated cheese. Spoon heavy cream around edge of dish. 

Garnish with a few shakes of paprika. Bake, uncovered, 60-to-70 min., or until golden brown. Keep an eye on these potatoes:  A wide, thin baking dish such as this will cook them faster than a deep dish.

Mandarin Brie

What makes this easy appetizer great is that it takes only a few moments to assemble. Let me show you how!

Mandarin Brie:

One 1 lb. (450 g) wheel of Brie
1 mandarin orange, peeled, sectioned, pith removed
⅓ c. orange marmalade, as needed
1 tbsp. orange-flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

Have Brie and marmalade at room temperature. If chilled, microwave Brie 12-to-15 sec. Place slightly warmed Brie on plate or cheese board, marking center of cheese with toothpick or cheese pin. Array mandarin orange sections in a circle around pick or pin.

Microwave marmalade in heat-proof measuring cup, also 12-to-15 sec. Stir orange-flavored liqueur into slightly warmed marmalade. Spoon marmalade over mandarin slices, allowing excess to drip over sides of cheese. Serve with crackers. May be prepared up to 2 hr. ahead. Cover loosely and store at room temperature until ready to serve.

Magic: Orange-flavored brandy with Brie ...

Marmalade ...

And mandarin slices

Ready in moments, this is delicious! 

Excellent when time is tight or guests drop in

Tomorrow: A Small, Early Christmas Dinner with upcoming Guidelines and Tips for entertaining.

Nicole’s Chickpea Salad

Long one of my favorite recipes, today’s splendid Chickpea Salad makes a light and refreshing change at this time of year. It’s quick to make, low in fat, and rich in antioxidants. I’m more than happy to blog it for you, because this blog is also my online cookbook - the source I turn to first, because it sure beats poring over dozens of cookbooks and thousands of filing cards to find the recipe I’m seeking. 

Feel free to vary the ingredients with whatever’s on hand - diced celery, a handful of fresh or frozen green peas, or anything else your heart desires. Just don’t omit the chick peas!

Nicole’s Chickpea Salad:

One 19-oz. (540 mL) can chickpeas (also called “garbanzo beans”)

¼ (60 mL) medium red bell pepper (“capsicum”), diced

6 green onions (“spring onions”), diced

5 or 6 cherry tomatoes, halved

⅓ c. (80 mL) cilantro, finely chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

Drain, rinse, and blot dry chickpeas. Combine with remaining ingredients. Toss with ¼-to-⅓ c. (60-to-80 mL) Ron’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. To keep the natural color of chickpeas and other ingredients, use white balsamic vinegar in this recipe.

Start with a simple can of chickpeas - a kitchen staple!

Add diced green onions and other fresh ingredients.

This salad’s bright colors and flavors are tops!

Add cilantro, Ron’s quick dressing, and serve! 

Chocolate-Cherry Creams

This is one of those decadent delights that makes a beautiful holiday gift! Give yourself “permission” to enjoy one, yourself!

Chocolate-Cherry Creams:

1 c. plus 1 tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ c. evaporated milk

2-½ c. sifted icing sugar

⅓ c. chopped maraschino cherries, drained and blotted dry

⅓ c. chopped walnuts

1-¼ c. sweetened, shredded coconut

Combine chocolate chips and milk in medium, heavy saucepan, stirring over low heat until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat, beating in icing sugar, cherries, and walnuts. Chill dough about an hour, or until firm enough to handle. Shape into balls and roll in coconut. Store in airtight container in fridge. Yields 30 1-in. balls.

Chocolate Cherries with Stems

I make these outstanding chocolate-cherry treats every Christmas! You don’t have to use a candy-dipper, but it helps to keep the stems from falling off. If that happens, rest assured that these will be every bit as delicious. I don’t recommend using “natural” peanut butter in this recipe. Use the soft kind that spreads easily.

Chocolate Cherries with Stems:

34 maraschino cherries with stems, drained and blotted dry

1-½ c. smooth peanut butter

1-½ c. sifted icing sugar

1-½ c. chopped walnuts or unsalted peanuts

Six 1-oz. (28 g) squares semi-sweet chocolate

2 tbsp. butter or margarine

After carefully blotting dry, rest the cherries on a paper towel, setting aside until needed. Using clean or gloved hands, combine room-temperature peanut butter, icing sugar, and nuts until mixture holds together. Mold slightly more than 1 tsp. around each cherry, being carefully to leave stems intact. 

Partially melt chocolate chips and butter in a heat-proof bowl over simmering - not boiling - water in saucepan, effectively making your own “double boiler.” Stir until smooth to complete melting. Keep warm. Using two forks or a candy dipper, carefully dip each cherry into the melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper to cool. Refrigerate in airtight container until ready to serve. Yields 34.

Cranberry Sauce with Port

This terrific Cranberry Sauce recipe puts a new twist on an old favorite.  Each is delicious! 

Cranberry Sauce with Port:

5 c. (1.25 L) fresh or frozen cranberries

2 c. (500 mL) granulated sugar

½ c. plus 1 tbsp. (265 mL) water

2 tbsp. (30 mL) raspberry vinegar or apple cider vinegar

2 tsp. (10 mL) grated orange zest

One 3-in. cinnamon stick, halved

¼ c. (60 mL) port

Combine cranberries, sugar, water, vinegar, orange zest, and cinnamon in large saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Boil gently, uncovered, stirring frequently for 5-to-10 min., or until berries pop. Stir in port, simmering an additional 2 min. Discard cinnamon stick. Yields 3-½ cups  (875 mL).

For more cranberry recipes like this one, see One Click: Cranberry Sauces, Relish, and Chutney.

Cranberry Relish

This excellent “relish” takes its name from an interesting mix of ingredients - cranberries, an apple, a pear - as well as its unusual preparation method. The rum adds a wonderfully rich flavor. This is certainly one of my favorite recipes! 

Cranberry Relish:

3 c. (750 mL) fresh or frozen cranberries

1 c. (250 mL) granulated sugar

¾ c. (175 mL) water

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 ripe, medium pear, peeled, cored, and chopped

2 tsp. (10 mL) grated orange zest

¼ c. (60 mL) light rum

Place cranberries in food processor fitted with metal blade, pulsing several times until coarsely chopped. Transfer to large, heat-proof bowl. Combine sugar and water in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, cooking 3 min. without stirring. Pour boiled syrup over cranberries, mixing well.

Stir apple and pear into cranberry mixture. Add orange zest. Cool to room temperature before stirring in rum. Cool, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Transfer to serving bowl with a slotted spoon. Yields 8-to-10 servings.

For more cranberry recipes like this one, see One Click: Cranberry Sauces, Relish, and Chutney.

Cranberry Apple-Cinnamon Sauce

I found this excellent low-sugar recipe several years ago in Canadian Living Magazine. I’ve modified it slightly. Much of its sweetness (as well as some of the natural pectin necessary to jell this lovely sauce) comes from the apple juice and the apple in the recipe. 

Cranberry Apple-Cinnamon Sauce:

1 c. (250 mL) unsweetened apple juice

⅓ c. (80 mL) liquid honey

2 tbsp. (30 mL) granulated sugar

3 c. (750 mL) fresh or frozen cranberries

1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

One 3-in. cinnamon stick, halved

In a large saucepan, bring apple juice, honey, and sugar to a boil on medium-high heat. Add cranberries, apple, and cinnamon stick. Reduce heat to medium. stirring occasionally and cooking for about 10 min. or berries pop and sauce is thick enough to mound on spoon. Let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate 1 hr. or until chilled. Discard cinnamon stick. Refrigerated in an airtight container, can be made several days ahead. Yields about 2 c. (500 mL) 

For more cranberry recipes like this one, see One Click: Cranberry Sauces, Relish, and Chutney.

Small ’n’ Simple Fruit Cake

I’ve been lazy this year, scaling down the usual frenzy of Christmas baking. When that happens for any number of reasons, this quick Small ’n’ Simple Fruit Cake comes to the rescue. As with Margo Oliver’s Light Fruit Cake that I blogged yesterday (Dec. 13, 2012 post), today’s fruit cake requires only a few days’ ripening, so it can still be made in time for the holidays. The recipe makes two loaves - one for you, and one for a gift. I’ve been making this easy cake for more years than I care to count!

Small ’n’ Simple Fruit Cake:

1-½ c. butter

½ c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. almond flavoring
6 eggs
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Dash of salt
½ c. dark rum
3 c. golden or sultana raisins
¾ c. diced candied peel or halved candied cherries
½ c. slivered almonds
Almond paste, as garnish (optional)

Prepare two 9x5x2-in. loaf pans by greasing well and lining with two or three layers of greased brown paper. Set aside. Have all ingredients at room temperature. 

Cream together butter, sugar, and almond flavoring. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half of dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating additions with rum and starting and ending with dry ingredients. Beat well and set aside. 

Combine fruit-and-nut mixture in another bowl, mixing well. Add remaining half of dry ingredients to fruit and nuts, mixing by hand before stirring into creamed mixture. Preheat oven to 250 deg, F. Pour well-combined cake batter into loaf pans, baking 3 hr. on medium oven rack. Cool completely before removing from pans and peeling away paper.

As with the previous recipe, store in a tightly sealed container for several days. One day before serving, press rolled, room-temperature almond paste over top of cake/s. Decorate almond paste with additional candied cherries and peel, if desired. If you'd like to make your own almond paste, see my blog of Nov. 13, 2011.

Tomorrow: Three great recipes that ain’t your Momma’s Cranberry Sauce. All make excellent gifts!

Margo Oliver’s Light Fruit Cake

Yippee! The spam that attacked this blog is forever gone (see my post of Nov. 13, 2012). I have seen the enemy and it is us. Erk! All I had to do was, um, was raise my spam filter settings. Quel embarrassing, wot? But the problem has disappeared.

I know life has been difficult since my lengthy hiatus from blogging. After all, the National Hockey League has been (and still is!) locked out. Help is at hand, Dollinks! No, I don't mean the return of my blog. I mean this wonderful video on how you (small, humble you!) can make a world of difference as you reach out to an NHL player in distress.

As I wipe away my tears (of laughter or sadness - you decide), I can’t help but think that even an out-of-work hockey player could make this splendid Light Fruit Cake in time for Christmas! 

(By the way, a couple of readers who subscribe to this blog by email have commented that the videos I occasionally post show up on their emails as a blocked plug-in. If that describes your experience, you can see them by going to the original blog post. I believe the videos are worth the minor nuisance: Hockey fans will find this one especially funny.)

The posting below is another of the late Canadian food writer Margo Oliver’s well-loved recipes. Needing only a few days’ aging, it’s the perfect solution to having your Christmas cake and eating it, too. I made a few small tweaks to modernize this recipe, which Oliver published approximately 45 years ago. 

I found this recipe at the request of Canadian reader Gordon Portman of Brandon, Manitoba. He sought it for his friend, Sheelagh. The romantic in me hopes they make it together. Um ...  I mean the cake.

Margo Oliver’s Light Fruit Cake:

1-½ lb. slivered almonds
½ lb. candied citron, diced
½ lb. candied pineapple, diced
¼ lb. candied cherries, halved
½ lb. golden raisins, plumped (see Note)
4 c.  all-purpose flour, divided
1-½ c. butter
2 c. granulated sugar
6 eggs, separated
¾ c. milk
¼ c. cognac
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. cream of tartar
¼ c. cognac or sherry
Almond paste, as garnish (optional)

Grease two 9x5x2-in. loaf pans. Line with two layers of well-greased brown paper and set aside (I use shopping bags). You may also use a greased and floured bundt pan, lined with greased waxed paper.

Combine almonds, fruit, and ½ c. of the flour; set aside. Cream butter until smooth, adding sugar gradually. Separate egg whites from yolks; chilling whites and beating yolks lightly. Add to creamed mixture, beating well (see Further Note). Combine milk, ¼ c. cognac, and almond extract. Add to creamed mixture alternately with remainder of the flour, mixing after each addition. 

Beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar, beating whites until stiff. Pour creamed mixture over fruit. mixing well. Fold in egg whites. 

Preheat oven to 275 deg. F. Spoon batter into pans, pressing down firmly with clean hands. Place a roasting pan full of hot water on bottom oven rack, baking loaf-style fruit cakes above it at 2-¼ hr. or bundt-style cake at 3-¼ hr. Cool 30 min. on rack before turning upside down. Peel off paper, piercing warm cake/s with skewers and pouring cognac or sherry over it, by teaspoonsful. 

Store in a tightly sealed container for several days. One day before serving, press rolled, room-temperature almond paste over top of cake/s. Decorate almond paste with additional candied cherries and peel, if desired. If you'd like to make your own almond paste, see my blog of Nov. 13, 2011.

Note: See the Index for How to Plump Dried Fruits.

Further Note: Why beat the yolks twice? It increases their ability to combine with and suspend the fat from the butter, producing a more tender cake.

Tomorrow: Another easy fruit cake to make in time for the holidays!