Once we flip our calendar to December (yes I still have an old school wall calendar just for the girls and their social diva in training activities like bowling), we are pretty well booked every weekend. One of my favorite things about the holidays is visiting with family and friends we don’t get to see often.
Let’s face it, though, the patience level of kids falls off the face of the planet during the holidays. Even just a half-hour drive across town to have lunch with friends quickly disintegrates into “Are we there yet?” And that’s just as you’re pulling out of your driveway.
That’s when you crank the Christmas music and hand out bribes, I mean cookies. This is all, of course, just intended to raise your sweet darlings’ blood sugar. I would never condone parenting via bribery! (Ahem.) A few crumbs in your back seat is worth the silence.
It’s always good to arrive with a little housewarming gift and what better way to say you care about someone than to bring chocolate?
Here’s my mother’s famous old fashioned Southern fudge cake recipe, a holiday favorite that goes back to 1967 for my family!
Mama’s Famous Old Fashioned Fudge Cake
Beat 4 eggs, add 2 cups sugar, 1 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 4 squares of melted baking chocolate, 1 tsp. vanilla – add 2 cups of flour with 1 tsp baking powder and 1/1/2 tsp salt and 1 cup of chopped nuts.
Line a large greased pan with two pieces of paper towel – then two pieces of wax paper on top of that. The cake would burn if you did not do this!!
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes – turn oven off and leave in oven 5 minutes. Cool slightly before turning out on counter (I turn mine out on a chop block).
Icing
Melt 1 stick margarine, 3 squares chocolate and 12 marshmallows
Add 3 tsp of milk and 1 tsp vanilla. When melted and warm add 1 box of confectionary sugar – blend well. You may need a little more milk.
Spread on cake. For thicker icing you can add 2 cups miniature marshmallows to the icing (my mom says she never does this, though.)
Cool and cut into squares and keep well covered.
Enjoy!
I know I can’t participate because I’m in Canada, but my favourite recipe for Christmas is Rocky Road Peanut Squares. They are so easy to make (bake-free) and they taste like chocolate bars!
.-= amotherworld´s last blog ..Holiday Shopping… with Kids =-.
our favorite family recipe is twisted cinnamonrolls. they are sooo good!
Our NEW favorite holiday recipe is Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle by Paul Dean. My grand daughter (5) and I made these for Thanksgiving and everyone went gah gah over them. I Made them tiny bit different than the recipe called for. I made individual (clear plastic cups) of this recipe. Everyone asked if we would do it again for Christmas. Oh yeah… this will be the NEW tradition.
Ingredients
* 2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
* 1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
* 1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
* 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
* 1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional
Directions
Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.
Our favorite holiday tradition/dessert is our sour cream sugar cookies. My grandma, mom, my daughter, and I (that’s right 4 generations) all get in the kitchen together and make the recipe ending up covered in flour head to toe. Frosting the cookies is just that much more fun with the homeade icing and candy sprinkles (my daughter’s favorite part). So even though it’s not really a dessert, I think we use it as a dessert for most every meal between thanksgiving and Christmas 🙂
I tweeted about your giveaway too 🙂
My family expects me to make coconut cake – which I hate, but my favorite dessert is my Grandmother’s Jam Cake. The best part of the cake is the caramel icing. Maybe I will just make a batch of the icing!
.-= Kaye´s last blog ..The little things =-.
Fudge pie for us.
(I read the first word of your recipe as “beer” instead of “beat” and thought, “Hey, my kind of cake…”)
.-= Busy Mom´s last blog ..25 Things You Did Not Want To Know =-.
Homemade strudel has the charm and memories for me…gentle wisps of fresh strudel baking, then warm strudel after dinner, sitting and watching the Christmas tree glitter and shine, with the family!
My favorite holiday dessert recipe is…....ALL of them. I can’t stop! I love homemade cinnamon rolls, peanut butter balls, turtle cookies. You name it, I love it!
I love to make what I call “Magic Cookie Bars” – I’ve also seen the same thing called congo bars. They are chocolate, coconut & pecan bars and I could eat a whole batch by myself!
P.S. I keep forgetting to check your review blog and keep missing the great giveaways! I’m resolving to check more often – one day I’ll win!
.-= uncommonblonde´s last blog ..Keepin it real =-.
Mince pie and Christmas cookies – there’s a cream cheese based dough that I typically use for the cookies; I love how soft the cookies are. I typically shape them into snowmen (two small balls squished together), though I’ve also done candy canes (dying half of the dough red). It really does handle very nicely.
The kiddos, of course, will eat cookies hand-over-fist. They’re not into pie yet. So for now, the emphasis is on cookies.
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..Calla on the computer =-.
I love the peanut butter kiss cookies. Mmmm.
My favorite dessert to make is Cherry Cheesecake Pie. This post has the recipe for it (wish I could claim it as mine, but it came from Woman’s Day!).
Jessie
.-= Vanderbilt Wife´s last blog ..It’s a Cruel Trick of Nature and Photography =-.
You mentioned the girls behavior around Christmas time. Have you heard of Elf on the Shelf https://shop1.elfontheshelf.com/indexnf.php I don’t know if it is too late, but the idea is great! As far as desserts around the holidays, I always think candy; fudge, bourbon balls and buckeyes! YUM!
.-= Shelley´s last blog ..My Beatiful Christmas Tree Decorated =-.
My husband loves pumpkin pie so despite being pretty standard that is the one thing I make sure we have during the holidays. His mom makes him a separate one just for him. I personally am not a pumpkin pie person. I? Am all about the Christmas cookies. Love me some cookies.
.-= Michelle Smiles´s last blog ..Ballerina =-.
Our favorite holiday dessert is anything chocolate! We have two December birthdays, so we end up eating a lot of chocolate cake.
.-= Unplanned Cooking´s last blog ..Our birthday girl =-.
Spiced Pumpkin Pie always sets the mood!
My mother in laws popcorn balls! I look forward to them every year!
Cream cheese chocolate chip brownies – yummmmmo!
Well hi, yes, I would love to win a $50 G.C. 🙂
Our favorite holiday dessert is by far the molasses cut outs that we make and frost and decorate every year. This is a tradition from my husband’s family. I hope it’s not being presumptuous to leave a link?
http://www.musingsofahousewife.com/2009/12/its-better-to-taste-good-than-to-look-good-2.html
.-= Musings of a Housewife´s last blog ..Holiday Gift Ideas for Teachers =-.
This is our hands-down most favorite dessert here. It’s rich and chocolatey for the holidays but we make it year round. http://scribbit.blogspot.com/2007/12/double-musky-cake.html
.-= Michelle at Scribbit´s last blog ..Movies to See Instead of Going to the Theater =-.
For some reason I always think of my mom’s Snickerdoodles during the holidays. I’m sure it’s more sentimental than taste related since they’re such a simple cookie. But, she always makes them and they’re the perfect balance of crisp and chewy. And, she still has the same green glass cookie jar from when I was a kid.
My favorite thing to make at the holidays are caramel layer brownies. I get requests for those every year.
.-= Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: I Didn’t Even Know Paris Hilton HAD A Shoe Line =-.
My favorite holiday dessert (I guess it can be abytime, but I usually only make them at Christmas) is No-Bake Cookies. My husband hates them, but we have friends and family that love them, so I make some for them and keep a few for myself. My husband’s favorite is Spritz cookies from a cookie press. i make those all year around, but I love to make the wreath and tree shapes at Christmas.
.-= Kim Young´s last blog ..Shaving Cream Snowman =-.
English plum pudding with brandy custard!
tweet http://twitter.com/phxbne/status/6540585917
The only Christmas dessert that comes to mind is CHOCOLATES.
Fudge cake. Another treat for my daughters. Thanks!
Count me in! My grandmother used to make this Japanese fruit pie (not to be confused with fruit cake) that I loved. I need to find the recipe to continue on the tradition. I also dream of a day making fudge and pralines with my mom, aunt and daughter… hopefully we will make time for that this year!
.-= Flossip´s last blog ..I
We love 7 Layer Bars, Muddy Buddies and Fudge!
Chocolate fudge
My grandmother made this chocolate cake with a marshmallow frosting. It was so awesome, and the one thing she didn’t manage to teach anyone before she passed. We’ve tried to learn by following the recipe, but it just isn’t the same.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Small Town Saturday Night, Wordful Wednesday =-.
I love making my mom’s recipe of “Heavenly Ice” it is a Persian dish with flour, rice flour, water, milk, sugar, and rosewater. Yum. It gets a gelatin-like consistency, and is yummy with crushed pistachios on top!
Our all-time favorite dessert is Creme Brulee
Tweet
http://twitter.com/LisaSVance/status/6547432949
We love pumpkin custard. Yum!
1) party pooper.
2) My CANADIAN grannie made the best shortbread ever! I stole her recipe.
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup corn starch
1 cup flour
3/4 butter.
Mix, ball up and bake at 300 for 15-20 min. You can also roll out and cut into shapes!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..So I shall bore you some more
Really, how do you stay so fit with all the delicious food your making?
.-= ParentsElite´s last blog ..ParentsElite proudly presents
My familys favorite holiday dessert is my famous Banana-Split Cake!
Tweet:
http://twitter.com/sgrant2005/status/6550214076
My favorite is my Aunts Peanut butter fudge! It is so good and one time she gave me the recipie and I tried really hard to make it myself but it just turned out to be peanut butter soup:( So now I just have to wait until every christmas to get some!
I tweeted!
http://twitter.com/Haydensmommy05/statuses/6550861979
My sister makes homemade peanut butter fudge that everyone in the family loves. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
.-= Kari´s last blog ..Kmart Bluelight Specials for December 12th and 13th =-.
Good and plain cheesecake!!
http://twitter.com/DesMoinesDealin/status/6554137195
Our favorite holiday dessert is an apple pie turnover!! It’s basically an apple pie just thrown in a roll out dough crust! Super easy!
Everyone LOVES my Christmas fudge! No nuts!
.-= Candy @ Serendipity Mommy´s last blog ..Nostalgia Electrics
We always have Crepes Christmas morning. My favorite is with Nutella and strawberries. YUM!
Last year we made oreo truffles and they instantly became a new favorite
Christine
dazed1821@aol.com
Great article on sweets, for me it has be candy floss, strawberry and blueberry have always been my favorites, although blueberry is quite hard to get hold of :(No one is ever to old to enjoy sweets!
We love Red Velvet cake and chocolate fudge. YUM!
Thanks for the chance to win!
One of our fav family treats is a cookie made from ground hazelnuts and apricot jam. There is no name for it, that I know of. It is an old German recipe my mother brought with her when she came to the US 50 years ago. They are very hard to make and time consuming. My siblings and I fight over these. Mom is usally nice enough to make little packages for us to each take home. It would not be Christmas without these.
bratts29@ gmail.com
That sounds tasty! I love making all kinds of cookies. It’s been a few years since I’ve made Russian Tea Cakes, so I think I’ll give those a shot again this year. They are so good and they’ll be a blast to make with my daughter.
I love love love love…peanut butter cookies with the fork pressed in the middle of them…simple but amazing and I love the way they make my new house smell!
My Mom always has spread a marshmallow cream icing on her red velvet cake. I’d never eaten one with cream cheese until I moved away from home. I’ve never met anyone else who uses that marshmallow icing on red velvet cake. And, naturally, I like Mom’s style best.
One of our favorite desserts is chocolate dreamwhip pie. Yum!
jhoorm01(at)yahoo.com
.-= Joy´s last blog ..Winner of the christmas books! =-.
My families favorite holiday dessert would be red velvet bonbons! I try to make them every year at Christmas and distribute to my friends…they love them!
charice2007@yahoo.com
my family’s favorite holiday desert is pumpkin pie…nothing too out-of-the-ordinary, but oh so good this time of year 🙂
I love fudge. So bad, yet so good! I am a chocoholic!!
i just tweeted @sarahjgarraty
“Enter 2 win a $50 Visa gift card just in time 4 the holidays! https://blondemomblog.com/2009/12/10/one-for-the-road-ok-ok-maybe-two-or-three”
sarahjgarraty@gmail.com
We’ve made PEPPERMINT fudge before, but I’m a sucker for good old-fashioned pumpkin pie for the holidays!
.-= The Mom Jen´s last blog ..The Big Guy is Almost Here =-.
TWEET http://twitter.com/themomjen/status/6583686912
.-= The Mom Jen´s last blog ..The Big Guy is Almost Here =-.
Every Christmas Eve, we have chocolate fondue with an assortment of fruit, angel cake, and marshmallows. It is so fun, and delicious!
My mom always makes a raisin pie at Christmas. None of us are fond of it except my dad. He LOVES it!! So it’s a tradition and kind of a running family joke about the raisin pie! 🙂
Ooh, fudge cake!! NOT a good recipe for a pregnant gal trying to not gain too much weight this time around
Our family recipe is strawberry pretzel jello. It’s a Christmas Eve tradition!
.-= Brynna´s last blog ..Thank you and congratulations!! =-.
there are no holidays without the pumpkin pie!
I love making Jello no bake Cheesecake with Real cherry’s on top and cherry syrup Yummy Yum!
Its not very festive but its what we like
nightowlmama at comcast dot net
.-= Night Owl Mama´s last blog ..Vtech V-Smile V-Motion Active Learning System Giveaway =-.
http://twitter.com/Nightowlmama/status/6592453801
tweet and following you too @nightowlmama
.-= Night Owl Mama´s last blog ..Vtech V-Smile V-Motion Active Learning System Giveaway =-.
Definitely our family favorite holiday dessert is Tiramassu. My mum used to make it every year and now I’m trying it myself. I have some practicing until I’ll get as good as mum’s but it’s still heavenly.
I tweeted
http://twitter.com/goodieslist/status/6592575392
We love pumpkin anything! Pumpkin pie, bread, cookies, cakes, etc. Also love to make apple pie. From scratch of course!
bargainchristian@yahoo.com
Peanut Butter pie is a MUST at our house. It’s not a holiday without it! 🙂
I’ve never met a dessert I didn’t like of course…but my favorite right now are these apricot almond bars learned to make yesterday…they are terrific
My mom makes some of the most amazing goodies for the Holidays. Probably my favorite is her “turtle” bars. So much work to make, but worth every minute!
.-= DesignHER Momma´s last blog ..I’ve Become "That Neighbor" =-.
Our family’s favorite holiday dessert is homemade Pound Cake (warm) , with cool whip & strawberries!
Oh, we love to make ice-box surprise. It’s so easy! Mix whipping cream, crushed graham crackers and the juice from maraschino cherries together, then add marshmallows, dates, the cherries, and walnuts. Roll it into logs and refrigerate. YUM
! We just eat it at Christmas, though.
.-= Jillian´s last blog ..Our Lego Contest Entry =-.
We love ice cream in our house! Put yummy toppings, even in the snow and cold weather, we are an ice cream family!
We’re a sugar cookie famaily for the holidays. I grew up at the holidays making chocolate dipped yumminess too… Sugar wafers, oreos, graham crackers, nuts, rice crispies, peppermint, pretzels… you name it we dipped dit n chocolate and added sprinkles!
One of my family’s favorite holiday desserts is my Grandmother’s fudge recipe – best fudge I’ve ever had!!
I know this is really random, but my favorite dessert is Japanese Fruit Pie. I have no idea why, but it was always a special treat at Thanksgiving and Christmas and I love it. It brings back great memories. It’s kind of like a chess pie with coconut, raisins, and nuts all mixed in. Typically, I wouldn’t naturally gravitate towards a dessert with that description, but I’m telling you, it’s good. 😉
.-= Mary @ The Writer’s Block´s last blog ..Another Cool Contest! =-.
Family favorite – Meringue shells with peppermint ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup!
Its fun to see all the other favorites!
That’s a tough one..i have one sister who makes an awesome cheesecake and my other sister makes an awesome homemade carrot cake…i really can’t choose…i’ll have a small slice of both
Chocolate Pie!
Deborah
comfortjoydesigns AT gmail DOT com
Michigan Addy Ready
.-= Deborah´s last blog ..A Mini Merry Visitor =-.