Eggnog Saigon Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:

swirl:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Saigon cinnamon

batter:
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 cups eggnog
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray one standard loaf pan or mini loaf pan that makes 4 one cup loaves. In a small bowl, whisk together swirl ingredients. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together baking powder, nutmeg, flour, sugar and salt. In a medium sized bowl, combine eggs, eggnog, vanilla and oil. Add to flour mixture. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour into pan, filling about 1/3 of the way. Sprinkle with swirl mixture. Add more batter, top with more of the swirl mixture. Bake 45- 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes then carefully remove to wire racks. Cool completely before slicing.

My thoughts:

I love making and giving quick breads for the holidays and am always trying to think of a new variation. Last year when faced with a ton of leftover nog I realized that I could use eggnog in pretty much the same way I would use milk. Saigon cinnamon is very fragrant with a spicy-sweet flavor that I think makes it the perfect foil to the rich eggnog. Think of this as a traditional cinnamon bread taken to the next level.

How About Some Easy Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

These are butternut squash cupcakes with sage frosting! They are very moist and taste awesome!

They are made using a Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Premium Cake Mix!

Here is the recipe that makes 24 cupcakes:

Ingredients:

For cake:

--1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Premium Cake Mix
--1 large butternut squash

For frosting:

--1 bunch of sage

--3 tablespoons of water

--3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

--12 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)

--1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

--1 cup of eggnog (or milk, if you prefer)

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. Peel, quarter and remove seeds from butternut squash. Place in a large sauce pan covered with water and bring to a boil until squash is tender. Put the pieces in a food processor or blender, then set aside for a while.


Make cake mix as directed on package. When cooled, fold the butternut squash into the cake mix. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.


Frosting directions:

Chop up the sage so that it's in very fine pieces. Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan under medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the sage to the sugar water mixture and heat  over low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside to let cool.

Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy...about 2 minutes.

Stir the sage syrup into the butter and cream cheese mixture. Add the eggnog or milk to the mixture.

Finally, add the powered sugar a little at a time to the mixture until you have the mixture you want.

Now, frost your cupcakes...you will receive very happy praises from your Thanksgiving guests!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

CQ and Layla

How About Some Easy Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

These are butternut squash cupcakes with sage frosting! They are very moist and taste awesome!

They are made using a Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Premium Cake Mix!

Here is the recipe that makes 24 cupcakes:

Ingredients:

For cake:

--1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Premium Cake Mix
--1 large butternut squash

For frosting:

--1 bunch of sage

--3 tablespoons of water

--3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

--12 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)

--1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

--1 cup of eggnog (or milk, if you prefer)

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. Peel, quarter and remove seeds from butternut squash. Place in a large sauce pan covered with water and bring to a boil until squash is tender. Put the pieces in a food processor or blender, then set aside for a while.


Make cake mix as directed on package. When cooled, fold the butternut squash into the cake mix. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.


Frosting directions:

Chop up the sage so that it's in very fine pieces. Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan under medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the sage to the sugar water mixture and heat  over low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside to let cool.

Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy...about 2 minutes.

Stir the sage syrup into the butter and cream cheese mixture. Add the eggnog or milk to the mixture.

Finally, add the powered sugar a little at a time to the mixture until you have the mixture you want.

Now, frost your cupcakes...you will receive very happy praises from your Thanksgiving guests!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

CQ and Layla

Eggnog Waffles

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup eggnog
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons rum or 1 teaspoon rum flavoring
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs

Directions:
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Follow the instructions included with your waffle iron to complete the waffles. For most large, Belgian-style waffle irons you would use 1 cup of batter for each waffle. I love my waffle maker.



Yield: 4 large Belgian-style waffles

My thoughts:

Eggnog seems to be a fairly polarizing beverage, you either love it or hate it. I guess I am in the love it camp if by loving it you mean "drink maybe one glass once a year". There is a local business that makes a nog that I enjoy (I have to draw the line at making it myself) that my mom would buy growing up. I bought some myself this year and while I enjoyed that cup, I was left with quite a bit leftover. Eggnog always strikes me as sort of breakfasty for some reason so I thought making something for breakfast might be fun. I am so happy I thought of making waffles, they were great! I used half milk and half eggnog and they had the perfect level of nogness. Rich but not sickeningly so and just really festive tasting.