The holidays mean lots of food—and we say bring it on! If you’re looking to add to the celebrations with a sweet treat, we’ve got lots of easy options for you. From basics, like our no-fail pie crust, to classics like trifle—and even a few twists on old favourites—we know your holiday dessert table is going to shine thanks to these dessert recipes.
A sweet potato pie makes a welcome alternative to pumpkin, and this recipe delivers with a flavourful and creamy interior. Whip it up, smooth it in a prepared pie shell, crumble some streusel overtop, pop it in the oven, and you’ve got a new holiday classic. Slow-roasting the sweet potatoes makes for a beautifully rich filling with deep flavour. Makes one 9“ pie
Sweet Potato Pie
David Grenier
Makes one 9″ pie A sweet potato pie makes a welcome alternative to pumpkin, and this recipe delivers with a flavourful and creamy interior. Whip it up, smooth it in a prepared pie shell, crumble some streusel overtop, pop it in the oven, and you’ve got a new holiday classic. Slow-roasting the sweet potatoes makes for a beautifully rich filling with deep flavour.
1frozen 9″ deep-dish pie shellthawed 10-15 minutes (or your own pastry recipe)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in the centre of oven.
In a small bowl, combine flour, butter, brown sugar, and pecans with your fingers until mixed and crumbled. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a bowl, using an electric hand mixer on low speed, or by hand, cream butter, sugar, zest, spices, and salt, 2 minutes. Beat in sweet potatoes and add eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add condensed milk and vanilla, and beat until completely incorporated and smooth.
Place pie shell on a cookie sheet. Scrape filling into the shell, sprinkle evenly with chilled streusel topping, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F, and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until just set. Cool pie completely on a rack.
If you’re going to your local blueberry patch, or making a stop road-side stand for blueberries and peaches on your way to the cottage, pick up some of the season’s best for this classic blueberry-peach crisp. It just may become an essential August tradition.
This is an absolute favourite cottage dessert, and the only chore is peeling the peaches (but you can make that simple too with the Tip, below). Serve hot or warm with a generous dollop of whipped cream, ice cream, or crème fraîche. Serves 6 (4 in some families).
Toss all ingredients except those for the Pecan Crisp Topping, and place in a lightly buttered 6-cup baking dish, about 8” square.
To make the topping, combine flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and cut in the butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add pecans to mixture and toss together.
Cover prepared crisp with topping and bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes.
Notes
TIP To easily peel ripe peaches, cut an X in the bottom of each fruit, and drop them, one at a time, into boiling water for 30 seconds. Then immediately plunge them into chilled water for a few seconds and slip off skins.
Recipe originally published in the July/August 1994 issue of Cottage Life.
The official dessert for the celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this June is Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle. It looks terrific—but over two hours of prep time? How cottage-friendly is that?
CL humbly suggests a more practical Canuck option: Queen Elizabeth Cake. Enriched by dates, topped with its trademark broiled butterscotch-coconut icing, QE Cake was a snacking mainstay in this country during the ‘50s and ‘60s. “It’s something most people could make using ingredients from their pantry,” says University of Guelph historian (and Severn Falls cottager) Rebecca Beausaert. “But because it’s called Queen Elizabeth cake, it sounds regal.”
The exact connection between the monarch and the single-layer confection is obscure. Is it the Queen’s favourite? Nope, that’s chocolate. Did her mother develop it for a church fundraiser? Not true, the palace told cookbook editors in the ‘90s. Was it produced for the Queen’s 1953 coronation? Sort of. A gussied-up version was Chatelaine’s recipe of the month in June 1953. Yet the recipe appears in other places as early as 1950.
“Its origins are somewhat debatable. But I’m pretty sure the name refers to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, rather than Elizabeth II,” Beausaert says. The Queen Mother was tremendously popular after a 1939 Royal Tour of Canada and during the War Years, and the recipe’s use of dates hints at Depression or Wartime origins. Dried fruit was an economical way to add richness and sweetness without extra eggs, sugar, and butter.
But don’t take our word for it. Here’s a version of one distributed by The Ontario Wheat Producer’s Marketing Board (now Grain Farmers of Ontario) in the 1970s and ‘80s, and attributed to Mrs. Audrey King, of Pain Court, Ont.
Queen Elizabeth Cake
Audrey King
Enriched by dates, topped with its trademark broiled butterscotch-coconut icing, Queen Elizabeth Cake was a snacking mainstay in Canada during the ‘50s and ‘60s.
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Summer flew by in a blur and fall is officially here. But don’t start lamenting the changing of the seasons quite yet. It’s time to welcome cooler temperatures, colourful leaves, and pumpkin-spiced everything, not to mention a wide variety of exciting fall activities to do with family and friends.
Here are the top 10 fall activities you have to try and the gear you need to enjoy them.
Whether you’re looking to create a traditional Jack-o’-lantern or follow your own design, you need the right tools. This pumpkin carving kit includes everything you need to create a piece of Halloween art.
A fall hike through the crisp air and changing leaves can be breathtaking. But if you’re hiking through the woods, especially if it’s wet, you need the right footwear. These hiking boots will keep you comfy and dry no matter the terrain.
Raking leaves is hard work—especially if you have to do it more than once. But the joy of jumping into a pile of leaves is worth the labour. Try out the Garden Care Ultralight 24-inch Leaf Rake if you’re looking to get the job done fast.
So many apples and so few hands. Enjoy an afternoon outdoors sampling something red and delicious. And with this picking bag, you can grab as many as you want.
There’s nothing like a warm pie on a cool autumn day. We guarantee everyone in your family will appreciate it—especially if it’s apple or pumpkin. If you’re looking for some recipe advice check out Saura Madanl’s Easy as Pie: The Essential Pie Cookbook for Every Season and Reason.
November is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. As the days grow shorter and colder, head inside and flex your creative muscles by writing in this Moleskin notebook.
There’s nothing like spending a fall night looking up at the stars while sitting around a bonfire. Except maybe when you add smores. These roasting sticks will make sure your marshmallows crisp perfectly.
