Andrea Nguyen
Author & Teacher
Send a messageMy Books
One of Cooking Light's 2010
Favorite Cookbooks!
Asian Dumplings
(Ten Speed Press, 2009)
Reviews & Press Release
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
(Ten Speed Press, 2006)
Reviews & Press Release
Recent PostsMail Call: Lynn's Vietnamese Cookbook GiftsMy Dad’s 80th Birthday BashEasy Holiday Gifts: Mini Vietnamese fruitcakes and other ideasHow to Cook and Eat Well in a Power OutagePandan and Coconut Tapioca Cake (Banh Bo Nuong) Recipe ChallengeMarine Fights Vietnam's Dog-Meat Tradition: LA Times article2010 Cookbook Picks and Food Book FindsBrussels Sprouts with Cracklings and Fish Sauce RecipeThanksgiving Leftovers with Asian Flair: Turkey Pho, Banh Mi, Bun, and More!Videos Fight the Faux Pho PhenomenaRecipesAppetizer and Snack RecipesBanh (Crepes, dumplings, cakes, bread) RecipesBanh Mi Sandwich RecipesBasic Sauces, Stocks and Garnishes RecipesChile Sauce RecipesClaypot (Kho) RecipesDeep-Fried RecipesDessert and Sweets RecipesDipping Sauces RecipesDrink and Beverage RecipesGluten-Free RecipesGrilled RecipesMain Course RecipesMeat RecipesNoodles RecipesOne-Dish Meals RecipesPho RecipesPoultry and Egg RecipesRice RecipesSalad RecipesSeafood RecipesSoup RecipesStir-Fry RecipesStreet Food RecipesVegan RecipesVegetable Sides and Pickles RecipesVegetarian Recipes Vietnamese RecipesNon-Vietnamese RecipesHandy InfoAsian IngredientsAsian MarketsBasic Vietnamese KitchenBook Reviews + moreCooking Tips and ToolsEssentials: Fish SauceEssentials: NoodlesEssentials: Pho Noodle SoupEssentials: RiceEssentials: Rice PaperGardeningHow to Find Asian Markets & IngredientsMama SaysTet New Year CelebrationTravelAwards + Praise
James Beard Foundation
Award Finalist
2007 Best Asian Cookbook
IACP Awards Finalist
2010 Best Single Subject Cookbook
2007 Best First Book
2007 Best Int'l Cookbook
National Public Radio
Best 10 Cookbooks of 2009
Cooking Light Magazine
Oct. 2009 "Editors' Dozen" Top Picks
2010 Editors' Favorite Cookbooks
CHOW.com
Winter 2009 Gift Guide
« How to Cook and Eat Well in a Power Outage |Main| My Dad’s 80th Birthday Bash »
December 23, 2010Easy Holiday Gifts: Mini Vietnamese fruitcakes and other ideas
I love to bake holiday sweets but this year, I unfortunately have little time to do it. I used to stay up late baking up to a dozen different kinds of cookies to gift friends and family. Given my current schedule and obligations, late-night baking sessions were not possible for 2010. I decided to revisit an old friend, the fruitcake, and scale it down.
You may not like fruitcakes but give them a second look. They’re great for the holidays because they keep well for a long time. Actually, they get better with age as the dried and preserved fruit soften and develop a slight boozy quality. Plus, fruitcakes allow you to use up bits of ingredients in the cupboard. I had dried fruit from the past 18 months and nuts in the freezer. I supplemented those things with a bag of mixed dried fruit (the one with blueberries, cherries, cranberries, etc.) at Trader Joe’s.
The other thing that’s great about fruitcakes is the use of liquor to infuse the cake with flavor throughout. I chopped up all the solid ingredients and marinated them in Slivovitz, East European plum brandy that my dad gave me years ago.
My original Vietnamese fruitcake recipe called for 1 cup of mei kwei lu chiu (Chinese sorghum and rose petal liquot) or orange-flavored liquor, but I was out. The Slivovitz I used was made by Hungarian producer Zwack, which is widely available in the U.S. It tasted quite nice, like a lighter version of the Chinese liquor but not as aromatic. I could have gotten zwacked on it but had to keep chopping up my nuts and fruit!
From one recipe I got 9 minis – that’s roughly 8 gifts with 1 leftover for you. After aging, wrap each cake in plastic wrap and then parchment paper to ensure that it stays moist. Tie a ribbon around each one and you’ve got a great present. For extra sturdy protection, put the wrapped and ribboned fruitcake into the original disposable baking tin (we washed ours after removing the cakes). That’s what I did before sliding one into the mailbox for Karen, our letter carrier.
Loaf cakes like fruitcakes are perfect for scaling down into minis. They are cute, satisfying, and make a nice statement. You’ve still got time to bake a batch for the weekend gift giving opportunities.
If you’re crammed for time, here are some more easy homemade holiday gifts:
Got last-minute homemade holiday gift ideas? Don't keep them to yourself. Share them below!
Posted in Cooking Tips & Tools, Recipes: All, Recipes: Dessert and Sweets | PermalinkDigg This | Save to del.icio.us | Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Cranberry-orange port conserve (or Cranberry Cabernet/Shiraz/whatever wine I had on hand at the time) is what I used to make if I didn't have time to do anything else! Bag of cranberries, some sugar, one segmented orange, peel and all, and the wine. I remember lugging four jars of it to California for gifts one year not long after I graduated...
If I can't manage even that though - I'll write a short story or poem for each individual I plan on giving a present to (but that's not actually food...even if I write about it!)
Posted by:Shuku |December 25, 2010 at 07:12 AMYour fruitcakes look yummy!
This year, I made jars of Chili Garlic Sauce for friends and family on Thanksgiving day.
http://vietspices.blogspot.com/2010/11/tuong-ot-toi-vietnamese-chili-garlic.html
As for Christmas gifts, I made frosted cranberries, candied orange peels and candied grapefruits peels.
http://vietspices.blogspot.com/2010/12/mut-vo-buoi-boc-chocolate-candied.html
http://vietspices.blogspot.com/2010/12/mut-cam-candied-orangeu.html
Posted by:Annette |December 26, 2010 at 11:36 PMShuku: The recipients of your gifts are surely quite fortunate!
Annette: Thanks for sharing your homemade gifts.
Posted by:Andrea Nguyen |December 28, 2010 at 09:21 PM Verify your Comment Previewing your CommentPosted by: |This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
Your comment could not be posted. Error type: Your comment has been posted. Post another comment The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again. As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Your Information
(Name and email address are required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)
Name is required to post a comment
Please enter a valid email address
Invalid URL
Be Connected
Get news via RSS or email 
Get updates in Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Receive newsletterSearch VWK 
Share Shots#flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#666666;}#flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;}#flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;}.flickr_badge_image {text-align:center !important;}.flickr_badge_image img {border: 0px solid black !important;}#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper {width:150px;}#flickr_www {display:block; text-align:center; padding:0 10px 0 10px !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#3993ff !important;}#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:hover,#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:link,#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:active,#flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:visited {text-decoration:none !important; background:inherit !important;color:#3993ff;}#flickr_badge_wrapper {background-color:#ffffff;border: solid 1px #000000}#flickr_badge_source {padding:0 !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#666666 !important;}www.flickr.com
More in Viet World Kitchen pool. Add yours!popular recipes
Viet World Kitchen | Copyright 2002-2010 by Andrea Nguyen | Privacy Policy document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2010/12/easy-holiday-gifts-mini-vietnamese-fruitcakes.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});
No comments:
Post a Comment