Soft apple cookies loaded with diced raw apple, raisins, and warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. A big-batch drop cookie with a moist, cake-like crumb.
A Zanzibari braised duck browned whole, then slow-cooked with cloves, hot chili, fresh orange and lime juice, and sweet red peppers. East African spice-island flavors in every bite.
A simple but delicious beef dish that can be served over noodles or with mashed potatoes.
Homemade mead recipe with honey, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and lemon. A simple beginner-friendly honey wine fermented with active dry yeast and ready to drink in about a month.
The reputation of fruitcake has been tarnished but store bought and candied fruitcakes. Using dried instead of candied fruit demonstrates what fruitcake is supposed to be.
Piccalilli is a sweet-sour spiced relish of green tomatoes, peppers, onion and cabbage, salted overnight then simmered in cider vinegar, brown sugar and whole spices. A tangy condiment for hot dogs, beans and cold meats.
Cucidati, the traditional Sicilian Christmas fig cookies, with a rich filling of figs, raisins, nuts, chocolate and rum wrapped in tender pastry, shaped into slashed horseshoes and dusted with sugar.
Christmas compote jam blends dried figs, dates, apricots, three nuts, and candied orange in a quince-juice base spiced with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and star anise. A three-day European holiday preserve worth every step.
If you're a fan of carrot cake you will love this low-fat rendition that is perfect for dessert.
Pickled red eggs steeped in beet juice, apple cider vinegar, cloves, allspice, peppercorns, and fresh ginger. Vibrant magenta with tangy, spiced flavor.
Oatmeal raisin sheet cake spiked with cinnamon, cloves, and plumped raisins, baked thin on a sheet pan and finished with a quick poured icing. The bake-sale and potluck cake that feeds a crowd of 24.
Swedish apple cake with cinnamon, cloves, and chopped nuts, baked in a 9x13 pan with a brown sugar crumble topping. A dense, spiced fall cake loaded with fresh apples.
Homemade chicken and veal sausage with bacon, brandy-flamed spices, coriander, and cloves. Stuff into casings, form patties, or shape in plastic wrap and poach before grilling.
Classic German Lebkuchen: spiced honey bars with almonds and candied citrus peel, glazed with lemon icing and dotted with cherries. Centuries-old Nuremberg Christmas tradition.
Spiced brown sugar bundt cake with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves, baked with chopped pecans and finished with a butterscotch glaze. Holiday-table ready.
Melomakarona are Greek honey-soaked cookies with orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, and brandy. Baked until golden, dipped in hot honey syrup, and topped with chopped nuts.