Wake up for the holiday season to a cranberry coffeecake with hibiscus glaze:

I’m low key crazy for coffeecake. I always have been. I remember my grandfather would give me $3 everyday to buy nutrition at school, and I would use a portion of that money to buy a piece of coffeecake without fail. That’s where my love of coffeecake began. Fast forward to the present day and the want of waking up to fresh coffeecake at home is strong, especially during the festive 12 days of Christmas.

I like to call them “cooking carnivals” a day when all I do is cook and bake.  I almost wish I could take it a step further and hang a sign on my door that lets everyone know to stay out of the kitchen.  Last week I was having one of those days.  I made chorizo stuffing, sweet potato casserole, gingerbread pumpkin empanadas and then I realized I had all the ingredients to make a flan with some of the left over items from the dishes I had created.  Here it is, my first pumpkin flan.  I never got to taste it myself, it was gone before I knew it.  Happy Holidays!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Flan:

• 1/2 – cup cajeta
• 4 – ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 – 12 0z. can of evaporated milk
• 1 – 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 – large eggs
• 1 – cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
• 1/2 – teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• pomegranate seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit

Spray a bundt pan with a non stick baking spray, then fill the bottom with cajeta.

   

In a blender add cream cheese, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, eggs, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Blend for a minute or until completely combined. Pour flan mixture over the cajeta filled bundt pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place inside a large pyrex baking dish. Pour hot water into the pyrex baking dish to fill up half way.

Then place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Once out of the oven, remove from water bath and uncover to allow cooling. Run a small knife around the edge to ensure it from sticking.  Let the flan rest for two hours then flip it over onto a plate. Slowly lift pan up away from plate. Then put in the fridge for 5 hours or overnight.  When ready to serve sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. ENJOY!!!!!!

If you’re anything like me then you need some spice to bring the Thanksgiving table to life. This stuffing will do that and then some. The chorizo works well with the pistachios and pears, adding a subtle taste of sweet to the potent taste of spice. It’s seriously perfect for turkey and will be a real treat if sitting next to a batch of sweet potatoes or cranberry sauce. I posted my recipe over on the Babble site, click here for the recipe. You’ll be happy you did.

I got invited to a Thanksgiving cooking class over at the Simple Gourmet in Redondo Beach a few weeks ago, and even though I consider myself a Thanksgiving pro….  I figured “Why not? I might learn a thing or two!”  Guess what, I did.  These ladies cooked traditional dishes with a splash of pizazz.  Here is one of dishes that I couldn’t get enough of….. literally the whole room was fighting for them.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for Yukon Potato Gratin with Parmesan-Rosemary Bechamel:

5 to 6 – lbs. yukon gold potatoes, sliced 1/2 -inch thick (with skins still on)

3 – tablespoons butter

3 – tablespoons flour

3 – cups whole milk

1 -tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 – garlic clove, grated

1/2 – cup grated parmesan cheese (plus more for sprinkling on top)

salt and pepper as needed

Place the cut potatoes in a large pot of cold water over high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Drain immediately and place in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat sauce over medium heat. Add butter. When melted, add the flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly. Whisk in milk and rosemary.  Cook, whisking often, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a couple minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in parmesan.  Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.  Toss the potatoes with the sauce and dump into a 9×13 inch casserole dish.

Sprinkle with a little more parmesan cheese and place into the oven.

 Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.  Remove and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Disclosure: No compensation was received for this post. All opinions are my own. Recipe by Simple Gourmet.